If I were to tell someone what to write on his “about us” page for a personal blog, I would suggest the following general rules:
- I detailed general methods on how to write the page here.
- Focus on providing a balance between the past (I have done this until now) and the future (I promise I will do the following).
This would keep things professional.
But I would also give this very personal tip:
- Be stupid, at times. It’s much more personal. Make mistakes. Fall. Present your weakness. If you say you listen to music, say a weird choice. If you say you like to learn foreign languages, also present an embarassing situation in which you failed to do right. If you say you did some school, mention something stupid you did in school. Don’t overdo this, though. Don’t put online your biggest mistakes, don’t be a total loser, don’t say you were a drug addict, don’t say you were a total failure. Be human, and have mistakes. But be human even with presenting your mistakes, and don’t overstate them. Make it funny, if you will. There are two ways of doing this:
- Admit mistakes. Actually claim, in a way, you were stupid. :) So, you like music, but you also like a very low quality song. You like to paint, but you can’t do any good quality painting, even after 7 years of trying. Admit the mistake.
- Present weird, atypical, funny, strange, out-of-order, un-natural things. OK, you like music, but you like this very hipster-ish band, no one heard of. You like to paint, but you pick as models women who have some fetishes. Be out-of-order.
- Of course, don’t overdo any of these. But do be human.
- Why do this? Because it helps you connect with the audience. People like people. A perfect brand is not a person, it is an entity. A super star is not a real person (in the brand image). A successful business person is not a person (in the brand image). Be wrong, and be human – this will help you connect with your audience.
- Do you risk something? Sure, that’s why this is humane.
Right now, I don’t follow my own rule for the “about us” page of my Romanian blog, which is a personal blog. I’ll fix this soon. :)
Note: The above applies to personal blogs. Don’t be stupid in a professional blog.
P.S.: Also see: