Business and Biographies

By:  Holly S. Reslink, CPCC, CPRW

As an Executive, you understand the importance of setting yourself apart from the competition.  From day one, you created unique and powerful ways to showcase your abilities to clients, coworkers, and managers.  In addition, you must continuously reinforce within your own mind that you are powerful, accomplished, and capable … something we all must do regularly to continue to excel in this challenging market!  One invaluable tool in the quest for impressive marketing material: An Executive Biography.

A biography is used for many purposes, including:       

ü      Educating others on your unique “brand,” current position, professional history and accomplishments, as well as the value you bring to the client and organization.

ü      Positioning you within the company—defining who you are and what you offer.

ü      Leveraging your key accomplishments to promote your capabilities.

Let’s be logical.  Before a potential client feels comfortable hiring anyone, whether it’s for financial planning, consulting, coaching, or whatever you’re offering, they need to establish trust.  How do you gain someone’s confidence within minutes—even before you meet?  You will grow trust through a series of simple, yet necessary steps.  As professionals, you must first educate your clients or prospective employers on who you are as a business person, and then offer them a glimpse into who you are as an individual. 

What about a résumé—isn’t that good enough?

We have other options for “selling” ourselves.  How about a résumé?  But wait.  Is a résumé really the only appropriate document you hand to a client?  What about networking?  A professional résumé has its place—that’s for sure—but, a bio is the tool of choice when you’re marketing yourself to the world.  Your bio will serve as a complement to additional self-marketing materials—in some instances, this supplemental material will include your résumé and cover letter, along with your bio.  Typically, you will want a complete career package when applying to a new company or for a promotion.  

For our purposes, a professionally-prepared bio is an exceptional tool if you’re a consultant, financial expert, service provider, or if you are being considered for membership to an association or on a board of directors.  A biography adds credibility to any business venture, as well as proposals, funding requests, or company websites by publicizing your many positive attributes, focused direction, and credentials.

How are bios written?

Biographies are written in a narrative, paragraph format, and unlike résumés, they are approximately one-half to one full page, and in the third-person voice.  A bio is a beautiful overview of your career, created with the goal of meeting the needs of the audience.  In other words, if a bio is well-written, it speaks to the reader—if a person is in sales, it “sells”; if a person is an executive, it provides a career overview and offers unique qualities and leadership attributes; if a person is an artist, it exemplifies the artist’s passion for the craft.  The bio may be a combination of all of these things.  NOT ALL BIOS ARE CREATED EQUAL.

By using your name throughout the document, the bio is presented as if written by someone other than yourself, putting you on a first-name basis with the reader.  A bio should be inspired and intelligent, presenting you as a consummate professional with exciting verbiage, while remaining humble.  How is that accomplished?  Easy.  Be honest, confident, and creative.

The residual “branding” effect of a great bio

You are ready to create your biography … now what?  The greatest and most rewarding aspect of developing a bio is taking an inventory of your brand.  This introspective exercise will have ripple effects throughout all aspects of your career and personal life.  When your bio is complete you should be able to read it in awe of yourself and your accomplishments.  As you review of your education, personal and professional development, and your many successes, you will emerge victorious.  And it doesn’t matter if you are new to your job or industry, even if you were just licensed yesterday and you are hanging your shingle out today, the time is right to begin to formulate your brand and establish a path.  This is accomplished through the creation of a professional biography.