Everyone desires and deserves to look good in his or her professional space. Whether it’s on LinkedIn or attending a business event, you ensure to look good in front of others. And why not? You are constantly being judged on the basis of how you present yourselves to the world. Hence, you take grooming seriously. But, many of you constantly overlook an area that deserves much more attention. It’s how you look on paper. Precisely speaking, it is your professional bio. And if you think that how many people go through such things (if you have one)? I’ll say that there are lots of people scanning it. And even if you are not taking it seriously, they are (I assure you that).
Professional bios are much more visible than your resumes. You can use it on LinkedIn, Twitter, on your blog or website, as an author bio and any place where you need to present yourself. In a nutshell, professional bio is your juju to empower your professional network.
Well, you can find out how to create a five-star professional bio by clicking here. But before that, you should see some examples of first-rate professional bios. They are less in number but certainly inspiring. Continue to read.
1. Mark Levy
Mark Levy (he founded Levy Innovations) has different bios (they differ in length) for different purposes. Here is a shorter version of his professional bio. Have a look at it:-
“Mark Levy is the founder of Levy Innovation, a marketing strategy firm. David Meerman Scott has called him “a positioning guru extraordinaire,” and Debbie Weil referred to him as “a horse whisperer for writers and business thinkers.” He has written for The New York Times, and has written or co-created five books. His latest is a revised, expanded, and re-subtitled edition of his bestseller, Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content. Mark also creates magic tricks and shows. His work has been performed Off-Broadway, in Las Vegas, and on all the major television networks. Visit him and read his blog at levyinnovation.com.”
2. Ann Hardley
Another wizard from the marketing world, Ann Hardley, has her awesome manner of telling things about herself without bragging too much. She has got the credentials to build a lengthy list but as she keeps it short and smart to keep the audience interested in her. Have a look at her bio on her website:-
“Ann Handley is a veteran of creating and managing digital content to build relationships for organizations and individuals. Ann is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (September 2014, Wiley) and co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (2011, Wiley). She is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs; a LinkedIn Influencer; a keynote speaker, mom, and writer.”
You can also see the shorter and longer version of her bios at the same place.
3. Lena Alexson
A professional bio is not at all different from a persuasive article and Lena Alexson proves it through a very engaging professional bio. A Family and Marriage Therapist by profession, Lena uses first person narrative in the entire bio and describes beautifully about herself.
The text is written below:-
“__When human beings experience trauma or severe life stressors, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel. My great passion is bringing healing to people who have been through a traumatic/stressful experience. I help my clients, who include children, adults and families, to find healthy perceptions of themselves and strengthen their relationships so they can know themselves as peaceful, complete, whole and safe.
I know that no single approach is the right one for every individual, and so I have been trained in a range of modalities including Relational Gestalt Therapy, Gestalt Play Therapy, Somatic Experiencing and NARM somatic approaches to the treatment of trauma
My educational background includes a MA in Counseling Psychology and a Doctor in Clinical Psychology from Ryokan College in Los Angeles. I have a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Stockholm, Sweden a graduate certificate in Gestalt Psychotherapy from the University of Derby in the U.K.
Call or Email Lena Axelsson for a free phone consultation now - (831) 216-6727.”
4. Laura Zigman
Laura has a good sense of humour and that reflects in her professional bio. She takes the help of third person narrative to describe her journey as a blogger and a novelist. Here is how she does it:-
“Laura Zigman grew up in Newton, Massachusetts (where she felt she never quite fit in), and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (where she didn’t fit in either) and the Radcliffe Publishing Procedures Course (where she finally started to feel like she fit in).
She spent ten years working (slaving away) in New York in book publishing where she was a (much-abused under-appreciated) publicist for Times Books, Vintage Books, Turtle Bay Books, Atlantic Monthly Press, and Alfred A. Knopf.
After moving to Washington, D.C. (because she was burnt out and didn’t know where else to go) and working briefly as a project manager for The Smithsonian Associates (she had a cubicle) and a consultant for Share Our Strength, an anti-poverty non-profit group (she didn’t even have a cubicle), she (finally) finished her first novel (that she’d been writing in her “spare time” for the last five years).
(The thinly-disguised autobiographical novel) Animal Husbandry was published in 1998 by The Dial Press and became a national bestseller. It was published in fourteen countries (or more, she’s not sure — see here) and in 2001 the film based on the book, Someone Like You, (they changed the title at the last minute because they were afraid people wouldn’t “get” the meaning of the original title — not that she’s complaining or anything) starring Ashley Judd and (excuse her while she drools) Hugh Jackman, was released by Fox 2000. Her second (thinly-disguised autobiographical) novel, Dating Big Bird, also published by The Dial Press, came out in 2000, and her third (thinly disguised autobiographical) novel, Her, published by Knopf (where she once worked — an exquisite irony), followed in 2002. Her latest (thinly-disguised autobiographical) novel, Piece of Work, to be published by Warner Books on September 25, 2006 (finally, after four long years in between books — maybe her parents will now leave her alone), is based on her (horrific but entertaining) experiences as a publicist and has been optioned by Tom Hanks’ production company, Playtone Pictures, with My Big Fat Greek Wedding’s Nia Vardalos (luff her) set to write the screenplay and star in the movie (please God let that happen).
She currently lives outside Boston (in the same town she grew up in — how weird is that? — and where she now feels like fits in) with her husband and young son.”
You can find other versions of Laura’s bio in Huffington Post and Twitter.
5. Jacob Cass
Jacob Cass has a got an impressive professional bio. The graphic designer has also got great credentials like Anna and has listed them with creativity. Not too much of talking. Help yourself with his bio.
“Hello, my name is Jacob Cass and I am the founder of JUST Creative which is my design studio and graphic design blog.
I specialize in logo design, branding, web design and offer design services to businesses of all sizes around the world, ultimately improving their bottom line by crafting creative solutions to their business problems. Shoot me a quick email to see how I can help you!
Past clients have included the likes of Disney, Nintendo, Jerry Seinfeld and hundreds more. Feel free to read some lovely testimonials from them.
I hold a Bachelor of Visual Communication (Graphic Design Major) from The University of Newcastle, Sydney, Australia with a Dean’s Recommendation of Honours, and have over 15 years of experience in the field with multiple awards under my belt, including the ‘Best of Brand Design‘ awarded by LinkedIn.
I’m a digital nomad and I travel the world while freelancing & blogging (currently up to 80+ countries). You can see my current location on my travel blog, JUST Globetrotting. Rest assured, my clients are always my first priority.
Please do check out my graphic design portfolio and get in touch especially if you’re in need of a distinctive brand identity.”
Lastly, I like to be surprised and surprise others.
So, here’s a section to show you how cool an About Us page of a company can be (I couldn’t resist to show it to you as I am in love with it).
To get more of it, click on the source.
Hence, these are some great bios I would like to share with you. Hope it will helps to carve your first-rate professional bio in mind and paper. If you want to learn how to create them, refer to the link provided in the introduction.
A last piece of advice: First person narrative or third person narrative, it doesn’t matter as long as your content is interesting. Consider your professional bio as as any other write up and make sure that it’s interesting. Also, do not brag too much about yourselves and annoy your audience. Rest of the things will follow.
Thank you for reading!