ABOUT PAGE BUILDER 
 

(HOW TO WRITE ABOUT YOU AND STILL MAKE 

IT ABOUT THEM) 
 

LAURA BELGRAY / TALKINGSHRIMP.COM 

 

 
 

You’ve heard the news: your About page is EVERYTHING! 

Ok, n everything. It’s the #2 most visited page on your site. Or, on the average 
site. Yours might n fit into that statistic. But it might. 
Take a step back and think like a new visitor to your site. You’ve looked at the home page. 
What do you do next? Do you go to the About page, or do you go right for the goods?  

I (me, Laura, the one writing this) will probably go to your About page if: 

a) I’m not sure exactly what you do, but I’m intrigued. 
b) I want to see what kind of person you are - would we get along? Do I want to put 
money in your pocket? 
c) I wonder how long you’ve been doing this, and whether you’re a real pro. 
d) I’ve heard so much about you, and I want to see if you’re all that. 

I probably won’t go to your About page if: 

a) I’m there to shop. If I’m looking for a pair of shoes, I only care what shoes you have 
and if they’re in my size and you offer free shipping. Then again, if I were a person 
who shops specifically for eco-conscious or vegan or for-purpose goods, I’d 
definitely visit the About page.  

Bottom line: Your About page is *probably* crucial for selling you. If not crucial, it’s 
at least an opportunity to get someone loving on you that much more.  

You never know who’ll find their way there. 

 
You’ve also probably heard: your About page isn’t about 
YOU! 
Oh, but it is. With a twist: it’s about you as it relates to what your prospect wants, 
and what your prospect wants to know.  
Do they care about your personal background story? 

Depends. 

 
 
 
 
 

For instance, if you sell homemade taffy, they probably don’t care about your struggles with 
depression or your divorce. They want to know why you love taffy, and maybe how you quit 
your law career to make candy by the sea. Did you spend childhood summers at the shore 
with your family? Did you discover as an adult that no one was making taffy the way they 
used to? That’s all relevant.  

But if you’re a weight loss coach, someone probably wants to know your stance on dieting, 
your POV on body size, whether you’ve ever struggled with weight yourself, and whether 
you have a secret weakness for Ben ‘n’ Jerry’s. And, what kind of formal training do you 
have? 

Do they care that you’re passionate about your mission? 

Again, depends.  

First of all, is your mission for real? Is it truly what drives you?  

Don’t make up a mission because you think you have to have one. We’ll see through it. (Is 
your mission really to empower women to look and feel their best, or is it simply to make 
gorgeous handbags that are fancy enough for a wedding but big enough to hold a sweater? 
If it’s the latter, we don’t need a big song and dance about “Our mission.”) 

Second, does your ideal buyer or customer need to feel like a part of something bigger 
when they buy from you? (If yes, include your mission - it’s likely you have one.) 

If not necessarily, don’t sweat this part. If the mission isn’t integral to what you do, don’t use 
precious real estate with it. 

Do they care that you’re good at what you do? 

Oh yes. You bet. You’ll want to show that. 

Do they care about your big “Why”? 

Maybe. If it’s something they agree with, something they want to get behind, or something 
that assures them what they want is possible, then it’s relevant. If your Why is about your 
own work happiness and career path, probably not. 

For instance, if your Why is “Because I wanted a business that lets me spend time with my 
loved ones and do work that uses my talents, and helping you lets me do that,” eh.  

If your Why is “Because everyone should be able to afford glasses” (Warby Parker), then 
they’ll say, “Yay, that means I can afford your glasses. And I’m supporting a good mission, 
too.”  

Do they care that you’ve been to hell and back?  

 
 
 
 
 

Probably only if they’re in hell, and what you do is help them get to “and back.” 

If you make evening bags, they probably don’t care that you overcame crippling adrenal 
fatigue. Or maybe they do. You tell me. 

If you help people overcome crippling adrenal fatigue and you overcame crippling adrenal 
fatigue, now we’re talking. 

Do they care about “fun facts” -- like what TV shows you love, what you like on your 
nachos, or how many pets you have? 

They might. Those facts are, indeed, fun. They make you relatable, especially if you’re going 
for someone who’s like you. If your ideal client is looking to know more about you, these 
little details, however dumb, can help.  

And, they can even be subtle clues to what you value and what makes you great, or the 
right fit for your prospect. I’ll show you an example later on in Elsa’s page.  

Now that we’re thinking about your ideal client and what matters to them, here are 
3 questions that will help you create your About page. 

   

 
 
 
 
 

1) What does your ideal client want to know about you?  

 
Put yourself in their shoes, looking for someone who does or sells what you 
do. Would you be wondering... 
 
➔ Is this person trained and qualified? 
➔ Would this person be fun to work with?  
➔ Was this person just born to do what they do? 
➔ How did they end up doing this job? 
➔ Any awards?  
➔ What’s this person’s approach? Is what they do too hard for me? Will it work? 
➔ I like what this person’s about, but how would I use them?  
➔ How do I know they’re not a sham or scam or serial killer? 
➔ WTF is this place, I’m intrigued but I still don’t get it. 
➔ How is this business any different from all the others I’ve looked at? 
➔ Does this work? Like, really work? 
➔ Does this company share my values? 
➔ Does this person GET ME AND WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH? 
➔ Has this person ever struggled with what I do?  
➔ Are the ingredients safe? 
➔ Does it contain bananas? My 12 pet lizards are all allergic to bananas (except for 
Eddie Lizard, bless that little guy). 
 
Examples: 
You’re a nutritionist who helps people lose weight. 

If you were looking for a weight loss coach, you might wonder: 

➔ What’s her track record with people like me? Do her clients lose weight? 
➔ Will she make me diet? 
➔ Was she ever fat? 
➔ If so, how long has she been not fat? 
➔ Is she patient? Or would she be judgy? 
➔ Does she have any idea how to help someone who’s really busy and doesn’t have all 
day to hand-mill the flour or “source” local ingredients? 
➔ Is she cool? Is she nice? Would we have fun working together? 
➔ Is she certified? I don’t know if it matters, but I’d like to know.  

You offer horse therapy to troubled teens. 

 
 
 
 
 

If you were looking for help for your troubled teen, you might wonder: 

➔ Is this safe? Or is my kid going to break his neck -- he’s already dropped out of 
school, that’s enough trouble. 
➔ Will this really work? Because nothing works. We’ve tried. 
➔ Who is this person running this thing? And why are they so into horses? 
➔ I’m at my wit’s end. Should *I* be the one on the horse? 
➔ Will this be another waste of money? 
➔ Is this for kooks? How do I tell my spouse that I’m now shelling out for our kid, who 
just totalled our car, to ride around on a horse? 
➔ Does this person really “get” teens? Do they have kids? Do they have ANY IDEA? 
➔ WTF is horse therapy? I always thought it was analysis for horses. 

You’re a boutique travel agency who runs tours in, say, Italy. 

If you were looking for a tour, you’d probably want to know: 

➔ Do these people like to travel the way I do? Do they like fancy, or are they fine 
squatting over a hole to go to the bathroom? 
➔ How long have they been doing this? 
➔ What got them into it?  
➔ Do they seem like they’d take good care of me?  
➔ Are they my kind of people?   
➔ How well do they know the place we’re going? 
➔ Are they fluent in Italian? Have they lived in Italy? 
➔ Are they obsessed with churches? Because I’m not / Because I am, too.   

You’re a social media consultant. 

If you were looking for help building a following that buys from you, you’d be like,  

➔ Who’s this person to help me? Do they have a big following? And if not, how do they 
justify helping me? 
➔ What other kinds of clients have they had? And did this work for those clients? 
➔ Is this someone who really knows the ins and outs, or just some 20-year-old who got 
a huge Instagram following because she’s pretty and takes good butt selfies?  
➔ How long has this person been doing this?  
➔ Does this person seem trustworthy? She’s asking for a deposit, and I don’t want 
someone who’s going to take my money and run off to Bali to find herself, leave me 
in the lurch and ghost me. 

You’re a private chef for high-end, VIP dinner parties. 

 
 
 
 
 

If you were looking to hire a private chef for your VIP dinner party, you might want to know: 

➔ Does this person clean up the kitchen, too? 

➔ Would this chef make a good impression when she comes out and tells the guests 
about each dish? 
➔ Is this chef discreet? I don’t want her gossiping to the tabloids about my celebrity 
guests. 
➔ What’s the chef’s work history? Can I brag that she worked with someone like Jean 
Georges or Mario Batali? Or that she trained in Provence? Or won some awards? 
➔ Is the chef flexible when it comes to picky people or allergies? Or is she strident 
about her “point of view”? 
➔ How much do I have to/ get to be involved in the menu planning? I do/ don’t want to 
leave it all up to the chef. 
➔ What kind of cuisine does the chef specialize in? I want someone who’ll make 
anything/ I want someone with a distinct style. 
 
You’re a fine artist. 

If you were looking to buy an expensive painting or photograph for your living room, you 
might want to know: 

➔ What’s the artist’s process? 

➔ What are the artist’s inspirations? Am I right that there’s a nod to Matisse in these, 
with a wink at Magritte? [If your ideal customer knows about art] 
➔ What are the artist’s inspirations? I don’t know anything about art, but I like to buy 
from an artist who does. [If your ideal customer knows nothing about art] 
➔ What’s this work about for the artist?  
➔ Who else collects this artist’s work [If the ideal customer is a serious collector or 
someone who cares if the art goes up in value] 
➔ Where has this artist shown? [If applicable] 
➔ What’s the artist’s story? Is it something I’ll think about every time I look at the work 
in my living room? Or a fun story that I can tell friends when they come over? (“Oh, 
isn’t this photograph great? The artist used to be an orthodontist, now she’s in the 
Tokyo Met.”) 
 
You’re a high-end jewelry maker. 

If you were looking to buy an expensive piece of jewelry, you might want to know: 

➔ What’s the jeweler’s process? 

➔ Where are the materials sourced? 
➔ How long has the jeweler been doing this and how did she start?  
➔ What does jewelry mean to the jewelry maker? (Buyer might not actively be looking 
to know this, but a great story will sink in and make it more special) 
 
 
 
 
 

➔ Is this one-of-a-kind? Hard to get? Something no one else will have? 

➔ Or, has this jewelry been featured in high-end department stores? Press? 
➔ Is there any fun/meaningful story about the inspiration for the collection or how it’s 
made that I could tell when giving it as a gift? Or when someone says “I love that 
necklace”? 
 

Exercise: jot down the things people probably want to know about you and what you 
do/ sell that they don’t know from your homepage. 

2) What do people love finding out about you?  

 
Stories and n facts can show how qualified you are. Or, they might just add 
dimension. They add to the “know, like and trust” factor. 
  
➔ Do you have a “holy sh*t” story? Like, you were once kidnapped? Or you’re a 
siamese twin?  
➔ Is there something fascinating about your life? Like, you have 20 kids and live 
together in an igloo...in Tahiti?  
➔ Did you have a weird or extraordinary problem that you overcame, that relates in 
some way to their problem? (For example, one of my clients helps families with 
loved ones suffering from addiction to get them into rehab. Her dog has been 
kicked out of every dog training school. It’s funny and relatable to people who’ve 
tried to help someone they love over and over.) 
➔ What’s quirky about you? Can you make it relate to your prospect? For instance, if 
you brush your teeth for 10 minutes at a time, can you spin that as an indication 
that you’re thorough? (Don’t sweat the spin part too much, that’s a bonus. The 
fun facts always bring more know, like, trust to the party.) 
 

 
 
 
 
 

Exercise: what quirks, stories, fun facts, and tidbits do people love hearing about 
you? Can you spin any of them to reflect what a great choice you are?  

 
 

3) What would people be thrilled or relieved that you 

“get”?  
Have they been looking for someone who understands… 
 
➔ How confusing the sea of options is?  
➔ How hellish it is to live with their problem? 
➔ That what they want really is important? 
➔ How very badly they want what they want? 
➔ What the real problem is? 
➔ Their doubts and insecurities? 
 
For example:  
 
If you’re a grief counselor, maybe you get that: 
When you’ve lost a loved one, people who mean well say the stupidest things.  
 
If you’re an SAT tutor, maybe you get that: 
The SATs shouldn’t count. But they do. 
 
If you’re a hairdresser, maybe you get that: 
There’s nothing worse than a hairdresser who doesn’t listen. Or having friends say, “Oh you got a 
haircut” instead of “I love your haircut.”  
 
If you’re a wedding photographer, maybe you get that: 

 
 
 
 
 

Everybody has the same photo of a silk shoe, or of groomsmen jumping in a field. It’s the natural 
moments that make your album different, not the staged “quirky” or “artsy” ones. 
 
If you’re an online business manager or VA, maybe you get that: 
You know that to scale, you have to delegate. But the first thing you’d like to delegate, is 
delagating.  
 
If you sell high-end, nice-looking baby items, maybe you get that: 
You’d give anything for your kids. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up nice things. 

Exercise: What point of view, problem or wish would your client be thrilled or 
relieved to find out you get? 

 
 
 
 
 

 
GOOD JOB. NOW DECIDE WHICH IS THE MOST RELEVANT, 
IMPORTANT STUFF AND START WITH THAT. 
Remember, you don’t have to tell EVERYTHING. Just what you most need them to 
know.  
 
How to structure this puppy?  
 

 
 
 
 
 

Here are 2 different structure styles you can steal -- one simple, one more 
complex and narrative. 
 
STRUCTURE STYLE 1 
 
FAQS - THE EASY, NO-STRUCTURE STRUCTURE 
Overwhelmed by writing your About page?  

Wish someone would just ask you questions, and you could answer them? 

Then...here you go. Ask yourself the questions. 

HEADLINE:  

“[FUN QUESTION HERE]” and other FAQs 

BODY:  

Who are you? 

What is this place? 

Why should I care? 

Is it true [FUN FACT HERE]? 

How come [THING YOU WANT TO BRAG ABOUT HERE]? 

I’m in. What should I do next? 

 
Example: 
“What if I’ve never used an oven?” and other FAQs 

Who are you? 

I’m Brad, the world’s first Banana Bread Performance Coach.  

I’m from a small island off of Nova Scotia where imported fruit was illegal during my 
childhood. You had to buy bananas on the black market, and they were so expensive, I 
didn’t try one until I was 20 and visited New York. Bananas at every deli! I thought Bananas 
grew there. 

 
 
 
 
 

A dentist for 10 years, I quit at 35 to become a baker and open my own shop, The Nova 
Banana Bakery. Due to childhood deprivation, I was understandably obsessed with 
bananas - banana cream pie, banana tarte, and, most of all, banana bread. Without my 
knowing, a friend stood in line, bought one of my famous banana bread loafs, and entered 
it in a county fair competition. It won first prize.  

I started entering more contests, and winning all of them handily. When fellow competitors 
begged me to share my secret, I retired my crown and began coaching them.   

What is this place? 

This is the place for competitive banana bread makers. If you want to shine the county 
champion in the banana bread competition, or just outdo the class supermom at the PTA 
bake sale, I’m here with all the training and resources you need.  

Why should I care? 

Because banana bread is a nice dessert. But in the right hands -- yours -- it can be a 
transcendent, life-changing experience. Yes, you can change the world, one prize-winning 
loaf at a time. 

Is it true your first words were “banana bread”? 

That’s a rumor. My mom likes to tell people that, but in truth, she didn’t want me to know 
banana bread existed. Only the richest family in town could afford it. My first words were 
actually “smoked salmon.”  

What if I’ve never used an oven? Can you teach me? 

I could, but as a beginner, you’ll find way less costly coaching elsewhere. Here’s a talented 
colleague who teaches beginners.   

How come 40,000 people are obsessed with you? 

When my memoir, So Good it’s Bananas, became an international bestseller, fans came out 
of the woodwork and followed me on every platform. 40k of them have signed up for my 
free guide, 5 Habits of Banana Bread Champions. You can get it here - it’s free! 

I want to learn from you. What should I do next? 

Check out my coaching and courses here. Let’s go bananas! 

STRUCTURE STYLE 2 
 

 
 
 
 
 

“START WITH A BANG” STRUCTURE 

This is a more narrative style, great for making a compelling argument that you’re The One 
for your ideal customer or client. It takes more writing finesse, but takes the reader along 
for a ride while you persuade them. 

 
1) [HEADLINE THAT STARTS THE PAGE WITH A BANG, ADDRESSING THE MOST EXCITING 
POINT FOR YOUR IDEAL CLIENT/ CUSTOMER ] 
 
2) Expand on that line with an explanation. 
 
3) If necessary, a bridge line like, “here are some other things you should know” or “but 
what you really want to know is... 
 
4) The other points you’ve decided are exciting/ important/ compelling for your ideal client/ 
customer, broken up with bold sub-headers. 
 
5) Call to action! What do you want the person to do? Check out your services? Learn more? 
Sign up for a freebie? Make sure to end with that. 
 
Some examples of how to start and establish a flow that works in all the things you 
need to say on your About page (pages not all shown in full, they’re to give you an 
sense of how to start this beast -- the hardest part). 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
   
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

HOW LONG IS AN ABOUT PAGE? 

That’s kind of like asking, “How tall is a building?” or “How big is a bowl of 
spaghetti?”  
First of all, a bowl of spaghetti should always be enormous.  

But when it comes to your About page, it’s a personal choice. It all depends on how much 
information you feel you need to share in order to persuade, connect with, and win over 
your ideal client or buyer. 

Here’s a roundup of different-length About pages.  

 
SHORTY: ERIC MICHAEL PEARSON 
We’ve already seen that he takes great photos. Some are celebs. There’s cred all over his 
gallery. He doesn’t give you much more info than that. His About just tells us what he likes 
and how he started -- in a charming, minimal way.  

(Eric’s is the only one in this roundup that doesn’t have Talking Shrimp’s fingerprints on it. 
But, other than wanting a call to action, it gets the Talking Shrimp stamp of approval.)  
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

MEDIUM: ELSA ISAAC 

Elsa’s does two jobs: tell us what kind of stylist she is, so we know whether she’s the one for 
us. And, gives random fun facts. Some are merely quirky/ personal, and some subtly give us 
more info about her as a stylist -- especially the 1st one. If you’re intimidated or turned off 
by the fashion industry, #1 will put you at ease.  
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

SUPER LONG: ADRIENNE RICHARDSON 

 

Her About page tells us everything we might be wondering: 

Do I really need her? 

How does she stand out from other people who claim to be experts at FB ads? 
Exactly how experienced is she?  
What does she know about business? Does she have real business experience from before 
she started doing online stuff? 
Is she a relatable person? Would I like working with her? 

All of it, answered below.  

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
RANDO: GET HEALTHY U’S TOTALLY DIFFERENT, AT-A-GLANCE ABOUT PAGE 
This website has multiple About pages. This one is for the company, not the individual 
founder (she has one, too). This page shows it’s a human kind of place that cares about 
getting you the results you want, and that “we” -- the company -- can relate to all those 
desires. 

The layout makes it simple to read.  

 

   

 
 
 
 
 

So? What are you all about?  

Tell the world -- get to writing that About page  
 
And remember -- my way’s not the only way. Sure, there’s only one you, but there’s no one 
way to write about you. Go!