An “About Page” Formula That Draws Them In

Sharing your story on your website is incredibly important. But most people erroneously fill their About Page on their website with credibility and personal experience in their travels. They mistakenly think that if website visitors see how much they have traveled the world and how many certifications they have, the prospect will magically trust them and want to do business with them.

Well that is all wrong.  Guess what? People want to do business with people they know, like and trust. So when it comest to your About Page on your website (the 2nd most commonly visited website page after the home page) it’s vitally important to share your story. Let them know your “Why.” The reason? It’s how you connect with your prospects. It’s also how you build your credibility. Believe it or not, credibility is built through vulnerability.

I once had a client who thought she was sharing her story, but she was skipping important (vulnerable) details, like beating a deathly illness.  She recently told her entire sales story – including the not-so-pretty parts she had been skipping. Within days, she had 4, brand-new inquiries for the exact travel product she wanted to sell, luxury river cruises.

Even though you are a business owner and feel like you need to keep that corporate, professional mask on, it’s time for you to dig deep and put together a core sales story that sells. And that means one full of exposing yourself. Because it makes you real to your potential clients. Dale Carnegie, in his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” talks about the fact that people automatically don’t like strangers, but they DO like you when they feel they know you. So sharing your story is the first step in Winning Friends and Influencing People. When you share something vulnerable about yourself, they feel like they know you and it instantly draws them in to liking you.

Think about it.  If you are standing in line, annoyed, surrounded by complete strangers, and someone makes a joke that shows they are a super fan of the same team for which you are a super fan, don’t you feel a kinship? Doesn’t that draw you in?

When it comes to writing your About Page, the first question to ask yourself is “what has travel done for me that I want to share with other people?”  In my situation when I became a travel agent, I knew that traveling to Africa literally changed my life. Before my first trip there, I pre-judged what Africa would be like as a travel experience. My judgement lead me to believe I wouldn’t like it nor want it on my list of must-see places.

I was wrong.  I traveled there because I was invited to a wedding and I couldn’t really say no. I was blown away (in a good way) from the moment I walked off the plane. The food was phenomenal. The decor was sophisticated. The service was warm and over-the-top. The people were magnetic. I have never experienced a level of luxury as amazing as my experiences in Africa.

But it was the intangibles that had the greatest positive affect. The energy of Africa contains a beauty that you can’t put into words. Colors are brighter, flavors are more intense, the wildlife encounters rekindle connection with your higher power, and the people will touch you in ways you can’t imagine. I came back a different, better person. more than that, I returned a convert. It’s true that once Africa gets in your blood, you can’t get it out. And I wanted to tell everybody I knew about the “best kept secret in travel.” Not only had I been missing out on it, an entire nation was missing out.

The above was my story on my About Page. But also, I shared it in ALL my marketing and to anyone who would listen. The best way to write your story is to map it out following this helpful formula:

 B      Before – Begin with the before part of your story. For me, that was before my first trip to Africa.

C      Conflict or Turning Point – my conflict was that I didn’t desire traveling to Africa, but I felt obligated to attend a wedding of some very important people in my life;

 D     Discovery – my discovery was that Africa was everything I thought it wasn’t – in a good way. I knew there were lots of other Americans that misunderstood Africa as a travel destination, and I felt like I had just discovered the best kept secret in travel.

R      Result – the result was the best vacation I have ever had in my life. The result was being touched in a way that no other travel experience came close to doing.

R      Return – this is where you want to share it with others. I did. I really felt like it was my mission to share Africa with people because they were getting the wrong message from places like the media.