ROX A N N E M CCA RT Y - O ’KA N E
CONFESSIONS OF A ghost writer Putting U back in business. How much of yourself do you share in your business? If the answer is “not much,” you may be unintentionally disconnecting from potential clients.
This was the theme of the Leverage Your Business Story presentations I conducted across the Sunshine Coast, educating business owners on the importance of remembering you ARE your business. I’ve found people can fall into the trap of feeling like they have to separate themselves from their business. It is an old way of thinking and one I was definitely guilty of when I left fulltime employment to start ghostwriting. We believe putting on a professional front will make us more attractive to our potential clients, but the trend now more than ever is towards authenticity and connection. Being your true self in person, online and in print is going to win the day every time.
One of the most prominent ways we can tell our stories is through the About page on your website. There have been many studies into the efficiency and importance of About pages and findings show more than half of the people who visit your website will click through to your About page. The reason for this is simple, they are looking for connection. They already know about your product or service, that’s why they are visiting your website in the first place. But now, they want to know more about the people behind the product or service. 72 ISSUE 101
They want to know who you are, what drives you, what your ethos and priorities are, why you were driven to establish your business. It is the human element more than half of your website visitors are looking for. If you don’t have an About page yet, make this a priority for your 2022 content creation! When the internet did not exist, most business transactions occurred after a personal meeting. People would talk to a sales manager or business owner to establish that vital connection. These days, the vast majority of business is done online. This is a reason why the About page should be communicating much more than just your business’ services and how long you have been operating. If you have just thrown up a stock-standard About page that doesn’t dare to tell your story and the story of your employees, you are wasting this valuable connection point. People are not only looking to see whether you can solve their problem and establish your credibility, they are also seeking connection to you personally, whether you ‘get’ them and if you share similarities in value systems or background. All of these components build trust, which is the golden ingredient to convert them to clients.
So how do you write a compelling and authentic About page? As a former journalist and the Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network Micro/
Small Businesswoman of the Year, I know the same principles for nonfiction book writing can be used for your About page. Make sure to answer the questions Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How? to build the base of your storytelling. It’s time to flip the mindset that you are writing about your business so that you are looking at writing it about the people behind the business. So now it’s time to open the curtains a little and let people know about you! The same principles apply if you decide to take your connection a step further and venture into becoming an author, to create a whole new platform for your business and generate a platform for you to tell even more of your authentic story in the pages of your own book. It is a guaranteed way to expand the reach of your potential client base far beyond the confines of your About page or website. If this is the next step you have been searching for, visit www.roxannewriter.com.au ca
www.roxannewriter.com.au Facebook: facebook.com/roxannewriter Instagram: @roxannewriter
