Some of my favourite songs are those that are able to convey a storyline worthy of a full feature length movie in only a few minutes.
There’s the eternal Kenny Rogers (yes, I like Kenny and won’t hear anything negative about that) with Ruby don’t take your love to town.
More recently, and while it’s not as powerful as Ruby, I still love the simple and beautiful story in Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.
And the shocking (well I found it shocking the first time I listened to it) All I wanna do is make love to you by Heart.
This got me thinking, if a musical artist can convey that much of a story line in such a compressed time, so too can a business in their marketing materials. For my money, the “about us” page on your website is the best place to start.
One of my favourite corporate about us pages is that of the recently aquired Zappos. Check it out to see how they’ve incorporated testimonials, video, social networking, blogs and more.
Even on twitter where you’ve got only a few tiny characters for your bio, http://twitter.com/caseystevens got my attention with hers (although I don’t know if I agree with the ugg boots):
• Bio Yes to: Marketing, Dancing, Dogs, Pina Coladas. No to: Brussel sprouts, violence, wearing ugg boots outside
Check out this fabulous article to see a few more wacky but story filled examples.
Here’s a simple checklist for your website’s about us page:
• Does it adequately convey the personality of you / your organisation?
• What else can you do to link it to your social media output (twitter, facebook, linked in etc) • Does it help people get to your blog (er… do you have a blog?)
• Could it link or show testimonials?
• Can it help me find your team bios?
• Is it current and up to date?
• Does it link to the other pages on your website?
• Have you missed anything “bragworthy” – awards, qualifications etc?
• Is it visually appealing?
• Is there anything on there that would make me want to tell someone else to check out that page? Now, I’m leaving now ‘cos you just heard the slamming of the door (if this doesn’t make sense then I humbly request you start listening to more Kenny Rogers!) I’m off to work on updating my about us pages… how ‘bout you?
Also If you know of any great “about us” pages, please put them in the comments here, I’m always up for seeing fabulous examples.
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can www.unleashedknowledge.com) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Kirsty’s current projects include www.reallysold.com which helps real estate agents write amazing ads, Elephant Property www.elephantproperty.com.au a boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners, Baby Teresa www.baby-teresa.com a baby clothing line that donates a baby outfit to a baby in need for each one sold. Find out more about Kirsty at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
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