Ten Commandments of writing a business bio on social networks

Different social networks have different space provisions and making a standard bio may not work. For example in LinkedIn you get all the space you want but sites like Twitter give you a meager 160 characters to describe yourself in entirety. The smart way to deal with this would be to create site-specific bios. Write a concise introduction about yourself for sites that don¡¯t permit you to say more and a more detailed one for others that want you to say more.

Even though it¡¯s a business bio, it is necessary to establish a personal connection. A profile picture helps you do that and it shows the user two things; a) you are what you claim to be b) you take this social media business seriously. (A picture-less profile, photos of cartoons, celebrities, objects instead of actual photos etc are seen as frivolous, especially in a business bio.)

III: Introduce thyself

Use your full name instead of abbreviations or nick names while creating a profile on your social network. You may be making ¡®friends¡¯ on Facebook or ¡®followers¡¯ on Twitter but remember that you are creating a business bio to make official contacts, even though it is on a casual platform.

IV: Thou shan¡¯t bore

Your business bio should only be a window to your world with concise information which will entice other members on the social network to follow you or add you on. Excess information about every teeny-tiny aspect of your life, may bore members and drive them away instead of leading them to you.

V: Thou shan¡¯t brag

Please remember that it is a business bio that will reflect your personality. Give information that will portray you as successful yet modest. Writing about your love for cars in the ¡®interests¡¯ section is fine, but adding that you have three cars and are in the process of buying a latest model may give you the ¡®he is so pompous¡¯ tag.

VI: Thou shalt be casual

There are no hard and fast rules in social networking but writing in a casual style usually works. Incorporate a touch of friendly humor (nothing offensive, mind you), write in a conversational style and your profile will portray you as a genial person who will make an interesting addition to a friends/followers list.

VII: Thou shalt converse

Describe those aspects of yourself that are likely to stimulate conversation. For example, even though you are the CEO of a company, you obviously will have your favorite activities outside work. List your favorite movies, cuisine, favorite television shows, etc. Shared interests can eventually lead to networking. Give the link to your blog and encourage them to comment on your posts.

VIII: Keywords are thy key to quick visibility

Writing a bio for a social network is tricky because a user will reach your page, either because he knows your profile name or maybe because the website has recommended your profile to him on the basis of certain parameters. However, if neither of the above is possible then you stand to lose out. Including relevant keywords will draw traffic to your blog once your target searches for them.

IX: Thou shalt compare

Other profiles can be a great source of insight about what does and doesn¡¯t work in an online bio. Keep a tab on your competitor¡¯s bios on social networking sites and evaluate yourself. The day your followers, friends or profile visits exceed his, you know you have hit the jackpot.

X: Thou shalt complete thy profile

An incomplete profile is very irritating to users who want to know you better. Ensure all the basic information fields are filled and you can keep updating specific data gradually. Give e-mail ids or other contact details for your target to contact you, if he wishes to. A user is likely to add you to his friends list or follow you once he is convinced about you and your motives. A complete profile facilitates that.

Incorporate these commandments into your business ideas or marketing strategies and become the richest profile with maximum ¡®likes¡¯, ¡®followers¡¯, ¡®recommendations¡¯ and so on.

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