Great now write a bio to tell the world about yourself

Writing Author Biography Sample

The Importance of a Good Biography

Having an excellent bio is crucial for both, published and unpublished authors. A good bio is a unique way to let the reader know about yourself. However, if you haven’t published anything yet, having a good bio ready for when you do it will save you tons of time. A well-written biography that includes the most relevant information about yourself briefly, can help you connect with the reader. And our biography writing services can help you with that.

It is also an excellent way to market yourself and let people know about your writing interests and published texts or your career trajectory. A good bio can also help you connect with a broader audience. It can help you reach new markets and connect with new readers. Thus, it is vital you ensure your biography is well-written, that it doesn’t contain any language mistakes, and that it is readable. A good bio is mandatory for every published author. Otherwise, the reader will not be able to get to know you.

A well-written bio can be published as part of your book, for PR purposes, on your personal website, or resume. But even if you are an unpublished author, a good bio can help you market yourself. By including your career trajectory, personal projects and what you are working on, the reader will be able to know about your interests and motivations. Thus, make sure yours include all the necessary information about yourself and your own projects.

Prepare Yourself before Writing Your Biography

Before starting to write your biography, or hiring someone else to do it, there are a few things you should prepare in advance. Gathering all the relevant information ahead of the writing process will help you ensure your bio is relevant. For this, think of what you would like people to know about you. Would you want to include all your published content or just the ones that are more important to you? Do you think they should know about your academic and career trajectory or is it better if you focus on your writing?

Deciding these things in advance will help you save tons of time. However, if you are looking for some inspiration to start writing your biography, take a look at our sample author bio for book that our professional writers have written. Even though this is an example for a book, you can get an idea of the sort of information you should include and the format you should follow.

If you are writing a bio for an online site, you can also add some keywords that will help your text rank higher in rank results. Whatever platform you will be publishing your bio on, there are some common things you will need to ensure it is perfect and that it delivers the results you are looking for. Our professional writers have listed a few things you should think about and do before start writing your bio:

Create the Perfect Bio as an Author

Writing the perfect bio can be a daunting task. You will need to focus on many little details and include all the relevant information about yourself while keeping your biography brief and interesting. To give you an idea of an excellent bio, you can read our short author bio examples. Those have been written by our professional and skilled writers, so you can follow the same format and use them as a guide when writing your biography. Our professional writers have also listed the steps you need to follow when writing your bio. Take a look at them:

Author Biography Sample Online with Us

Author biography sample provided online by our team is definitely a great help for the upcoming writers. Nowadays, all authors are establishing their profiles at the various popular social networking sites. These profiles at the social networking sites along with a well-written bio can gain good attention for the writer as well as for the books too. You can follow all the available author biography writing examples online for this purpose. Nowadays biography writing has taken a new style that is writing in second person format. You can see this format in our author bio sample mentioned below. Biography written in the right format only can get you recognition as well as a value too. It is highly important now to have the bio in the best way like others and make it far special than others too.

Differences between a Biography for a Published and an Unpublished Author

If you are writing a bio, you should know there are slight differences between a bio for a published author and one for an unpublished writer. Even though both will need to tell the relevant information about an author, like personal projects and career trajectory, as well as their personal details, you will need to focus on some points or others. For example, for an unpublished author bio, you will need to highlight the personal projects you are working on, personal interests and career/academic trajectory. On the other hand, a biography for a published author should focus on the published content rather than the personal projects.

And there are other differences as well. A published author may have more experience than an unpublished one. Thus, a published author can make more emphasis on their career rather than their academic background. But for an unpublished author, it should be the other way around. Their academic trajectory is a strong point in their bio. Recreating it a little bit more will help them connect with the reader. Summing up:

Author Bio Sample

John Smith has been freelance writer for more than 7 years and an established publisher too. He started as a writer for a popular online magazine through writing on Finance and investment topics. During initial days, the response received towards his writings was very little and down the line writer groomed himself into a promising author through sharpening his skills to a great extent. Now, his articles and published books are hot with receiving huge attention from all. Importantly, his published books are helping a lot for the new entrepreneurs through guiding them more about the finances and investments in right manner. Education background of the John Smith is post-graduation in Finance from the University of Nebraska. He was a good student during his studies and worked in major MNCs after his post-graduation. He started writing columns in online magazines on the Finance topics while working in a New York MNC. Slowly, he realized his interest for writing than the job he was holding by that time. Decided to take up writing on full time as freelance and proceeded too. His freelance writing was initially not proven as that lucrative like his old job.

John continued freelance writing though it is not lucrative financially. Down the line, his writings started to attract readers in huge and he started to obtain attention worldwide too through his online articles. He realized that the most of the attention he was getting is from the entrepreneurs. Very often it happened to him to speak with his audiences through online mediums such as social networking sites. These interactions made him to understand furthermore the woes of the upcoming and new entrepreneurs. Then, he decided writing exclusive for this particular fan base and his first book received light from the Amazon in the form of e-book.

His first book publishing in the form of e-book really gave him good encouragement and this book was in top 10 list of Amazon for almost one year in the Finance category too. He started writing furthermore books on the right investment and right finance practices for the business and upcoming entrepreneurs. All his books were good hits and popular online. Many business owners read these books and found their mistakes along with the needed correction from the book too. Now, John Smith is a popular and well established publisher in the finance field and not any longer a freelance writer too.

John Smith as an author requires no introduction online through his gained popularity from the published books. His books are nowadays available from all popular e-book selling channels like Amazon, Apple iBooks store, Barnes Noble, Kobo and many more. Now, he is the role model for the upcoming writers and definitely his life store is a lesson to learn for all present-day freelance writers too. His professional career graph as Finance Manager in a big MNC may not be a right match for his ability to write well and the decision made by him to be a writer the biggest life changer for him always.

Writing a Good Bio Can Be a Daunting Task

People would expect you to write a brief creative bio if you are an author. They would be expecting more from you. However, selling yourself can be tricky. You can seem too egocentric if you do it too directly, or you may be failing at it if you are to shy. Finding the right balance can prevent you from writing a creative and relevant bio. Thus, contacting a professional bio writer is the perfect solution.

Our expert team of creative writers know their way around biographies and can help you tailor an interesting and relevant biography. They have excellent writing skills that help them write original bios based on your personal story and resume. To get a glimpse of our work, you can read our author biography sample. Plus, you should know that some benefits come with choosing our services. For example:

How to Write a Professional Bio for Any Situation—Without the Stress

How many times have you sat in front of a blank screen staring at the pesky cursor, wondering why it’s so hard to write about yourself? I’ll bet it’s more than once. Contemplating who you are as a human being is an exercise in mental (or existential?) gymnastics. And if you’re trying to write a professional bio, you’re trying to distill who you are and what you do in a way that’s compelling to recruiters, hiring managers, colleagues, potential clients, and other contacts all at once—so it can feel ramped up to Simone-Biles-floor-routine-difficulty levels.

SEARCH OPEN JOBS ON THE MUSE! See who’s hiring here, and you can even filter your search by benefits, company size, remote opportunities, and more. Then, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll deliver advice on landing the job right to you.

Your professional bio is, arguably, the most important text you’ll ever write about yourself. It’s the first introduction to who you are, what you do, and what you’re interested in—whether it’s for a social media platform, a personal website, or company team page. What you choose to highlight may play a role in others deciding to follow you, call you in for an interview, or invite you to participate in an event. It’s an opportunity for you to—in a few lines—showcase your work, competence, and areas of expertise. So you’d better stick the landing.

But don’t worry too much: You don’t have to be the Simone Biles of LinkedIn to write a professional bio. We’ve gathered the steps, template, examples, and bonus tips you’ll need to write a bio for any occasion.

We’ll get to the good stuff shortly (read: the template and examples), but before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, there are a few things you should know—about yourself.

Your bio shouldn’t be a laundry list of accomplishments, but a window into the person behind the accolades. You’re more than your most recent position (especially if you have a trendy startup title; I’m looking at you, ninjas and rock stars), so think about the strengths that make you good at what you do and the qualities that make you unique. These are what you want the person reading your bio to come away knowing.

If you’re drawing a blank, try to answer these questions before you start writing:

Once you’ve got all that down, you’re ready to get it into your professional bio.

The template below is designed to help you write a “master” professional bio that you can then tweak for different situations. This template is meant to offer you a general framework only—if you find that you need to add an extra couple of sentences or determine that a section we’ve included doesn’t feel relevant to how you wish to present yourself, feel free to tweak it.

[Name] is a [role] who [how you help clients, customers, or your employer] by [something unique about your process or output]. [First name] [knows/believes] [what you know/believe about the work you do].

[First name] has [landed/secured/garnered/worked at/supported/mastered] [insert your most compelling experiences, accomplishments, and skills]. Currently [he/she/they] is/are [working toward/studying/planning to] [your next professional goal or some way you’re developing as a professional].

[First name] is [trained/certified/awarded] in [relevant trainings, awards, honors, etc]. [First name] holds a [ degree] in [area of study] from [University].

When [he/she/they] is not [brief phrase that describes what you do], [First Name] [can be found/enjoys] [brief description of compelling interests or hobbies you’d like to share].

Here’s an example of how this template could look filled in:

Matthew Chang is a social media manager who excels at creating campaigns and posts for nonprofits that make followers take action by combining strong writing and design with insights about the org’s audience. Matthew believes that the right post, seen at the right time, can inspire people who believe in a nonprofit’s mission to help the causes they care about and ultimately allow that org to make a bigger impact.

Matthew holds a HubSpot Social Media Certification, and has taken several graphic design courses through The New School. They hold a bachelor’s degree from UCLA where they double majored in marketing and English.

When they’re not crafting social media campaigns, Matthew can be found biking around the city with their chihuahua Kyra on their back (don’t worry, the pup has a tiny helmet!) or taking in a Broadway show.

Now that you have your “master professional bio,” you’ll want to tweak it for different situations.

For each iteration of your bio, imagine a specific reader and what they’d want to know about you, and then write for them. For instance, let’s say you’re on an alumni panel for your college. Student attendees will want to know what they should be doing now to get the career you have. In this case, your bio should reflect less of your day-to-day work responsibilities and more of the past campus activities, classes, and early-career internships and jobs that led you to where you are.

We’ve outlined specific advice for some of the most common scenarios where you’ll need to write a professional bio below—along with examples.

1. Your LinkedIn summary

Start by identifying how you use—or would like to use—LinkedIn. Are you content with your job, but looking to expand your network? Are you trying to attract recruiters?

Whatever you’re seeking, your LinkedIn summary should support your activity on the site; a profile focused on networking within the industry will read differently than that of someone aggressively hunting for a new job. Once you’ve identified your purpose, it will be much easier to tweak the above template for your LinkedIn summary. You’ll still want to lead with your position and other info from the first paragraph of the bio template. Then move onto whatever skills or accomplishments are most relevant to your LinkedIn goals. Last, share those goals.

Here’s an example of a LinkedIn summary that follows this strategy:

As a field sales manager with over eight years of experience driving market share growth in designated territories, I have mastered the ins and outs of pharmaceutical sales and territorial prospecting. After honing and executing these specialties to reach numerous company goals, I was honored with an invitation to join the National Marketing Council. Now, I spend the majority of my time brainstorming sales strategies and connecting with other industry professionals who are interested in talking shop.

You can always add supporting content on either side of this skeleton paragraph, such as a personal anecdote, previous positions, or a mission statement. If you need a bit more inspiration, look to your recommendations for outside opinions on what makes you special.

2. Your Twitter bio

Even a snappy, 160-character bio can help set you apart. To write a great bio for social media, grab the first two sentences of the bio we just drafted. We’ve crammed a lot of great info in there: who you are, what you do, who you do it for, how you do it, and what you believe about the work you do. Then make sure you’re stating it as succinctly as possible. Finally, squeeze in your pizazz. Key word: squeeze. Don’t focus on unrelated quirks or superfluous details.

Software engineering whiz @Belly spreading nuggets of coding gold related to mobile applications. 8-year member of @IEEEorg, aspiring member of The Avengers.

If you’re looking to create a more serious social presence, though, you may choose to leave out the pizazz while including all the same important info:

Proud 8-year member of @IEEEorg and lead software engineer @Belly. Passionate about innovations in coding and mobile applications.

3. Your company website blurb

A bio for your company website (like on a team or staff page) is where you can opt out of some standard details, such as your title, in favor of things that distinguish you as a pro (or a person). After all, anyone reading this knows where you work and your job title will likely be listed by default. So you can use the second and third paragraph of the template to craft a bio focused on what makes you unique.

Margot has exceeded every Clarabridge sales goal by at least 84%, which landed her in the top CEM-seller spot and prepared her for the challenging position of strategizing sales tactics for the National Association of Sales Professionals. Her keen and innovative insights in the areas of forecasting and sales force development have enabled Clarabridge to emerge as a national leader, with a sharp and qualified team in tow to maintain the standard she helped set.

If that’s too formal for the culture of your office, and all your colleagues mention their favorite food trucks, you can aim for a 50-50 split between the professional and personal—or whatever balance suits the company’s brand.

Margot tops the sales charts at Clarabridge. In fact, she’s beat every goal by at least 84% without ever missing a practice as the coach of her son’s (undefeated) soccer team. Fueled by loaded nachos, she landed the top CEM-seller spot and took on a position brainstorming sales tactics for the National Association of Sales Professionals. Not only is she a pro when it comes to forecasting and sales force development, but she can also advise a team on where to find the best free events in the city on any given weekend.

4. Your personal website or portfolio “About Me” page

Here’s where you want to lay it all on your audience. You can use as much of the bio you wrote from the template above as you see fit and feel free to expand on whatever sections you’d like. Craft your “About Me” page so potential partners or employers understand what you can do for them and why you’re the person they should hire.

Chad Wilborn takes complex technical ideas and distills them into user-friendly visuals to improve digital marketing campaigns for companies along the West Coast. He has an education in traditional advertising and a background loaded with marketing and graphic design projects, centered around modernizing the consumer experience. Chad’s portfolio demonstrates his ability to capitalize on every pixel for the overall benefit of startups or established enterprises trying to reach consumers. His services have won multiple design and branding awards, and he is excited to help add your company to his list of successes.

But don’t forget your brand! If you want to showcase yourself in a more unique or quirky light, opt for a first-person version with more light-hearted language.

I am a modern magician, except I transform complicated technical ideas into user-friendly images before the eyes of your company’s customers. I believe in telling relatable stories through graphics, so I studied the basics of traditional advertising before working my magic on corporate marketing projects for companies along the West Coast. My portfolio showcases a lineup of my most recent tricks, which range from visual startup campaigns to Fortune 500 projects—each of which have won design and branding awards. I’m always ready for new design opportunities and have plenty of room up my sleeve for a few more award-winning performances.

Keep these in mind as you write your professional bio, no matter where it’s going to end up:

20 of the Best Professional Bio Examples We’ve Ever Seen [+ Bio Templates]

Lindsay recommends starting with these professional bio templates

80+ Free Professional Bio Templates & Examples

Create a compelling professional narrative for your LinkedIn summary, website bio, or speaker introduction.

Download Free Bio Templates

Download 80+ Free Professional Bio Templates & Examples

80+ Free Professional Bio Templates & Examples

Create a compelling professional narrative for your LinkedIn summary, website bio, or speaker introduction.

Download Free Bio Templates

Download 80+ Free Professional Bio Templates & Examples

Be honest, does your professional bio make a statement?

If you have your doubts, it’s likely time to update your bio, and we have some of the best professional bio examples to get you started.

Your professional bio is not only relevant when applying for jobs, seeking new clients, or networking — it also gives the world a brief snapshot of who you are and your professional ideals.

But if you’re anything like me, you probably don’t think about your professional bio until you’re suddenly asked to «send one over via email.» You have approximately one afternoon to come up with it so you scramble together a bio that ends up reading like this:

«Rodney Erickson is a content marketing professional at HubSpot, a CRM platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers. Previously, Rodney worked as a marketing manager for a tech software startup. He graduated with honors from Columbia University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing.»

To be fair, in certain contexts, your professional bio does need to be more formal like Mr. Erickson’s up there, but there are also cases where writing a personable and conversational bio can be a good thing.

So to help you author one that packs a punch, we’ll teach you how to write a professional bio and leverage professional bio templates with 20 of the best professional bio examples we’ve ever seen to draw inspiration from. Skip to one of these sections if you know what you’re looking for:

Skip to one of these sections if you know what you’re looking for:

Professional Bio Templates

Tell us a little about yourself below to gain access today:

Professional Bio Templates

When it comes to professional bios, keeping your message honest and to the point is best practice. So how do you go about writing one that will effectively market you and your brand?

This is where a professional bio template comes in. By sticking to a predetermined format, all you have to do to begin is fill in the blanks with your most relevant career information. These bio templates will guide you on where you should place your:

Of course, while there is no one-size-fits-all template for a professional bio, this template is a quick way to start building out your long or short bio before customizing it to your liking. But before choosing your bio template, there are some key elements to include to make sure yours is effective — one of the most important elements being whether to write your professional bio in the first person or third person.

First-Person Bio vs. Third-Person Bio

If you’re looking to build a personal brand, writing in the first person can be a great way to connect with your audience. When you write a first-person bio, use “I” statements to make yourself relatable and approachable.

Here’s one way to write a first-person bio: “I’m a freelance writer specializing in small business content. I’ve worked with companies in a variety of industries, from home care services to fine leather goods.” By speaking in the first person here, you take a more personable approach to connecting with a client or brand.

While first-person bios are quite common, third-person bios can prove more effective in informal situations. If you’re job searching, applying for grants, or trying to get published, it’s generally best to stick to the third person. This will make you sound more authoritative and objective about who you are and what you can do.

For instance, when you write a third-person bio you may start with “Jasmine Montgomery is a Senior Hiring Manager at L’Oreal based in New York. She recruits across several business units to connect with the brightest talent from around the globe.” By only using your name and pronouns to speak about yourself here, you are letting your title and skill set speak for themselves.

So your decision to write your professional bio in the first or third person depends on whether you’d like to leave a more personable or assertive impression. Overall, both approaches can be effective when you tailor them to your goals and the audience you are writing for. The most important thing is to be clear, concise, and tell your story in a way that connects with your reader.

To structure your professional bio so it stays true to these objectives, try out our 80+ downloadable professional bio templates — for both short and long-form bios — to start composing a bio that makes a mark:

Writing a professional bio that captures your brand and what you offer to your audience can encourage your professional growth. But doing it right is just as important.

Here’s how to write a professional bio, step by step.

Here’s how to write a bio, step-by-step.

How to Write a Professional Bio

1. Create an ‘About’ page for your website or profile.

Before you can publish your professional bio, you need a living space for it. Here are a few to consider (some of these you might already have in place):

As you’ll see in the professional bio examples below, the length and tone of your bio will differ depending on which of the above platforms you choose to be on.

Instagram, for example, allows only 150 characters of bio space, whereas you can write virtually as much as you want on your personal website — or even your Facebook Business page. But once created, this bio should represent who you are in the eyes of your audience.

2. Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.

If your readers don’t remember anything else about your bio, make sure they remember your name. For that reason, it’s a good idea for your first and last name to be the first two words of your professional bio. Even if your name is printed above this bio (hint: it should), this is a rare moment where it’s okay to be redundant.

For example, if I were writing my own bio, I might start it like this:

Lindsay Kolowich

Lindsay Kolowich is a Senior Marketing Manager at HubSpot.

3. Mention any associated brand name you might use.

Will your professional bio represent yourself, or a business you work for? Make sure the brand you want to be associated with is mentioned in your bio. If you’re a freelancer, perhaps you have a personal business name or pseudonym you advertise to your clients. Here are a few examples:

Maybe you founded your own company, and you want its name to be separate from your real name. Don’t be afraid to keep it simple: «Lindsay Kolowich is the founder and CEO of Kolowich Consulting.»

4. State your current position and what you do.

Whether you’re the author of a novel or a mid-level specialist, use the next few lines of your bio to describe what you do in that position. Don’t assume your audience will naturally know what your job title entails.

Make your primary responsibilities known to the reader, helping them paint a picture of who you are during the day and what you have to offer the industry.

5. Include at least one professional accomplishment.

Just as a business touts its client successes in the form of case studies, your professional bio should let your own audience know what you’ve already achieved. What have you done for yourself — as well as for others — that makes you a valuable player in your industry?

6. Describe your values and how they inform your career.

Why do you do what you do? What might make your contribution to the market different from your colleagues?

Better yet, what values do you and your colleagues share that would make your business a worthwhile investment to others? Start to wrap up your professional bio by simply explaining what gets you up in the morning.

7. Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.

Transition from describing your values in work to describing who you are outside of work. This may include:

People like connecting with other people. The more transparent you are about who you are personally, the more likable you’ll be to the people reading about who you are as a professional.

8. Consider adding humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.

End your professional bio on a good note — or, more specifically, a funny note. Leaving your audience with something quirky or uniquely you can ensure they’ll leave your website with a pleasant impression of you.

It’s important to follow the steps above when writing your bio, but don’t obsess over any one section. Remember, the people reading your bio are suffering from information fatigue. If you don’t hook ’em in the first line, you’ll lose them quickly.

(P.S. Want to give your professional brand a boost? Take one of HubSpot Academy’s free certification courses. In just one weekend, you can add a line to your resume and bio that’s coveted by over 60,000 marketers.)

Why Good Bios Are Important for a Professional

The answer: A lot of people. More importantly, though, there’s no way to tell exactly who is reading it — and you always want it to be ready for when the right people come across it. And when they do, you want it to catch their eye. In a good way.

You see, while your resume is only useful for when you’re actively applying for specific positions, your professional bio is much more visible. It can live on your LinkedIn profile, your company’s website, your guest blog posts, your speaker profiles, your Twitter bio, and many other places.

And, most importantly, it’s the tool that you can leverage most when you’re networking.

Bottom line? People will read your professional bio. Whether they remember it, and whether it makes them care about you, is a matter of how well you present yourself to your intended audience.

So, what does a top-notch professional bio look like?

Below, we’ve curated some of the best real professional bio examples we’ve ever seen on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the various websites where you might describe yourself.

Check ’em out, and use them as inspiration when crafting your own.

Best Professional Bio Examples

The Best Professional Bio Examples We’ve Ever Seen

1.Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Author

Bio Platform: Personal Website

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie begins her professional bio with an invitation into her world. In just one sentence, she describes the depth and breadth of her body of work as it has been translated into thirty languages and several publications.

Along with her notable writing career, Chimamanda showcases her speaking career which introduces readers to a well-rounded view of who she is as a professional. From there, her bio seamlessly flows into her recent work and a glimpse into how and where she spends her personal time – the United States and Nigeria.

Finally, Chimamanda’s bio ends with a call to action to read a more detailed biography, giving the reader a choice to read the information available about her life and career.

2. Chime Mmeje: SEO Content Writer

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

A bio with a hook is sure to keep you reading. Chima Mmeje is a freelance SEO copywriter who’s “extremely good at one thing”: helping companies rank for their target keywords.

By leading with a strong hook that aligns with her target audience’s marketing needs, she’s able to keep readers engaged.

What comes next is a unique differentiator in a professional bio. Instead of listing accolades, Chima shares a few wins she’s secured for her clients. This nifty section does two things: it builds the readers’ confidence in her ability to deliver results and it’s a practical way to name-drop her clients in a professional bio.

In the body of her professional bio, Chima briefly lists her process at a high level, giving her potential clients a birds-eye view of what they can expect when they book her services.

The simple call to action “Drop a message” in her email inbox is a casual invitation to learn more about her services.

3. DJ Nexus: DJ

Bio Platform: Facebook

This New England-based DJ has single-handedly captured the Likes of more than 2,000 people in and beyond Boston, MA. And even if you don’t listen to the type of music he produces, it’s hard not to listen to his compelling Facebook bio.

For instance, consider his tagline, under «About» — «Quiet during the day. QUITE LOUD at night!» DJ Nexus tells you when he works in an awesome way. I got goosebumps just imagining a dance club he might play his music in.

DJ Nexus’s bio brilliance doesn’t stop there.

DJ Nexus links his Facebook account to his personal website, where he has the space to tell the full story of his background. Here’s a preview, below:

In this story, DJ Nexus describes both when he «became known as DJ Nexus» and a company he founded shortly afterward — all before going to college.

This is a terrific lesson for professional bios: Customers want to learn about you. Consider how you might also lead your Facebook visitors off your Facebook page and onto your personal website to learn more about who you are.

4. Lena Axelsson: Marriage & Family Therapist

Bio Platform: Industry Website

When it all comes down to it, your professional bio is no different from any other piece of persuasive copy — no matter where it lives. One of the most common mistakes people make is thinking of it as its own beast, separate from other pieces of writing. If you think about it that way, you’re far more likely to write something painfully uninteresting.

When you sit down to write your professional bio and you’re watching that cursor blinking on the screen, think about how you would introduce a blog post. You don’t just dive right into the meat of the thing, now, do you? No. You start with an introduction.

The best bios are often concise (around 200–300 words), so you don’t have a lot of room to play around. But a single sentence that tees your reader up and provides context for the accomplishments that follow could make the rest of your bio that much more persuasive.

Take Lena Axelsson’s bio, for instance. She’s a marriage and family therapist — a job where empathy and compassion are a big part of the job description. That’s why she chooses to open her bio with a great introductory sentence: «When human beings experience trauma or severe life stressors, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel.»

Then, she goes into why she’s passionate about her job, how she helps her clients, and how she caters her approach to each patient. The necessary educational information is left for the end after the reader has been hooked.

Your bio doesn’t have to be super serious, nor does it have to start with a joke. This bio shows how you can capture your reader’s attention by being empathetic and showing how that empathy shapes a valuable professional.

5.Mark Levy: Branding Firm Founder

Bio Platform: Personal Website

Mark Levy is a small business owner who’s taken a more traditional approach to the professional bio on his website — but in a way that takes care to speak to his intended audience.

What we love about his bio is the way he’s set it up: On his business’ «About» page, he’s listed two biographies, which he’s labeled «Mark Levy’s Biography #1» and «Mark Levy’s Biography #2.»

Like Ann, Mark’s given his readers two different options. The first biography is a «short version,» which includes a combination of bullet points listing his credentials and a few short paragraphs.

The second is the «long version,» which is actually even more interesting than the first one. Why? Because it reads like a story — a compelling one, at that. In fact, it gets really funny at parts.

The second sentence of the bio reads: «He was frightened of public school, loved playing baseball and football, ran home to watch ape films on the 4:30 Movie, listened to The Jam and The Buzzcocks, and read magic trick books.»

Here’s another excerpt from the middle:

Of course, the fantastic copywriting isn’t a surprise, given that this guy wrote several books. But the conversational tone and entertaining copy let his quirky personality (and great writing skills) shine.

6. Audra Simpson: Political Anthropologist

Bio Platform: Personal Website

With a classic take on the professional bio, Audra Simpson crafts a brief overview of her career in just a couple of paragraphs. The “why” behind her work is emphasized in the first half of her bio before transitioning to the way she carries out that work in practice.

The second half of her bio combines her bodies of work and the awards she’s won for each from the year 2014 to 2020. This subtle timeline gives readers a picture of her experience in the field of political anthropology without listing her resume in detail.

Audra’s professional bio is an example for those of us with several years of experience to communicate, but a strict word limit to write within.

7. Marie Mikhail: Professional Recruiter

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

Marie Mikhail checks off nearly every box for what makes an excellent bio. A professional recruiter, she expresses her «passion for recruiting» upfront, in the first sentence, while using that sentence to hook her profile visitors into a brief story of her background.

But there are a lot of recruiters out there, and Marie knows that. So, to differentiate herself, she closes the first paragraph of her bio by explaining that she likes «getting people excited about the things [she’s] excited about.» It’s a well-put value proposition that sets her apart from the rest of the HR industry.

Marie Mikhail finishes off her bio by including a smooth mixture of professional skills, such as her Spanish fluency; and personal interests, such as podcasting and Star Wars (she mentions the latter with just the right amount of humor).

8. Wonbo Woo: Executive Producer

Bio Platform: Personal Website

Wonbo Woo is the executive producer of WIRED’s video content, and he has several impressive credits to his name. What does this mean for his professional bio? He has to prioritize. With this in mind, Wonbo opens his bio with the most eye-catching details first (if the image below is hard to read, click it to see the full copy).

Not only does Wonbo’s bio start strong, but he also takes readers on a suspenseful journey through some of his most harrowing assignments — where he was when news broke and how he responded. You can see this quality below.

The accomplished journalist concludes his gripping bio as strong as it began, measuring his experience by the number of states, countries, and continents to which he’s traveled in his career. See how this looks above. All in all, it’s a fantastically concise bio for as much detail as it holds.

9. Chris Burkard: Freelance Photographer

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

If you’re writing your bio but having trouble figuring out how to showcase your accomplishments without boasting, photographer Burkard’s LinkedIn bio is a great example for inspiration.

Written in third-person, his bio tells a fluid story, starting with his ultimate mission — «capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature» — before diving into more tangible accolades (giving a TED talk, publishing books, etc.).

Best of all, rather than using his bio as an opportunity to brag, he instead ties his talents into how he hopes to help others, writing, «Through social media, Chris strives to share his vision … and inspire [his followers] to explore for themselves.»

I wouldn’t necessarily be inclined to follow Chris if his bio had simply read «I post beautiful images» … but inspire me to travel? Now that’s something I can get behind.

Lastly, he ends on a humble, sweet note, writing «He is happiest with his wife Breanne raising their two sons». Don’t be afraid to inject some personal information into your bio — it could help you seem more approachable as a result.

10. Lisa Quine: Creative Consultant

Bio Platform: Portfolio Website

Although a picture is worth 1,000 words, a portfolio is quite different from a professional bio. While this might present a challenge for creative professionals who specialize in visual art to tell their stories, Lisa Quine quantifies her creativity to give her professional bio balance.

Throughout her bio, you’ll notice the number of murals she’s completed and a brief timeline of her career thus far which helps paint the picture of who she is as a professional.

Lisa’s bio checks the box on nearly all of our recommendations for a great bio. She begins with her full name, her location, and what she does best. From there, she gets creative by appropriately mentioning the brands she’s worked with and highlighting some of her favorite projects. With a third-person approach to the writing, this bio invites the reader behind a metaphorical door to meet Lisa as a professional, traveler, learner, wife, and mother.

11. Nancy Twine: Hair Care Founder

Bio Platform: Company Website

As Founder and CEO of Briogeo — a popular natural hair care line that’s received rave reviews in publications such as Allure and InStyle — there are undoubtedly plenty of accolades Twine could boast about.

But she chooses to start her bio from a humbler place, stating: «Nancy Twine is no newcomer to the beauty-sphere — in fact, she made her first foray into the world of natural product formulation at the ripe age of five.»

The rest of her bio similarly focuses on Twine’s strengths as someone who’s able to take hair care «back to basics». The bio focuses on why Twine made the decision she did to start her company, and what ultimately drives her.

Similarly, you might consider using your personal bio as an opportunity to highlight your bigger purpose or vision. As Twine demonstrates, sometimes it’s best to keep it simple and let your message resonate with the right audience.

12. Trinity Mouzon: Wellness Brand Founder

Bio Platform: Personal Website

I gravitated towards Mouzon’s bio from the first sentence: «I’m obsessed with leveling the playing field.» Mouzon effectively grips the reader’s attention with this introduction and then dives into some of her impressive accomplishments — including a brand that’s now sold at Urban Outfitters and Target.

The language used throughout Mouzon’s bio is authentic, real, and honest. Consider, for instance, the beginning of the second paragraph, where she admits, «While building a brand may have looked effortless from the outside, starting a business at age 23 with no resources or funding quickly forced me to realize that early-stage entrepreneurship was anything but transparent.»

By focusing on the reader, Mouzon effectively demonstrates the real power of a good bio: the power to convert newcomers into leads and customers.

13. Alberto «Beto» Perez: Co-Founder of Zumba Fitness

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

As an avid Zumba fan, I was excited to include this one in the list. Perez styles his LinkedIn bio as a short story, starting with his background as a hard-working teen who held three jobs by age 14.

What I like best about this bio is Perez’s decision to use the space to tell the story of his business, rather than list out his accomplishments. It provides a more real and colorful introduction to Perez and immediately makes him feel both relatable and inspirational.

Let’s dive into a few more examples of short professional bios, next.

Short Bio Examples

14. Ann Handley: Writer and Marketer

Bio Platform: Personal Website

If you’re a marketer, you’ve likely heard of Ann Handley. Her list of credentials is lengthy, and if she wanted to, she could go on and on and on about her accomplishments.

But when people list out all their accomplishments in their bios, they risk sounding a little egotistical. Sure, you might impress a handful of people with all those laurels, but many people who read your bio will end up feeling either intimidated or annoyed. Think about it: Is that how you want the majority of your readers to feel when they read your bio?

To minimize the egoism that comes with talking about yourself, think about how you can list out your accomplishments without sounding like you’re bragging. Ann does this really well, choosing a tone in her bio that’s more approachable.

Best of all, Ann chooses to focus on her readers’ challenges and motivations, rather than her own. For instance, she writes, «Ann Handley writes and speaks about how businesses can escape marketing mediocrity to achieve tangible results. >And she will inspire you to do work you’re proud of.«

Follow the link and you’ll be led to a page dedicated to a fuller bio, which she’s divided into two parts: a «short version» (literally a bulleted list of key facts) and a «long version,» which includes traditional paragraphs. There’s something in there for everyone.

15. Rebecca Bollwitt: Writer

Bio platform: Instagram

Instagram is a notoriously difficult platform on which to write a good bio. Similar to Twitter, you simply don’t have room for a professional bio that includes everything about you. And because Instagram is primarily a mobile app, many viewers are reading about you passively on their mobile devices.

Instagram’s limited bio space requires you to highlight just your most important qualities, and blogging icon Rebecca Bollwitt does so in her own Instagram bio in an excellent way.

Rebecca’s brand name is Miss604 and cleverly uses emojis in her Instagram bio to tell visitors exactly what makes her a valuable content creator. Take a look at the screenshot below:

Starting with a trophy emoji, Miss604 says she’s an award-winning blogger. I haven’t even looked at her pictures yet and the introduction of her bio has already sucked me in.

The rest of her bio follows suit, breaking up the text with an appropriate emoji and a perfect collection of nouns to tell me who she is as a person. She even links out to her husband’s Instagram account after the heart emoji (an adorable addition) and assures her followers that all of her pictures are authentically hers.

Take a lesson from Miss604, and show your personal side. Just because you’re branding yourself as a professional doesn’t mean you have to take your human being hat off. Often your most personal attributes make for the best professional bio content.

16. Corey Wainwright: Principal Marketing Manager

Bio Platform: Blog Byline

Corey Wainwright is a Principal Marketing Manager here at HubSpot. She’s written content for HubSpot’s Marketing Blog for years, and her blog author bio has caught my eye since before I ever started working for HubSpot. (Back then, it started with, «Corey just took a cool vacation.»)

What I love most about Corey’s bio is that it’s a great example of how to deliver information about yourself without taking things too seriously. And in this context, that’s totally appropriate.

Despite having several impressive accomplishments under her belt, she simply doesn’t like displaying them publicly. So, she prefers making her author bio a little more «light.»

Her bio (pictured below) reads, «Corey is a Bruce Springsteen fan who does content marketing, in that order.»

It works in this particular context because, at HubSpot, our blog authors often prefer to make themselves as friendly and approachable as possible — while letting the content speak for itself.

It helps that authors’ social media accounts are located right below our names and above our pictures. For folks who really do want a list of Corey’s credentials, they can click the LinkedIn button to go to her LinkedIn page. (You can read this blog post to learn how to create social media buttons and add them to your website.)

17. Megan Gilmore: Cookbook Author

Bio Platform: Instagram

Megan Gilmore is a best-selling cookbook author, and she often posts healthy recipes on her Instagram page to inspire followers’ to realize that you don’t have to sacrifice taste for the sake of health.

Fortunately, you glean most of this information immediately from her Instagram bio, which is short and to the point: «No fads; just real food recipes. Author of Everyday Detox + No Excuses Detox.» Her «no fads» call-out shows followers she aims to be helpful rather than gimmicky.

Plus, Gilmore includes a CTA link within her Instagram bio that leads followers to free, ready-to-use recipes. You might be thinking — Why would she do that, since it discourages people from buying her book? But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

By giving her followers the chance to try out her recipes, she’s slowly turning leads into customers. After I tried a few of her Instagram recipes and loved them, I decided to go ahead and buy her book, knowing I’d like more of what she had to offer.

18. Van Jones: Political Commentator, Author, and Lawyer

Bio Platform: Twitter

Someone who’s known for a variety of talents and skills may find it difficult to capture who they are in a professional bio. When limited to just over 100 characters on Twitter, the feat is nearly impossible. But Van Jones effortlessly explains who he is and why it matters to everyone who visits his Twitter profile.

He starts his professional bio with a token of personalization and prioritization of his values. By mentioning that he is a dad first, we recognize what’s important to him in his long list of successes.

As we’ve seen in other bios, sharing who we are outside of work makes us more personable and should find its way into your bio, if possible. Van leaves plenty of room to share a variety of professional experiences in his bio including CEO of REFORM and his 2020 Emmy award.

What’s great about Van’s Twitter bio is his ability to link valuable offerings to his readers. He invites us to check out his latest book and has his website reformalliance.com linked at the top.

19.Sarah Haskins: Writer

Bio Platform: Twitter

When in doubt, a few words go a long way.

Consider, for instance, the funny and impactful bio of Sarah Haskins on her Twitter page, which reads: «writer. bad but enthusiastic dancer.»

What more do you need to know?

She doesn’t take her bio too seriously and uses the space to highlight one serious accomplishment/skill (writer) and one not-so-impressive skill (bad dancer), to demonstrate her sense of humor and realness.

Particularly for a social media account that already restricts word count, consider how you might showcase your uniqueness in just a few words.

20. Bea Dixon: Feminine Care Founder

Bio Platform: Instagram

Bea Dixon, Founder, and CEO of The Honey Pot Company, efficiently uses her space on her Instagram profile to highlight who she is as a well-rounded human — not just a businesswoman.

For instance, while she highlights her Girl boss attitude with a tiara emoji, she equally calls attention to her fashion interests (Free People), her pets Boss and Sadie, and her love for ramen noodles.

Consider how you might also highlight your interests, hobbies, or passions outside of the 9-to-5. If people are reading your bio, they’re interested in getting to know the full you.

How to Write a Short Bio

If you’re posting a bio on a social media account or sending a quick blurb to a client, you want to keep it short and sweet while showcasing your accomplishments.

To get you started, here are the best practices for writing your short professional bio:

Your introduction is your first impression, so always begin by telling people who you are. You may start with a greeting like, “Hello, my name is” or “Hi! Let me first introduce myself …” when sending your bio as a message.

If you’re writing a bio for an online platform, simply stating your name at the beginning works as well, like the way freelancing entrepreneur Alex Fasulo presents themselves in the first person on their website:

2. State what you do.

Give people an idea of what you do day-to-day, as well as where you work. Your job title is how the people put you into context and consider whether your profession relates to your audience’s industry. So detail the most relevant work you’re involved in your short bio like CEO, professor, and author, Angela Duckworth, specifies on her LinkedIn:

Even if you are a freelancer with a broad focus, you can keep it general yet clearly specify the type of contract work you do. If your specialty is writing, your title could be “Freelance Writer,” or if it’s Help Desk or Information Technology you may state yourself as a “Freelance IT Specialist.”

3. Add key skills or areas of expertise.

Especially, if you’re sending a bio to a client or potential employer, make sure to highlight the skills that they will find valuable. For instance, if you’re expertise is in social media marketing and content creation like Ivanka Dekoning, make sure you list these skills concisely:

Here Dekoning showcases their experience so potential connections immediately see if they have what they’re looking for— and you can show this too.

4. Include a personal mission statement.

What do you hope to achieve through your work? Why do you do what you do? Answering these questions can help give your bio’s mission statement some direction, similar to how Farmer Bea makes their goal to help bees clear to all of their Twitter connections:

So give an honest answer about your goals or mission to give color to what your professional purpose is overall.

5. Celebrate your wins.

Your short bio can be a proud showcase of your accomplishments, so add 1 to 2 personal successes you’ve achieved through your skills or mission. For instance, if you’ve received acclaim from industry leaders in your scope like Art Critic Jerry Saltz, your wins may list as something like:

So whether they’re awards you won, publications you’ve been featured in, or companies you worked with, be sure to spotlight any major achievements.

6. Provide your contact information.

People who visit your profile or receive your message will already know your social media account. But to take business off the app, include your email address, website, or any other professional profiles you’d like them to know about. Political Commentator and Sports Correspondent, Angela Rye, shows a great example of this in her short professional bio on Instagram:

Additionally, after listing a name, job titles, and contact information, Rye includes a Linktree to their website where you can read a longer version of the professional bio:

This allows Raye to detail her values more in-depth and how they demonstrate them through her work. So before diving into your long professional bio, begin with a short bio as a teaser of who you are, what you care about, and what you can do for others.

7. Show them your personality!

Don’t be afraid to add a little bit of personal charisma to your short professional bio — because professional doesn’t have to mean plain. Your personality may be best portrayed through:

A joke: “Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. At least that’s what I learned when I created…”

A mention of a hobby: “I’ll be honest: for me, tennis is life— Go Nadal!”

A fun fact: “Every year I watch 100 new films! I’m a cinephile and love every movie genre.”

A few emojis related to your interests: “🎶🤖🎾🎬🎭”

Whichever way you choose to get personal, give people a glimpse into who you are as an individual.

When writing a short bio it can be tempting to try and pack in as much relevant information about yourself as possible — but this isn’t the most effective approach. Instead, focus on including the details that you and your audience care about most and leave out the fluff.

Create Your Own Professional Bio

Prim and proper, relaxed, or studded with accomplishments, your bio is a reflection of your best professional self. Your professional bio will often precede your physical presence. Before people meet you for the first time, they’ll probably read your bio.

Whether you’re creating an about page for your website or social media profile, one thing’s for sure, you’ll want to put your best foot forward with a top-notch professional bio.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness in May 2022.

Originally published Jun 17, 2022 7:00:00 AM, updated June 17 2022

Our Bio Writing Samples

Use Bio Writing Samples to Help You Write Your Bio

The bio has become a necessity for many professionals in a wide variety of industries. It is used on corporate websites, for job applications, freelancers’ profiles and numerous other places. Writing a bio is difficult for the vast majority of those who need one. One thing that can help you with the task is reading different biography samples. By reviewing several short bio samples, you can see which elements and overall structure you like and use them in your own bio.

When it comes to writing your own bio, reading a professional biography example can do you the world of good because you can get ideas on what to write and how to structure your own biography. In case you are looking for a good biography example, you should see what our bio writers have written.

Professional Biography Example: Look and Learn

If you look at any professionally-written sample of biography, you can see that it’s a well-structured piece of writing. Documenting somebody’s life may not be as simple as it seems. But nothing is too complicated as long as you have a plan to follow. So, in order to create a decent bio, you need to follow some simple steps:

Bio Writing Samples for Review

Here are three bio writing samples that will provide you with the ideas on how to structure a bio and the type of information to include:

Executive Bio Sample

In 2001 Robert was recognized with the Outstanding Business Person of the Year Award by the National Marketing Association for outstanding achievements in the field. Other honors include being named one of the Phoenix Business Journals Top Young Achievers. Robert is a frequent and highly rated speaker on industry-related topics. He has also had numerous papers published in industry journals.

Robert has served on the board of directors of the National Technology Marketing Association and is a member of the advisory board of the Emerging Media Forum. He has also done volunteer work for several charities including the United Way and Habitat for the Homeless among others.

Robert holds a bachelors degree from UCLA and an MBA from Harvard. He lives in Phoenix with his wife, their two children and two dogs. In his free time, Robert likes to hang-glide and is a member of a local skydiving group.

Example of Bio for Career Coach and Resume Writer

John Doe is Founder and President of Job Changers, a one-person business where he creates resumes, cover letters, bios, LinkedIn profiles and other employment-related documents for his clients. Career coaching and recommendations for how to follow up on the resume are also part of the service John offers, and he can often connect clients to recruiters in their industry. John’s clients come from numerous different professions and industries, in the US and Canada, and provide him with interesting work he enjoys. After graduating from the University of Texas with a bachelors degree John set off into the corporate world where he landed a position with the HR department of a large retailer. Three companies and 14 years later John headed up the HR department of a large technical company where he was well compensated but a little bored. He found that he actually had enjoyed his work more when working directly with people one on one and helping them with their problems. After much thought, John retired from the corporate world to start Job Changers.

Initially planning to focus only on documents like resumes, John’s natural affinity for working with people and advising them on their careers led to his including career coaching along with his other services and he has been happily helping people through Job Changers since 2008.

When he isn’t writing resumes or bios John donates much of his free time to several local Dallas charities conducting free seminars on the various aspects of job hunting for the unemployed. John lives in a Dallas suburb with his wife and two children. He enjoys his leisure time by indulging a fascination with electric trains and has an elaborate setup which he tinkers with while wearing an engineer’s cap. If you need help with a resume or want to talk trains contact him at the email below.

Marketing Bio Example

Jane Doe is vice president of marketing and sales for Sleep Well Hotels. She directs all marketing and sales strategies, overseeing the growing hotel chains loyalty program, consumer and field marketing activities, advertising, public relations and e-commerce. Since joining Sleep Well in 2008, Doe has implemented a number of measures to increase market share and expand Sleep Wells brand recognition. Changes she initiated in the company’s loyalty program increased its membership by 1 million leading to a significant increase in its revenue contribution percentage to hotels.

Under Doe’s guidance, Sleep Well has increased investments in its sales programs which has increased revenue by over 50 percent. She has also overseen the launch of several mobile initiatives including the Smartphone reservation application. Her marketing programs have been a large factor in Sleep Wells growth and transformation from a regional to a national hotel chain.

She has been honored with a number of awards including Americas Highway Motel Associations Best Economy Motel Marketing Award (BEMMA) three years in a row. Doe’s Motels For Motorists program garnered her an unprecedented fourth BEMMA in 2013. Doe has had a number of articles published in industry related magazines and has been a featured speaker at the Americas Highway Motel Association’s annual convention in Memphis.

Before joining Sleep Well, Doe held marketing positions with a number of smaller hotel chains gaining experience. Every hotel chain she has been with increased revenue during her tenure there. Doe began her hospitality career in Florida with Park and Sleep Trailer Parks after graduating with a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Renaissance Literature from East Mississippi State University.

Doe currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee with her husband. She is a regular visitor at Graceland and has an extensive collection of Elvis bobble-head dolls.

If you are having difficulty writing your bio, our company offers a service that can assist you.

Tips for Creating a Killer Biography

Expert Piece of Advice

Mary McVicker from The Writer also has quite a few things to say about writing a biography about someone. Here are a few tips from her:

Another Point of View

Here’s what Mr. Sebag Montefiore the author of “Young Stalin” advises you:

Best Example of Biography

If you are looking for quality biography samples we have the best there is. Our writers can provide you with their writing samples so you can get an idea on what approach to use for your own biography. You can also place an order to order professional biography help if you like. We guarantee that your bio will stand out.

The best place for you to find high-quality samples of bios is with us. You can see on our website different samples that you can view for free because we want to be able to help you anyway. If you feel like your bio needs more work, we are more than happy to take a look at it for you. Feel free to contact us if you need a professional biography example written by our bio writers.

Our Professional Bio Writing Service

We offer bio writing and editing services for all types of bios. Our professional writers specialize in bio writing and are both skilled and experienced. The bio they write for you will be original and tailored to fit your specific requirements. Some of the advantages of using our service include:

20 Best Short Professional Bio Examples

Whether it’s a LinkedIn profile, your Twitter account, or your business website, having a professional-sounding bio needs to make a positive statement.

It should be brief to ensure that readers don’t switch off or tune out. This means that you have anywhere from around 10 words, in the case of Twitter, to 100 words, which is suitable for LinkedIn, to relay what you do, how you excel at doing it, and why readers should choose you over others.

Below, we have found 20 effective examples of short bios that you can use for inspiration to help you craft your own compelling intro.

20 Best Short Bio Examples

1. Rebecca Bollwitt

Professional bios can be found in everything from the pages of your website to your LinkedIn and other social media profiles.

As such, it is tempting to compile a single bio and then just copy and paste it to all of your profiles, but every platform is a little different:

LinkedIn is a professional network where you will benefit by putting your credentials and qualifications front and center. Facebook is personal and personable. Twitter is brief and hard-hitting. Medium is in-depth and heavy on words.

Instagram is visual and fun. So, it demands a visually appealing bio. Award-winning blogger Rebecca Bollwitt uses emojis to help categorize the sections of her bio. They also give it a bit more color, a lot of character, and they make it relevant to the Instagram platform. She also keeps it very short on words, because this is a platform where pictures carry more weight than words.

2. Lena Axelsson

Psychology Today is a professional industry website, which is yet another location for a well-honed professional bio.

Lena Axelsson identifies with readers with her first sentence. She recognizes a problem that her potential clients are suffering from and shows that she has the empathy to identify why it is a problem.

This opening sentence enables Lena to launch into the rest of her bio. She explains how she helps clients and the benefits that help brings. She also shows why she is a good fit, how she differs from others within the same field, and the professional credentials that qualify her to help you and your family.

In the final paragraph, readers find the slightly drier but equally important educational background information. Overall, the bio shows passion, empathy, and understanding, which is what most counseling clients want.

3. Audra Simpson

Audra Simpson is a Professor in the Anthropology Department of Columbia University. The University website is not only the ideal location to show off her qualifications, but visitors will expect to see these qualifications.

The bio is written in the third person, which is actually less common nowadays than it once was because many people prefer the personal touch of the first person bio. A third person bio sounds more authoritative, allows the writer to relay information without sounding like they are bragging, and is more commonly used in professional situations like on university websites.

Audra’s bio does a good job of getting across some quite complex language and topics in a short space. It shows off her credentials clearly, without necessarily bragging, and it not only shows what she specializes in but how she goes about her studies and professional work.

4. Corey Wainwright

Corey Wainwright is a content marketer, and we know that from her professional bio on the HubSpot website. Her bio is written in the third person but it retains character thanks to the very personal information that it opens with.

The whole bio is less than 25 words and, as pointed out on the HubSpot blog itself, it makes Corey seem approachable while linking to her content. It almost feels like she’s giving away a secret about her personal life.

Right above Corey’s picture are links to her main social media profiles which means that readers have the opportunity to click through to her profiles where they will be able to find out more, should they wish.

This type of bio won’t work for everybody, in every instance, but in the right situation, it can be highly effective. It is likely to have led to some clicks through to Corey’s social media profiles, which was part of the point.

5. Marie Mikhail

Talent acquisition may not be the most interesting career to everybody, but if you’re looking for somebody to deal with recruitment for your firm, you want to know that the individual dealing with it on your behalf, does find it intriguing and highly interesting.

Marie Mikhail doesn’t just tell us that she is passionate about recruitment, she tells a story to show us. Novelists and fiction writers are routinely told to show something, don’t tell it, and this is just as true in a lot of aspects of professional writing. In this case, it turns a relatively dry topic into something a little more interesting and with some character and backstory.

In her LinkedIn bio, Marie shows us her experience, including her extra-curricular love of convincing people to take on roles. Following this, she gives us details of her experience and relevant qualifications.

6. Megan Gilmore

There are a lot of social media platforms, and most professionals are advised to put the bulk of their efforts into one or two platforms, rather than trying to spread themselves too thinly over 10 or even five.

Doing so enables you to customize content for each platform, too. While this does mean that you should write a separate bio for each of your profiles, there’s no reason that you can’t use the bios themselves to cross-promote your other platforms.

Megan Gilmore is a cookbook and food writer. She highlights the kind of writing you can expect with the statement “no fads” and then goes on to show off some of her past experience by listing the books she has previously written.

After this, she includes a platform-relevant pointing emoji, links to her LinkedIn profile, and Megan even gives away access to some of her recipes as a means of showing her credentials to potential book buyers.

7. Tim Cook

You’ve probably heard of Tim Cook. He is, after all, the CEO of one of, if not the most valuable companies in the world, Apple. He has been, according to the bio on the Apple website, since 2011, too, so you would be forgiven for thinking that a lot of people visiting the website would already have a decent idea who he is.

However, Tim does not assume that any readers know who he is or what he does. His bio is professional. It obviously highlights his current position as CEO of Apple and the fact that he serves on its board of directors.

Then, it goes on to explain that he served as the company’s COO and gives details of his earlier working career. Despite having an incredibly enviable CV, his bio does not make any assumptions and ensures that readers are given all the information they need to find out about him.

8. Shaquille O’Neal

A lot of the bios we’ve looked at so far have been written in the third person and most people choose this because it sounds professional but it also allows them to speak about their own experience and qualifications without it sounding like too much of a brag.

It sounds informational. However, writing in the first person can also be very effective and highly emotive.

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal gets plenty of stuff right in his LinkedIn profile, as you would expect from a man with a bachelor’s, a master’s, and a doctorate.

Shaq starts with his greatest achievement and the thing that most people will recognize him for. He goes on to highlight his unique achievements and what he has done since getting out of basketball. He is clearly a polymath and can add writing bios in the first person to his list of credentials and skills that already includes “purveyor of fun.”

9. Richard Branson

Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group: a man as well known for failures as his successes, but there have been a lot of the latter.

In his bio, he gives an abridged version of his career to date, the last couple of sentences of his bio are where it really shines. He plays up to the well-known image of being a “tie-loathing adventurer” and being known as “Dr. Yes!”

10. Anthony Gioeli

Some people can find it difficult to brag about themselves, but it is an important professional skill. You don’t have to come across as being big-headed but you do need to be able to highlight your accomplishments and achievements because it is these that will attract people to use your services, hire you for a position, or otherwise engage with you.

Anthony Gioeli’s LinkedIn profile does boast about his accomplishments, but it is factual rather than boasting. Which is an achievement in itself when some of those achievements include negotiating multi-million dollar contracts with the likes of Vodafone.

His profile is also a good example of the benefits of good formatting because the paragraph and bullet point hybrid does a very good job of clearly and reliably setting out the information for readers to easily get through.

Although his is quite a long profile, if you’ve got it and you can format it well, you might as well flaunt it.

11. Katrina O.

Intrigue arouses curiosity. It is what persuades us to keep watching films or reading the next page of a book, even when we know we should turn it off or put the book down. It can also be used in a professional bio to encourage people to read more, click through, or get in touch.

Katrina Ortiz’s profile is all about intrigue. The first sentence of her bio reads “I caught fire coding.” This instantly makes you want to read more to quench your curiosity.

Even her display name, Katrina O, starts to build a sense of fascination.

After explaining the first sentence of her bio (no spoilers here, sorry) Katrina then goes on to give details of her specialties and the programming languages she has mastered.

12. Karen Abbate

There are quite a few points worth noting in Karen Abbate’s LinkedIn profile, starting with the layout. We love a list, and while it isn’t that unusual to see a bulleted list, it is more unusual to see a numbered list. In this case, Karen lists the six most important, or at least most prominent, things about her and her work. As she puts it, “in, out, nobody gets hurt.”

She has also mastered the brag.

It’s a relatively innovative way of getting all the required information into a bio and something you might expect from a talented creative director.

13. Gijo Mathew

Bullet points can help identify and highlight important information. They can improve readability, maintain order in an otherwise complicated list, and they can make your LinkedIn profile look a lot more effective than a bullet-free bio.

In his bio, Gijo Mathew uses bullet points to provide supporting evidence that backs up how he can help clients with their work. It makes the page look more intriguing and helps break information down. Attempting to write the points out in full would have been clunky and almost impossible to follow along.

14. Genevieve McKelly

Using a site like LinkedIn can be viewed as a form of social media marketing. In some cases, rather than promoting a business or website, however, you’re promoting yourself, and you need to approach it in a similar way.

One thing that social media marketers are told is that they need to encourage engagement, which means trying to spark a conversation or get readers involved in some kind of discussion or other activity.

Genevieve McKelly tells us all about the books she is reading and the podcasts she is listening to before inviting us to tell her about our own reads and listens. It’s a great way to start a conversation but it also makes Genevieve sound more approachable which makes it even more likely that her profile visitors will engage in the desired discourse.

After the personal questions, she then throws in a question related to her role and what she is looking for.

15. Darrell Evans

Customer pain points are problems that potential clients experience. These could be anything related to the product or service that you offer, and by setting your product or service up as a means of combating the pain caused by those pain points, you show empathy with potential customers as well as provide them with a solution to remove that pain.

In this bio, Darrell Evans highlights spending a lot of money on marketing to yield no results as being a major pain point for businesses. He then identifies himself as the solution: the painkiller that beats the pain, if you will.

He then highlights who he is, what his company does, and gives you some facts and figures to try and convince you that Darrell’s brand of painkiller is the best and will provide you with the relief you need.

16. Fernando Silva

Most professional bios start with the professional and end with the bio. That is, they highlight the professional credentials of the individual. They showcase the qualifications, work experience, and what they can do for a business or clients.

After this, they might briefly show a personal like or some other personal tidbit in order to appear more personable and friendly to the reader. This isn’t the only way it works out, though.

Fernando Silva, in his LinkedIn profile, turns the formula around and starts out with personal information. He lets them know that he is a “city dweller who loves to travel”. He then gives us some professional details, such as the fact that he is experienced in working in SaaS, before telling us that he likes to meet new people.

17. Nikki Ivey

There is no greater way to connect with potential leads and customers than to tell a story that they can connect with. It shows empathy and identifies a shared history. It shows your personal side and it encourages conversation.

It means that the reader is already emotionally invested in you and your future, and they will want to see success for both of you. Creating that narrative can be tricky because it needs to be heartfelt and personable, but it also needs to be relevant to what you do while attracting plenty of attention.

Nikki Ivey shares a heartfelt story about her past and how it led her to become the “sales coach wing-woman” that she is today.

18. Raphael Parker

You can use your bio to tell any story you want, but you do need to ensure that it is relevant, in some way, to what you are trying to achieve.

Generally, this means getting across important information about your experiences, qualifications, or skills. This doesn’t mean that you have to simply write a dry list of those achievements.

Raphael Parker opted to highlight several things he has done in the past to show off some of his skills. He leaves quite a lot to the imagination, but also gives a lot of information away. That’s a lot to achieve in just a couple of lines of LinkedIn bio content.

19. Allison Zia

You can use the first sentence of your bio almost like a headline. The headline of a news article is designed to hook the reader.

It pulls people in so that they read the rest of the story. Typically, the headline is only a few words long, which means that it has a lot of work to do in a very small amount of space.

Some of the most effective bios do something similar using the headline or the first sentence of their bio.

Allison Zia’s first sentence is “I like to solve problems” which is a bold statement that will hook most readers and encourage them to read more.

At this point, it is the role of the rest of the bio to keep the reader’s attention. Allison manages that by highlighting what she does, using examples, and showing off her specialties and her skills.

20. Ann Handley

Ann Handley is a skilled and experienced marketer. Somebody that most people in marketing will have heard of at some point. As such, she has plenty of credentials and a lot of experience that she could boast about in her bio.

Instead, she only gives a little information and encourages you to click and read more. Her website and profiles have seen several iterations, and the most recent is possibly one of the shortest.

It is, in fact, the header of the home page of her website, but it highlights her achievements as a writer, partner of a major marketing company, and speaker, while also encouraging visitors to get in touch. Powerful stuff from a skilled marketer.

Conclusion

Your professional bio may only offer a few dozen words but it is your opportunity to shine. Show readers or leads why they should deal with you and the benefits of doing so.

Use the examples above to give you some ideas on how to create a compelling and effective bio of your own.

Tom loves to write on technology, e-commerce & internet marketing.
Tom has been a full-time internet marketer for two decades now, earning millions of dollars while living life on his own terms. Along the way, he’s also coached thousands of other people to success.