---
name: about-page
description: "Writes compelling about pages, founder bios, and team introductions that build trust and convert visitors using storytelling frameworks and social proof. Use when a user needs an about page for their website, wants to write a professional bio, or needs to introduce their team in a way that builds credibility."
allowed-tools: Read Write Glob
metadata:
  author: matthewhitcham
  version: "1.0"
---

# About Page

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:
- Write an about page for a personal brand, business, or agency website
- Create a founder bio, team introduction, or company story
- Rewrite an existing about page that reads flat, generic, or does not convert
- Produce a professional bio (LinkedIn, conference, podcast guest) or micro bio (social media)

**DO NOT** use this skill for:
- Full website copy (homepage, service pages, pricing pages) -- use the appropriate skill for each
- Sales pages or landing pages -- use sales-page for those
- Brand voice guidelines -- use brand-voice-guide to establish voice first, then write the about page
- Visual design or layout decisions -- this skill produces copy only

---

## About Page Element Priority

Every about page needs these elements. Build from CRITICAL down. Never skip a CRITICAL element.

| Priority | Element | Impact | Why It Matters |
|----------|---------|--------|----------------|
| **CRITICAL** | Origin story hook | Engagement gate | 80% of visitors decide to stay or leave in the first two sentences |
| **CRITICAL** | Credentials / proof | Trust builder | Claims without evidence read as empty marketing speak |
| **CRITICAL** | Clear CTA | Conversion driver | An about page without a next step is a dead end |
| **HIGH** | Mission / values statement | Alignment filter | Attracts the right clients and repels the wrong ones |
| **HIGH** | Who you serve | Relevance signal | Visitors need to see themselves in your story within 10 seconds |
| **HIGH** | Personality / voice | Differentiation | A generic about page is indistinguishable from 10,000 others |
| **MEDIUM** | Team introductions | Depth layer | Humanizes the brand beyond the founder |
| **MEDIUM** | Behind-the-scenes details | Connection builder | Specifics create intimacy ("we work from a cabin in Vermont") |
| **MEDIUM** | Fun facts / personal touches | Memorability | The detail people remember and repeat to others |
| **LOW** | Timeline / milestones | Context supplement | Only matters if the milestones are genuinely impressive |
| **LOW** | Press mentions | Authority supplement | Useful for B2B credibility, rarely needed for solopreneurs |
| **LOW** | Awards | Credibility supplement | Most visitors do not recognize industry awards |

---

## About Page Frameworks

THE FRAMEWORK DETERMINES THE ENTIRE PAGE STRUCTURE. CHOOSE ONE BEFORE WRITING A SINGLE WORD.

### 1. The Origin Story

How you started, the problem you saw, why you care. Follows a narrative arc: before, turning point, after.

**Best for:** solopreneurs, coaches, consultants, personal brands
**Default for:** any solo founder or individual service provider

### 2. The Mission-First

What you stand for, who you help, the change you make. Leads with purpose and positions the brand as a movement.

**Best for:** purpose-driven brands, nonprofits, community-centered businesses

### 3. The Credentials

What you have done, who you have worked with, results delivered. Leads with proof and positions the brand as the expert choice.

**Best for:** agencies, B2B services, professional firms, consultancies

**Default selection logic:** If the user is a solopreneur or individual, use Origin Story. If the user runs an agency or serves B2B clients, use Credentials. If the user mentions a cause or mission, use Mission-First. When in doubt, use Origin Story.

---

## Section-by-Section Guide

Build the about page in this order. Every section has specific rules.

### 1. Opening Hook (1-2 sentences)

The first line must stop the scroll. It is NOT a greeting, a company name, or a date.

**Techniques:**
- **Bold claim:** State a belief that signals what you stand for
- **Surprising fact:** A number or detail that creates curiosity
- **Relatable moment:** A scene the reader recognizes from their own life

**Incorrect:**
```
Welcome to our about page. We are a digital marketing agency
founded in 2019 by Jane Smith.
```

**Correct (Bold claim):**
```
Most marketing agencies will never tell you this: 80% of what
they sell you, you do not actually need.
```

**Correct (Relatable moment):**
```
I quit my corporate job with $2,000 in savings, a laptop that
overheated every 45 minutes, and absolutely no plan.
```

**Correct (Surprising fact):**
```
In the last three years, we have helped 340 small businesses
rewrite their about pages. Not one of them started with
"Welcome to our about page."
```

### 2. The Story (2-3 paragraphs)

This is the backbone of the page. It follows a three-beat structure: the before, the turning point, and the mission that emerged.

**Rules:**
- **First person for solopreneurs** ("I started this because..."), **"we" for teams** ("We built this firm because...")
- **One specific turning point** -- the moment that changed everything
- **Concrete details** -- names, places, dollar amounts, dates make it real
- **Keep it under 200 words** -- this is a page, not a memoir

**Incorrect:**
```
I have always been passionate about helping people. After many
years in the industry, I decided to start my own business. I
believe in providing excellent service and going above and beyond
for my clients.
```

**Correct:**
```
For eight years, I managed social media for a Fortune 500 company.
I was good at it -- our Instagram went from 12K to 400K followers
on my watch. But every time a small business owner asked me for
help, I had to say no. My corporate contract would not allow it.

In 2021, I walked away from the corner office. I took my playbook
-- the same frameworks that grew a Fortune 500 account -- and
started offering it to the businesses that actually needed it:
local shops, solo consultants, and creators building something
from scratch.

That is how Brightline Social was born. Not from a business plan,
but from the gap between who gets great marketing and who deserves it.
```

### 3. Who We Help (1 paragraph)

Name the target audience, their core problem, and the transformation you deliver. The reader should think: "That is exactly me."

**Incorrect:**
```
We work with businesses of all sizes across many industries.
```

**Correct:**
```
We work with service-based business owners who are great at what
they do but invisible online. You have tried posting on social
media. You have hired a freelancer who disappeared after two weeks.
You know your work speaks for itself -- but nobody is hearing it.
We fix that.
```

### 4. Proof Section (bullets, grid, or short paragraphs)

Show evidence that your claims are real. Choose the format that fits the type of proof.

**Proof types by strength:**

| Proof Type | Format | Example |
|-----------|--------|---------|
| Client results | Numbered bullets | "Grew a coaching business from $3K to $18K/month in 6 months" |
| Client logos | Grid of 4-8 logos | Best for agencies and B2B |
| Testimonial quotes | 1-2 short quotes with attribution | "She doubled our email list in 90 days." -- Mark Rivera, Founder of Peak Fitness |
| Credentials | Inline mention | "Certified PMP with 12 years of project management experience" |
| Media mentions | "As seen in" row | Use only if the outlets are recognizable to your audience |
| Numbers | Bold stat line | "347 clients served. $4.2M in revenue generated for our partners." |

**Incorrect:**
```
We have lots of experience and many happy clients.
```

**Correct:**
```
In three years, we have:

- Managed social media for 89 small businesses across 14 industries
- Generated over $1.2M in trackable revenue from organic content alone
- Maintained a 94% client retention rate (industry average: 72%)

"Brightline did not just grow our Instagram. They built us a
system we could run ourselves after the contract ended. That is
rare." -- Dana Ortiz, owner of Verdant Interiors
```

### 5. Team Section (optional)

Include only if the user has team members to feature. Each team member gets: name, role, and a 1-2 sentence personality bio.

**Incorrect:**
```
Jane Smith -- CEO
Jane has 15 years of experience in the marketing industry.
She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
```

**Correct:**
```
Jane Smith -- Founder & Lead Strategist
Former Fortune 500 social media director who traded the corner
office for a home studio and zero regrets. Believes the best
marketing sounds like a conversation, not a commercial.

Marcus Cole -- Senior Content Strategist
Spent 6 years writing for publications nobody reads, then
discovered he could write for businesses people actually care
about. Makes every client's brand voice sound like them, not
like a template.
```

**Team bio rules:**
- **Lead with what makes them interesting**, not their degree
- **One personality detail** per person (a quirk, a belief, a backstory)
- **Skip the headshot description** -- the photo handles that
- **Use the same tense and voice** for every team member

### 6. CTA (final section)

Every about page must end with a clear next step. Never let the page fade out with no direction.

**Incorrect:**
```
Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out anytime.
```

**Correct:**
```
Ready to stop being invisible online? Book a free 20-minute
strategy call and we will map out exactly what your social
media should look like in 90 days.

[Book Your Free Strategy Call]
```

**CTA rules:**
- **One CTA only** -- do not offer three different actions
- **Restate the core benefit** before the button or link
- **Make the action specific** -- "Book a 20-minute call" beats "Contact us"
- **Remove friction** -- "free," "no commitment," "takes 5 minutes"

---

## Bio Formats

When the user needs a standalone bio rather than a full about page, use these formats.

### Professional Bio (100 words, third person)

For LinkedIn, conference programs, speaking engagements, and press kits.

```
Jane Smith is the founder of Brightline Social, a social media management firm for service-based businesses. Before launching Brightline, she spent eight years as the social media director for a Fortune 500 consumer brand, growing their Instagram presence from 12,000 to 400,000 followers. Since 2021, she has helped 89 small businesses build organic social media systems that generate measurable revenue. Her clients have collectively added over $1.2M in trackable sales from content alone. Jane is based in Austin, Texas, and speaks regularly on organic social strategy at industry events.
```

### Casual Bio (150 words, first person)

For the website about page sidebar, newsletter footer, or podcast guest intro.

```
I spent eight years running social media for a company whose name you would recognize. Big budgets. Big team. Big results. But every time a small business owner asked me for help, I had to say no -- my corporate contract would not allow it.

In 2021, I left the corner office and started Brightline Social. I took the same frameworks that grew a Fortune 500 Instagram to 400K followers and started using them for the businesses that actually need great marketing: local shops, coaches, consultants, and creators.

Three years later, 89 clients, and $1.2M in trackable revenue from organic content. No paid ads. No gimmicks. Just systems that work.

When I am not building content strategies, you will find me hiking with my dog or arguing about coffee roasts nobody asked about.
```

### Micro Bio (30 words)

For social media profiles, podcast directories, and guest post bylines.

```
Founder of Brightline Social. Helps service-based businesses get visible online without paid ads. Former Fortune 500 social media director. Based in Austin.
```

---

## Example 1: Solopreneur Business Coach (Origin Story Framework)

**Input:** Solo business coach helping first-time entrepreneurs launch their first offer. First person. Personal journey from corporate burnout to coaching.

```markdown
# About

I did not plan to become a business coach. I planned to climb the corporate ladder until I retired with a pension and a parking spot with my name on it.

That plan lasted until a Tuesday in March 2020, when my company laid off 200 people in a single Zoom call. I was employee number 47 on the list. After 11 years, I got a 4-minute call and a severance check that would cover about three months of rent.

That afternoon, I sat in my car in the parking garage and Googled "how to start a business with no money." Eight months later, I launched my first digital product -- a $27 guide on building a consulting offer from scratch. It made $4,200 in its first month. Not life-changing money, but proof that I could build something on my own.

Within a year, I had built that into a six-figure coaching business. Not by being the smartest person in the room, but by being the person who had just done the thing my clients were trying to do.

## Who I Help

I work with first-time entrepreneurs who are stuck between the idea and the income. You have been thinking about starting something for months -- maybe years. You have 14 browser tabs open and a notes app full of half-finished plans. You know you could do this, but you do not know where to start.

I help you go from "I have an idea" to "I just got my first paying client." That is the only gap that matters.

## The Proof

- 312 clients coached through their first offer launch
- Average time from start to first sale: 47 days
- 83% of clients generate revenue within 90 days
- $2.1M in collective first-year revenue across all clients

"I went from Googling 'how to price my services' to signing a $5,000 client in six weeks. Rachel did not just give me a strategy -- she gave me the confidence to actually charge what I am worth." -- Amir Patel, leadership consultant

## What Happens Next

If you are ready to stop planning and start building, book a free 30-minute clarity call. We will figure out what your first offer should be, who it is for, and how to get it in front of paying clients this month.

[Book Your Free Clarity Call]
```

---

## Example 2: Web Design Agency with 3-Person Team (Credentials Framework)

**Input:** 3-person web design agency serving e-commerce brands. Credentials-first approach with team bios and client logo section.

```markdown
# About Pixel & Code

In the last four years, we have designed and built 127
e-commerce websites. Thirty-two of those stores now generate
over $1M in annual revenue. The rest are on their way.

We are not a full-service agency that happens to do web design.
Web design for e-commerce is the only thing we do. Every
decision we make -- layout, load speed, checkout flow, mobile
experience -- is filtered through one question: does this make
the store more money?

## Who We Work With

We build websites for e-commerce brands doing $250K-$5M in
annual revenue who have outgrown their Shopify template. You
know your current site is leaving money on the table. Your
conversion rate is below 2%. Your mobile experience feels
clunky. You are embarrassed to send traffic to your homepage
after spending thousands on ads.

We take stores from "functional" to "high-converting" in 8-12
weeks.

## The Numbers

- 127 e-commerce stores designed and launched
- Average client conversion rate increase: 34%
- 32 clients have crossed $1M in annual revenue
- 91% client retention rate across ongoing retainer clients
- Average project ROI: 11x within the first year

### Brands That Trust Us

[Logo grid: Evergreen Supply Co. | Maplewood Candles |
Drift Outdoor Gear | Copper & Sage | Rally Sport Nutrition |
Finch & Sparrow | Basecamp Coffee Roasters | Lumen Skincare]

## The Team

**Sara Kim -- Founder & Creative Director**
Spent five years designing for Shopify Plus before realizing
she would rather build stores than approve other people's
mockups. Has an irrational attachment to whitespace and believes
every homepage should load in under 2 seconds.

**Diego Reyes -- Lead Developer**
Full-stack developer who previously built internal tools at a
fintech startup. Joined Pixel & Code because he wanted to see
real people use the things he builds. His checkout flows have
processed over $14M in transactions.

**Lena Okafor -- UX Strategist**
Former behavioral researcher who now applies psychology to
shopping experiences. If a button is in the wrong place or a
product page is missing a trust signal, she will find it before
your customers do.

## Work With Us

If your store is doing $250K+ in revenue and your website is
the bottleneck, let us show you what a high-converting redesign
looks like for your brand. We start every project with a free
conversion audit of your current site.

[Get Your Free Conversion Audit]
```

---

## Anti-Patterns

**NEVER do these on an about page:**

- **Starting with "Welcome to our about page"** -- this is the single most wasted opening line on the internet. Lead with a hook, not a greeting.
- **Writing in third person for a solopreneur** -- "Jane is passionate about helping businesses grow" sounds like someone else wrote it. Use "I" unless the industry demands formality (law, medicine, finance).
- **Skipping the CTA** -- an about page without a next step is a dead end. Every about page must end with one clear action.
- **Listing credentials without context** -- "MBA, PMP, CFA" means nothing to most visitors. "12 years managing $50M portfolios" tells a story.
- **Using the word "passionate"** -- it is the most overused word on about pages. Show the passion through actions and specifics instead.
- **Writing a wall of text with no structure** -- use headers, short paragraphs, bullet points, and whitespace. Nobody reads a 600-word paragraph.
- **Making the page entirely about you** -- the about page is still about the visitor. Every section should connect back to what they need.
- **Including a timeline nobody asked for** -- "2019: Founded. 2020: First client. 2021: Hired team member." This format is lazy and unengaging unless the milestones are genuinely remarkable.
- **Using stock photo language** -- "We are a team of dedicated professionals committed to excellence" could describe any company on Earth. Be specific or delete it.
- **Trying to serve every audience** -- "We help startups, enterprises, nonprofits, and individuals" means you help no one. Name your specific audience.

---

## Recovery

### User Cannot Describe Their Story

If the user says "I do not have an interesting backstory" or "my story is boring":

1. Ask: "What were you doing before you started this business, and what made you stop doing that?"
2. Then ask: "What is the one thing about your industry that frustrates you most?"
3. Use their answers to construct the turning point. Every founder has a moment when the old path stopped working. That moment is the story.
4. **If they truly have no narrative arc, switch to the Mission-First framework** -- lead with what they believe and who they serve instead of personal history.

### User Wants to Sound Professional but Has No Credentials

If the user is early in their business with no impressive stats or client logos:

1. Use **results from their own experience** -- "I used this system to grow my own email list to 5,000 subscribers in 6 months" counts as proof
2. Use **specificity as a substitute for scale** -- "I help new yoga teachers in Portland fill their first 10 classes" is more credible than "I help businesses grow"
3. Use **methodology as proof** -- describe your process in enough detail that the reader thinks "this person clearly knows what they are doing"
4. **Never fabricate stats or testimonials** -- honesty about being early-stage ("I have worked with 12 clients so far, and here is what they say") builds more trust than vague large numbers

### User Provides Too Much Information

If the user sends a 2,000-word backstory and wants all of it included:

1. Identify the single strongest turning point in their story
2. Cut everything that happened before the turning point to one sentence of context
3. Cut everything after the turning point to the mission and proof
4. Explain: "The strongest about pages are under 500 words. Here is the most compelling version of your story -- we kept the moments that build the most trust."

### User Wants Multiple Pages (About, Team, Our Story)

If the user asks for separate pages:

1. Build the primary about page first using this skill
2. Extract the team section into a standalone page if they have 4+ team members
3. **Default to one page unless they have a clear reason to split** -- most small businesses perform better with a single, strong about page than three thin ones

### Three Revision Attempts Fail

If the user rejects the about page three times:

1. Stop generating and ask: "Send me a link to an about page you admire. I will reverse-engineer its structure and tone and apply it to yours."
2. Use their reference page to identify: opening style, story length, proof format, CTA approach, and voice
3. Rebuild the page matching those patterns with their content
4. **If this still misses, the issue is likely voice, not structure** -- suggest building a brand voice guide first with the brand-voice-guide skill

---

## Pre-Delivery Checklist

Run every item before delivering the about page. **DO NOT SKIP ANY ITEM.**

```
Pre-Delivery Checklist:

- [ ] Opening line is a hook, NOT "Welcome to" or a company name
- [ ] Framework matches the business type (Origin Story / Mission-First / Credentials)
- [ ] Story has a clear turning point, not just a chronological summary
- [ ] "Who we help" section names a specific audience and their problem
- [ ] Proof section includes at least one concrete, verifiable claim
- [ ] CTA is present and specifies one clear next action
- [ ] Voice matches the brand (first person for solopreneurs, "we" for teams)
- [ ] No use of "passionate," "dedicated," or "committed to excellence"
- [ ] Page is under 500 words (unless team section adds length)
- [ ] Every paragraph is under 4 lines
- [ ] No placeholder text -- every name, number, and detail is real or clearly marked for the user to fill in
- [ ] Team bios lead with personality, not job titles or degrees
- [ ] Page connects back to the visitor's needs, not just the founder's story
```