“Afraid of being exposed, dying to be seen — there’s a dilemma for you.”
– Philip Roth, The Human Stain
There is an art to writing content that people will want to read. Today, content needs to be concise, but it still needs to tell your story with a human voice. With authenticity and feeling — which inspires confidence. And that builds credibility and trust. Too many websites show signs of haphazard posting or pure obsolescence. Content that wastes your visitors’ time kills their confidence — in you and your business. Even if they like you, they’ll leave your website and never return.
Ouch.
Once again, strategy first
One reason website content on professional services firm websites is so poor is that the pages never started with a strategic emphasis, a theme or message that guides and gives purpose to the words on the page. A differentiating positioning strategy is critical – truly vital – for your page content to have a chance of having a unique voice and focus. For the words on the page to be yours and no one else’s.
Your bio – your chance to shine and actually be different
Website analytics prove that 40-70% of visitors view the professionals’ bios. Knowing that, it’s critical to create bios that keep visitors reading longer and encourage them to view more than just yours. (This ROI can easily be measured!) We have interviewed more than 3,500 lawyers and other professionals’ biographies to write their bios, practice/industry and other pages for websites since 2016, and each person is distinguished by what they do, how they do it and where their practice (or firm) is headed. Like the Philip Roth quote, there is a balance between bragging and not saying anything – we know how to strike the perfect balance.
Whether they are reading an RFP response, pitch materials or your website bio, buyers of professional services purchase on two levels: when they are making their short list of firms or professionals to consider, they are making an intellectual and technical evaluation of strengths and features. To pass the short-list test, you must include specific experience that answers the questions: what have you done, for whom have you done it, and what can you do for me? Oh – and they also want to know how you do what you do; meaning, what will their experience be like working with you?
But when they are making their buying decision and choosing the one person or firm to hire over all the others, they are making an emotional decision (do I like this person? Do I trust them? Will they have my back?). So you must connect with your reader/visitor on a human level.
Content Pilot invented the idea of “3-Dimensional Bios™” or “3-D Bios.” The three dimensions are:
- Demonstrate expertise
- Prove relevancy
- Show humanity
We look forward to helping you create a bio that drives engagement and works much harder for you.
You need leverage – create a 360° content strategy
Content Pilot also invented the approach, “360° Content Strategy,” which is all about leverage and syndication. Here is an infographic that gives you a picture of how it can work. We can help you with creating the content and the syndication you need – every aspect of what appears in this infographic. In addition to this, clients hire us for:
- Practice and industry descriptions
- Email marketing
- Blog post creation
- Social media posting and management (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)
- Creating templates for and writing proposal content
- Advertising strategy and copy
- Video storyboards and scripts
- Podcast strategies and content
- White papers
- Client case studies and stories
- Other website content
