Clients Are Not On Your Website To Learn About You (Well… Mostly)
They’re on your website because they have a problem and they’re looking to solve it, and your personal goals or revenue potential don’t matter to their story. It does not help them get where they’re trying to go.
So keep in mind that your customers are on your website because they’ve got a problem that they’re looking to solve. This changes your perspective of why people go to your About page.
It’s not to read a novel about your business.
Or hear about your 5 year plan.
Instead, what people are really looking for is whether they can trust you or not.
And, yes, that does mean that they want to learn about you. But only in specific ways.
So the big question is how can you help your customers learn about you in a way that establishes trust so they feel comfortable moving forward on their journey with you?
And just like everything that we talk about, it all comes back to story.
Stories have been around for thousands and thousands of years and they’ve been engaging and compelling the human brain the entire time.
What this means for you, your brand, and your About page is that when you tell a story, your customers engage with it on a deeper level. It’s way better than just creating a brochure as a webpage that has all the information you could possibly offer your customer.
Instead, when you invite your customers into a story, not only do they learn a little bit about you, but they also trust you and they have an experience that excites them about doing business with you.
So I’m going to walk through a brief overview of storytelling. Then, after that we’ll get into how it applies to your About page.
Let’s get started.
Act 1: The Setup
Motivation
Starting off in Act 1, we’ve got two parts. The first thing that you have to do in Act 1 is establish what the hero of the story wants. What motivates them. What is it that they’re striving for, that they desire? For you, the hero of your story is your customer. So I want you to ask, what is it that motivates your customer as it relates to your product or service?
If you sell running shoes, maybe your customers want to run faster, maybe they want to run farther, or maybe they want waterproof running shoes, if that’s what you specialize in. So as you’re going through this, I want you to write down what is motivating your customer.
Obstacle
Then we’re going to move on to the second part of Act 1, which is the obstacle. Something gets in the way. It prevents your customer from getting what they want. What is the problem they’re experiencing? Or the thing that’s in their way? Write that down.
Act 2: The Action
Solution
Next we have the solution. This is your product or service. How is it that you help people solve their problem? Keep it simple. What do you do and how does it help your customers?
Trust
You have to earn the right to give advice. This is true in all of life. You can’t walk up to someone you’ve never met and say, “Buy my product” and expect it to work.
Focus on building trust to help people overcome their uncertainty and move forward with you. Why can they trust you to help solve their problem?
Act 3: The Resolution
Offer
The first thing that happens in Act 3 is we have to know exactly what’s being bought. In terms of a story, this would be similar to the final plan to beat the bad guy. What must be done?
In business terms, it’s about what your customer is buying.
This can look different, depending on what you sell. It’s generally a “What You Get” section.
Purchase
The last thing is that we want them to take action — which means buy your product. This could be a pricing section or a form that people fill out to get in touch with you.
How Story Applies To Your About Page
All right, so that’s how you tell an incredible story. We’ve got three acts. You’ve got two parts of each act. Now how do we apply that to your About page?
When you identify what your customers want and the problem that’s getting in their way on your About page, what you’re going to do is write down how and when did you want the same thing? And we’re going to look at the Obstacle and you’re going to talk about how and when did you experience that same Obstacle that prevented you from getting what you wanted?
So, you could say something like, “My whole life I wanted to run faster, but the problem was I felt like my shoes were just weighing me down.” So now we’ve taken your customer’s story and we’re telling it through your eyes. So your entire About page turns into a page of empathy and connection.
When your customers read your story, they’re actually seeing their story and the entire time they’re connecting with you.
Even though we’re looking at this particular web page through your eyes, your customers will still see their own story, and that’s what we want. Because when your customers see their story, they trust you more. They feel like you understand what they’re going through and you can help them solve their problem, which means they buy more from you and your company grows.
Real Life Examples
This is Dr. Joe Simon. This is one of the websites we built. This is his About page:
If you’re like most physical therapists, I know you’re already working hard to help make people around you healthier, so this is what its customers want. Wise customers are physical therapists and they want the people around them healthier.
There’s a testimonial in there, and then we have the problem: But it’s not as easy as it sounds. We’re running a successful physical therapy practice is hard work, so now we have the problem. Then we’ve got his guide section. Let’s see how he connects with his customers and establishes his authority for why they can trust him.
I started my own practice years ago. He’s saying, “I went through what you’ve gone through. I was about to out a business, but then I created a marketing and business strategy that brought in 90 clients in one month.”
He’s connecting with the way that they’ve struggled.
“Since then, I’ve been in business for 18 years,” that’s trust. “I’ve made nine business profitable,” more trust. “I bring in 10 million in revenue every year.” More trust.
And this just continues with more reasons to trust him. Now we’ve got his solution section. So here are two ways he helps his customers win: He’ll buy the practice or he’ll help them start a practice.
So two different groups there, but both good solutions. And then, “Will I have the privilege of working with you next?” So we’ve got here, success. The Outcome. You don’t have to wonder how you’ll retire from your physical therapy practice anymore. You can sell it and live the life you want. You don’t have to dream about starting your own private practice one day. You can own a successful physical therapy practice.
Now let’s get started. Schedule your evaluation. So you see here we had the results and we have a call to action right there. This is a fantastic example of a solid About page.
Here’s another client that we had. This is Learn To Make A Product. They help you take your idea for a product from idea all the way through the entire process of finding a factory, manufacturing it and selling it.
Let’s see how they put together their About page. So this is the owner and she’s telling her story here: “So many moons ago I launched one of the first companies to make reusable shopping bags.” So she’s saying I created a product just like you’re doing. “I had lots of enthusiasm and a strong work ethic would have zero experience in design, manufacturing or marketing. The first few years were exciting but rough. We sold hundreds of thousands of units of product but somehow lost money.”
So now we have her establishing what she wanted, which is the same thing her customers want. And the problem, which is the same problem her customers are having: they’re not actually making money.
And she continues to tell her story and really gets into the problem, “Suppliers disappeared with our money. We’d ship product to customers, only to discover an embarrassing quality problem like broken handles or upside-down labels. Deliveries were always late.”
So she’s listing off a lot of the problems that her customers experience. And she’s doing it through her own eyes. Now she gets the Trust section to tell you why you can trust her to solve your problem:
“Learn to make a product asserting to makers from all over the world. Our workshops, digital products and support packages have reached over 5,000 people. And I’ve educated groups at MIT, Babson, General Assembly, and beyond.” What trust? Those are some big names! That’s so awesome.
And if I’m looking for somebody to help me put together my own product, she’s the one who I’m going to trust to do it. So now you’ve got the framework, you’ve seen examples of how to do it.
So go do the About page on your website. And when you do, send us a message and tell us how it goes!