Biographies: The New Resume for Social Media

How does your biography differ from your resume?

Your biography tells people who you are. In other words, it is character and values driven. It informs people about featured highlights from your vast experience without digging up ancient history. It is audience driven and motivates them to want to know more about you from their perspective. Because it is highly focused, it keeps people on track with your offering. It is the perfect communications tool for electronic media and social networks.

A well-crafted biography is far more interesting to read than almost any resume we have ever muddled through. And, unlike the traditional resume that exclusively signals that you are looking for work, the biography has many more applications. Free agents use bios; people who enjoy meaningful professional relationships use bios; biographies are almost always the most significant attachment to sales proposals and, of course, speakers use bios as introductory tools.
Some basic rules for designing your biography include:

- Write with the targeted audience in mind - you are not writing to yourself!

- 3 to 4 well-crafted paragraphs are more than sufficient for most biographies.

- Avoid cookie-cutter words and phrases and try to write using words the reader can see in their mind's eye.

- Be prepared for a great deal of re-writing but don't edit your own work.

- Remember that different audiences (readers or listeners) require different biographies.
Want to know more about biographies? The Internet is your source.

For more insight from Carleen MacKay, visit her website at http://www.agelessinamerica.com/.

For more free resources go to: http://www.jobseekerhelp.org/free-resources.html