Why Your IG Bio Matters
Imagine this:
It's the first day of school and you don't know know anybody. You're in your first class and you're trying to have a feel for your environment and especially your professor. You know today is easy; the syllabus is the only thing on the agenda. Of course, your professor has trouble 'remembering names' and forces his students to do one thing:
introduce themselves.
No one ever really likes doing that. You're standing in front of a group of strangers practically begging for their approval. It's as if you're in the midst of a village and you're tied to a banister, waiting to be stoned by their judgement.
The bottom line is: we hate being judged as much as we judge others ourselves, which is why first impressions are a huge deal.
Your IG bio is your 'elevator speech'.
When you take an elevator with a stranger, who could be your potential boss or connection to a career opportunity, you only have 30 seconds to have a conversation with them. That's 30 seconds to tell them who you are and what you do.
That's not a long time, right?
In your IG bio, people only have attention spans long enough to decide whether you're likable enough; whether you're worth following or whether your pictures are worth looking at. What you have in your bio is a huge factor in determining the personality of your blog.
In other words, be concise. Think about how else you can word things. People are lazy. The less words, the better.
A minimalist's mantra is 'Less is more.'
I look at several accounts a day and something I absolutely do not like is when people claim they are x, y and z yet their IG has nothing to do with it.
For example, if you say that you're a dancer in your bio, I better see some dance videos or pictures of your team, or maybe the sunset you see when you get out of rehearsal early morning during hell week.
If you say you're a fashion blogger but have 98% personal pictures of your friends and family and 2% pictures of your clothes, you are not a fashion blogger.
Maybe you are a dancer and maybe you are a fashion blogger, or maybe you're both like me. Only have the necessary information and what's most prevalent in your bio only if it's relevant.
Don't set expectations that your blog doesn't fulfill or write out your resume in your introduction.
Get to the point.
Don't be a sell out. Remove any promo codes or links that are not related to your blog.
One, it takes up too much space in your bio that no one needs to read or frankly, even cares about. Two, use your marketing services through your pictures and blog posts to sell. It's more professional and it's more effective to your audience.
Three, commission can only make you so much money.
It's like going from door-to-door trying to sell your stainless steel knives. No one wants to buy from you.
Always include your contact information. That should be a given. But make sure all of your platforms have the same username. Consistency is key even in small, nit picky situations such as this. It's clean to the eyes, easy to remember and professional.
Remember, people are lazy. If you want to get through to them, you have to do most of the work for them. With the speed of wifi and convenience of apps, consumers are used to having everything at the touch of a button.
Now that you've taken out all the good stuff, it comes down to putting it altogether and then some.
This is your chance to show people who you really are while informing your followers what your focus is without being too wordy. At the same time, you need a hook to reel people in to want to keep looking at your work. You need something catchy and relevant.
Nailing the 'perfect' bio is not easy. Trust me. But once you have one, it sets the tone of your blog and it's the easiest way to attract followers.
For the longest, my IG bio was: "I may or may not fashion blog". Well that's wrong. I do fashion blog but we all know that fashion bloggers don't call themselves fashion bloggers majority of the time, especially in their bios. That's because everyone and their mothers say that they are. More experienced and credible bloggers know that their content will convey that message for them.
So how can I say that I fashion blog without actually saying that I'm a fashion blogger?
1. What's your focus? Address this first and foremost. What is your sense of fashion? Are you a bohemian blogger? Maybe you prefer streetwear. Start there, but don't be so upfront about it.
2. What do you like? What do you do? Who are you? Be yourself.
There's nothing more pretentious than people using quotes, lyrics or even Internet memes to describe themselves. It's not original. Describing yourself using other's own ideas is a quick surefire way to say that you are not creative. You therefore lose the benefit of doubt and get swept under the rug with the other thousands of so-called 'fashion bloggers' using Hotline Bling to describe their lives.
3. It's okay to not have your bio down pat the first time. It's okay to keep changing it and it's okay to look at other's accounts for inspiration.
As you're looking at others for inspiration, don't follow trends. Maybe it's catchy now, but your bio's appeal will fade after a couple months, or a year. Trends are usually over the day after they start and people move on from them quickly. Don't follow trends; start them.
Leather jacket via Zara / Thigh-high boots via Ego
I thought a lot about my own and I basically summed up with my aesthetic is in the most Tumblr way possible.
"My aesthetic is small Asian girl in monochromatic clothing."
How is it effective?
I made it short, sweet and straight to the point. It's humorous and relatable for the most part, yet it has a lot of personality. It shows that I'm clever and that's a tone that I exude throughout my blog and even in my captions. It has a voice that is distinct from others and it's not repetitive of other viral trends. It mentions my sense of style and touches upon an interest of mine, which is fashion.
Writing a bio isn't easy and it's often overlooked by most because they struggle with it so much.
Nailing a bio, a class introduction or even a 30 second elevator speech, will push you ahead of your competition. This is what companies are looking for in their potential employees.
Know what you want, know who you are and know what you want to do.
Photography by Justin Quebral