How many times have you been asked for one? Did you have one ready to go? Or was it a scramble to put something together?

Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a ready-to-go bio. You are certainly not alone.

Yet it’s something that should be in your arsenal for a number of reasons.

If you’re a business owner, your bio is part of the story of your business. Is there an About Us section on your website? What you have there about you can serve as a bio. Depending on what you need the bio for—e.g. speaking engagement, newspaper article, podcast interview—it may or may not be enough.

Or, it may not be appropriate for the opportunity.

Huh?

Let’s say you’re doing a podcast appearance. The host prefers a bio that goes back to where you were born, where you went to school, key influences, etc.

The About Us bio on your website may not have any of that information. It probably won’t have previous job experiences either and that might be something the podcast host would be interested in.

For other opportunities, they may only want to hear about your business and how you got started and grew. It can vary from opportunity to opportunity. That’s why having at least one solid bio at the ready is a good idea. Multiple bios of varying lengths and styles is better.

That doesn’t mean each time you get a request you will have to start from scratch. A tweak or two usually suffices depending on the opportunity.

For example, let’s take a look at Steve Dubin’s bio.

There’s some good information about Steve’s business philosophy and some personal info. The tone is friendly, just like Steve. Yet some media outlets may not want to know about Steve’s family life or first job.

Some might be interested in where he attended college.

There could even be some opportunities where nobody knows who Larry Bird is and why that would be important to mention in a biography.

When it comes to these opportunities, it really does have to be done on a case-by-case basis.

In the next installment of PR Pointers, we’ll dissect a few biographies and make some recommendations on what should go into most bios.

Do you need some help with your bio (s)? Contact us

Contact Info:

Steve Dubin
PR Works
18 Main Street Extension, Suite 409
Plymouth, MA 02360
PRWorkZone.com
781- 582-1061
sdubin@prworkzone.com