Video is powerful when used at the right time and in the right way, but video is quick and people are not too interested in hearing your life story… When you learn how to write a bio that works, you can use it to spend more time telling your story and talk more about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It is important to learn how to write a bio that will grab people’s attention. Luckily, most everyone is inherently selfish to some degree in the fact that most all of us are looking for ways to improve our life. People subconsciously think “what’s in this for me?” or “what can I get out of this?” within the first few seconds of landing on your page, so you will need to grab people’s attention and then keep it throughout. This is your bio but it should have an underlying feeling of value and benefit to your readers.

Learning how to write a bio starts with your opening statement.

The most important aspect of how to write a bio that really grabs peoples attention is of course with your opening statement. This is the first hook, so you want to start off with something like (I’m going to show you how you can…) or use (how to…) or pose an intriguing question like (do you make these mistakes?) or (who else…?). Try to think of something catchy that peaks the reader’s curiosity. Make it powerful and do your best to include some benefit to your reader within the first paragraph.

Your introduction is the key aspect of how to write a bio that really works.

Now you want to craft your introduction. This is where you connect with your reader and let them know a little about you. When I was learning how to write a bio for myself and putting together the various aspects that would make it stand out, I found that the best strategy is to simply tell your story. Don’t write out your life story, just tell them a little about you… your name, age, where you come from, your previous jobs or career, your hopes and dreams… Tell them relevant things about you that can help others relate with you, like your goals, interests, and commonalities. Let them get to know about you, your background, and the experiences you have been through that led you to be involved in what you are currently doing.

Learn how to write a bio that draws people in by identifying and establishing a problem.

Now that you have learned the basics of how to write a bio and you have laid the foundation and gotten people involved and interested in your story, you want to keep them engaged. It is time to identify and establish a problem. Describe the situation you were in that was creating discomfort or pain in your life. What happened to force you to say “that’s it, I’m going to do something about the way things are and make a change”? Tell them about the pain that forced you to make a change. You can say something like “that’s when I knew that things had to change” or “I knew there had to be a better way” or “I had to do things differently”. This will demonstrate positive qualities like leadership and initiative.

The next step in how to write a bio is to give a benefit or solution to the problem.

Alright, now we have grabbed peoples attention with an opening paragraph, we have given an introduction into our lives and connected with our readers, then we identified and established a problem or situation that needed to change. At this point in your journey of how to write a bio, it is time to give a benefit or a solution to the problem and save the day. This is where you demonstrate leadership by telling your reader about the solution to your problem.

If your reader relates to your story and you implement the skills writing a bio correctly, you will be indirectly giving them a solution to their own problem which is most likely very similar to yours. Try to answer questions like: What did you do to resolve the problem?, Why did you choose to take the path you did?, What was going through your head at the time? Make sure to give plenty of benefits… Remember that this is your bio, but it is for your reader so always keep in mind how your bio can help them.

Now you want to give a clear call to action as the final step in writing a killer bio.

By giving your readers what you have found to be the best solution to your problem, you have also given them a possible solution for a similar problem or situation they are facing. Now it is time to give a call to action. When putting together the aspects of how to write a bio that fits for you, I think you will find that using a call to action in one form or another will help keep your readers engaged through till the last sentence. Let them know that you understand and relate to the problem they are facing and the situation they are in and you know where they want to be, which of course is on the other side of that problem.

This is where your new skills of writing your own powerful biography all come together so try to think along the lines of… I was like you (struggling, etc…), then I did this…(made change), now I am where you want to be (happier, richer, thinner, freer, etc…) and you can do or have this too by taking desired action. Don’t mention your specific company or product, just keep it simple and be genuine by saying something like “I’m getting great results with this…, go here to check it out.”

This should spur your imagination and give you many great ideas on how to write a bio that will help pre-qualify prospects while finding the people who relate to you best and also the people you would most like to work with.

Now for a handful of extra tips on how to write a bio really stands out…

• Separate your sections into headlines using bold text to make it easier to read
• Keep it long enough to tell your story but short enough to keep them reading
• Relate to a broad group within your niche… relate to the masses
• Relate to your readers pain and pleasure to motivate them into action
• Write as if it is to people who know you well
• Don’t try to impress people, learn how to write a bio to just build trust
• Be congruent with everything you say… be real, honest, authentic, and genuine
• Be subtle, romantic, seductive, fun, funny, and witty
• Make people want to come to your party (solution, opportunity)
• Hypnotize your readers…be the wizard, the leader, the authority figure
• Brand yourself and create an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable
• Engage people and help them connect with the brand (YOU)

These tips and strategies on how to write a bio should help you out in many ways. You should realize that there are many people out there on the internet that are all competing for attention. Many people still seem to think that they can get away with quickly throwing up a few sentences and a picture and make a million bucks through some poorly written capture pages or even worse, spamming email lists. It is more important than ever to develop a quality brand by taking the time to provide real substance.

Your personal bio or story is your chance to let your readers know they can trust you. Begin to deliver more value and great information than anyone else and you will succeed. Consistently give excellent content to keep people interested. Solve peoples problems and find a way to help others to meet their needs. Remember, success is a process and a journey, not a destination. With all these tips, tactics, and strategies on how to write a killer bio, you should be well on your way to creating a personal bio that attracts all the right people to you.

People who get to write autobiographies, or have others write their biographies for them, are men and women who have done something really special in their lives. They were famous movie stars. They were national or international politicians. They were presidents and first ladies. They were incredible fashion designers. They built great dams and bridges. They were successful generals.

Even reaching a high status does not guarantee a biography. William Henry Harrison was only president for 31 days. He did nothing more as president than catch pneumonia at his inauguration and die. So even being president does not guarantee a biography. There are a kazillion generals in history but most of us can count the few we ever heard about without running out of digits. If you want to test that theory Google “Civil War Generals” and see how many there were and how many names you recognize. Even Custer probably would have been an ‘also served’ had he not had a last stand.

The first rule of (auto) biography is, “An (auto) biography is not about a person, it is about what a person did.” If Audrey Hepburn had been a housewife she would not have generated a biography no matter how gorgeous she was. It is possible that Katharine Hepburn would not have generated a biography without Spencer Tracy.

The second rule of biography addresses the question, “What did the subject of the biography do that would interest an identifiable market that is willing to spend money buying the book?” Books are easier to sell to identified markets than they are to general markets. Even if you have not done something huge in your life, if you have done something small that several thousand people could be expected to want to read about, you can probably get a book published – or sell a self-published book.

Occasionally someone related to a famous person will generate a biography for the famous person, which is really their autobiography that has a large market because of the fame of the parent – particularly if there is a twist to the fame. A case in point was Christina Crawford who wrote “Mommy Dearest.” Her mother Joan Crawford was a horrendously abusive mother. In this case the answer to the question “who will buy your book?” is people interested in nasty gossip that will make a relatively famous movie star look really bad. Joan Crawford became less well known for her successful Hollywood career than she was for the harm she did to her daughter. It is quite probable that Joan Crawford would never have been the subject a biography without that abuse. It is an absolute given that Christina Crawford would not have merited a biography without the abuse by a relatively famous mother.

For years I thought that books were about writing. They are not. They are about selling. 80% of your time as a writer is spent selling your book; selling your book to an agent, selling your book to a publisher, and then selling your book to an identified market. If you don’t sell your book, you don’t get to quit your day job. It is essential that you identify the people you think you can sell to and allow the interest of your market to inform your writing. Your book comes out of what you know that people like you need or want to know.

The easiest way to sell your autobiography is to identify a market that wants to read about what you have done, write specifically for that market and find organizations that are interested in that subject that you can use as a venue to sell books to their membership. For example, if your child survived a rare form of cancer you can write about what you did to help that child survive. Write about all the information that you learned during your child’s battle against cancer that would be interesting and useful to other families facing a similar battle. The parents of children with cancer, and particularly that form of cancer, are your market. The organizations built around fighting cancer, and particularly that form of cancer, are your marketing venues – the people you talk to, the people you sell your book to. All the things that other parents should know about battling that disease, the way you felt and how you handled your feelings, any techniques that you used to help your child cope with chemo and needles and hospital stays, what you did to help your other children deal with feelings of jealousy and neglect, all that is grist for your mill. What you did, not who you are, is the stuff of (auto) biography.

You can also slide your (auto) biography into “How To” books as part of the introduction that establishes you as an expert in your field. 20 or so pages, about what you learned and how you got to your level of expertise, that inform the reader about why they should read what you have written is your bio-introduction. These biographical chapters often encapsulate the highest and most exciting parts of your life which solves a problem about (auto) biography. Most of us live fairly boring lives with occasional spikes of excitement and activity. Most of us could write an article about the high points of our lives rather than a book. If you turn what you’ve learned into a “How To” book and talk more about what you can teach and less about yourself and your life, biography is easier to write.

Fictionalizing your biography is another way to write about yourself, interesting episodes in your life and what interests you. In fiction, I generally write in the area of medical thriller or medical rescue. I am a former New York City Paramedic which is a job that can be surprisingly tedious. It is a ‘hurry up and wait’ profession with a great deal of very dull transport in between a few extremely exciting rescues. In my books I slide in high points from the ambulance. I describe people that I found interesting, situations that fascinated me, amazing accidents and rescues that I participated in or heard about from other Paramedics, techniques that we used in the field, things that we studied that I imagined using in the field. It’s not exactly an autobiography, but it pulls from my life, my interests and the lives of those around me. Turning what interests you into fiction increases the amount of material available to you.

Since you may be writing about a field of interest rather than about yourself, you may want to research what has already been written on the subject. Simply because there are other books in your area of expertise does not mean that you should not write in a given area. Think of how many cookbooks there are. What you want to do is read everything that has been written in your area of interest or expertise and figure out what is missing or how you would handle the issue differently. At the very least, you bring yourself and your personal experiences to the table. I wrote a small book called “Date Rape: It’s Not Your Fault” which was inspired by my own rape. Are there other books about date rape? Of course there are. But those books did not include my story and how I handled my recovery and they did not reach the same market that I can reach.

To begin the process of writing (auto) biography start by answering the following questions:

• What have you done that other people would be interested in reading about?
• Who would be interested in what you want to write about? – be specific.
• How big is that potential market?
• How do you reach that potential market?
• Check out Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Buzz, Yahoo and MySpace to see if there are existing groups that are interested in that subject.
• Are there organizations that might be interested in your subject?
• If yes, contact them. Become active in them. Become known within them.
• What questions would people who are interested in your subject need or want to know?
• Make a list of those questions.
• Are there other books on your subject?
• If there are other books, how would you treat the subject differently?
• What information did other authors leave out that you consider important?
• How can you organize your book to stress the differences in what you bring to the table?

These questions should get you started and should lead to other questions that will help you write and organize books about you that will turn you into a successful writer.

The world needs people who are just themselves as human beings not some professional. The world needs books written by people who are genuine – people who are writing from the heart instead of a professional writer who will, instead of concentrating on the truth, is concerned with language structure, syntax and morphology of words. A biography or memoir is more about thorough acquaintance with the person being written about than language dynamics.

You must be at absolute sympathy with the subject, and enthusiastically be devoted the project, that is the writing process itself. As no one can interpret a poet without poetic feeling and taste, or a philosopher without speculative talent, so no one can rightly comprehend and exhibit the life of another person without being in sympathy with that person.

So instead of just being a source for information to experienced biographer or memoir writer considers yourself to be up to the task of writing a memoir or biography of that person who you know closely and you know those characteristics that made him or her to be on top of human society.

Your highest and only aim should be, like a witness, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and, like a judge, to do full justice to every person and event which comes under your consideration. Your job is to bring out reality that you know from experience and contact with the person you are writing.

But by all means it comes to planning the project in advance. If you are affected by the life of your subject you will indeed have passion to go through the complex process of planning and outlining the book. Once you have an outline you have the book, because the facts are there around you and from the people who you know can contribute to your book – providing you with their views about your subject.