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How To Create An “About Us” Page That Tugs Heartstrings… And SELLS.

Your “About Us” Page Can Do A Lot More To Sell Your Company Than You Think…

Your “About Us” Page Can Do A Lot More To Sell Your Company Than You Think…

From Overlooked Afterthought To One Of The Most Powerful Pages On A Home Improvement Website.

By Rich Harshaw

The best argument against what I’m about to teach you is that nobody actually reads the “About Us” page.

Shortsighted argument.

The truth is, people actually do click to it… but since there is never anything of value, they quickly navigate away in search of something shinier and more fun.

This is the internet, people.

Here are a couple examples of text from “About Us” pages randomly pulled from some home improvement websites to prove the point:

I want to take a few seconds to tell you a little about XXXXXX Roofing and why you can count on us every time to do a good job. We have been servicing the Metroplex for seventeen years and have established a quality reputation in the DFW Metroplex.

We appreciate your interest in our company and thank you for the opportunity to submit our proposal for your roofing project. We understand your home is possibly your most valuable investment and we want to assure you that we treat it accordingly.

(My commentary: the answer to the question “Why can you count on us to do a good job?” is “We’ve been servicing the Metroplex for seventeen years and have established a quality reputation.” Did anyone even think about that after they wrote it? Did ANYONE think to read what is being published?)

EXAMPLE 2

For thirty years the management team at XXXXXXXXXXX, has been involved in the fenestration industry. Their vast experience covers all phases of the window industry including building our own window systems (which we’ve been doing since 2001) to consulting, installation, and after-care service.

Today we offer to the public TRUE factory direct value. We build a wide variety of products from the most affordable line to our most feature-rich energy-efficient product system. All designed to “keep out heat, cold, and noise.”

(My commentary: starts off third person and unexpectedly shifts to second person; fenestration industry?)

People, we can do better. Much better, in fact.

Your “About Us” page represents a fantastic opportunity to HUMANIZE your company. Tell your prospects what kind of people you really are… so they can connect with you on a HUMAN level.

Nobody wants to read a truncated history of your company (we started in 1984…), a rehashing of all the crap you sell, or a bunch of platitudes about your dedication to customers and service.

Here’s a better way: Tell a story.

Make it a personal story.

A story that illustrates why you operate the way you do.

A story that shows how your mentality and philosophy were molded.

A story that helps people know and love the real you.

Let me show you a few examples, then I’ll explain the principles:

http://freeliteaz.com/about/

http://www.upscaleremodeling.com/about/

http://www.ezhs.com/about.php

As you read some of these examples, you might be tempted to think that there is “too much text” and that “nobody is going to read all that.”

And you would be wrong.

These pages are designed to seal the deal on getting prospects to want to do business with you. By the time they meander over to your “About Us” page, they’ve already probably thoroughly absorbed your Identity (assuming you have one) and checked out mounds of social proof and evidence (assuming you’ve provided it).

You should already have them preferring you over other contractors. They should already be wanting to do business with you.

And since everything else they’ve seen on your home improvement website has been so interesting, relevant, and engaging, they’re going to keep clicking and clicking and clicking.

Until they find your interesting little story that gives a little bit of backstory. In their mind, they’re going to pay you tens of thousands of dollars to complete this project for them; trust me, they’ll gobble up every delicious morsel of information about yourself you make available.

If it’s written in an interesting way.

Let’s take the example from above from Freelite. I interviewed the owner, Chip Marvin, to get a feel for him and his company. Here is what I discovered:

  • A genuinely nice man who cares about people
  • A soft-spoken man who seems like he wouldn’t hurt a fly
  • A man with a strong aversion to heavy-handed sales techniques
  • A man who’s passionate about helping his customers make the right choices for their situation

So I started asking him about his background: How did he start this business? Why is he so put off by sales pressure? What was he like growing up? What did he want to be when he grew up? How do people react to his soft-spoken personality in a sales situation? Like that. And more.

What I found out didn’t surprise me based on what I had already divined by just talking to him. A guy with a religious studies degree from Yale with no business experience moved to Tucson in the 70’s to look for opportunity.

If you skipped over the examples above without actually looking at them, you really should go back and study them—in detail—right now. I mean seriously, check out this awesome headline:

If “Type A” Personality Means Somebody Is Driven, Aggressive, And Forceful,
You Might Say That My Personality Is “Type Z.”

It’s not going to get much better—or much more engaging—than that.

Read the entire About Us page here: http://freeliteaz.com/about/

Okay, so here’s an offer for you:

Send me your “About Us” page and I’ll evaluate it. Or if you already know yours is terrible, then rewrite it using the principles above and send it to me for review.

Don’t worry, I won’t be mean or rude when I give you my critique. But I will be honest.

I’ll only review the first five I get, so send it right now. If you need time to write a new one, email me first letting me know you need time to work on it, and I’ll hold your spot for twenty-four hours.

All you have to do is send me an email to rharshaw at mymonline dot com (written this way to avoid spambots).

© 2015 – 2016, Rich Harshaw. All rights reserved.

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