![\"Why](\"http:\/\/planfoundations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Get-to-Know-Me-Name-Tag.jpg\")
<\/a> The internet has forever changed how business relationships form. The first time someone meets you is less likely to be when you shake hands. Instead, it\u2019ll be online.\u00a0 While an extrovert like me feels lonely with an online introduction, I\u2019m learning to accept it because it\u2019s what people do. I admit that before I have a business meeting, I research the participants quickly online. In five minutes, I know their current business role, their work history, education level, and some of their personal interests. I\u2019m not alone with this business habit. Yet I still find it creepy when someone I meet for the first time talks about me like my best friend, and I can\u2019t even remember their name yet. How did online introductions become the first point of contact for so many business introductions? My guess is that online dating has forever changed the way we get to know each other\u2014personally and professionally. In fact, some people fall in love before they even meet in person. What? It\u2019s gotten to the point that if the Internet could enable people to procreate online\u2014they would! I digress. Let\u2019s accept the fact that our first business introduction probably happens online, and then we can learn how to improve our business relationships. Why did I change my bio today? I wanted to have more people feel connected with me when they read about me online. The virtual introduction has become the new normal. Note that when I\u2019m introduced to a crowd with my formal bio, I\u2019ve learned the hard way that I have to humanize myself in an almost self-deprecating way to even begin to engage with my audience. Otherwise, people look at me as if they were just bludgeoned by the announcer. This is the opposite of what I want and who I am. We\u2019ve all seen these formal resume-type bios in the About Us sections of business websites. Here people brag about their prestigious degrees, certifications, and accomplishments. They\u2019re mind numbing, because a formal bio is mostly self-centered and boring. Business people don\u2019t want to hear about your resume; they want to engage in a business relationship that will benefit them. Business is more fun when you transact with people you like. Therefore, in my online bio, I want to give people a reason to engage with me. I want to differentiate myself by sharing my passions about why I do what I do. So I took out a pen and paper and wrote down five reasons why I do what I do. Here\u2019s what I wrote:<\/p>\nAbout John McAdam<\/u><\/strong> For decades, I\u2019ve seen the many achievements that an active business planning process yields for a business. As a veteran entrepreneur, former hired CEO, and business advisor, I teach Strategic Business Planning at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Small Business Development Center. I help established business owners plan, and by doing so avoid needless financial setbacks and employee struggles. I do what I do because I have learned the hard way that I would rather make my clients more successful than become a billionaire. My life has more meaning when I can jump from business to business and play a small but powerful advisory role to help people achieve. In fact, I take more pleasure in my client\u2019s achievements than I do my own. I see people struggling unnecessarily in business and know that I can help them\u2014not only because of my successes, but my failures also. Both have taught me planning tips, tools, and techniques with which people can achieve.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My new bio makes me feel naked. Almost as if my audience doesn\u2019t deserve to see my heart until they get to know me better. Can they at least buy me a drink first? My intent here is to make my bio uniquely me by making it heartfelt. When people meet me online (by reading my bio), I want them to feel close to me and have a connection with me. Being an expert in something is tricky, and admitting that I’ve learned from my mistakes humanizes me\u2014always a good thing. Note that I will adjust the wording and have different bios for different audiences. This is a section, not my complete bio. My bio will look different tomorrow than it does today. I confess that I will take this raw text and have a professional editor and marketer refine the copy before I publish it online. \u00a0Sometimes my bio has to compete with a hundred other bios for a speaking engagement. Rather than brag more loudly and longer about my expertise, I will bring my passion into the foreground\u2014why I do what I do\u2014and put my resume in the background. This will improve my competitive positioning among other experts with formal bios. I will keep making refinements to improve that first impression. How about you? _____________________________________________________________________________________ I would like to thank the good folks at www.firepolemarketing.com<\/a> and www.corporaterenegade.com<\/a> for the inspiration to refine my online bio and the research material used herein. \u00a0 \u00a0 Copyright \u00a9 John McAdam 2015, All Rights Reserved.<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why I Changed My Online Bio Today and You Should, Too The internet has forever changed how business relationships form. The first time someone meets you is less likely to be when you shake hands. Instead, it\u2019ll be online.\u00a0 While an extrovert like me feels lonely with an online introduction, I\u2019m learning to accept it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,25,26],"tags":[76,77,15,12,78],"class_list":["post-4873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marketing","category-sales","category-sales-marketing-advertising-public-relations","tag-bio","tag-biography","tag-marketing","tag-online","tag-sell-yourself"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerbusinessventures.com\/nsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}