Need to Write a Bio? Not Sure How?
If you’re a real estate agent you need to have a written bio. Copying someone else’s, or just using the placeholder bio that comes from your brokerage, doesn’t cut it. As someone who doesn’t particularly love writing, and who finds it a bit awkward to talk about myself, I did not consider that good news. But I did it. And I’m sharing the secrets to a great agent bio below to save you from making some of the mistakes I’ve seen other agents make. And the mistakes I made along the way too.
Be Real
People respond to authenticity, above all else. You are a complex unique person and you bring your personality and perspective to your work. For example, I’m a bit of a goofball. If you know me you know that’s true! It took me a while to stop being afraid that if I showed that side of my personality, people wouldn’t take me seriously. I know someone who, for years, stopped herself from putting exclamation points into her emails for the same reason. But the truth is that people want to connect with people they like and trust. If you aren’t being authentic, it shows. Are there people who won’t work with my friend because she puts exclamation points in her emails? Maybe. Or who won’t work with me because they saw a photo of me in goofy holiday classes on Instagram? It’s possible. But that’s okay. Those people will find someone else, and my people will find me. The things that make you, you, need to be reflected in your bio.
Get a Life
When you’re not selling houses what are you doing for fun? Who is in your social circle? What are some interesting facts about you that people might not know? Where are you from? What did you do before real estate? Your life outside of the office has a place in your professional bio.
Know Yourself
Can you think of three words that best describe you as a professional? If you can’t, text a couple of colleagues or co-workers from previous jobs and ask them. Use these three words in your bio and expand on them and how they translate into your work with clients.
Have More Than One
When you sit down to write anything for an audience outside of yourself, you should be writing with that group in mind. For example, I have a bio I use to promote myself as a real estate agent to buyer and seller clients. But I also have a bio I use to promote myself as an instructor and speaker. I have yet another that I use for my work as an author. Each are different because the intended audience is different, so the things I highlight and reference are different.
Make It Timeless
There are a few simple things you can do to ensure that your bios are evergreen, saving you the hassle of updating them constantly or the embarrassment of having a glaringly outdated bio on marketing materials. One example would be, rather than listing your experience in number of years—i.e. “Rebecca has been a Realtor for 18 years”—use dates instead. So, the alternative would be, “Rebecca has been a Realtor since 2003.” See the difference? The former needs to be updated every year. And depending on how many places your bio appears, that could become a time-consuming annual task. Another to be wary of including would be rankings. For example, you may rank in the top 10% of agents nationwide in transactions closed in 2020. If you are going to include a ranking in your bio, make sure to note the year afterward. That number could be higher or lower in 2021, rendering your bio outdated in a matter of months. Think about that as you read through your bios. Have you included anything that won’t be accurate one year from now? Save each bio and name them for what they are—Agent Bio, Teaching Bio, Author Bio, etc.