How to write an effective About Me page

There’s one page I always look at when I’m buying on eBay – and it’s not the seller’s feedback: it’s their About Me page. I’ve always loved Me pages, because they’re one of the best ways to figure out exactly what you’re dealing with. But lately, I’ve noticed more and more sellers using them to list shop policies about payments, shipping and returns, and that makes me feel sad. While you should certainly have pages in your Store for T&Cs, About Me is surely a chance to be a little bit more personal, and to sell me on *you*.

What do I say about me?
This is what I’d always include in an About Me page:

• contact details – even though they’re now on listings too, having them somewhere obvious makes it easier for your buyers to contact you. Which in turn, makes you look like someone who’s happy to help, and is therefore going to be easier to buy from.
• what your site/shop is about/for – it’s easy for people to surf straight into a product page from Google. Your home page should give a flavour of what your site is about; your about me page is the chance to go into more detail.
• why are you qualified to be selling what you’re selling? – if you’re a craft seller who makes jewellery, talk about it: better still, show some pictures. If your eBay shop grew out of your car or music obsession, talk about that.
• why should I trust your business? If you’ve been trading ten years, or have a bricks & mortar shop, or are a member of a dozen trade organisations, talk about that. It all makes your customers feel they’re dealing with someone who’s established, who’s likely to stick around, and who’s therefore more trustworthy.
• something about me – you’re a human being, right? So are your customers. It’s easier to build up a relationship with another human (or group of humans) than it is with a website, and talking about yourself aside from work helps that. If there are a few of you, how about a “meet the team” section?

Me, or we?
If you’re a “one person band” trading out of your back bedroom, should your Me page talk about “me” or “us”? It may depend on what area you sell in: consumer electronics’ buyers, for example, might feel more confident in a company that’s going to stick around to honour their guarantees in the event of a problem further down the line, so if that’s what you’re selling, you might want to talk bigger than you actually are.

But in general, if you’re a sole trader, there’s nothing wrong with talking about “me”: if your customers know it’s just you, they should cut you a little more slack in time to answer email, in phoning out of hours and in being on holiday. If someone’s going to look down on you for being a sole trader, they’re probably not the kind of snob you want for a customer anyway.

eBay About Me pages : what you can and can’t say

The eBay About Me page is justly famous for being the only place on the site where eBay allow sellers to link their own website. But there’s often some confusion about exactly what eBay will let you say; :

The eBay About Me page may be used to describe the seller’s business, and may contain URLs or links to the seller’s individual website. It may not specifically promote off eBay sales or sales of items prohibited on eBay, nor may it contain links to commercial web sites where goods from multiple sellers are aggregated by a common search engine.

What does this mean? You can link to your website, but you can’t promote it. In other words, you can say “we have a website at www.whatever.com”, but you can’t say “our website at www.whatever.com is 30% cheaper than our eBay shop”. You also can’t link your listings on Amazon, Etsy, Bonanzle or any other market place site.

What’s your About Me page like? Leave us a link to your website or eBay Shop, and let’s take a look.

photo credit: quinn.anya