Whenever I get an alert of a new twitter follower, I always take the time to read their bio. And, depending on what I read, I may click through to read their recent tweets. If their tweets seem interesting at that point I may decide to follow. But, not always. Just because people are interested in what I’ve got to say doesn’t mean I’m interested in what they’ve got to say. Right? It’s worth pointing out as not everyone gets that.

So, with all the bios that I read, I continue to be amazed at what people choose to say in the 160 characters that Twitter have given us.

Now, before I start, it’s probably worth mentioning that I’m assuming that people want followers. Not in a ruthless silly numbers kind of way, more an organic gathering of loyal engaged followers. After all, why would you spend time tweeting if it’s just to yourself?

So, back to the bio. You’ve got 160 characters to make an impact and let other people know WHY they should follow you. For me this means that every word and comma needs to earn its space in your bio and add something. Just like with a CV. There’s no room for flouncy indulgence here!

The key thing is to ensure that your bio helps to communicate who you are. So this might be things like what you do to earn money, what you like doing when you’re not, what you’re aiming for, great stuff you’ve done, how you help people. You get the drift. It’s also worth conjuring up a bio that helps you to stand out so that people will remember you. People who stand out are more likely to be followed back. Blandness does not tend to draw people in.

Now, you probably want to read a post that tells you how to create the perfect bio, but I’m not going to do that because we’re all different and formulas don’t work with individuals. So, instead I’m going to tell you what to avoid.

Your family status

I’m talking about words like husband, father, mum, dad of 4, husband to lovely wife. Seriously. We’re not interested. We all know people like that. So what? How does that make you interesting? What unique perspective does that give you on the world? When you introduce yourself to people you don’t know, is the first thing you say “Hey, I’m a great wife to my gorgeous hubby, and a loving mum to my 4 boys… and you?”.

Where you live

For a start, Twitter gives you a dedicated spot to tell us just that. So to reiterate the fact that you are “based in Solihull, West Midlands, UK” is just being silly and shows that you’re just not paying attention. That’s 36 characters that you could have used to tell me more about you.

Social media enthusiast

What the hell does this mean? It’s a bit like saying you like socialising and talking to people. Social media is just another way of communicating. The fact that you’re on twitter kind of suggests that you might be into social media. But beware – if you only have a handful of followers you can’t really be that much of an enthusiast. Or maybe you’re just late to the party, and now you’re here you think it’s fab. If this is you, be careful. There’ll be another fad waiting for you just around the corner that you’ll get really enthusiastic about too and then you’ll talk about that. Put your stick in the ground!

Proper long and windy sentences

“I am a husband and father to three gorgeous girls who really likes to go for long walks and drink fine wine. I am also a social media enthusiast and entrepreneur.” Jeez! It’s OK. You’ve only got 160 characters, so we’ll forgive you if you want to be a bit more punchy and concise.

Now, this list is just for starters. I’m sure there are many more! But, I just had to get these ones out of my system. If you want to add any to my list, go right ahead!

If you want help working out what makes YOU unique and different, then get in touch. That’s what I do! I help people to find their story and tell it with confidence.

We’re a lot more like onions than you think. Yes. Really.

If you’ve recently started working for yourself, one of the challenges you’re likely to come across is finding your true voice, your authentic self. Connecting to who you really are and what you really want is not always a straightforward process. One thing I have realised working with my clients is that the people that find it the hardest are those that were working in corporate environments that didn’t encourage them to be themselves. They’d spent so long trying to change who they were to fit in that they lost site of who they really are. This might have been because the organisational values and theirs were not aligned, or maybe they were doing a job that didn’t fulfil them or make use of their talents and strengths. Whatever the reason, once you’re free of the corporate machine you’re next biggest task is to do decide what to do next. And in doing so you’ll need to define yourself. In other words; develop your personal brand.

In making your next move, the chances are that you’ll use the online space to do so. Whether it’s on LinkedIn, ecademy or if you end up with your own site or blog. If you’re going to present yourself online, you’re going to need to make a call as to how you want to appear and what you want to say about yourself. That’s in addition to being clear about what you’re trying to achieve so that you know who you’re trying to talk to.

So, back to onions… like onions, when we’re an employee in a hostile environment we develop a thick skin to protect ourselves. It protects us nicely from the dirt that surrounds us; you know the politics, the falsities and all the other corporate BS. Then, when we get plucked free, the bit that people really want is the juicy fleshy bit. But to get to that, we need to shed a few layers first. How many layers will depend on how hostile corporate life was. Over to you Shrek…

Shedding these layers can take quite some time. I know personally, it took me well over a year to find my true voice. And believe me, the journey isn’t over!

The thing is, once you’re well on the way to finding your story you are blessed with the ability to really carve out a niche for yourself. Because in discovering your authentic self comes with it a renewed sense of confidence. This confidence enables you to inject your personality into what you do in a way that you’ve not done before. And once you get to do that, you’re on the road to uniqueness. The one thing that you can be sure of is that no-one else has got your personality. So, no matter what you end up doing for a living, if you do it YOUR way, then you will be unique and stand out from others. One of my favourite examples of this is Danielle LaPorte of White Hot Truth

Once you do this you will naturally attract others with similar values to you, which means you’ll probably enjoy working and being with them. And when you get to that, work doesn’t feel like work. And that my friend is success!