- A brief biography
A more complete biography or résumé should be a part of your business plan and available if a client requests it. But you should also be able to write a brief qualifying bio that could easily fit into a brochure or other marketing materials that relates your skills, education, and work experience to your business. - Awards and honors
Those related to your industry would be the best qualifiers although general academic honors can be helpful. - Professional memberships
These can be both local and larger organizations. Holding an office with an organization directly related to your current business can be a good qualifier as well. - Testimonials
As you build your business you may receive kudos and words of praise from satisfied customers. Save the best of these testimonials for use in future marketing materials. - Samples of your work
Even if you have no real projects, you can build a portfolio from work that you create specifically to show off your abilities. Of course, as your business grows you can add portfolio pieces from actual projects.
Bio-hazards
Is your past work experience directly related to your current business? If not, you may find writing a bio for your brochure a daunting task. Don't be discouraged. When your previous job titles don't match what you do now, concentrate on the skills required to do the job. Your former job as a laboratory assistant gives you certain medical knowledge that you can tie into your business if you plan to offer medical transcription or want to edit newsletters for the health care industry. Any experience doing presentations, slide shows, or the internal company newsletter can translate to experience related to your new desktop publishing business.
Potential customers read your brochure to find out if you have the qualifications to handle their projects. If you have very little "hard evidence" to present them, don't rely on phrases like "hard worker" or "attention to detail." Keep it brief, then supplement your bio with some of the other qualifiers from the list above.
Do you have USP?
Your USP, or unique selling point, is another way to show customers that you are the best-qualified person to handle their projects. To find your USP, look at everything about yourself and your business and identify what makes you different from your competitors. Sometimes your USP is not related to your skills or training. it could be the fact that you are a male in a predominantly female field (you try harder or bring a different perspective to the job). Or it could be your location (you're hard to find but worth the effort).
Your Assignment
List all awards, honors, and professional memberships. List them in order of prestige and applicability to your current freelance business. If you have a résumé already, extract the most relevant jobs, skills, and experience from it. Or, create a new résumé for yourself concentrating on those skills and experiences that translate to your current business.
Write a 500-1500 character biographical description of yourself, concentrating on what qualifies you to do desktop publishing and design work. If appropriate, incorporate the best of the awards, honors, and professional memberships you have at this point. You may (and should) refine this bio over time but put it in writing right now.
If you haven't done it yet put your USP into writing. Incorporate your USP into your bio.
Freelance Design > Start a Desktop Publishing Business > Qualify Yourself
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