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Our new design will have a much greater focus on each of you as individual writers.  Each of your articles will feature a short bio and a picture of you to introduce you to your readers.

This short bio will also be featured on the top of your personal blog homepage.

Your short bios will link to your full bio page, which is also being redesigned.

Due to the extra emphasis we are placing on these profiles, we recommend that you guys fill in your full bio page in the next couple of weeks.  The redesign probably won’t be done until end of May, so you do have some time to think about this. But it is good to get started early. =)

When you enter this information, please keep in mind who you are writing for:

  • Your readers: They want to know why they should trust and like you.
  • Advertisers: They want to know if you will be a persuasive writer who can help them sell products.
  • Reporters: Reporters often quote bios for their articles. If your bio sounds compelling and looks professional, you are more likely to be featured.
  • Other webmasters: A lot of times when you are communicating with other webmasters it helps to be able to show them your bio page so they can get a sense of who they are dealing with. This helps in link exchanges, getting interviews, getting guest bloggers, etc.
  • Other publishers or possible employers: Your bio page will be a great way to show off your writing to prospective publishers and employers.

Uploading Your Picture

We need a color picture that is 85x85 pixels in size. This picture should be a head shot with a tight focus on your face. (see here for more examples of good headshots).

Once you’ve selected a picture, you can upload it by following these instructions:

  • Go to: http://www.wisebread.com/user/your-name
  • Click on the “edit” tab.
  • Scroll down until you see “upload picture.”
  • Click on “browse.”
  • Select your picture file from your computer. The file should in the GIF or JPEG file format.
  • Scroll all the way down to the bottom and hit “submit.”

Keep in mind this shows up on every article you write!

Your Short Bio

To edit your short bio (and everything else I talk about below):

  • Go to: http://www.wisebread.com/user/your-name
  • Click on the “edit” tab.
  • Click on “About Me” (which is just below the “edit” tab).
  • When you are done editing, scroll all the way down to the bottom and hit “submit.”

Your short bio should be no more than 200 characters (that's including spaces). It should be 1-3 sentences telling people some of the following information:

  • Your personal experience or expertise that qualifies you to write for Wise Bread
  • What you are personally interested in and what type of articles they can expect from you.
  • Your other writing experiences.

For example, Jessica can say something like this:

[QUOTE] I am your guide to every freebie the Internet has to offer. I have been hunting down free stuff since the olden days of the internet, and I have a pair of Avia sneakers from Web MD to prove it! (193 characters).[/QUOTE]

Obviously 200 characters is very short, so you have to cut things down to its very essence. You don’t have to fit everything in here because you will have a chance to say more about yourself in the longer bio. They key here is to:

  • Establish some kind of credibility with the readers.
  • Establish some kind of bond with the readers.
  • Get them interested enough to read your full bio or click on your other stories.

Keep in mind this shows up on every article you write!

Location

Enter your current place of residence or the location you consider to be your hometown. You can enter the city, the state, or both, depending on what you are comfortable with:

  • Seattle
  • Washington
  • Seattle, Washington.

Homepage URL

If you have another website you consider as your homepage, enter that website’s address here.

For example, Tannaz might put this down as her homepage URL:
http://tannazie.blogspot.com/

If you do not have any other websites, just enter your homepage on Wise Bread: http://www.wisebread.com/your-name

Homepage Anchor Text

In this field you get to name the link you just entered for the homepage URL. For example, Tannaz might name her link “All Kinds of Yum.”

Experience

This section is an extension of your short bio and might repeat some of the information from your short bio. Basically this is where you can give a full account of why you are qualified to write about personal finance and frugal living. This section might include:

  • Your personal experience, education, training or expertise that qualifies you to write for Wise Bread.
    • For example, Sarah might mention that her insights regarding budgeting for young people come from personal experience.
    • Paul and Bill might mention that their work in advertising gives them special insight into how corporations manipulate consumers into buying things they don’t need.
  • Your other writing experiences, such as published articles, publications that have featured your work, books you have published, books you are working on but not yet published, etc.
    • For example, Angela and Bill might mention the books they are working on.
    • Andrea might mention her work as a writer for various corporations.
    • Jessica might mention getting published on Readymade.

Long Bio

This is basically everything else you want to share with your readers. You can give a fuller explanation of things you already talked about in the “Experience” section. You can talk about your family life, philosophy, interests, etc.

I know talking about yourself isn't the easiest thing to do in the world.  (My own bio is still a work in progress. 

)

But you guys have amazing backgrounds so I hope you don't mind taking the time to share that with the rest of the world.