How to write your expert bio for your course sales page

Not to brag, but I’m an expert in my field and I’m chock full of information about launching online courses and group programs and marketing them. I can talk for hours about what I do!

My clients are also experts in their respective fields and they’re chock full of information about their areas of genius, in everything from fitness to budgeting to music to technology. They can talk for hours about what they do!

Do you know what most of us have in common?

We’re excellent at talking about the work we’re passionate about but we suck at talking about ourselves.

Over and over, I see course creators struggle when they have to write their expert bio for their sales page. And I totally sympathize because I used to struggle with this, too—talking about yourself is hard! Especially when you’re a person who would much rather nerd-out and talk shop about your area of genius.

Fortunately, when you’re writing a bio for a sales page, whether you’re selling an online course, a group coaching program, a one-on-one service, or a digital product, you can keep it pretty simple. It doesn’t need to be as detailed as your full About Me page on your website might be.

A sales page bio is all about ticking three specific boxes:

• Who you are
• Who they are
• How you can help them

And because we want the reader to be able to absorb this bio quickly and then move on to reading more about your course, we keep this bio very short and to the point.

Ready to write your expert bio for your sales page?

First things first: let’s set an intention for this expert bio.

Write the following statements and fill in the blanks.

The purpose of this bio is to communicate that I’m an expert at ________.

I excel at teaching people how to ________.

 

Example:

The purpose of this bio is to communicate that I’m an expert at designing Squarespace websites.

I excel at teaching people how to create their own website for their business.

As you write the rest of your bio, keep the statement above in mind. If you find yourself wondering “Does this sentence belong in my bio?” refer back to this statement—it’ll help keep you focused and make sure that you don’t veer off-topic.

Now, write the answers to the questions below as a numbered list. The order of these questions might seem random at first, but you’ll see how it all comes together at the end.

1. What’s your professional title?

This might be a “normal” job title that most people would recognize (eg: web designer) or it might be a title that you simply make up for yourself to describe your area of expertise (eg: vegan food expert). This may be the same thing you wrote in the first sentence of your intention statement above, but it also might be worded in a slightly different way.

Examples:

• Web Designer
• Vegan Food Expert
• Social Media Ads Strategist

2. Who is your ideal student?

List one or two groups of people who are your ideal student. Be as specific as possible. If the answer is “everyone”, your course offering itself may not be narrow enough.

Examples:

• Yoga studio owners
• Health-conscious parents
• Life coaches

3. What’s their situation BEFORE they learn from you?

What state is your ideal person in before they take your course? What problem might they be struggling with? This is more about the facts of the situation—we’ll get to the feelings they have about it in a moment.

For a course that helps someone improve a low-stakes skill (think: knitting), this might simply be a level of competency (eg: beginner, knitting newbie). For a course that helps someone do a more high-stakes thing (think: budgeting), you might write this as a situation (eg: living paycheck-to-paycheck).

Examples:

• Underfilled yoga classes
• Vegan-curious
• Zero sales from social media ads

4. What is the skill that you teach them to do, expressed in the simplest possible terms?

You can usually copy this from the intention you set for your bio at the very beginning.

Fill in the blank: I will teach you to _________.

Examples:

• Build a website on Squarespace
• Cook vegan meals at home
• Create Facebook and Instagram ads that sell your coaching services

5. What is the result AFTER they learn this skill from you?

What is your student able to do after taking your course that they weren’t able to do before?

Examples:

• Loads of online bookings + filled yoga classes
• Confidently cook vegan meals for their entire family
• Ads actually convert to coaching applications and paying customers

6. How does your student FEEL about their situation before they take your course?

Write a short phrase that describes the negative feeling that is going to cause them to seek help with this and bring them to you and your course. It can help to look at the actual language your previous clients or students have used, and pull out a few of the best examples.

Examples:

• Afraid that their yoga studio will fail
• Overwhelmed by all of the information on Google
• Frustrated that their ads are flopping

7. How can you quantify your expertise in this skill with a number?

You might describe the number of clients you’ve worked with, the number of students you’ve taught, the number of projects you’ve completed, or how long you’ve been working in your field. Try a few different ways of describing this number and then choose the one that makes you think, “Damn, that sounds impressive.” For example, instead of saying “8 years experience” you could say “for almost a decade” instead.

Examples:

• Over a decade of web design experience, 5 years as a Squarespace-specific designer
• Taught over 200 students to cook vegan at in-person cooking classes
• Ran hundreds of ad campaigns for dozens of clients

8. How does your student envision success?

Think about how your student envisions success in their head and paint a picture. Are they proudly showing off their results to others? Are they looking at their bank statement with a feeling of relief? Write the feeling that they’re reaching for when they decide to enroll in your course.

Examples:

• A gorgeous website that sells your classes on autopilot
• A happy family eating delicious, homecooked vegan meals
• A full appointment book of customers that can afford my services

9. What are your professional credentials?

List any degrees, professional certifications, or other “looks great on the resume” credentials or accomplishments. If you don’t have any “official” credentials because you’re entirely self-taught, that’s okay! Skip this step for now.

Examples: 

• Squarespace Authorized Trainer
• Certified Nutritionist
• Facebook Certified Ad Strategist

10. Who else trusts your expertise?

You might treat this like your “featured in” section where you list notable media outlets, podcasts, or conferences that have featured you as an expert. It might also simply be a few examples of the types of clients you’ve worked with previously.

Examples:

• Fitness businesses like yoga studios, barre studios, CrossFit gyms
• Featured in Real Simple Magazine and VegNews
• Life coaches, business coaches, fitness coaches

Now, here’s the formula for putting it all together to create your expert bio.

Time to play mad libs with everything you wrote above and finesse your numbered list into your expert bio.

Here’s your bio formula:

Greetings! I’m a [1] who helps [2] who are [3]. I’ll teach you how to [4] so you can [5].

 

Don’t be [6]. I have [7] so I know that [8] is possible!

 

I’m also [9] and I’m trusted by [10]. Let’s get started!

Sound weird and confusing? It’s simpler than it looks! I’ll walk you through it.

We’ll use our web designer as our first example.

EXAMPLE 1: A course about how to design a Squarespace website for your yoga studio. 

First, here’s our web designer’s answers to the numbered list of questions above:

1. Web Designer
2. Yoga studio owners
3. Underfilled yoga classes
4. Build a website on Squarespace
5. Loads of online bookings + filled yoga classes
6. Afraid that their yoga studio will fail
7. Over a decade of web design experience, 5 years as a Squarespace-specific designer
8. A gorgeous website that sells your classes on autopilot
9. Squarespace Authorized Trainer
10. Fitness businesses like yoga studios, barre studios, CrossFit gyms

Next, here’s that same list plugged into our bio formula without doing any editing or making any changes:

Greetings! I’m a [web designer¹] who helps [yoga studios owners²] who are [underfilled yoga classes³]. I’ll teach you how to [build a website on Squarespace⁴] so you can [loads of online bookings + filled yoga classes⁵].

 

Don’t be [afraid that their yoga studio will fail⁶]. I have [over a decade of web design experience, 5 years as a Squarespace-specific designer⁷] so I know that [a gorgeous website that sells your classes on autopilot⁸] is possible!

 

I’m also [Squarespace Authorized Trainer⁹] and I’m trusted by [fitness businesses like yoga studios, barre studios, CrossFit gyms¹⁰]. Let’s get started!

Kinda messy, right? Sounds like a machine wrote it. So let’s take another pass.

Lastly, we’ll add a little finesse to this bio, change it to use you and your language, and polish it all up:

Hi, I’m Jane Doe!

 

I’m a web designer who helps yoga studios that are struggling with low attendance. I’ll teach you how to create a gorgeous website for your studio on Squarespace that gets loads of online bookings and fills up your classes week after week!

 

Stop living in constant fear that you’ll have to close the doors to your studio! I have over a decade of experience as a web designer and my focus for the last 5 years has been on helping small businesses launch their sites and thrive with Squarespace. I’ve seen firsthand how a well-designed, easy-to-use website can help you book out your classes on autopilot!

 

I’m also a Squarespace Authorized Trainer and I’ve been trusted yoga studios, barre studios, pilates studios, CrossFit gyms, and more to design and launch their wildly successful websites. I can’t wait to show you how it’s done—let’s get started!

Lovely! Put that baby on your sales page and slap your headshot next to it—you’re done!

EXAMPLE 2: A course about how to cook vegan meals for the whole family. 

First, here are our vegan food expert’s numbered answers:

1. Vegan Food Expert
2. Health-conscious parents
3. Vegan-curious
4. Cook vegan meals at home
5. Confidently cook vegan meals for their entire family
6. Overwhelmed by all of the information on Google
7. Taught over 200 students to cook vegan at in-person cooking classes
8. A happy family eating delicious, homecooked vegan meals
9. Certified Nutritionist
10. Featured in Real Simple Magazine and VegNews

Next, here it is plugged into the bio formula:

Greetings! I’m a [Vegan Food Expert¹] who helps [health-conscious parents²] who are [vegan-curious³]. I’ll teach you how to [cook vegan meals at home⁴] so you can [confidently cook vegan meals for their entire family⁵].

 

Don’t be [overwhelmed by all of the information on Google⁶]. I have [taught over 200 students to cook vegan at in-person cooking classes⁷] so I know that [a happy family eating delicious, homecooked vegan meals⁸] is possible!

 

I’m also [Certified Nutritionist⁹] and I’m trusted by [featured in Real Simple Magazine and VegNews¹⁰]. Let’s get started!

And lastly, here it is after a final edit and polish:

Hi there, I’m Jennifer Doe!

 

I’m a vegan food expert who helps health-conscious parents explore vegan food with their families. I’ll teach you how to cook a selection of easy-to-prepare vegan meals at home so you can quickly and confidently whip up a vegan meal for five—even on a weeknight!

 

If you’ve ever googled “easy vegan recipes” and felt overwhelmed by how many there are and how complicated they seem, you’re in the right place! I’ve taught over 200 students at my in-person cooking classes, so I know which vegan dishes are actually easy for time-crunched parents to prepare—and which meals will be a hit with the whole family, including kids who are picky eaters!

 

I’m also a Certified Nutritionist and I’ve been featured in places like Real Simple Magazine and VegNews for my healthy, family-friendly vegan recipes, and my no-muss-no-fuss cooking style.

 

Ready to go plant-based? Let’s get started!

Done. Ship it. 

EXAMPLE 3: A course about how to run Facebook and Instagram ads for your coaching business.

First, here are our Ad Strategist’s numbered answers:

1. Social Media Ads Strategist
2. Life coaches
3. Zero sales from social media ads
4. Create Facebook and Instagram ads that sell your coaching services
5. Ads actually convert to coaching applications and paying customers
6. Frustrated that their ads are flopping
7. Ran hundreds of ad campaigns for dozens of clients
8. A full appointment book of customers that can afford my services
9. Facebook Certified Ad Strategist
10. Life coaches, business coaches, fitness coaches

Next, here it is plugged into the bio formula:

Greetings! I’m a [Social Media Ads Strategist¹] who helps [life coaches²] who are [zero sales from social media ads³]. I’ll teach you how to [create Facebook and Instagram ads that sell your coaching services⁴] so you can [ads actually convert to coaching applications and paying customers⁵].

 

Don’t be [frustrated that their ads are flopping⁶]. I have [ran hundreds of ad campaigns for dozens of clients⁷] so I know that [a full appointment book of customers that can afford my services⁸] is possible!

 

I’m also [Facebook Certified Ad Strategist⁹] and I’m trusted by [life coaches, business coaches, fitness coaches¹⁰]. Let’s get started!

Lastly, final edit and polish:

Hey there, Coach!

 

I’m Jessice Doe, and I’m a Social Media Ads Strategist who helps life coaches who are struggling to get results from Facebook and Instagram ads. I’ll teach you how to create effective ad campaigns that actually convert into leads, coaching applications, and paying customers.

 

Have you worked hard on an ad campaign only to watch it get zero results? So frustrating! I’ve run hundreds of successful ad campaigns for coaches of all kinds, so I know for a fact that it’s possible to get a roster full of clients with cash using only Facebook and Instagram ads—but you have to set them up in precisely the right way!

 

I’m a Facebook Certified Ad Strategist and I’ve been trusted by life coaches, business coaches, fitness coaches—coaches of all kinds—to create wildly successful ad campaigns that sell their services, and I’ll show you how you can do it, too. Let’s get started!

As you’ll see in the examples above, it’s okay to get creative! This bio formula helps you get all the facts onto the page in an order that makes sense, but then you can (and should!) edit and personalize the language to give it your own flavor.

Go forth and write (or rewrite) your expert bio for your sales page!