I am interested in great “About Us” pages. Every time we craft one for a client, we access so much about the company, both about how they perceive themselves and about how they want others to perceive them.

When I evaluate a company’s “About Us” page my two criteria are credibility and personality.

For credibility, I scan bios of their leadership team to see where they’ve worked, attended school and when they’ve spoken at conferences. What makes them uniquely qualified?

Evaluating personality, on the other hand, is more of an art than a science.
I start by seeing whether the company has a clear vision, expressed as a story, which I can easily follow.
Why was the company established and what is its mantra?
Then I look at how effectively their design brings that story to life.
I next scan for involvement, and this will vary depending on the industry. For instance, if I am on an agency’s website, I want to see what social networks their employees are on and how they are using them.
Finally, I look for the personal touch: Who are the principals as people? Do I want to work with them? Video interviews, quotes, funny and intriguing stats help here.

I have shared a few examples below that illustrate intriguing about us pages:

1. Meebo – Instant messaging site

A nice mix of credibility and personality with short, descriptive bios visible when you click the arrow.

2. Zappos – The customer service company that happens to sell shoes

A good example of the use of narrative and intertwining the company’s initiatives into the overall story

3. Design Continuum – A design & marketing company

A good example of personality. Reading these pages gives me a sense of who they are—as people.

4. Headwaters – A Merchant Bank

The “About Us” page is a clear cut example of credibility, and the site exemplifies personality. It’s a gem amongst financial services sites.

5. Elastic Lab – A marketing agency

Although their video bios aren’t complete at the time of this entry, I like how they have positioned them on the site. If I want to learn more, or see their people, I can do so with one click.

6. Forty Media – Another marketing agency

Their whole site lives on one page, and their credibility derives from their involvement. Click under any of their team’s photos to see where they are active online. I love it.

I asked friends on Twitter for their feedback on about us pages. Here’s what they said:

@central_nm  on about us page – what is look and feel? does it convey a sense of person/company/service in honest & authentic? current?

@solobasssteve context, background info, links, credentials, personal info, photos, interests, friendliness.

@nwjerseyliz If biz, a BRIEF statement about goals whether that is a mission statement or a promise to customers to provide good service

@kirbstr I look for the 5 w’s. Who are they? Where are they? (this sticks in my mind even as it seems less relevant) what, when, why

UPDATE: @solskinner Check out DanSko’s “About Us” page. http://tinyurl.com/6pghnk

I have an idea for an “About Us” page I am considering for my agency’s website. The page would have two buttons. The first would be called “Just the Facts,” and the second, “Our Story & More…”

This would give visitors the ability to select how much information they want to know.

Want to read more on the subject? Check out:

The Power of the About Us Page, ClickZ, by Bryan Eisenberg
Your About Page is a Robot, A List Apart, by Erin Kissane
Calling for a Ban on “About Us” Pages, AdAge, by B. L. Ochman

Do you have an “About Us” page you love? Please leave it as a link in the comments below.

Here are a 10 snapshots I took over the last few weeks. I think number 6 is my favorite. Yours?

1. I took this at a social media event in Helsinki. I love the irony of sitting at a table of wonderful geeks, all of whom are being social online while not talking to one another.

2. That’s my friend Nicky. He’s an excellent photographer of the NYC young and beautiful. Check out his site here.

3. I was flying on the plane with two Marines on my left and this father and son on my right. The younger Marine says to the older Marine, “I haven’t seen my father in seven years. I write him sometimes. Sometimes he writes back. I hope to be a better father than that.”

4. This restaurant in New York knows how to use its Zagat endorsement to market itself.

5. An unappetizing look at McDonald’s NYC….I’m not lovin’ it.

6. Even McDonald’s can be beautiful in the right light. I’m lovin’ it.

7. I don’t understand this positioning statement. Don’t tell me what you’re not—tell me what you are.

8. The masses have spoken. And the masses want a whopper.

9. Obama fashion at Urban Outfitters

10. Of course, this was at a state fair.

I like this idea for a business blog: post 10 snapshots of your last few weeks – it’s one way to add a human touch to your content.

I recently ate breakfast at one of my favorite spots called “The Neighborhood.” They serve excellent Portuguese food widely adored by the 20-something crowd in Boston, and especially loved by Yelpers. As I was waiting in line, I noticed they had a white erase board with a special note to their Yelping customers. This was the first time I have seen a restaurant “talk back,” to their customers reviews in this way. It sparked a few ideas that I would like to share with you. If I owned a restaurant, here a 20 things I would consider doing to recognize and attract Yelpers.

1. Respond publicly to feedback on Yelp with a non-defensive and appreciative attitude.
2. Send a positive reviewer a private message thanking them.
3. Send a positive reviewer a coupon for a future dining occasion.
4. Invite a negative reviewer back to the restaurant for a VIP dinner on the house.
5. Invite a negative reviewer to tell you how you can improve the dining experience.
6. Respond to a review on your restaurant’s blog.
7. Make a big deal of a positive Yelp review. Frame it and take a picture with the Yelper and hang it in your restaurant.
8. Create special, “no-wait” tables in the restaurant for Yelp reviewers that have cool benefits.
9. Gather your Yelp reviewers to a private wine tasting or to sample new menu ideas.
10. Name dishes after Yelp reviewers.
11. Ask positive reviewers what they ate, post pictures of the dish on Yelp and reference the reviewer.
12. Make an offer to the friends of positive reviewers. If they print out their friend’s positive reviews and bring them to the restaurant, they receive a discount.
13. Have a Yelp-only happy hour for happy Yelp reviewers.
14. Create a menu item that you can only order if you have reviewed the restaurant on Yelp.
15. Conduct a focus group dinner for negative reviewers.
16. Indicate on your menu, “Yelp reviewed,” or  “Yelpers loved this.”
17. Post a blog entry that lists all the points in a negative review and how they were responded to.
18. Invite negative Yelpers to provide their feedback during a staff training session.
19. Offer free valet parking to positive Yelp reviewers (or unlimited drink refills).
20. Offer a discount when two Yelp reviewers come together.

1. Decorate your blog with widgets. See: Lemonade, Widgetbox, Mashable’s top 50
2. Invite a guest blogger to bring a new perspective.
3. Officially become a geek with a Blog badge: Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr
4. Protect your work with a Creative Commons license.
5. Get a job board for your blog.
6. Make a custom radio station for your blog.
7. Know thy reader. Set up analytics.
8. Transform your blog into a book.
9. Make money by turning your blog into products.
10. Write a blog mantra.
11. Speak with your readers live by adding a chat room to your blog.
12. Use powerful images.
13. Captivate your readers with embedded presentations.
14. Turn random photos into sexy slideshows. See: slide, rockyou, ilovephotos
15. Put your point on the map. See: Google, Yahoo, Placeblogger
16. Share data persuasively with charts. Free from Emarketer, or build your own.
17. Embed video in your posts. Youtube, Blip.TV, Videojug
18. Invite reads to take quizzes, polls and surveys.
19. Write lists. Top 10. Top 50. Top 100. People love lists.
20. Add a timeline.
21. Help your readers see their future, or give them a laugh with a horoscope.
22. Develop How To content. Want to know how to do that?
23. Write reviews on your blog. Product reviews. Movie reviews. Web Site reviews.
24. Conduct interviews with experts. Bloggers. Peers. People on the streets or on Facebook.
25. Create a weekly theme for your blog. For example, “this week’s theme is things that make me laugh.”
26. Write a trend watching post.
27. Share an epiphany.
28. Write an advertising critique. See: Media values and Stanford.
29. Develop a fake newstory.
30. Profile a company or compare and contrast two companies.
31. Share case studies. Use Marketing Sherpa as an example.
32. Conduct a before and after.
33. Turn your blog entry into a letter. Dear Apple, or Dear Jet Blue, Dear John, or Dear Bloggers, etc.
34. Share a powerful quote from a famous person or everyday quotes.
35. Post your notes.
36. Run a contest–and give away a T-shirt.
37. Use creative problem solving exercises to generate ideas.
38. Harness your creativity. Limit your time to write a post, or your word count.
39. Evoke archetypes and memes to help analyze trends and craft stories.
40. Write your blog posts on every day things.
41. Share your idea in a creative form. Turn your blog post into a poem, obituary, love letter, cartoon, menu, flyer, vintage advertisement.
42. Find your voice and write in it. Kurt Vonnegut will show you how.

Add a tip for getting your blog in shape in 2008. I will feature several few suggestions to make this list even more useful.

Photos from Flickr used under Creative Common’s License. Citation: MC, Veganstraightedge, Pintong, Purpleslog, Termie, Fish2000, Gwen

I opened a frozen food package of broccoli stuffed chicken to heat up in the microwave. On the box, I read the story behind the founder of the microwavable chicken company. And then the box  invited me to check its website to read more about the founder and its great heritage.I was baffled and amused. I asked myself: “Finish this James Baldwin novel, or read about the chicken guy; watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, or read about the chicken guy“…it was a tough choice, but I never made it to the chicken guy’s website.This experience made me realize how many advertising campaigns are using stories as a creative approach. Whether it’s “tell us your story,” or “share your store,” or send photos and videos illustrating your story, products everywhere are searching for narratives, like mothers seeking lost children.

So, what makes a good narrative? Hemingway wrote, “In order to write about life, you must first live it.” That lessons applies directly to marketing. How do we create real experiences of products and services that produce true narratives we want to share, rather than create perceptions of products and services using just a clever creative approach?

If that frozen chicken I microwaved was story-worth good, I would not only have visited their website, but I would have also bought a few more of them.

Photo used with Creative Commons License and from lab2112′s photo stream.