During the process of creating your Crowd Content account, you were asked to create a short freelancer bio. Now that you’re an approved Crowd Content freelancer, it’s time to update that bio to give our clients and content managers all the information they need to build their teams.
After reading these guidelines, please return to the platform and enter a new bio. If you were prompted to read this page, click the button on that prompt and it’ll take you to the bio field. If you’ve closed that prompt or simply want to update your bio again, you can access it by clicking on your image in the upper right corner of the platform screen and then clicking on the gear icon. By default the Edit Profile tab will open, and you’ll find the Mini Bio field toward the bottom of the page.
After updating your bio, just click the Update Personal Details button, and that’s it. You’re done.
Before you do your update, please keep these general guidelines in mind. SMEs should also consider the information below this list when creating their bios.
- Bios are visible to our clients, and in some cases can be used as a published bio with your byline (SMEs). Be sure it’s crafted professionally.
- Create your bio in third-person perspective (Dr. Joe is a Harvard-educated physician…), never in first person.
- Focus on your specialties but do point out if you’re a strong generalist too.
- Do not mention your quality level.
- If you have credentials for multiple roles on CC, make that clear (Jenn McPen is a writer and editor who specializes in…).
- Do not mention any role (writer, editors, SME, translator) unless you have been approved for that role on Crowd Content.
- Sell yourself with specifics. Don’t go overboard with vague salesy statements or unsubstantiated superlatives (Willy Wordsmith always delivers the best content on time, every time).
- If you’re using a pen name, refer to yourself by that pen name.
- Do not include any URLs or email addresses in your bio.
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
As an SME, you have a couple things to consider when updating your profile.
Pen Name vs. Real Name
Traditionally, our freelancers have been asked to use pen names on our platform, but that may not be ideal for an SME — especially if your credibility is backed by lots of bylines on industry websites. If you would prefer to use your real name on our platform, you’re welcome to do so. Send an email to [email protected] and request that your pen name be changed to your real name. Be sure to let our support team know how you’d like your name to appear.
Bio Guidelines
Your bio should answer a few questions that most clients will have:
- Are you a professional, academic, or self-taught SME?
- What professional roles have you held in your industry?
- Do you specialize within your industry?
- Do you have formal training or education in your industry?
- Have you bylined articles on well-known industry sites?
Your bio must make it clear which type of SME you are (professional, academic, or self-taught), but you don’t have to use the label to accomplish this. A professional SME’s bio should focus on job experience and formal education (if applicable). An academic SME’s bio should focus on their education and training, and a self-taught SME should focus on the experience through which they became self-taught (whether it be through years of writing, as a hobbyist, etc.). When writing your bios, it’s perfectly acceptable to mention schools by name and sites you’ve bylined by name, but it’s not required. Please do not add any URLs to your bio.
Some of our SMEs are also writers and/or editors. It’s perfectly acceptable to craft your bio to address those roles too. For example:
Colin Comma is a legal SME as well as a writer and editor. A former lawyer specializing in contract law, Colin earned his degree at …. (SME STUFF…. SME STUFF….) … has bylined numerous articles on well-known sites including (SOME LEGAL SITE… SOME LEGAL SITE)… In addition to legal topics, Colin has significant experience writing on health care and financial topics and can handle most subject matter and content types. Colin also has five years experience editing content in nearly any category.