If you own a professional services firm, a Web biography may be the single most powerful new business development tool you display in cyberspace – provided Web visitors can find it and are compelled to read it.

Unfortunately, many firms reduce their bio writing to the level of boilerplate bland, missing a great opportunity to tell their stories in a compelling way that actually builds business among quality prospects.

Unlike large, well-established corporations with decades of heritage and layers of bureaucracy to guide their approach to storytelling, you don’t have to hide your personality behind the corporate brand. You are your firm. Clients are buying you and your expertise. By all means, give them something to hold onto. Most importantly, share measurable results that you achieve for clients.

Clients want to make more money, sell more products and services, save money, engage quality clients, and possibly earn reputations as sought after keynote speakers who command top dollar for their commentary. Use your bio to show how you make these results reality for your clients, and quality prospects will be motivated to beat a path to your door.

Yes, please impress with prestigious college degrees, decades of business advisory experience, and important brand name companies on your client list. Then, share your track record of great results in a manner that makes prospects want to reach out and take your hand to journey forward together. Clients want to work with people they trust, respect, and like. Never forget that.

Here is a stellar example:

Lori Prokop (www.bestsellerpublishing.com), senior group publisher with Best Seller Publishing, is a 17-year profit-producing expert in the information and publishing empire field. She selects authors, speakers and experts who have a book, training system or business model. Lori takes those chosen people by the hand and shows them how to create entire information and publishing empires…resulting in best selling and celebrity status…and they own it. Lori has created, written, published and distributed best-selling books and audio programs for clients such as legendary business guru Ted Turner, master motivational speaker Mark Victor Hansen, Network Marketing Legend Dayle Maloney, and the business training program “Planning to Succeed� for the United States Small Business Administration. Unlike others who simply create ideas, Lori has a proven track record of taking action to produce massive results.

Tell stories about your proudest career or life accomplishments. Demonstrate how your counsel helped clients exceed their wildest performance expectations. Share a quote that inspires you to do your best work. Reveal something about the passion you bring to each client relationship so people will want to meet you to continue the conversation.

And, don’t forget to share testimonials from clients who have benefited as a result of your wisdom, training, experience, and overall approach. When a client says that he makes more money after each conversation with you, don’t be afraid to put that in writing and post it to your Web site. Then, you will be in better position to win new business.

Most importantly, display the bio and testimonials in prominent places on the Web site so prospects won’t have to search for the information. The New Client Marketing Institute (www.newclientmarketing.com) reports that the bio page is the least visited page on Web sites today. And it is no wonder, considering how boring most of them are.

Display a very short bio of 50-100 words in the bio section that says something very interesting that will make the professional memorable. Then, put a longer version in the press room section of your Web site.

For example, Henry DeVries, a marketing coach and writer specializing in lead generation for professional services firms and technology service companies (www.henrydevries.com) reveals on his Web site that he once lost $13,000 in the last question of the TV game show “Jeopardy.� This fun fact helps readers remember him. Then, his press room bio goes into greater detail about his best selling books on client seduction and self marketing secrets, his proven ability to generate millions of dollars in new business, and other important and inspiring details that demonstrate his ongoing pattern of delivering superior results for clients.

Being memorable is especially important in “me too� industries like financial services and banking, where the people make it possible to differentiate between companies with a similar mix of products and services. By all means, don’t be afraid to make yourself stand out. If you tell your story in an authentic, winning way, you may attract just the right blend of clients to perpetuate your firm’s success.

Your Web site can be among the most powerful tools to bring quality prospects to the door of your professional services firm. Make the most of cyberspace by sharing your biographical information in a manner that is beyond boilerplate and fabulous on every score. This single act could be among the smartest new business moves you make this year.

Nancy S. Juetten owns Nancy S. Juetten Marketing, Inc., a public relations and marketing communications agency that helps winning companies tell their stories and build their brands. She is also the author of the E-Workbook "Media Relations on a Shoestring" which helps small business owners and independent professionals earn their own "ink and air" without spending a fortune. Call her at 425-641-5214, send e-mail to [email protected], or visit http://www.nsjmktg.com