Building Trust Through Credibility

In many ways, building an online business is as hard if not harder than building a regular brick and mortar business. One of the reasons for this is that as an online business owner, you hardly ever get a chance to meet your clients or customers personally. This makes it more difficult to build a client base because many people have a hard time learning to trust somebody they have never met. You wouldn't hire a contractor to build your house that you never met, would you? I don't think I would. However, we expect people to do business with us without ever meeting us. What makes us so special?

One of the more critical factors that can affect the success of your business, whether it's an online or offline business, is your credibility. The mere perception of being trustworthy and believable can make a very large difference in your ability to acquire and retain a client base. Brand and business credibility is the reason why consumers spend billions of dollars a year on brand name goods and services. Representing a level of quality that people know and trust does not happen overnight and may take some work.

So how do you build credibility online? First and foremost, you need to be consistent. People tend to trust a company or business that acts in a consistent manner most of the time. For example, if you have a newsletter you publish online, try to keep it as familiar to your customers as possible. You want to represent a sense of familiarity and maintain the same level of quality throughout all of your publications. You want your customers to recognize your newsletter and be able to tell you apart from the masses they receive on a daily basis. Maintaining a regular schedule on your mailings and publications will also reduce confusion in the minds of your readers. Meet and exceed all of your standards of quality for all of your products and services that you are promoting.

Credibility is something that is not easily established. You need to give a little of yourself on occasion in order t get the trust from your customers you are looking for. There are a couple of ways to do this that come to mind. Offering free trials of your products or free bonuses to supplement your promotions are great ways to get your product in front of your customers in order to build trust and see for themselves that your products are as good as you claim. This also enables the potential customer to check to see that your product will do the job you say that it will.

Sharing your knowledge in free reports, blog posts and articles also aids in the building of your credibility. This puts you in a position of leadership and gives you credibility as an expert in your field. You can also share some of your knowledge as an expert in your field via your weekly or monthly publications or in forums that are relevant to your business. Once you've established yourself as a leader and an expert in your field you can guarantee you will gain credibility and trust.

Once you start gaining some momentum, you need to make sure that you maintain your credibility. Making over the top and outlandish claims in your advertisement or on your website is a sure fire way of harming your credibility. Strong credibility takes a long time and much effort to build. It can be destroyed quickly and sometimes can never be regained. Ensure that your products or services provide more value to your customers than promised. Before you write your ad copy for your online promotions, be sure to know what benefits your target market is looking for and clearly state them as to not mislead your potential customers. Don't just state what your qualifications are on your web site or in your promotional material. Instead, state how your qualifications can benefit your potential customers. For example, state how your expertise will provide the solution your prospect needs in a way he or she will understand.

Having your current customers write testimonials for your products or services is a powerful way to generate trust. A testimonial is a statement from one of your satisfied customers expressing their experiences and satisfaction with your product or services and how they benefited from its use. Set your website up so you can have good and happy customers leave you unsolicited testimonial whenever possible. Ensure you have permission to publish the testimonials before you post them. Unsolicited testimonials are by far the best one's to use. Lastly, never write your own testimonials, because you will always get caught and that will undoubtedly ruin your credibility.

Developing and following ethical and sound business practices will certainly help build your credibility as well. Posting current contact information on your website and prompt deliveries of the products and services you offer build the right impression of your business. Responding promptly to any customer requests will ensure that you maintain your customers trust. Efficient business procedures that are focused on providing customer satisfaction will always help your business image. For your business to achieve it's full potential, it is very important that you set standards and live by them so that you are constantly building your credibility.

Remember that everything you do reflects on your business' image and credibility, whether it's good or bad. Establishing your credibility is much harder than losing it. Being focused on providing solutions to your customers, providing consistent quality and value for their money, and being accessible will all help you achieve the credibility your business needs to succeed.