Google, Yahoo!, YouTube and eBay are a few big name industries with one thing in common: you can't touch them. These are companies most of us rely and depend on to do everyday things. But those of use who regularly use them probably never stop and think that our day to day activities rely on impalpable businesses. The Google's and Yahoo's have amassed huge fortunes by creating programs and networks for all walks of life, but the real question is how do they garner such a huge following if no one can touch their products?
It all boils down to credibility.
I work for a small Atlanta search engine marketing (SEM) firm and we encounter the same trust issues common to intangible business. Most things in the SEM world can't be touched; they are definitely seen, but without an internet connection, or a connection at all to the customers of our clients, whom we indirectly target, no one can get a physical grasp on what we do.
So, how do we make ourselves a credible and reliable source for business and information in the digital world?
Here are some tried and true tactics for gaining credibility:
1) Establish yourself as an expert
Write articles that display your expertise in a certain area of interest; this may be for blogs, online articles or press releases. Once you have the article, submit it to reputable sites. Anyone can publish an article nowadays, the key is submitting a quality article to sites that review articles before publishing them (see number 4).
2) Get testimonials from current and past clients
What better way to showcase your current and past successes than getting client testimonials. Once you have a few testimonials from satisfied clients, be sure to strategically place them on your website, blog or use them as article "power" quotes. The more good things people have to say about your business, the less reason consumers will have to doubt your motives.
3) Get quoted
This is something every business man or woman dreams of; they have said something so earth shattering that it gets quoted in major media. This will come once expertise is established, but being quoted in something like Forbes, Newsweek or any other magazine relevant to your industry, will give your credibility a huge boost.
4) This relates to number one but, contribute articles to websites like Adotas, TalentZoo, Buzzle or Helium.
These sites allow you to become your own author and editor, but they publish the content based on how well you write and your knowledge of the subject. They won't take just any old article off the street. Sites like these open new avenues for credibility. The articles written for these sites must be original, currently unpublished material.
5) Contribute material to industry forums
You can not only gain new knowledge by posting topics for discussion in forums, but by providing helpful advice, you are proving your worth to that forum and also showing that you know what you're talking about.
6) The Press is your friend
These are the men and women with whom your credibility rides, so treat them kindly. Research their articles, what they write and how they write it before submitting anything for syndication. That you know how the reporter writes will not only impress them, but may give them more of a reason to help you. Nothing makes a reporter angrier than a pushy marketer who submits an article about their toy making company when the reporter covers a home and garden beat.
Credibility is an essential building block to a good and successful business. It could be said that having credibility provides incentive to buy. Consumers possess more confidence in an intangible product if the company behind it is trustworthy. When potential clients have trust in your business you may see great profit.
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