Credibility is your key ingredient to enhancing business relationships and knowing how to boost credibility simply and powerfully will transform your profitability.
One of the greatest aspects of the Social Age we are in is that there are so many simple ways for people to find out about you, to sample your expertise, to experience your style, to explore your professional history before they ever meet you, if they ever meet you. In fact, today it is easier than ever before to build your credibility well in advance of ever being hired.
Business is still done the way it always has been, you have to know, like and TRUST the people you do business with. Your prospects become clients when they know, like, and TRUST that you are the right solution and provider for them. Establishing your credibility begins with their first encounter and today you don’t necessarily know where that will be, so here are 10 Winning Ways to Boost Credibility for Better Business.
#1 Complete and Update Profiles on Selected Networks
To boost credibility be targeted in your network selection. You only need to be on networks where your target market hangs out. You do need to be consistent across all networks that you select, and include at least one of the “big three,” LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Make sure your profile includes a current head shot and has accurate and complete information about you. The consistency of your image and information will boost credibility.
#2 Be Active Consistently and Persistently in Social Networking
Just having a presence on a network, isn’t particularly beneficial and won’t necessarily boost credibility. Instead, the key to networking success is to get active. Create a routine that includes making strategic connections, participating in group discussions, sharing your expertise to answer questions, and providing engaging, educational, and sometimes entertaining content (it doesn’t have to be yours, you can curate from across the web.) This allows you to borrow credibility from others.
#3 Grow Your Fans and Followers
While I’ve always thought this was a hollow metric, I know too many people, including a lot of publishers who put a lot of stock in how many fans you have on Facebook or followers you have on Twitter. The reality is that it matters more how hot they are and how engaged you keep them, just know that there are people who are impressed by numbers (rightly or wrongly) and larger numbers can boost credibility.
#4 Maintain a Blog (Biweekly Minimum)
I used to advocate that a blog post needed to be a 250 word minimum, but today it can be as short as a couple of sentences. (Seth Godin, legendary marketer, is a good example.) Blogging is simply a way to put your expertise into a readily available written format for your market to access without you needing to be there. If you can write a memo, a letter to your mom, or a note to a friend, you can blog. Sharing your thought leadership will boost credibility.
#5 Write a Book
This is perhaps the greatest instant credibility builder. Because just about everyone dreams of writing a book one day, they give tremendous trust to anyone who has actually done it. Here’s the amazing part, the book doesn’t have to be long, nor does it have to be good (it should be, but hear me out.) Most people who buy your book will never read beyond the first chapter. Tip booklets are hugely popular today, a catchy title with a number in it, is a no brainer for getting attention. And your book is first and foremost a BIG BUSINESS CARD. You won’t make money with the sale of it, you will boost credibility by giving it away to prospects, clients, and referral partners who can spread the word.
#6 Repurpose Your Book Content Into Articles for Industries of Your Choice
I know, you’ve heard of this the other way around. You’ve been told to write blog posts, turn them into articles, and turn your articles into a book. That’s fine too, but if you start with a book, you can break it into bite-size pieces for your blog, and then reformat those posts into articles. You create the content once and simply re-purpose your brilliance to boost credibility in more channels and formats.
#7 Speak for Free and Fee
Once you’ve got a book, it is pretty easy to land speaking engagements. Networking groups, associations, companies with weekly sales meetings and many more are always looking for speakers and authors have instant credibility. Speaking for free can be a strategic way to build your business, sell programs, gain access to more prospects. Speaking for fee can be a profitable endeavor and stepping stone to consulting and coaching and it all will boost your credibility.
#8 Host Your Own BlogTalk Radio Show
Hosting your own radio show is kind of like having your own book, it is something that many people would love to do, so they give you a lot of credibility for doing it. Yes, it is better if you are focused, get interesting guests, and grow an audience, but you’ll find very few people will ever ask you how many listeners you have. The idea that you have a show is enough to boost credibility with them. At the same time it gives people a way to sample your brilliance before they hire you.
#9 Create a Series of Tip Videos and Provide Free Access
Two colleagues of mine with wildly different markets have done an ace job of this. Lou Bortone, “The Video King,” and James Wedmore, a video giant both have dozens of helpful, quality, quick tip videos available to view on youtube. Their market is small business owners. Joe Calloway, on the other hand, is focused on the corporate market and created a series of videos to grow their business and hosts them on his site.
#10 Get an Expert Interview Done
I’ve done hundreds of expert interviews for business owners over the last five years. Having someone else interview you about your business, your background, and what makes you different is a terrific way to build your credibility. You can post the interview as an opt-in, make it a free download on your site, or even have it at a link and share that on your business card as a way for your market to learn more about who you are and what you do without you needing to be there.
So, you have some decisions to make, you can either go down this list one at a time and implement each piece, or you can be more selective. Pick the items that resonate with you and implement them. The alternative is you will throw up your hands, claim overwhelm and do nothing, staying exactly where you are. That would suck! TAKE ACTION and TELL ME ABOUT IT IN COMMENTS HERE. I’m here to support your journey of success.
