Building Business Credibility
| Category: Personal Development For Marketeers | Date: 2002-07-15 |
The Internet has enabled people, who would never have thought of building a business, to make a comfortable living.
There are new "businesses" popping up by the minute and there doesn't seem to be an ending in sight. With that said, the door is also open for not so very honest people to scam you, or steal, your money and personal information from you, making it very difficult for the legitimate business owners and service providers to seem "real" to the millions of prospective clients.
A big part of your newfound career is to make visitors to your site feel comfortable enough with you, your company and your website so they will want to do business with you. They must trust you first. So you need to build your credibility up enough to warrant that trust.
Register a Domain Name
Your own domain name, or URL, will build tremendous credibility to your business. It's the first thing people will see. If you're not willing to invest in a real business name and web presence then you'll be taken for another scam artist and lose a lot of business. People will just go to someone who does have their own domain.
Your Business's Contact Information
If you are real person with a real business, then you must have a physical location and a phone number. Let your customers know what it is.
Put a prominent link on your home page to a "Contact" page which includes the following information:
A short biography -- Not a book, but a few paragraphs about you, your family and your experience.
Include a photo -- Some people like to know who they are dealing with. A picture says you are real and creates a mental picture in the customers mind everytime they talk to you.
Your companies objectives -- A short paragraph of what you goals are and what you hope to achieve as far as your service or product.
And, of course, your phone number, address, fax, email address and any other ways people may contact you.
Your Business's Privacy Statement
In a world of selling email addresses and SPAM you need to make your potential customer feel at ease with giving over personal information. You need to make up a statement proclaiming that their information is safe.
Like the "Contact" page you need a new page on your site which should include:
How you plan on using their information
If you sell or share information with other parties
Why you collect email addresses
Do you track their IP address
What you use the information for from the order forms
How you use contest information
Any security measures you may have in place
How visitors can unsubscribe to any opt-in lists you run.
Or anything else that you feel will put a potential customer at ease and feel comfortable by ordering from you. You can have a Privacy Statement made for you at http://www.truste.org/wizard
Testimonials
This has become the most popular way to get others to believe in their company and/or product. By reading what other people have written about your product will make the difference of whether or not a visitor will buy from you.
You can ask for testimonials from your customers after they have ordered. Explain that you plan on using it on your site and will place their name and website address with the testimonial. This helps both of you out by giving some free promotion to the customer.
Money Back Guarantee
This is another fantastic way to build credibility to your product or service. By offering to refund 100% of the purchase price if someone is not satisfied will help with the decision to buy or not. In effect the customer is really not losing anything and will feel safe with the knowledge that he/she can get their money back.
If you want to succeed in today's Internet, then you must instill confidence and a feeling of trust within your site visitors and customers.
Tatiana Velitchkov
About the Author
Tatiana is the publisher of: www.TheFortunesEzine.com , the FortunesEzineWeekly at www.TakeYourFortune.com , and owner of the traffic-solution slam advertising sites www.Guaranteed-Hits.com and www.Guaranteed-Hits.net
email - info@guaranteed-hits.net
url - http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com
info@guaranteed-hits.net
http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com
There are new "businesses" popping up by the minute and there doesn't seem to be an ending in sight. With that said, the door is also open for not so very honest people to scam you, or steal, your money and personal information from you, making it very difficult for the legitimate business owners and service providers to seem "real" to the millions of prospective clients.
A big part of your newfound career is to make visitors to your site feel comfortable enough with you, your company and your website so they will want to do business with you. They must trust you first. So you need to build your credibility up enough to warrant that trust.
Register a Domain Name
Your own domain name, or URL, will build tremendous credibility to your business. It's the first thing people will see. If you're not willing to invest in a real business name and web presence then you'll be taken for another scam artist and lose a lot of business. People will just go to someone who does have their own domain.
Your Business's Contact Information
If you are real person with a real business, then you must have a physical location and a phone number. Let your customers know what it is.
Put a prominent link on your home page to a "Contact" page which includes the following information:
A short biography -- Not a book, but a few paragraphs about you, your family and your experience.
Include a photo -- Some people like to know who they are dealing with. A picture says you are real and creates a mental picture in the customers mind everytime they talk to you.
Your companies objectives -- A short paragraph of what you goals are and what you hope to achieve as far as your service or product.
And, of course, your phone number, address, fax, email address and any other ways people may contact you.
Your Business's Privacy Statement
In a world of selling email addresses and SPAM you need to make your potential customer feel at ease with giving over personal information. You need to make up a statement proclaiming that their information is safe.
Like the "Contact" page you need a new page on your site which should include:
How you plan on using their information
If you sell or share information with other parties
Why you collect email addresses
Do you track their IP address
What you use the information for from the order forms
How you use contest information
Any security measures you may have in place
How visitors can unsubscribe to any opt-in lists you run.
Or anything else that you feel will put a potential customer at ease and feel comfortable by ordering from you. You can have a Privacy Statement made for you at http://www.truste.org/wizard
Testimonials
This has become the most popular way to get others to believe in their company and/or product. By reading what other people have written about your product will make the difference of whether or not a visitor will buy from you.
You can ask for testimonials from your customers after they have ordered. Explain that you plan on using it on your site and will place their name and website address with the testimonial. This helps both of you out by giving some free promotion to the customer.
Money Back Guarantee
This is another fantastic way to build credibility to your product or service. By offering to refund 100% of the purchase price if someone is not satisfied will help with the decision to buy or not. In effect the customer is really not losing anything and will feel safe with the knowledge that he/she can get their money back.
If you want to succeed in today's Internet, then you must instill confidence and a feeling of trust within your site visitors and customers.
Tatiana Velitchkov
About the Author
Tatiana is the publisher of: www.TheFortunesEzine.com , the FortunesEzineWeekly at www.TakeYourFortune.com , and owner of the traffic-solution slam advertising sites www.Guaranteed-Hits.com and www.Guaranteed-Hits.net
email - info@guaranteed-hits.net
url - http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com
info@guaranteed-hits.net
http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com
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