How to Build Credibility Online

HOW TO BUILD CREDIBILITY ONLINE by Craig Lock I find this a most interesting and somewhat complex subject, as there has to be TRUST in any business relationship before any exchange is made. This can be quite difficult to achieve, when you have never met your customer (prospect) face to face in another part of the country...or even the world. Having been on the www over four years, here are a few pointers that we find helpful in the online sales process: 1. Have your OWN DOMAIN NAME (no...

HOW TO BUILD CREDIBILITY ONLINE

by Craig Lock

I find this a most interesting and somewhat complex subject,
as there has to be TRUST in any business relationship before
any exchange is made. This can be quite difficult to achieve,
when you have never met your customer (prospect) face to face
in another part of the country...or even the world.

Having been on the www over four years, here are a few pointers that
we find helpful in the online sales process:

1. Have your OWN DOMAIN NAME
(not expensive - less than $20 a year from www.000Domains.com
see http://www.craiglock.com )

2. Offer GUARANTEES (money-back) on your products or services

3. BE YOURSELF IN YOUR WRITING (on your web site).

4. OFFER TESTIMONIALS

5. Have a PRIVACY POLICY for your online business.

In this article I'm covering points 3 and 4. When writing copy for your
website, we suggest writing down information (valuable) that
can inform and most importantly, HELP others. Write in your
own UNIQUE and distinctive style - what comes naturally to you.
Really BE YOURSELF and "totally honest" in your writing and
you will find that the words will flow....and your unique
personality and writing style will "shine through in cyberspace".
All this adds to your credibility ... and most importantly,
INTEGRITY online. Do this and you WILL get sales.

USE TESTIMONIALS

We find using testimonials from customers helps add to our
credibility (these are always unsolicited). Other than having
one's own domain namesWe find that PUTTING TESTIMONIALS
from satisfied customers on our web sites helps greatly in the
sales process - through establishing BELIEVABILITY (a big word,
but still shorter than credibility!) in your claims of satisfying
customer needs.

The reason: people are naturally reluctant and usually a little
apprehensive about spending their hard-earned money on the
www. (Well these are still early days in buying products or services
online.) Doing this, I believe, adds value to the "perceived quality"
of your product or service, through building up the prospect's
CONFIDENCE in you and your products.
A few more thoughts on this topic of using testimonials ... Be
SPECIFIC in how your product helped meet the customer's needs.
"This course greatly helped increase my vocabulary, confidence
in writing articles, etc". ("hint, hint, plug, plug!") The key result =
INCREASED SALES. A final word of advice regarding using your
testimonials (note word carefully chosen!) ...

N.B:
Publish your customers' names and email addresses at the end,
so that they can be contacted as a referral ("if need be"). (Don't
forget to obtain their permission first to have their name "up
there" on the www; however we do find that most people are
very happy to oblige). Because personal endorsements from
"real people" are way more trustworthy and they prove that you
have fulfilled your promise to other customers - that your product
or service actually "does the job " claimed.

Building credibility (trust) comes from using your individual area
ofexpertise (and/or interests) to help others through sharing your
unique knowledge and experiences. That is the best part of an
online business, I believe - "meeting people and building
relationships based on trust" in the magical journey that is life.

Craig Lock

Creative Writing Course
http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/creative.html

For various books and a practical interactive course on internet marketing, click on
http://www.novelty-gift.com/
and
http://www.bridgeniche.com/CLOCK/zaniestbooks.htm

ABOUT THE AUTHOR