3 Simple Steps to Building Online Credibility

Have you ever heard the phrase "reputation is everything in Internet marketing," or something like that? It's true, and for obvious reasons. Since prospective customers can't see you face to face and you may be located hundreds or thousands of miles away. So, how do you start selling via the Internet when you haven't had time to build a reputation yet? You must be credible and build credibility in everything you do. Below are some key ways to build credibility starting from scratch.

1. The power of a name.

In marketing a name is a brand. Specific to your situation it's more to the point to say YOUR name is a brand. In other words, as you build a history, your name (or business name) will conjure up memories that people have about you and your business. So, you want those memories to be good ones and you want those memories to be brought out often. How do you do that? Put your name on everything you create including your website, articles, newsletters, reports, e-books, even blog and forum posts. Let's not forget to take precautions to make sure you're highly thought of as well. That means taking care to give thoughtful forum and blog posts and use proper grammar and spelling. Also, check your facts when you write articles and never claim to know something that you don't or just guess about something. These types of mistakes can severely sabotage your credibility for a long time and in turn, damage your business.

2. Make yourself available to answer questions and answer them in a timely manner.

This goes not just for questions your customers may have about a product, but also to questions from prospective customers about your niche or sub-niche. The more you communicate with people, the greater your chance to show off your expertise and thereby build your credibility and strengthen your relationship with your prospective customer. Also, make sure any visitor to your website can easily find your contact information. She can't even ask a question of you if she can't find your email address in the first place, so make sure it's either at a link at the top or side of the page labeled 'contact,' or right smack in the body of your home page text, or in both of those places. If she can't find it she'll be frustrated and that's not what you want is it?

3. Have a return policy, display it prominently and stick to it.

This step alone will do a lot for increasing sales conversions. Think about it for a minute. Would you rather buy something you can return if you're not happy with it, or something in which there's no stated satisfaction guarantee and you're just left shouldering all the risk of the buying decision yourself? If you're afraid you'll get too many returns, then I suggest you don't sell any product that causes you to feel this way. Take the time to create quality products and always try to over-deliver on your sales promises.

It has been said that we buy from people and businesses that we know, like and trust. I believe if you follow the three above points that you'll be well on your way to accomplishing that and building a vital aspect of your online business: credibility. These three points are so important that I suggest you reread these points right now and save this article to your hard drive future reference.