Here's a re-post from ProBlogger.net, good read for business owners!
How to Boost your Business by Developing Bulletproof Trust
Posted: 29 Aug 2009 07:01 AM PDT
A Guest Post by Johnny B. Truant writes from Learn to Be Your Own V.A
The other day, while we were on the phone, a client sent me $500 via PayPal for a series of tech consultations. Toward the end of the call, I noticed that I hadn’t received the money. She thought for sure that she had sent it, but offered straightaway to make the payment again.
I said, “Maybe you want to wait. I mean, what if you’re paying me twice?”
And she said, “Oh, I trust you.”
Which was a really interesting thing to say, given that this was the first time I was speaking to this woman. We had never met in person; she didn’t have my address or phone number; I hadn’t exchanged more than three or four random emails with her. For all intents and purposes, neither of us knew who the other was. But the more I thought about it, this kind of thing happens all the time. Most of my clients never hear my voice. Few have the slightest idea where I live or what my background is, and I’ve only been truly visible online for maybe six months. Yet over and over and over again, people pay me in advance for work they’d like me to do.
It kind of destroys the paradigm of the internet being a skeptical place.
So I thought about it: Why, in a realm where Verisign has to vouch for the security of a website, will customers pay some merchants in full, in advance, without question? Why are some people trusted while others are not? If a man can pose as a woman online, if an adult can pose as a child, if a scam artist can pose as a legit businessperson — then what does it take to make customers feel that a person is true to his or her word?
If you want to conduct business online — if you want to turn passive readers into active customers — you need to find a way to build that kind of bulletproof trust. Here’s how.
1. Be human
If you’re on Twitter and Facebook as “Thermodyne Systems, Inc.,” knock it off and start interacting as yourself. Talk to people online person-to-person rather than business-to-customer. Be funny if you’re funny. Be deep if you’re deep. If it strikes you to write somewhere about your dog or kids, do so. Personally, I write a humor blog that has nothing to do with my area of business. Through that site, people see how I am when I’m not being a tech guy. They see that I’m a person, just like they are.
2. Admit when you don’t know something
People seem to feel a need to appear infallible in business. If a client wants to know X and you know nothing about X, the rule is to tell him about X in as much double-talk as it takes to make it sound plausible. But here’s the thing: Nobody is perfect, so infallibility always comes across as phony. But if you buck that trend — if you’re truthful when you don’t know an answer — readers will begin to trust your honesty. Put succinctly: If you’re honest when you don’t know the answer, people will believe that you’re being honest you when you do.
3. Interact with readers in public
When readers comment on your blog, respond to those comments. Get the “Subscribe to Comments” plug-in so that commenters will know when someone (like you) comments after them. When readers ask questions of you anywhere in public, answer them as fully as you’re able. Interact on Twitter, forums, other blogs, or wherever your readers hang out. You want them to see you as one of the group, not as an untouchable speaker on a high podium.
4. Be responsive in private
It’s amazing how many people thank me for simply responding to emails. One or two people have even given me permission to “blow them off” if I didn’t have the time. You don’t have to send detailed, lengthy replies to everyone who contacts you, but it’s amazing how much goodwill you can engender by being one of the (apparently) few businesspeople who respond to inquiries quickly, thoroughly, and personably.
5. Give away a ton of free information
Writing your blog is a great way to give away your knowledge, but think even deeper. Should you publish a newsletter? Can you answer more personal questions from readers? This may feel like a time drain, and you may even be tempted to charge for time spent giving answers, but tough it out. What you gain in favor and trust from answering gratis will net you far more more than a shortsighted hourly billing mentality. The $500 consulting client I mentioned in the intro? She came to me because months ago, I helped someone she liked, without billing that person a dime.
6. Tell customers what’s in it for you
There’s a big debate around whether you should disclose affiliate links on your blog. Personally, I love disclosing them. I love any opportunity to open my books, to show readers exactly where my money is coming from. Why? Because many of my services are inexpensive, and can remain so because part of “what’s in it for me” is an affiliate commission. I could hide that, but then customers would wonder how I could set up a blog for only $39. Are the blogs of poor quality? What’s the catch? By revealing my sources of income, I remove those suspicions and show customers that I have no hidden motives.
7. Genuinely, honestly, truthfully look for the win-win
Be careful on this one. Everyone gives lip service to the idea of a “win-win,” but most people are really trying only to benefit themselves. I never, never, never steer clients toward something I feel they don’t need. I will actually steer them away from a sale I think won’t benefit them. But — and here’s the rub — I can’t count the number of times one of those people have come back, given me more business, and told their friends about me because we both “won” in our interaction.
8. Establish social proof
Buyers want to know that other people have purchased before them and have been satisfied. Your goal should be to create raving fans — customers who can’t say enough good things about you. Solicit testimonials. Ask satisfied customers to refer their friends. And if you can swing it, try to write for (or otherwise associate with) well-trusted websites and personalities. You’re judged by the company you keep, and association with trusted people allows some of that trust to rub off on you. My business ratcheted up when I started writing for IttyBiz.com, and again after I had a few posts on sites like Problogger and Copyblogger. Intentionally or not, authority sites give at least a little bit of tacit approval to everyone who appears on them.
If you want to do business online, you have to know your stuff. You have to be credible. You have to be good at what you do. But without trust, you’ll never make it. So, how trustworthy are you? The answer may well make or break your business.
About the Author: Johnny B. Truant writes Learn to Be Your Own V.A. and is the creator of Zero to Business: A Ridiculously Simple Guide to Turning Your Online Business from Tech Headache to Profit Center. You can follow him on Twitter at @johnnybtruant.
"Words of advise from an Old Geezer"
Old Geezer Says:
November 10th, 2007 at 9:39 pm Old Geezer here. I’m the older brother of Old Yeller. Funny how a post that started about a bad tv show ended up with a bunch of college students asking advice about their future. Well, pull up a chair, boys and girls, and let Old Geezer share some of his hard earned wisdom. I envision a list, of about a hundred items, and we’d have to stop at a hundred, because we’d never remember more than that. Anyone else over the age of forty can chime in too; I’m sure I won’t think of everything.
1. In college, learn as much tech stuff as you can. This will make you more valuable as an assistant. Don’t just be a navel gazer with a 5D.
2. In college, take business classes too. You don’t want to be one of those stoner kids that just reads and ponders life. You want to APPLY what you learned.
3. In college, take as many philosophy classes as you can. Try to think BIG. Try to care about the world. Try to get a grip on the big picture.
4. In college, take a year off and drive across the country, and camp along the way. Do it with good friends that are smart; not dumbasses that just want to get high. Bring some books. Bring some audio books if you can’t read.
5. Make sure and take some acid somewhere along the way. Preferably in Monument Valley or Canyonlands. I know that sounds dumb, but everybody needs to do that once or twice.
6. When you start assisting, consider putting away your cameras entirely for a few years, and concentrate on being a servant. Get into a servant mindspace. Be in a supportive role. Trust me, it helps. This is your time to be a giant sponge and learn as much as you can. It’s not your time to shoot. (Ok, maybe with your iphone, but nothing more serious than that).
7. Think how you can be most useful to a photographer. That will get you hired, and keep you getting hired.
8. Eliminate excess Drama from your life.
9. Live beneath your means. Keep things simple.
10. Be a good conversationalist. Be well read. No one wants to drive five hours with an assistant that doesn’t have anything to add to the conversation. And it better be better than how to make web galleries from Bridge, or something geeky like that.
11. Keep your mouth shut around clients. Just be a good energy, but sure as hell, don’t offer ideas. The photographer has his own agenda, and he needs to work that out with the client.
12. Don’t be late for work. And if you are, call ahead and let the photographer know. Don’t just show up thirty minutes late, especially if it’s on the way to LaGuardia.
13. Be loyal.
14. Go beyond the call of duty.
15. Don’t order expensive drinks after the job, especially if it’s editorial. Be aware of the budget.
16. Turn off your fucking cell phone during the job. Fine to check messages during lunch, when it’s your time, but don’t be sending text messages to your girlfriend, even if nothing is going on in the job. Trust me, even though you’re not aware of it, there is something ALWAYS going on in the job.
17. Reread 16.
18. Be prompt when submitting Invoices. Don’t bitch about photographers always paying late, if you wait twenty days before you Invoice a job.
19. Be a sponge. Notice everything. Notice the way the photographer deals with the client. Notice the issues that the clients have, and be sensitive to these. You, as an assistant, are privy to a ton of valuable unspoken information; make the best use of it. Learn from it.
20. Travel out of the country as much as possible. Learn how other people live. Learn that America is not the center of the universe, and learn that you don’t need your cell phone 24 hours a day. Again, be a sponge, about how other people live.
21. Don’t show up hung over to a job. It’s just not cool. No matter how hard you worked the day before.
22. Dress well. Doesn’t have to be Prada, but try to look competent.
23. Learn your job. Learn the subtleties of a Profoto pack. Learn about the fuses in a Pro 7b. Try to learn CaptureOne, even just the basics of it. You are Support; try to know your craft. Even the geeky details. It’s the geeky details that’ll sometimes save a job. That’s when you’ll be the hero, and you’ll get an extra beer that night at dinner. (But don’t show up the next day hung over).
24. Go to the Times today, and read the Norman Mailer Obit. Try to create your life to be half as interesting as his life. If you do that, you’ll be fine.
25. Always order good Catering. That’s all the client really cares about. And make sure they get put up in a nice hotel.
26. Learn as much technical stuff as you can, because Rule Number One is, the client doesn’t really care about your vision of the world. They care about their vision. If you show one thing in your book, chances are, you’ll be called for something else. So have a good grab bag of tricks, for those days when you walk into a beige conference room, and have to shoot a fat guy on the corner of a desk.
That’s all that Old Geezer knows for now. Maybe someone older can write up another twenty-six.
Good luck with your careers, young people. God knows the world needs another photographer. With SVA and Art Center and the like cranking them out by the hundreds, soon we’ll have enough photographers to handle all those big budget jobs that we all turn down.
And.
Handle your rent; handle your car. Handle your parking tickets. Nobody wants the Sheriff to show up in the middle of a job, with a bunch of parking tickets in his hand, asking to see the assistant. Don’t ask to leave early, “cause you gotta go pay your rent or your phone bill”. Handle all that stuff outside of work. Again, you are Support; you are not the star.
And I forgot the worst one, #27: Don’t approach the client to “show him your work sometime”. It’s the cardinal rule. If you’re there on the job as an assistant, then be in the assistant role. Every client will ask you if you shoot, because they don’t know what else to talk to you about at lunch, but trust me, they really don’t care. They might care a little bit, but they don’t want to see your book. The right way to do it is — Stop Assisting, then become a photographer. Don’t approach a client when you’re on somebody else’s job.
Great post on: www.aphotoeditor.com
Love it! Live it.
November 10th, 2007 at 9:39 pm Old Geezer here. I’m the older brother of Old Yeller. Funny how a post that started about a bad tv show ended up with a bunch of college students asking advice about their future. Well, pull up a chair, boys and girls, and let Old Geezer share some of his hard earned wisdom. I envision a list, of about a hundred items, and we’d have to stop at a hundred, because we’d never remember more than that. Anyone else over the age of forty can chime in too; I’m sure I won’t think of everything.
1. In college, learn as much tech stuff as you can. This will make you more valuable as an assistant. Don’t just be a navel gazer with a 5D.
2. In college, take business classes too. You don’t want to be one of those stoner kids that just reads and ponders life. You want to APPLY what you learned.
3. In college, take as many philosophy classes as you can. Try to think BIG. Try to care about the world. Try to get a grip on the big picture.
4. In college, take a year off and drive across the country, and camp along the way. Do it with good friends that are smart; not dumbasses that just want to get high. Bring some books. Bring some audio books if you can’t read.
5. Make sure and take some acid somewhere along the way. Preferably in Monument Valley or Canyonlands. I know that sounds dumb, but everybody needs to do that once or twice.
6. When you start assisting, consider putting away your cameras entirely for a few years, and concentrate on being a servant. Get into a servant mindspace. Be in a supportive role. Trust me, it helps. This is your time to be a giant sponge and learn as much as you can. It’s not your time to shoot. (Ok, maybe with your iphone, but nothing more serious than that).
7. Think how you can be most useful to a photographer. That will get you hired, and keep you getting hired.
8. Eliminate excess Drama from your life.
9. Live beneath your means. Keep things simple.
10. Be a good conversationalist. Be well read. No one wants to drive five hours with an assistant that doesn’t have anything to add to the conversation. And it better be better than how to make web galleries from Bridge, or something geeky like that.
11. Keep your mouth shut around clients. Just be a good energy, but sure as hell, don’t offer ideas. The photographer has his own agenda, and he needs to work that out with the client.
12. Don’t be late for work. And if you are, call ahead and let the photographer know. Don’t just show up thirty minutes late, especially if it’s on the way to LaGuardia.
13. Be loyal.
14. Go beyond the call of duty.
15. Don’t order expensive drinks after the job, especially if it’s editorial. Be aware of the budget.
16. Turn off your fucking cell phone during the job. Fine to check messages during lunch, when it’s your time, but don’t be sending text messages to your girlfriend, even if nothing is going on in the job. Trust me, even though you’re not aware of it, there is something ALWAYS going on in the job.
17. Reread 16.
18. Be prompt when submitting Invoices. Don’t bitch about photographers always paying late, if you wait twenty days before you Invoice a job.
19. Be a sponge. Notice everything. Notice the way the photographer deals with the client. Notice the issues that the clients have, and be sensitive to these. You, as an assistant, are privy to a ton of valuable unspoken information; make the best use of it. Learn from it.
20. Travel out of the country as much as possible. Learn how other people live. Learn that America is not the center of the universe, and learn that you don’t need your cell phone 24 hours a day. Again, be a sponge, about how other people live.
21. Don’t show up hung over to a job. It’s just not cool. No matter how hard you worked the day before.
22. Dress well. Doesn’t have to be Prada, but try to look competent.
23. Learn your job. Learn the subtleties of a Profoto pack. Learn about the fuses in a Pro 7b. Try to learn CaptureOne, even just the basics of it. You are Support; try to know your craft. Even the geeky details. It’s the geeky details that’ll sometimes save a job. That’s when you’ll be the hero, and you’ll get an extra beer that night at dinner. (But don’t show up the next day hung over).
24. Go to the Times today, and read the Norman Mailer Obit. Try to create your life to be half as interesting as his life. If you do that, you’ll be fine.
25. Always order good Catering. That’s all the client really cares about. And make sure they get put up in a nice hotel.
26. Learn as much technical stuff as you can, because Rule Number One is, the client doesn’t really care about your vision of the world. They care about their vision. If you show one thing in your book, chances are, you’ll be called for something else. So have a good grab bag of tricks, for those days when you walk into a beige conference room, and have to shoot a fat guy on the corner of a desk.
That’s all that Old Geezer knows for now. Maybe someone older can write up another twenty-six.
Good luck with your careers, young people. God knows the world needs another photographer. With SVA and Art Center and the like cranking them out by the hundreds, soon we’ll have enough photographers to handle all those big budget jobs that we all turn down.
And.
Handle your rent; handle your car. Handle your parking tickets. Nobody wants the Sheriff to show up in the middle of a job, with a bunch of parking tickets in his hand, asking to see the assistant. Don’t ask to leave early, “cause you gotta go pay your rent or your phone bill”. Handle all that stuff outside of work. Again, you are Support; you are not the star.
And I forgot the worst one, #27: Don’t approach the client to “show him your work sometime”. It’s the cardinal rule. If you’re there on the job as an assistant, then be in the assistant role. Every client will ask you if you shoot, because they don’t know what else to talk to you about at lunch, but trust me, they really don’t care. They might care a little bit, but they don’t want to see your book. The right way to do it is — Stop Assisting, then become a photographer. Don’t approach a client when you’re on somebody else’s job.
Great post on: www.aphotoeditor.com
Love it! Live it.
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