In most industries, establishing credibility is extremely important. Unfortunately, in most cases, a salesman or a website only have a few short minutes to prove they’re worthy of more thought.
If you stop and think about it for a moment, you’ll realize just how important credibility is. Let’s say you want to take a vacation to Hawaii for a special event. This special event sold out of tickets in less than 24 hours last time, and you didn’t get to go. In addition, you have to book a hotel, figure out food and last-minute details, all kinds of things.
You decide since you missed out last year that you’re going to hire a company to help you this year, because the company guarantees tickets and a nice hotel room. But which one are you going to choose – the one with a website that is polished with a logo you’ve seen before, or a less-expensive website that is thrown together and ragged around the edges? Even if the more expensive website is, well, more expensive, they’re more credible – and most people will go with them.
Knowing that, that means you have a lot of work to do if you’re just entering the market. You have to build your reputation, and build it fast. No one’s going to question what FedEx is doing, but they are going to question you. Therefore, pump information into your website and into the market that does the things you do.
And remember to keep it personal. Your website should have an informal, but professional tone to its blog and other resources. Your information should be comprehensive and self-explanatory, but not stuffy. People should get a feel for the “personality” of your company – and a feel for your personality, too.
And most importantly – market you. Don’t market your website. You’re not “Dan’s Great Adventures in Europe,” you’re Dan, the experienced, skilled OWNER of “Dan’s Great Adventures.”