Do you look credible to your potential clients?

Owning your own business can be an exciting adventure. Creating a service or product, following your dreams and being responsible for the end result is heady stuff. And while the people who know you are easily convinced that you are a capable captain of industry, it’s not so easy with potential new clients. Just a decade ago, the  way to prove you were a credible business was by having a storefront. Having a storefront showed a physical commitment and a material investment. These days many businesses are started from home and many business meetings take place at the local Starbucks rather than in an office building. So, here are some tips to help you build credibility in a brave new business world.

1. Don’t Use a Free Website.   Many small businesses use a free website or blog service to establish their online presence. And what seems like a temporary fix can lead to some credibility issues that cost more then had you just paid for website hosting in the first place. Free websites are harder to find in an online search because they usually don’t allow you to use your own domain name and and they can contain advertising of products you have no control over. Add to that, it’s easy to tell when someone is using a free website and that screams “small time” to your potential clients.
   
2. Create an Email That Utilizes Your Domain Name. Even if you have the most compelling business cards and spellbinding brochure content, if you have a business email that ends in: gmail, yahoo or the like you are considered small potatoes. Imagine the viewpoint of a potential client: if you haven’t committed to buying a domain name branded email then you must not have committed to becoming successful and you might close your doors.
3. Consistently Brand Yourself. Simply put, all of your branding materials should match. From your business cards to the logo on your website – it should all look the same thematically. If you change your brand on one item, you need to change it on everything else. This is one of the reasons that free business cards aren’t always the best idea. The cards might save you money but the stock photo images scream “I don’t have a brand, and either I haven’t been around long enough or I can’t afford to get one!”.
4. Establish Your Presence Using Social Media. Using social media to promote your business activities is common, but when used correctly it will go a long way in building your company’s credibility. Using sites like LinkedIn is a free and professional way to showcase your professional presence. Your clients can list testimonials, you can network with businesses that compliment yours and you can participate in groups that help you to further your skills and contacts. Another useful site is Yelp, which helps you gain credibility by allowing your satisfied clients to post reviews of your work. And when potential clients search for you online, they will find more then just your one solitary website – they will find multiple examples of how you can help businesses like theirs.
5. Attend Networking Events. Nothing can replace person to person interaction.  No matter how exceptional your online presence is, many people base the decision on utilizing your services by meeting you in person. Alternately, a potential client might not even know to look for your business online until they find out you exist in real life. And the more events you attend means the more impressions you will make and the more credibility you will have.