Online credibility 2 0
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Two media experts talk about how to portray your expertise credibly on the web.
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Online credibility 2 0
- 1. Insider Secrets for Online Presented by: Credibility Barbara Saunders, Susan Rich, RichWriting The Solo Pro Success Coach Word Craft and Marketing Coach Director, IASECP | Host, Solo Pro Radio Host, Susan Rich Talks Radio Founder Solo Pro Academy SusanRichTalks.com IASECP.com | SoloProSuccess.com | SoloProRadio.com 503-282-3694
- 2. A Wave Hello
- 3. Checklists Be sure to download your Checklists fro today’s presentation. They include: • A Checklist for Collecting and Publishing Case Studies • A Checklist for Collecting and Publishing Testimonials • And some great tips for using them!
- 4. Who Are We? Barbara, Solo Pro Success Coach Master Designer & Business Expert
- 5. Who Are We? Susan Rich, RichWriting Word-Craft & Marketing Coach
- 6. Why are we here? • You have 4.3 seconds to impress • People are saturated • People need to feel secure • People invest MORE with experts and professionals • PERCEPTION is essential • You MUST look the part
- 7. Because . . .
- 8. We’re Talking About • What is Trust and how do you earn it? • Reassure your visitors that you’re Trustworthy • YOU are your most valuable commodity ~ your expertise • An expert MUST stand out as a professional • Tips to establish a credible online presence • You’ll get some suggestions to use right away • The COST of DIY can kill your business ~ Invest in your business!
- 9. . . . You MUST • Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of you to deliver on your promise • Trust allows people to feel connected to something larger than themselves • Foster Trust with a consistent online/offline presence
- 10. Before You Begin Your Credibility begins with your online activity. Your website Your profiles The quality of your posts and other content Your status updates The quality of being convincing or believable Your Credibility is priceless.
- 11. Comparisons
- 14. Business Coach
- 15. Business Coach
- 16. Tips to Build Online Credibility
- 17. Tip #1 You don’t need to spend a fortune, but professional design and copy goes a long way to building credibility.
- 18. Tip #2 YOUR LOGO Develop a strong visual representation of your inherent credibility!
- 19. Tip #3 Find the words that tell your business story.
- 20. Tip #4 FLASH! Avoid using it. If it takes more than 2 seconds to load your website…we’re gone.
- 21. Tip #5 Lights…camera… ACTION! (call out what you want your audience to do)
- 22. Tip #6 Don’t be mysterious. People want to know who they’re doing business with. Always have an “About” page.
- 23. Tip #7 Business on the Internet is not anonymous. Use a real photo and your full name.
- 24. Tip #8 Use full mailing address, phone number and contact information.
- 25. Tip #9 Showcase your expertise with in-depth case studies. This helps prospects learn how they can work with you.
- 26. Tip #10 Collect and publish testimonials regularly. Testimonials are invaluable social proof.
- 27. Tip #11 Seek out and publish endorsements from influential people in your niche.
- 28. Tip #12 Take pride in your accomplishments. Showcase any media coverage, interviews or awards you’ve won.
- 29. Tip #13 Join credibility-boosting organizations. Display their logos on your website.
- 30. Tip #14 Nobody’s perfect, but always double-check your content before publishing.
- 31. Tip #15 Respond to all inquiries in a timely manner.
- 32. Tip #16 Have a Privacy Policy on your Website. Make people feel safe to share with you.
- 33. Tip #17 Keep your Copyright statement up-to-date. There’s nothing worse than seeing Copyright 2004!
- 34. Tip #18 Date stamp your content. It shows you as a credible up-to-date source of information.
- 35. Tip #19 Reduce spam complaints. Use a confirmed opt-in process for your mailing lists.
- 36. Tip #20 Credibility of Outbound Communication • Stay on topic • Maintain your expert positioning • Respect your readers’ time and interest • Infuse your personality
- 37. Tip #21 Use a secure server for your shopping cart.
- 38. Tip #22 Show confidence in what you do, and others will follow suit. Offer a guarantee.
- 39. Guarantee Example The number of clients that hire you BECAUSE you have a guarantee will far exceed the few who ask you to honor your guarantee.
- 40. Need more help?
- 41. Apply for a FREE Online Credibility Assessment & Action Plan ($147 value) • In-depth assessment of your website and online profiles • An ‘Influence’ grade report • Uncover the obstacles and challenges where you’re sabotaging yourself • Specific suggestions to boost your online credibility • A clear action plan of what to do next
- 42. Special Bonus! 50 Online Credibility Tips -PLUS- 9 Reasons Why I Hate Your Website (and dozens of ways you can fix it!)
- 44. Answer a Few Questions 1. What's your business and who do you target? 2. How long have you been in business? 3. What is your biggest challenge? 4. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), how important is it to you to get these solved? 5. What is the #1 obstacle that has kept you from solving these challenges?
- 45. Include: • Your website’s URL • Your Linked In profile link • Your FaceBook link • Your Twitter link • Other social media profiles you have
- 47. Hurry! Time is
- 48. THANK YOU for joining us! Barbara@SoloProSuccess.com
Editor's Notes
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- A bit about my co-host for today’s talk:\n\nSusan Rich delivers sophisticated and effective online content to solo-pros who are business and lifestyle coaches, medical professionals, and public speakers. She has a journalism degree, and more than 20 years of experience in print, PR, and marketing. She’s also the host of internet radio’s daily show: Susan Rich Talks.\n\nSusan also wrote a free report that covers today’s ideas in greater detail: It’s called \n9 reasons why I hate your website, and dozens of way so you can fix it. \nAnd you can get your copy after today’s call. We’ll tell you how in just a little bit.\n
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- cost of DIY - you can’t see yourself. More than design/copywriting. You MUST get out of your own mind and into the mind of your target client.\n
- You need to resonate with an invisible audience – just b/c you can’t see these potential clients does not mean they can’t see you. It’s a game of peek-a-boo, but it’s one you have to play without covering your face! \n\nYour credibility is instantaneous – think about this in your daily, interactive world: You decide the moment you walk into a business whether you want to stay or go. \n\nYour website and social media pages work much the same way. The instant we land on a page we decide whether this business is credible, whether sticking around will help us solve a problem, or make it worse.\n\nUse the Uti’s story example\n
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- Don’t cheat on creating copy. It’s what people search on. When you plan your budget, leave room for the words. A good design is important – but focus on elements like navigation and ease of use, less on Flash and moving objects. Make the experience simple, streamlined clean. Generally, what you like to see when you cruise online works for your clients. Golden Rule. \n
- The logo is a piece of art, the graphic that represents your company. It tells the reader at a glance who you are and what you do. \n \nHow powerful is a logo? Consider the Jolly Green Giant, Ronald McDonald, the Michelin tire man, the Campbell’s Soup kids. Add in the Starbucks maiden, the Nike swoosh, the ubiquitous bitten Apple. Just reading these words should deliver the image, and with it a sense of what each company does.\n \nThe logo is what you use when you don’t have pictures or text to tell your company’s story. That makes your logo very important – and worth the investment. \n \nRemember, your logo is the stand-in for the copy. If there are no words, only an image, then that image has got to be powerful. You only have a split-second to catch the eye of an online shopper. Your logo must resonate. \n
- Right after the logo comes the tagline. Sure, the tagline can be your company slogan. But do you know what a tagline really is? It’s the distillation of your key sales message. A good tagline is hard to write. It has to be short – six words or less – and distinctive. Not an easy combo. Like the logo, the tagline is a stand-in for your detailed company message. Every word has a unique design challenge: To convey your full business story.\n \nSome taglines are classic:\nJust do it! (Nike)\nWhen it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. (Fed-Ex)\n \nSome are short-lived, yet still memorable long after the campaign ends:\nWhere’s the beef? (Wendy’s)\nI wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener.\n \nSome taglines get retired, and then re-emerge to captivate a whole new market:\nM’m m’m good (Campbell’s soup)\nGood to the last drop (Maxwell House)\n \nYour tagline should match your website, the message you’re sharing. Or maybe the tagline and logo don’t work together. Oftentimes, the logo and tagline are cheek-by-jowl, so they have to share the same core message. If they don’t, you’ve created instant dissonance, and that can confuse your visitor.\n \n
- I hate to tell you this…but if I land on your website and the first thing I see is a button that says…Loading…I’m outta there. I’m not interested in your video. I’m interested in me, my problem, and a fast solution. \n \nIf you’re holding your site hostage until I watch your video…you’re doing it wrong. Let me enter your site. It’s what I want to do. Then ask me to watch your video. Give me a compelling reason to do so – this is a Call-to-Action. Make sure your video ends with another Call-to-Action. \n \nBookend my experience by first understanding what I need, then deliver that knowledge in a way that meets your needs.\n \nFlash is commonly used to scroll pictures, like a slide-show. Here’s the problem:\n \nWe’re still a dial-up nation.Depending on file size, Flash images can take minutes to load.\n  \nGoogle doesn’t search for Flash – yet. Google indexes words and pictures. At the present time, it cannot catalog Flash files. So if you embed important content using Flash, you’re wasting your money and losing customers because those pages do not come up during a search.\n \nApple doesn’t like Flash. Or maybe it does. Flash is supposedly being phased out, internet-wide. Or maybe not. Flash is used for so many applications that don’t have anything to do with your website (gaming comes to mind) that it’s hard to imagine a world without it. But something is going on with Flash. Even if the change is as slow-moving as molasses, be careful about choosing technology that limits anyone from landing on your website and learning about you.\n
- What we’re talking about here is the Call-to-Action – it’s the primary reason why you have a website in the first place. Your website is an online brochure. It’s also a shopping cart. It can also be an information center, a warehouse of ideas. There are countless reasons why you need a website. But if your goal is to make money, then every page has a specific job to do, and part of that job is defined by the Call-to-Action.\n\nWhat do you want people to do? \nStick around long enough for you to sell your stuff!\n\nWhat do people see when they click on your Home page? \nLogo. Tagline. Pictures. Words. Sometimes Flash or video, or an audio file that blasts a message the moment they land. \n \nThat’s a blizzard of information: Color, sound, movement. Eeeek! What should visitors do? Where should they look? Here’s the answer: When there is too much information, too many options, studies show people don’t decide. They leave. An overwhelming burst of information is not a Call-to-Action.\n\nYour Call-to-Action should lead the visitor through the sales cycle. From information to knowledge to choice. Remember, it’s not only about sales, it’s about building a relationship. The Call-to-Action is designed to pull people into your sales funnel, and then keep the dialog going as they move through the decision-making process. \n\n
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- The next two slides can be addressed as ONE!!!\n
- Contact Us page should have that info front and center, don’t make people look for it. If they’ve gotten that far, make it easy to take action, don’t drag them through more text or an offer. Let them connect.\n
- Next 5 slides are similar in theme, all good advice. We’d need examples of what a case study, testimonial, media coverage, what is credibility boosting group?\n
- It’s more powerful to have someone tell YOUR business story – it packs more punch than the craftiest copy writer will EVER deliver. So make it part of your follow-up process at the end of ever job. Create a form, send an email, provide some get-started questions. But ASK for a testimonial, ASK for permission to use it and their full name/company.\n\nConnect/Ask on LI at end of project\nVideo where possible – way stronger.\n
- This can be hard to do, advice?\n
- Yes – post TV interviews, links to articles, photos. This is not on Home page, could be About or sidebar content. Make sure the message is, this is what I can do for YOU.\nMedia tab\n\nFor example, after Susan published her second book, she scored several TV interviews, a host of public speaking gigs, and some great testimonials. She listed those on her website. Her speaker reviews regularly laud her as one of the “top” or “best” presenters. \n
- Give examples – there are some never-considered-ones I’m sure…\n
- Read it aloud. Have a friend read it. Write first, edit second, post third (like a day or so later). Invest in a simple website like WordPress so you can easily update copy and fix changes without waiting for your web master.\n
- Goes without saying!!! You can make the commitment on the website too, ie, 24 hours, 2 business days, depending on your business.\n\nPeople like to feel like somebody’s listening\n
- Is this part of newsie sign up? When/where does this matter?\n
- How do we update it? As simple as changing the year 2004 to 2102? Is there a legal idea here? This kind of suggestion raises questions that might not be on par w/ the call.\n
- Where/how is this done? I never do it. Part of copyright??\n\nWP does it for you Include example.\n
- Do you want to talk about options here, like AWeber, MailChimp, Constant Contact? \n\nDO NOT ADD PEOPLE TO YOUR LIST WITHOUT PERMISSION\n
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- people over 40 - from corporate - are scared of PayPal. Understand target market might be scared. Ejunkie adds an extra layer of security.\n\nOneShopping Cart\n
- I know someone who offers a money-back gty on her website copy, if it doesn’t work, she returns cash. She’s nuts of course. But what kind of gty is reasonable to make? What is industry standard?\n\nInclude examples\n
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- Put these questions in the handout that they download. and we will send them a include them in the follow up email right after the webinar.\n
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- susan@richwriting.com\nOR do you want to be the sole collector? I’d think so!!\n
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- Need a thank you slide and email address again\n