One of the biggest factors in the success of any business is being able to get people to know, like, and trust you. One thing that can do that well is social proof. Social proof is showing through demonstration that you have a following, people like you, people know you, and people trust you. You get social proof via actively seeking out opportunities.
The opportunities are out there. You just must find them. Get published in magazines, newspapers, and on popular websites and blogs. Speak at live events both online and offline. Participate in social media by engaging with your audience in every way that you can. There are many ways to accomplish this, let’s look a few.
Mentions in Big Publications – Heck even if you’ve been mentioned in smaller publications by anyone that your audience will respect bring it up. You can do this without bragging, it’s very normal to bring up places your words have been used, where you’ve been quoted, or when someone else has referenced you as the authority on a topic. If you get a story on Forbes.com you should shout it to the world.
Places You’ve Guest Blogged – If you guest blog on popular sites you can say “as seen on” to exploit that credential. This is a great way to ensure that not only do people go read the site that you guest blog on but that they start seeing you as an expert. Putting that information on a sales page can be very beneficial.
Positive Comments from Social Media – You can screen grab any type of positive comments made to you or about you and use them in your sales page design. This is a really good way to show that others like you and trust you already.
Popular Events You’ve Spoke At – If you’ve spoken at events, whether online or offline, this is another opportunity to say something about that either by posting positive comments someone else said about you based off your talk, or by mentioning your participation in that event in a way that shows more of your expertise.
Testimonials from Well Known Sources – One thing you should be doing as you work on building your reputation as an expert and an authority is to ask for testimonials from people. Go right up to people after your talk and ask them what they got out of your talk. You can whip out your iPhone and record the testimonial too. Then ask them if you can use it. Most people will not say no.
The fact is, any time you get good press, or someone compliments your business, you should use it in your promotions, on your sales pages, in blog posts, and promote that as much as possible. Because when you are doing something good, you want people to know about it. If you don’t promote the good, no one else will do it for you. When you promote the good, you will expand your reputation as an authority and build the know, like, trust factor in your audience even when they barely know who you are.
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