Although I think credibility can be overrated, when it comes to personal brands and new business ventures, it’s important to be and make yourself appear as credible as possible. But, who has decades to build their credibility up? In order to compete in this increasingly competitive world, you must strategically establish credibility fast! Here are some tips on how to quickly establish credibility fast in any industry.
1. AFFILIATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
A simple way to generate some credibility for you or your company is to join national and international associations that are relevant to your industry. It’s important to join associations that either are reputable or, at least, sound credible. Affiliating yourself with an association gives your personal brand or your business a sense of professionalism and credibility.
Another way to gain credibility quickly is to land a speaking engagement at a major corporation or university. Even if you offer to speak for free, being able to say that you’ve spoken at ‘X’ University and ‘Y’ Corporation is a big deal. Associating your company with more recognized brands is a great way to build up the credibility of your brand.
The last type of associations that are proven to establish credibility fast, are partnerships. If it makes sense for your product or service, partnering with well-known local businesses and non-profits can not only make your business more credible but it can also extend your reach.
What are some associations you can join? What well-known establishments might you be able to speak at? And, who might you be able to partner with?
2. SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Publishing content that shows potential customers or clients that you understand their problems and can show them how to solve them, you build credibility.
Education, training and sharing information is the new age of marketing. Too often I find myself talking with business owners or entrepreneurs that work hard to hold on to their information instead of openly sharing it. With virtually endless information a few mouse-clicks away, it’s really not serving you to keep all your information to yourself and only sharing it with your clients. You would have a much more successful business if you openly shared your information.
Openly sharing information does two things. It shows people that you really know what you are talking about, that you are a knowledgeable expert, and it show that you care about helping people.
Who would you rather do business with? The person that says they are the expert and seems like they only care about their agenda, or the person that shows you they are the expert and seems like they care about you and your end result of using their product or service?
3. ACCELERATE A POSITIVE REPUTATION
Reputation is everything in business. We’ve all heard the saying, “It takes a long time to build a great reputation and only a moment to ruin it.” As we become more and more connected by technology, a great reputation is becoming even more and more important because bad news travels really, really fast.
A couple ways to boost your reputation quickly is to develop case studies around your product or service. Especially if you are starting a new business, it can be hard to get your first clients and customers because you don’t have a track record. Donate or discount your products or services in order to get your first couple case study clients. Once you have a couple case studies, getting new customers or clients is a lot easier because you are able to back up your talk with proof.
Another great way to build trust and a good reputation is 3rd party validation and referrals. In business, if you’re talking about your products and services, then what you are saying might be true; however, if someone else is talking about your products and services, then it must be true. Having client testimonials or publicity equals immediate credibility.
What would be a great case study for you? What could you do to get some client/customer testimonials? What types of publications would give your brand reputation a boost?
I hope the information in this post was useful and helped you discover some new ways that you can establish credibility fast in your industry.
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