If You Want Trust You Have to Earn It

Nobody will argue the point that "life wasn't meant to be easy" but life could certainly be easier for us in many different ways.Coming from a corporate background with an emphasis on sales or as I like to think of it-(relationships), there is a key to success that you simply cannot survive without.That key is trust.There are many definitions of trust but to put it simply trust is a "Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing"In the outside world businesses come and go but there is only one direction it can go if trust does not form the nucleus of the relationship.Just as people will not or at least should not buy from you if they don't like you, the chances of a long term relationship forming whether it be personal or of a business nature is zero without trust.Businesses and relationships on the internet bring up even more challenges for a number of reasons.The reality is that the building of trust online should be your number 1 priority when building an online business or outside interests for that matter.Human nature dictates that the public are cautious. They are wary of sharp marketers over promising and under delivering and they are growing increasingly skeptical when it comes to spending money with someone they don't know... and rightly so.As a consumer, my advice is to only deal with people you feel you can trust and make sure that you have taken the time to get to know someone.Prospective customers often operate on a level of paranoia and distrust because of bad experiences over the internet. Don't fight this battle.It is the landscape we work within. What you need is to accept it and build a strategy to overcome.How do we develop trust with seemingly poor odds stacked against us?First and foremost, be yourself. Forget being something you are not. Faking it till you make it may work in the outside world but is a dangerous practice online.If you have a presence online, start with your web page. This will be most people's first impression so it counts. It does not have to be the best but it needs to relay to the viewer a bit of who you are.Be open. Offer up a piece of yourself. A relationship is a mutual thing so take some time with some key steps.• Maintain an up to date and personable about you page.• Publish contact details without fear.• Include photos and testimonials if you have any.• Keep a blog to share more of yourself.• Associate your sales sites with credibility and offer security for comfort.• Develop a link with privacy regulation when in business.• Brand yourself and be consistent to maximize credibility.• Go the extra yard when it comes to customer service.• Provide information that is both objective and transparent.• Give people what they want before giving what you want.• Take your time, build relationships and the trust will come.• Treat users the same way you would enjoy being treated.My last advice is for people developing businesses on the ever growing social sites.Don't send sales pitches as your only communication. Selling by hit and miss strategies and using probability of success as the answer does not spell trust. But that's only my opinion.In conclusion, the anonymity of people and businesses online can bring out the worse in people.In the end, your success will come down to honesty, transparency and your trustworthiness.Everything you do should be done to increase the level of trust people have in you!Do this and a long and fruitful journey online can be that much easier.