You Can’t Trust Social Proofs But You Can Trust Your Self

You Can’t Trust Social Proofs But You Can Trust Your Self

trustme2

I got duped. They seemed trustworthy. But I lost my money and my phone number. And then they insulted me.

This month I got entangled with a bogus VoIP provider. The email above is the only human interaction I was able to establish with them. They sure fooled me with their website.

They used all the ‘keys’ to building trust online.

Most websites use these 5 social proofs to get you to trust them:

1. A site that ‘looks good’.
Check. VoIPGo.com has a very professionally designed site. Perfectly designed to appear credible.

2. Has easy means of contact.
Check. VoIPGo.com allows you to contact them via email, mail, instant message and phone. If you want to speak to a human however, none of these will work.

3. Provides testimonials.
Check. VoIPGo.com even has some on the homepage. As well as on a VoIP review site. Testimonials are the easiest thing to fake.

4. Has an ironclad guarantee.
Check. 30 day money back guarantee. Just try and get them to honour it;)

5. Uses official website seals.
They missed this one. But 4 out of 5 ain’t bad.

But what do these ‘keys’ prove?

According to ‘web experts’, these 5 items are the key to developing trust online. And I actually fell for it. I trusted VoIPGo.com and they stole my money, my phone number and insulted me.

Which got me thinking, these 5 social proofs that apparently are so key to building trust, what purpose do they actually serve? As I’ve learned, they don’t actually prove that you can trust the person or company. VoIPGo.com is neither reliable, true, able, or strong.

These ‘keys’ are proofs of credibility, but they don’t build trust.

Which is different.

Don’t get into the business of proving your credibility, get into the business of building trust.

Testimonials, iron-clad guarantees, snappy tag lines and the like are all tools used to prove credibility. They are tools used to get you to trust and believe what the person or company is saying. But why should you have to convince your client of that? We’re in the business of building relationships and providing value. If you are authentic and good at what you do, that should be evident when a new client speaks to you.

Where trust actually comes from.

Connection. From developing a relationship. From talking with the person or company and deciding for yourself.

Build trust by authentically connecting with your audience. Instead of credibility proofs, show you understand your visitors pain. Show the values your stand by. Be evident of the kind of person and business you are.

And above all, encourage your audience to connect with you, in whatever way that suits you. Only through human connection can trust be built. I had to learn this the hard way. If I had ever bothered to talk with VoIPGo.com before signing up, I would have realized exactly what kind of company they are.

“Criticize By Creating”

“Criticize By Creating”

criticize

Don’t like something? Improve it.

In three words, 500 years ago, Michelangelo summed up the Innerpreneur and Cultural Creative philosophy. He was conscious that best way to improve something was to come up with a better way of doing it.

Each of us is criticizing business by creating enterprises based upon healthy, happy people doing meaningful work.

Evolutionary, don’t you think?

photo credit: caveman_92223
Marketing vs. Advertising vs. Public Relations: An Analogy

Marketing vs. Advertising vs. Public Relations: An Analogy

Do you have trouble understanding what the heck the difference is between Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations? I know I certainly do. Here’s a quick analogy to help you differentiate:

If a young man tells his date she’s intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he’s saying the right things to the right person — that’s marketing. If the young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is — that’s advertising. If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is — that’s public relations.

Also, here’s some fun, dating-related graphics that’ll also help you differentiate.

Before You Start Building Your Website

Before You Start Building Your Website

photo credit: Brittany Linder

photo credit: Brittany Linder

If you’re thinking of building a website, consider:

1. Are you sure you really want one?

A website is like a pet, you need to make sure you want one before you get one. A site needs to be taken care of, so if you don’t have time or aren’t really committed, don’t bother. You can’t build it and leave it.

2. What makes your business unique?

I know this is a tough question but it is important. Your website strategy should be focused around this.

3. How will you measure the site’s success?

What do you want out of the website? How will you determine that it was worth the cost and energy to create?

4. Does the site need to be completed by a certain date?

It is never a good idea to begin developing a website under tight timelines. It will take longer than you think. There is no reason to rush a project that is so important to the growth of your business.

It’ll Never Be Fast Enough

It’ll Never Be Fast Enough

photo credit: David Sifry

photo credit: David Sifry

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” – The Beatles

We never can seem to get there fast enough. Starting a business, growing a business, it can never happen fast enough. We want our dreams to be realized today. We are impatient for the bright future we see in front of us. And each step forward we take is soon forgotten as the endless road of ‘everything that isn’t’ stretches before us.

We work so hard to achieve a goal and when we hit it, it falls away and is forgotten. All the time spent worrying about its completion, all the energy and love poured into its creation is left behind. What was once the greatest goal becomes one tiny achievement in many.

The Current State

Working towards something that is so personal is god damn scary. And damn, it isn’t easy either. Our wins and losses are ours alone. The pressure we put on our Self can often be crippling and abusive.

We worry about wasted hours, of being wrong, of being not good enough. We call our Self a loser and failure. We chastise our Self not achieving more each day. And the worst of it, we don’t stop and celebrate when we do achieve, we just move on to the next.

What’s the point when we treat our Self like this? Why is it so easy to be caught up the daily picture, rather than the greater one? Why can’t we see that every moment that passes takes us one step closer to our dream?