by Wanda Loskot

By now everyone knows that when it comes to building an 
effective website, content is king. And I bet we all agree that 
we talk about unique and useful content. 

If content is the king - the ability to inspire trust is a crown 
prince. Just think - before you buy anything usually you 
want to be sure that you are buying a decent quality 
product that will be delivered in a timely fashion, and that 
the person who is selling it is not some fly-by-night operation. 

You want to know that if anything is wrong - you can get help 
or even get your money back. If it is something that could 
require repair, you want to know you have good service 
available. You want to know as much about your vendor as 
possible. Right? Of course you want to know that you can trust 
vendors promises. 

However, the reality on the web is different - the vast 
majority of sites don't even give a name of a contact person 
other than webmaster@domain.com! 

It seems that the majority of websites fall into one of the 
two extremes - talking about themselves so much that people get 
turned off and leave their site from boredom (those are
the sites boasting right from the beginning how long they 
are in business and bragging about their awards, credentials, 
associations, and you name it). On the other end of the spectrum 
are those telling too little or nothing at all - and that hurts their 
business just as much. 

One of my pet-peeves on the web are people who hide behind 
the facade of a supposedly large business, the WE-symptom. 
They talk about OUR website, OUR business, We sell, WE answer 
- while it is actually a one-person business where one person 
wears all the hats.

People do that because they think they inspire trust in their 
visitors. Actually they do just the opposite and hurt their 
business in the process. Sadly, by making this false claim - 
they make all their other claims unbelievable... 

It is not only about giving them your real e-mail address 
and your real phone number - this is just a bare minimum. To 
build trust and relationships with your clients tell them the 
truth about yourself. It is called self-disclosure. 

And don't be afraid of being vulnerable - people will really 
respect you for admitting your flaws. The more truthful you 
are with your prospects and customers, the more comfortable,
safe, and non-threatening they feel with you. And in turn 
they are more likely to purchase your products and services. 

Tell them who you are and how you arrived at what you are doing. 
Show them your picture so that they know it is a real human 
being behind your operation. It is not about HOW you look. 
It is about creating an impression of closeness and connection 
- just as during the face-to-face meeting. Here is an example of 
how Jim Daniels tells his story how he left his corporate job 
to become a full time internet marketer
http://www.bizweb2000.com/howiquit.htm 

Multimedia Marketing Group (known from the famous I-Sales list) 
is one of the few larger companies I know who introduces to visitors 
their entire staff:  (no wonder they are so good - they DO know 
marketing!) check this:  http://www.mmgco.com/team_mmg

And if you don't want to use a photograph - you don't have to. 
Especially if you can tell a story as well as Jim Heath, one 
of my web friends, professional copy writer from Australia
http://www.viacorp.com/jim.html

On the web one thing is sure: the more you tell (and the closer 
to the truth it is), the more you sell! 

Just in case you're wondering - here is how I tell my visitors about 
myself http://www.loska.com/successconnection/aboutme.html
 

Wanda Loskot is a professional business coach - if you are seriously 
interested in succeeding on the internet, check her intensive eight
week course "Internet Success Boot Camp". It is a combination of
interactive telephone classes, printed manual, e-books, daily email
support, internet field trips, and audio tapes - sign up for a free 
tele-class- http://internetsuccesscoach.com/cgi-bin/af/b.cgi/1038