Become a W3 Mover & Shaker:
Authority Works for Small Service Providers
You may have a sleek-looking site design for your service-oriented business and wonder why you don’t see better conversion ratios – even if you are the best financial advisor/real estate agent/accountant/attorney or other service provider looking for some business via the world wide web.
The issue may not be your site, its design, navigation accessibility or content. The issue may be you and the ability to trust you. It’s true, on the web no one knows you’re a dog. Or a mover and shaker who employs digital technology to build professional authority. Without this authority, it’s much more difficult to build trust and without trust…well, you get the idea.
The Invaluable Value of Trust
Think about it. Every time a stranger contacts you, there’s the demonstration of some level of trust on the part of the new prospect. Either you were recommended by a close friend (WOM, word of mouth advertising), your yellow pages ad looked professional, the stranger heard you speak – there are lots of ways to build trust. But it’s critical to growing a client base. It’s also self-perpetuating. The more people who benefit from your advice or message, the more respected you become. And the more respected you become, the more people you reach.
Building trust is one of the most important and difficult tasks facing a site owner. Building you professional authority online simplifies the task, though you still have to know your stuff.
Building Authority – Seven Easy (But Time-Consuming) Steps
Sorry, it is a time consuming, labor intensive task to create the image that projects authority and creates confidence within your market segment. For example, a web owner, who uses hypnosis, meditation, and other alternative medicine protocols, changed the picture of himself on the home page.
1. Picture Yourself Properly
The home page used to show this alternative healer in a three-piece suit – standard corporate shot. The site was getting hits but the conversion ratio wasn’t up to par. So, the site owner started paying more attention to his clients’ clothing. Believers in alternative medicine come from all demographic strata, but this therapist saw a lot of old hippies – boomers moving into seniority.
So, he had a beautiful muslin robe embroidered, completely changed the backdrop (no more office with shelves of books; just green, sunshiny love). And more specifically, targeted his marketing, changing his online image from three-piece suit to a flowing robe. The change in conversions was almost immediate. Within 90 days, the site owner had nearly doubled his opt-in rate and saw an increase in sales of several meditation CDs that had languished in the warehouse. But that’s just the beginning.
2. Publish a book.
Being an author is a great way to build authority and credibility. Even if you can’t write a lick, you know your business (you’d better if you’re writing a book), so outline your key points, log on to elance.com and hire yourself a freelance writer.
Make sure you state that this is a work-for-hire project, that you will own the copyright upon final payment and make the writer sign a non-disclosure agreement. You can find samples all over the web.
Now, you can sell this book directly on your web site, delivering passive revenues. You can also sell the text on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other book outlets, assuming you go to the trouble and expense of printing the text.
Managing book orders from retail outlets can generate cash and creds, but you may also spend four hours each day prepping that day’s orders, so think about it.
3. Blog relevant sites.
If you’re a CFP, blog personal finance sites.
Sites with blogs are looking for new, user-generated content – especially if it’s well-written, on topic and downright pithy. So, as a certified financial planner, post well-written, insightful responses to other blog posts. In open blogs, start your own threads with short, 600-word-max posts. Then, track those posts, respond to them and keep building longer and longer blog threads.
Be sure to include you full name (don’t use your screen name) and your site’s URL. This way, blog readers from other sites will be intrigued by your thoughtful thoughts and link back to you to read more. Each blog post with a back link creates interconnectivity, essential to long-term site success.
4. Use the latest media.
Podcasts are easy to produce and disseminate. These voice-only pieces put a voice to your words and allow the listener to better gauge your qualifications. Easy, low-cost and trust building.
Webcasts add pictures to the pod casts. Now the visitor can see and hear you. The impression the you make on film is the impression people will take with them. If you come across as a confident, reliable and 100% no-nonsense professional, you build trust. Conversely, if you stammer your way through the webcast production, sweating buckets the whole time, you’ll do more harm than good.
Webcasts are produced once, uploaded to the site and left as site elements. Note that this is still one way communication. The authority talks. The visitor listens. This is fine for a once-over lightly. However, remember, the listener has to listen at the pace of the speaker. If the content is dense, the frustrated webcast listener may not want to rewind so keep your web casts on point, simple and use graphics when you get to the hard stuff.
Webinars are interactive. They are scheduled for a certain time or times of the month. Visitors sign up, sometimes free, other times for a fee. If you’re simply trying to build name recognition within your niche, keep webinars free.
Webinars are live, moderated by an expert who delivers a presentation. Attendees can contact the expert with questions via IM, telephone or email. Webinars are an excellent means of building credibility and generating revenue – especially if the information delivered has real value. Fluff is NOT acceptable.
5. Sign Up With Yahoo Answers
People email their questions. Once you’ve registered as an authority within your field, you can answer questions from Yahoo users. It’s pro bono but who cares. It’s a great reputation builder.
6. Syndicate content.
Write articles and submit them to syndication sites like goarticles.com or helium.com. Syndicated content delivers a couple of authority-building benefits.
First, these articles are picked up by other sites and used for content. In return, each user-site provides a link back to your site. Great. A prospect reads your insightful comments and is immediately provided with a link to your site where s/he can learn more about your, your company, your credentials and the services you offer.
Second, each time an article is picked up, it has your name on it as the author, your URL, too. So, when potential clients Google your name, you have a few pages of links to show off, thanks to all of those sites that picked up your article. Again, if writing isn’t your forte, hire a ghost to do the heavy lifting and send the articles out with your name on them. That’s what ghost writers do.
7. Register with speaker bureaus.
There are lots of them. Some specialize in specific areas – medical speakers, business speakers, financial speakers and so on.
Find the bureau that specializesin, or at least has a category for your expertise. Write a short autobiography, describe your presentation in terms of scope, length, special requirements, etc. And finally, list your fees.
Some speakers like the big auditoriums, others prefer the corporate round table where ideas can really fly. One note, speakers are expected to provide their own PowerPoint programs, hand-outs and other takeaways. Before registering with a speaker bureau, make sure all of these materials are either in development, or in the can, as they say in the media biz.
Credibility is the number one weapon in the small service-provider’s marketing kit. Building credibility and authority is time-consuming. There’s a lot of research and writing involved. But, if you’re running on empty and you’d like to see more business funnel through your web site, build your authority and become a mover and shaker within your industry.
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