As a business owner, it's extremely important to establish some credibility with your targets as it means your message you put out with your brand will be much more reliable and persuasive. Your credibility will give you much greater influence in bringing in new customers and in the types of tips, advice and information you provide through your website, blog and social media.

Here are five different ways that you can become more credible in the eyes of potential customers:

• Consume good information. Read books or news about your area of business. Stay up to date with all of the latest happenings in your industry. The first step to credibility is being informed, so you should be a sponge for information that affects your organization.

• Publish. Write a book, or perhaps a little simpler, write articles. Publish expert articles on your blog, and look for opportunities to be a guest author on other websites and blogs. The more you get your own writing and thoughts out there, and the more people become familiar with what you have to say, the more they will take you seriously as an expert in your field.

• Network. Get on social media and connect with other people in your industry, as well as with potential customers and clients. You want people to see you interacting with some of the other top minds in your industry, as that will give you some instant credibility yourself. If you share great articles and media content on your social media pages, it will also help give you more credibility as someone who is “in the know” in your field.

• Market yourself. Turn yourself into a recognizable brand, using everything from your email and voice mail messages to your elevator speech and letterhead to work into that brand image. Use many of the same tactics you use to market your business to market yourself as an expert in your industry.

For more information about how you can establish yourself as an expert in your market, contact us today at Viral Solutions. We are pleased to be of assistance!

Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer | Viral Solutions LLC