Here’s a fact. Whatever you put in front of people – your CV or resume, a business profile, a presentation – if you want it to make an impact it must do two things. Minimum.
- It must communicate clearly and concisely. Which means state clearly what you’re offering and to whom. It must immediately provide a “what’s in it for me” moment to the reader.
But it’s #2 I want to focus on in this post.
- It must make the reader trust you. Your grand claims of having the “quick fix” for the reader has to be believable. Very few will ‘jump in’ with you otherwise.
Here’s how to do that.
Build credibility.
Here’s what can happen if you don’t:
- Someone lands on your business LinkedIn page – but there’s no custom banner, no logo. No content. It looks derelict, forgotten, abandoned.
Their conclusion: “this business isn’t serious” - Someone gets your resume – but it looks like a million others. Formatting is poor. It’s all just a barrage of bullet points.
The conclusion: “I’m bored. This guy looks left behind.”
Here are some ‘credibility builders’ (thanks for the term, Bob Bly, copywriter).
- Use associations – with a university, a well known brand – feature the logo, perhaps, to make it stand out?
- Use a client association – feature the fact that you do business with a major, high profile corporation.
- Include an extract from a strong testimonial – from a client, from an employer (the CEO, perhaps).
- Make a confident, bold statement of intent: “I slash logistics costs and ignite customer service ratings.”
- Share regular, helpful content on LinkedIn. Look like an expert. Contribute to conversations. Just a few a week.
These credibility builders encourage people to trust you. And people buy from people they trust.