More and more people across America are taking the bold and potentially lucrative move of starting their own business, whether operating as a sole trader or at the head of a small enterprise. In this highly competitive corporate world, you’ll need an excellent product or service that stands out from the crowd, and you’ll also need to be able to attract customers who will pay for it.
To do this, you need to build a brand and show potential customers they can trust you and your business. That’s why it’s vitally important to publicize your credentials when starting and running a business, and here’s how to do it.
Recognize Your Unique Skills and Abilities.
The first step in publicizing your credentials and building consumer trust is to recognize exactly what they are. Part of your planning process before launching your business should be to look at what unique skills and attributes you have that differentiate you from your competitors. This could be a combination of factors: passion, experience, qualifications, or the ability to create a new product that solves consumer problems in a completely unique way. Remember, if you can’t come up with reasons for consumers to choose your company over another in the same field, the likelihood is that they will stay with the brand that’s already gained trust and established itself.
Be Proud of Your Qualifications.
One way to show consumers that you are professional and can be trusted is to showcase your qualifications. That could typically be a college diploma or professional certification, so when you have one of these, let people know about it. One way to do this is have an “About Us” section on your website where you detail your academic accomplishments along with your other relevant skills and experiences. You could also feature any post-nominal titles on your business card. Another way to publicize your qualifications is to frame your degree or diploma certificate and place it in a central position within your office for visitors to see. High-quality diploma frames can be a smart and affordable investment, as they make the certificate even more impressive and eye-catching while providing excellent protection against tears, deterioration, and UV light.
Have an Up-to-Date Website and Blog.
All business owners, sole traders, and entrepreneurs know that it’s important to have a website, but too many pay it mere lip service and suffer as a result. The fact is that your website is the primary representation of your business, so it too must stand out from the crowd. One way to do this is to ensure that it’s vibrant and colorful and is updated regularly. Your website is the most important place for you to publicize your credentials as well as the products and services you sell. It’s essential to have a blog or news page on your website and to update it often with high-quality and relevant information. This can help you to climb the all-important search engine rankings while letting customers know that you are open for business; after all, what does it say if a consumer clicks on your site and the “latest news” has last year’s date on it?
Be Active on Social Media.
As well as keeping your website active and up-to-date, you should also set up profiles on all the major social media sites and post on them regularly. Using the correct hashtags and posting at optimal times can get your posts seen by an increasingly large audience, and if your posts are fun as well as relevant and informative, you’re likely to find that people start to follow you on an exponential basis. Remember to follow leading names and businesses within your field and interact with their posts as well. This will get you noticed not only by them but also their followers, which is a great way to make your name and business heard without having to spend money.
Meet Your Customers.
As we’ve seen, the Internet is central to marketing and branding strategies today, but it’s also important to meet the public — your potential customers — whenever you can. Direct marketing is one way to do this, which means promoting your product face-to-face to consumers at fairs, events, shopping malls, and the like. This allows you to hear exactly what the public thinks of what you have to offer. If they like what you do and what you have to say, they’re likely to tell it to their friends online and in the offline world.
Publicizing your credentials is a quick way to build trust and build a brand, so always look for opportunities to do this. Remember to consider both offline solutions, such as framing your diploma or degree and meeting customers, and online solutions centered around social media and your website. Covering all of these bases can give you a competitive edge over your rivals and will help create sustainable growth for your business.
