Blog Tipz

The main reason a lot of people (not all) create a blog is to either promote themselves or their product, and make money from this process. Having a personal blog can really help in this process, while you still remain rather offbeat in the promotion process.

However, a majority of those who try to go down this road fail for one main reason: they have no trust. Having your name online is one thing, but having your name attached to a powerful brand is another.

Let’s assume you have a blog you write at on a regular basis. This blog has been active for more than a year and has gained several thousand subscribers and daily visitors during this period. Anyone who has subscribed to your blog already trusts you. They visited your blog, read your content, and expect to see more of what you have to say.

The problem comes when bloggers (and anyone online) introduces a product without the credentials to back themselves up. It’s been dozen countless times in the past, but is still a regular occurrence today. They can still become successful, but it is more about the copy that inspires them to purchase the product or continue reading.

Building Trust and Authority

There are several keys to building trust online. These principles can be used offline, but the online aspects are fairly specific.

1. Share, and Be Willing to Share – On the Internet, and elsewhere, you must realize that as a whole, there is one large community. Others want their content shared, and you want your own content shared, too.
2. Take Action – If someone asks you to send them a link, if someone asks you a question, etc. through email or a comment, never give them a reply that says “I’ll get back to you later.” This tells them that you don’t think they’re worth your time, and this isn’t good for building trust.
3. Be Positive – Nothing says that you don’t want to grow your business than when you are negative about any drastic changes hat need to be made. Even though you may keep many of these to yourself when building your blog, you still have to realize that change is generally positive.
4. Don’t Push – Pushing products to your readers in the early days of your first blog can drastically reduce your trust? What background do you have that will persuade your readers to purchase your products or from your affiliate links?
5. Be Professional, 99% of the Time – When readers discover your blog for the first time, they don’t want to see ads. Having ads plastered all over your site makes it look like a dump, and this is never a good sight for first-time readers. It makes them leave, and never want to return.
6. Be Personal at least 10% of the Time – Although I just said that you need to be professional 99% of the time, you can still be personal the other 10%, as you can both be personal and professional at the same time. Just don’t make yourself appear so personal that you aren’t still professional.
7. Honesty Matters – Readers can generally tell when you aren’t being honest. Promoting others’ products can be difficult, and the process of promoting your own product can also be difficult when you think it is sub-par.
8. The Process Takes Time – You’ll never gain trust overnight, so don’t expect it to arrive in the same manner that email does.

Trust Equals Sales

Some will say that with enough traffic, you’ll see some sales. However, you can have a fraction of the traffic, but have the required trust, and you’ll be able to see the same number of sales. It is all about persuasion and perception. As long as your readers understand that you stand near the top, they will continually return, and continue “buying into” your prodcuts.

It works for small and large companies, and it can work for your blog. Solve the problems your readers have, and they will return for more solutions. It’s a cycle that has been proven to work, and it’ll work on your blog, too.