Are you for real?
With the ever growing speed and pace of our world and the sheer breathtaking speed of change, things can seem to be dominated by uncertainty, unknowns and fakes. There's fake handbags and fake money as well known examples, but in our own world of online business fakery, deception and slight of hand is sadly also - all too common.
So as an online Business owner and creator of valuable content for your audience HOW can you not only survive and be seen, but also truly stand out and be believed?
Now my beloved wife has been a Teacher for 40 years and won a top award in the Pearson Teaching Awards placing her in the top 10 in her profession. Not bad when there are 240,000 other teachers in her age range in the UK.
Why mention this?
Well it's because the lessons she's learned about sharing information and coaching others in this time is something I rely on. Her advice to the new teachers she now mentors is something that we can ALL take on and use immediately. And that is to always, always, ALWAYS.....
Be CONSISTENT
Be HONEST
Be INTERESTED
Consistency
All too often people start something like a podcast or a You Tube channel or talk about one thing such as using a VA, but then all too soon give up and move onto something else. Or they paint themselves as a Facebook expert but then a few months later suddenly become 'the go to expert on AI' instead.
But to build trust in a world where trust is much harder to gain - this is a terrible approach to take.
Consistency in what we say, how we say it and the opinions we share is vital.
That's not to say you can't change course or talk about something new, but the way to do that is to introduce it gradually and demonstrate growing knowledge and expertise instead of the seemingly now normal approach of just saying you're an expert in something with nothing to back it up!
Which leads us onto..
Honesty
This is a simple one for any business owner to follow - just do what you say you're going to do. Provide all the things (and more) you promise on your sales page. Treat others how you'd like to be treated but above all else - Only share information about yourself and your business that is true and verifiable.
Interest
Way too many people I see online purely focus on 'the sale' and worse - only focus on the first sale! But any business that lasts a long time and has a growing customer base knows that such success comes from being interested in your customers and sharing what you know they need - even if it's not something that has a cost.
So think of all those local stores or local tradespeople that are always busy and spoken of highly. They do all three things ALL THE TIME.
They consistently do good work for a fair price and turn up on time.
They're honest and will normally suggest to their customers ways to improve a project or make their budget go further.
They're interested in their customers which develops a strong and lasting relationship to the benefit of each - most notably to always find time for a project however busy they are.
EEAT Your Words
In a world where Google still drives the majority of search results and rankings, their E-E-A-T requirement is fantastic news for those that wish to run a business based on these principles of consistency, honesty and interest.
E-E-A-T is an acronym for what's important to Google and stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
So you can see - the core three approaches laid out by someone who's educated tens of thousands aligns perfectly with what Goole is looking for in your content.
Showcase your Experience
Share examples of your Expertise
Speak with Authority
Be Trustworthy
Hope this helps.
