Why does someone purchase a product or service from you? Because they trust that they will get what they pay for. They trust that it will do whatever it is that you’ve claimed. Similarly, people build relationships with people they trust, online and off. If you want people to follow you online and interact with you, you need to build trust and you need to uphold the trust you’ve created.
Short Term Gains for Long Term Loss
It’s fairly easy (at least initially) to trick people online into following you or liking your Facebook page or visiting your website. But when those people don’t get what they thought they were getting, you’ve broken their trust and lost them as potential customers. While it’s very easy to gain fans or traffic or likes for the short term, be wary of tactics which will cause you problems in the long term. If you do offer something in a promotion, make sure you follow through.
Your Reputation is Key
You may have customers who you have never met in person (actually you probably do have customers who you’ve never met). When people do not have the opportunity to meet you in person, they judge you based on your reputation. That reputation may be general thoughts that people have, or it may be what a customer’s network thinks about you. Online, they only thing people know about you is your reputation. So if you sacrifice your reputation for short term gains, it’s likely to come back to haunt you.
What You Learned in Preschool
Remember back to preschool or kindergarten? The most important thing you learned was how to treat other people. It’s not difficult to treat people with respect and kindness. It costs you nothing, yet it will pay you huge returns. What’s true in person is the same online. If you treat people with respect and are honest with your customers, they will recommend you to other people and your business will grow.
What do you think?
(photo by notsogoodphotography, on Flickr)