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*Articles may be published elsewhere as long as About The Author section is listed along with the work. 

Last month we talked about the importance of image when it came to business. But there's more to business than just a pretty face or a beautiful package. Buyer trust is one of the hardest things to build in the entrepreneur world today. With so many turkeys out there running scams, it's important to show potential customers that you're a legitimate business. Take a good look at your marketing plan to see if you are following these key practices:

1. Easy Contact - Do you have your contact information listed on your marketing materials such as the 'about us' page on your web site? Do you even have an 'about us' page? Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But you'd be surprised how many business fail to put their addresses on their sites, flyers, brochures, etc. Just this small fact alone helps build trust because customers need more than just a web address and a telephone number prominently on a page. They need to know how to find you too.

2. Some Phrase Are Dead So Bury Them Already - Let's face it, the bulk of your customers are not going to be swayed by limited time offers and Act Now campaigns. People buy for two basic reasons: 1) you have a product they need or want and 2) they trust you. So promise yourself, from this day forward, you will never use 'limited time offer' or 'act now ' in your vocabulary again when it comes to marketing. Heck, forget marketing - just strike it completely out of your vocabulary because it serves no purpose. With that said...Let's move on to the next annoying trend of the day. 

3. Offer Articles Not Advertorial Sales Letter - As a former journalist and a marketing writer, I find nothing more irritating than the advertorial (not to mention the overall annoyance of watching the bastardization of the words advertisement and editorial in general) . Reporters are smart, buyers are smart and no one is falling for it anymore. You can't put together an article about your product and discuss how someone bought your program and 'made $5461 in one day!'. Neither reporters nor customers believe it's an unbiased report. You're kidding yourself if you do. We have written advertorials for clients who have INSISTED we do it but as we've told them, advertorials aren't a successful marketing tool. Journalists know ads from news and with today's clever buying public they too realize when someone's trying to hype themselves up. So it's best to just avoid this so-called medium of promotion. Instead, do what we do at WintersProductions.Com. We take time out of our busy schedule to create an informative newsletter each month to everyone who signs up. We do this because we want to show clients we can be creative but also that we do care about what happens to their businesses by offering free tips. As you might or might not have noticed I just worked in an ad for Winters Productions via an article and I didn't have to give you a song and dance to do it either. Which brings us to our fourth point....

4. Offer Freebies - By offering free items, discounts, tips, suggestions, newsletters, etc., you show the buyers that they can trust you to examine their business as a whole. And that's what clients are looking for when they come to you. In our case, yes, they might need a press release but the bottom line is they want more business and they want the business to grow by spreading the word. This is precisely why we have over a 70% returning client rate at Winters Productions. When you offer free items or discounts to your customers it helps show them that you're willing to start a relationship to prove your worth. So whether you're a writing firm like Winters Productions or an accounting business who has a 'get a jump on tax season' promotion in January, offer those free or discounted items to get your foot in the door. 

5. Testimonials 101 - I can't begin to tell you how many businesses do NOT get testimonials from clients and this is one of the worst errors they can make. If someone says, "You did a wonderful job on my roof, my press kit, my evening gown, whatever" then ask them to put it in writing so you can post it on your site. All the testimonials you list should be engaging yet not over the top. They should also be descriptive and true. Plus, don't write your own testimonials because they sound fake. No one is going to believe the words of "Mike T" - in fact, they'll know that Mike T probably doesn't even exist. If possible, ask the person giving the testimonial if you can list their full name as well as their web site or email address in case potential customers want to contact them to check the validity of the testimonial. Every person you see on Winters Productions testimonial page is a current or former client and the testimonials came directly from the source. We link to them when we can because we want people to know they can trust us to do a good job for them as we have for others. 

Achieving buyer trust is not an impossible task. You just need to take measures to show your potential customers that you are the real deal. Having the dream of a thriving business is great but you won't make that dream a reality if you forget some important steps along the way. 

*About the Author: Winters Productions (www.wintersproductions.com) offers affordable copywriting and design services for small to large business. 

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