Business Basics: Trust

I’m starting a series on things I believe are foundational to any business (with a heavy emphasis on photography). Being a photographer is first and foremost about being a business owner and entrepreneur, and then being an artist.

I regularly have people asking me how to increase their bookings and in my opinion, the key to increasing your bookings is increasing trust. 

The “Know, Like, Trust” factor is a marketing concept based on the idea that people are more likely to purchase from a brand they have a relationship with. In the “Know, Like, Trust” progression, trust is the final step and key to a purchasing decision. 

When I worked in finance, the Eddie Cantor quote “It takes 20 years to make an overnight success” greeted me in the parking garage each day. I had friends pick up equine photography and escalate their businesses ten times faster than I did, and in my opinion, the reason for that was that they were already extremely well-trusted and respected within the industry from their years of showing. For me (an outsider) I had to spend a long time getting my audience to become aware of me (“know”), genuinely admire both me and my portraits (“like”), and eventually trust me. But for others who were at the top of the industry as a competitor, everyone already knew them and liked them. Nearly as soon as they opened up a business they already had trust and were ready to skyrocket. 

What are things you can do to build or earn trust in your business?

• Show your face online and in person. Make sure you take quality, updated branding portraits of yourself and show them regularly in addition to your artwork. If your business name isn’t your personal name, then go to extra lengths to ensure people know your personal name and your face in conjunction with your business name.
• Tell your personal story that people can connect with. From small facts about yourself that people might agree and identify with, to deeper points about why you started this business and what you want to do.
• Shake hands in person — go to events. Be in a position where people can meet you face-to-face and associate your business with your face.
• Word of mouth — raving reviews from your clients will build trust quickly among their friends. If you are consistently overdelivering and delighting every person you’ve worked with in the past, they are more likely to keep singing your praises. Keep your name in their mouth. *Word of warning: the opposite is also true. A bad experience with you might also spread quickly. Keep every encounter with clients and prospects a very positive experience!
• Work with recognizable people — there is a reason celebrity endorsements are so popular: if you work with someone’s idol, it could escalate their trust in you.
• Consistent sharing communicates that you are dependable. If you blog, do it regularly. If you send an email newsletter, make sure it is on a consistent interval. When posting on social media, keep it reliable in both the content and the frequency.
• Position yourself as the industry expert. Write frequently about subject matters related to your business and get them featured in industry publications.
• Look professional. Have a clean-looking logo, website, business card, and image on social media channels. Simple things like owning your domain name, having a consistent color scheme, and a strong visual brand can communicate professionalism and help earn more trust.

Homework:

Pay close attention to your buying patterns. Did you try that new restaurant because your friend raved about it? Did you purchase that shampoo because a celebrity recommended it? Did the targeted Facebook ad influence your purchasing decision when you saw how many glowing reviews there were in the comment section?

How long does it take you from the time you are first aware of a brand, to the time you made the purchase? What were the steps that the company took to accelerate that timeframe?