Visibility + Credibility = Profitability

So are you visible and credible?

If not, read on, and find out what you can do to make those vital improvements and grow your bottom line.

Two good questions for any business are 'how visible are you' and 'what is your credibility level?'  But you have to ask these questions regularly – very regularly – things change very quickly out there, so don't get caught!

Surprisingly enough if you score high on both of these features then your profitability is probably high too. But, fall short on either or both of these questions then you have a problem. But how can you improve one or both of these?

Whether you are a solopreneur, partner, or an SME you need to give this aspect due attention.

Let’s look at visibility first...

Your Linked In personal and business profiles are vital.

• Your profile should be 100% complete.
• You should be active on the site in order to be seen.
• Regular updates, new connections, recommendations and comments all help.
• Remember; who you know or who is in your community is really important. We’ve all met those people who just talk too much and unfortunately that happens on all social media platforms too – in the end these people are ignored. Just remember that sometimes people can be just too vocal to overwhelming.
• Make sure that you use the right level of ‘contact’ with your Linked In community.

Social Media Platforms

Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, You Tube etc. should provide you different and varied ‘windows’ on your business – make sure that you are seen in the best possible light and in all the right places!

Website

With its interesting, informative content and such useful links, your website should remain a top priority. Regular updating with new refreshing content that demonstrates your proposition and credentials will help your visibility. Web sites that add value with new and informative content as well as providing great links are Google friendly and will perform better in organic search rankings. Don’t ignore the rules of SEO and Google searches, – don’t get your web site de-listed otherwise you visibility will be zero!

1. Your premises, especially if it’s a retail unit, must pack a real punch. Clean and tidy may be good enough, but…..
2. Networking face to face, attending seminars, exhibitions, speaking events, industry conferences all underpin your visibility. But please remember the first impressions rule….

Depending on your business your on-line visibility may be your greatest asset. Search yourself and your business – you may be surprised at what you find…. Ask yourself whether or not people actually find you on line?

All of the above will help improve visibility but this, of course, assumes that you are projecting the image that you had planned.

Now it’s the turn of credibility…

1. Make sure your on-line recommendations, such as Linked In are up-to-date, relevant and genuine.
2. Customer review sites should be monitored constantly and feedback acted upon quickly, fairly and genuinely. You always have the right of reply – use it wisely.
3. Your ‘connections’ and the people you follow say a lot about you. It allows you to demonstrate credibility, gravitas and expertise in your professional capacity and some of your personality too. For example, I love reading Stephen Fry, Alan Carr and Eddie Izzard’s tweets. There are several golfers in my list too, which says quite a bit about my sense of humour and my hobbies.
4. Are you a respected contributor on Twitter? Who is following you and who do you follow? Make sure that you think before pressing ‘post the tweet’  - does what you are saying underpin your values, brand and company? When you are ready participate in the conversations, retweet the right people and the right content – give some value to your followers.
5. Same applies to Facebook, Pinterest, etc….
6. If you blog – then are you published by the industry high flyers? Blog posts on respected commentators’ sites boost your credibility greatly.
7. What you say, how and when you say it will impact your credibility. Thought provoking comment and opinions on industry issues are a good place to start. If you are going to be controversial make sure that you are prepared to see your comments through to the end; wherever that may be…
8. What other people say about you is worth a hundred times more than what you say about yourself. Testimonials, case studies with client quotes along with endorsements all help to build your credibility rating. Conversely they can destroy it too – remember that old saying it takes years to build a reputation and minutes to destroy it – Gerald Ratner can testify to that one!
9. Being an author, commentator, contributor or a respected and interesting speaker will improve your personal credibility and that of your company as well.
10. Being prepared to ‘share’ your knowledge, contacts, expertise, philosophy to help others underpins your credibility. The Go-Giver by Bob Burg is a great  read with so many 'light bulb' moments!

In this world, there is only one certainty; death. So, just because your visibility is good and your credibility is improving doesn’t mean that increased profitability is guaranteed!

This blog covers just one aspect of the business that you need to focus on. But the important bit is that it’s the results of everything else you do that will give you the great scores on visibility and credibility which will lead to much better profit. You’ll have to make sure that every part of your business are doing everything right!  – it just takes a bit of effort and dedication.