Networking Solutions

It would be wise if I say Home is where the Heart is, perhaps a home neces- sarily doesn't mean is where you live your life, your own place to unwind and revive. A home in other words is a place you feel secured and plan without any interference, wherein you put your best to have that soothing atmosphere and live according to your comforts. Thus I consider this blog as my home, a better place to propel to a higher level of purpose and commitment both in business and personal life and exploring new avenues.

Success doesn't mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle. Building trust by developing mutual respect with the people around you, taking charge by controlling things instead of letting them control you, gaining credibility by doing the right thing for the right reason.

I firmly believe that if your website does not create a sense of 'trust' in your visitors, all your efforts will be in vain. Your online business will never succeed. Trust is built by lots of small actions on every page of your website. Your website design is the first impression. Make sure it is professional and relevant to the subject matter. Navigation must be intuitive. If visitors can’t find what they are looking for easily, they will question your competence in providing what they want. Make the website personal by giving it its own tone and voice. Follow the HEART rule of creating online content. "HEART" stands for Honest, Exclusive, Accurate, Relevant and Timely. Use language that is appropriate to the audience. It will build empathy.

Regularly add new content to your site. It shows that the business is alive and kicking. Check all links. Doubts will quickly form in your visitors’ minds if links don’t work or, worse still, take them to error pages. Good grammar and spelling matters the most. Errors give the impression of sloppiness and carelessness. Never make outrageous and unbelievable claims, like “Read this Blog and you’ll be a millionaire by the end of the week.” People are used to get rich scams, and rip-offs. Publish REAL testimonials and third-party endorsements. Try to always use real names and link to websites where possible. Some sites show images of letters sent by happy customers. Publish case studies about customers you have helped, who use your product, etc. Don’t put down, curse or insult competitors. It’s unprofessional. It is better to offer an objective comparison of competitive services or products. Focus on building your long-term reputation, not on making quick sales.

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Write articles for humans, not search engines. Make your ‘About Us’ page personal and comprehensive. It plays an important part in making visitors feel comfortable that real people are behind the site. Publish your photo or the photos of the key people involved with the site; this reinforces the fact that there are real people behind the screenshots. Clearly identify who is behind the site. Nothing creates more suspicion than a site that tries to hide the identity of its publishers.

On the ‘Contact Us’ page, provide an email form, phone number, fax and address of the company. In Europe, it is a legal requirement for sites taking money, but even sites driven by advertising will benefit from openness. Provide a telephone number that people can call and talk to a person. Provide Web addresses linked to the website domain, not addresses from free Web mail services such as Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail etc. Never lie to make money. The most common way is to write a glowing report about a product or service to earn affiliate revenues. It is very short-sighted to lie to visitors to sell them rubbish. They’ll never come back or, worse still, they’ll actively condemn your site on forums and blogs. Think carefully about reciprocal links. If your site is about organic food and you have links to Party Poker or something like Real Estate etc, people are going to question your integrity. Think carefully about the advertisements you display on your site. Ensure that they are relevant to your subject and audience. Be explicit when you are being paid to endorse a product or service. An advertorial is fine as long as it is transparent.

Write and publish your privacy policy. Be clear about what you will and will not do with any personal data you collect. State that you adhere to all data protection laws. Write and publish a security policy. State what measures you take to ensure that all transactions are secure. Ensure that you have a security and privacy policy which is linked from the footer on every page.

Use Google or Yahoo search on your site for two reasons. First, it is a great search solution, which will help your visitors find what they are looking for in real time. Secondly, having these names on your site instills trust. If there are well-known industry associations for your subject, join up and put their logos on your site. Have a forum on your site (if requires) and respond quickly to questions. Have the attitude that you are happy to help others without receiving immediate reward. As the old saying goes, ‘Givers always gain.’

Allow people to comment on articles. Interactivity and an exchange of views build community and a sense of involvement. If people provide constructive criticism or comments in the forum, don’t delete them, but instead respond with your point of view. Put photos on the website of the owners, publishers and/or team. Let visitors know there are real people behind the business.

Remember, reputations take years to build and seconds to destroy. Only ask for information from customers that you really need. For example, for an email newsletter sign-up, the only information you REALLY need is an email address, so that is all you should ask for.

You have met people who literally wander through life. They simply accept whatever fate brings them. A few may succeed by accident, but most suffer through a lifetime of frustration and unhappiness. You can never do too much to build trust. Most of it comes down to common sense and good business practice. Trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown. To ensure that you are continually improving your trustworthiness, every time you go to a website, ask yourself whether you trust it or not. Then ask yourself why you have formed the opinion you have. Continually try to learn what makes a site trustworthy or untrustworthy and implement the relevant changes to your site.