Want to look professional without breaking the bank?
Pretty much every small business struggles with this at some point. Professional = expensive.
Except it doesn’t have to be that way.
Increasing credibility with your target customers is one of the best investments you can make as a small business owner. Especially when you realize that some of the most impactful ways to increase credibility with your audience cost very little money at all.
Let’s review:
- Why Credibility Matters for your Business
- The Investments that REALLY Build Trust
- Virtual Business Address Plans that Actually Work
- How to Boost Your Business Credibility Without Breaking the Bank
Why Credibility Matters for your Business
Here’s a truth that most business owners don’t want to admit…
Customers have to trust you.
Yep, we’re starting with the giant soapbox moment here. 81% of consumers need to trust a brand before they are willing to buy from them. That’s right. Trust is not optional when it comes to sales.
Trust is built over time with every interaction your customer has with your business. Your website, your business address, your email communications. Every single thing you put out into the world either strengthens trust with your audience or weakens it.
Let’s break this down…
A potential customer learns about your business online. They visit your website. They read your address. They look you up on Google. Do they see positive reviews? Yay! More trust. Nothing builds credibility like social proof!
Now if that customer feels like they can trust you, they become a sales lead. They will actually buy from you.
Customers who DON’T trust you? They take their business elsewhere. To the competition.
Companies that look professional from day one win. Companies that look “like a business run out of someone’s house” lose.
Well, they lose credibility. And if they can’t project professionalism, they likely won’t make any sales either.
Especially if they ARE in fact running their business out of their house.
The Investments that REALLY Build Trust
Here’s the deal. You can spend money on a lot of things as a business owner. Some of those investments will earn you serious credibility with your audience. Others won’t do much at all.
Here are the big three.
Get a Professional Business Address
This one cannot be stressed enough. So many small businesses go into hiding with their contact information.
They list P.O. boxes, apartments, cubby holes at shared workspace locations. This doesn’t mean that your small business needs a fancy office in New York City. But you do need to separate yourself from “that guy” who runs his business from his basement.
Especially when you’re running a business FROM your basement.
Businesses with P.O. boxes or home addresses as their contact info are immediately viewed as less professional than they could be. Banks notice when you apply for business loans. So does every customer who can’t find your “office.”
But here’s the good news. Virtual business address plans fix this problem.
You can get an actual street address in a real commercial building for a small fraction of what legitimate office space costs these days. Plus, when you compare virtual business address cost options from different companies, there are always plans to accommodate any budget.
Whether you need your virtual address for LLC registration or mail services or just want that quality business image, there’s a plan for you.
Build a Clean Website
76% of shoppers check a website before visiting a store or making contact. Your website is often the very first experience your customer has with your brand. You better hope it’s a good one.
An outdated, hard to use website screams amateur hour. But a simple clean design that works? Lets customers know you mean business.
You don’t need the fanciest website. But you do need one that works properly. Quick loading speed. Mobile friendly layout. Contact information is easy to find. CLEAR DESCRIPTION of what your business offers and how you help customers.
Websites build credibility and increase revenue. Don’t skip this one.
Use Matching Branding Elements Everywhere
This costs next to nothing, but helps immensely.
Use the same logo everywhere. Pick colours you like and USE THEM on everything. Email addresses that match your domain name, not Gmail or Hotmail.
There are a million tiny details that seem meaningless on their own. But add them up and they paint a picture for your customer.
You run a professional operation that’s likely going to be around for a while. Not a fly by night startup that will pack it up and disappear next week.
Virtual Business Address Plans that Actually Work
These were mentioned earlier but they’re worth diving into on their own. Virtual business addresses have become a game changer for small businesses.
Here’s what you can expect with any virtual business address plan:
- Receive a real street address that lives at a commercial location
- All Mail is delivered there to be processed by the virtual office staff
- OPTIONAL: Mail is forwarded to your home address, scanned for you, or held at the virtual office until you can pick it up.
Many virtual business address companies offer extra services like access to meeting rooms or phone answering services. While others offer a basic plan with nothing more than the street address and mail services.
Choose what works for your business. The scalability of virtual offices is a big reason why so many small businesses love them. You can have multiple virtual addresses in different cities without actually renting a physical space anywhere. Ideal for testing new markets or appearing local to customers in other regions.
Per The Executive Centre, virtual offices can reduce overhead expenses by as much 75% compared to brick and mortar office spaces. When overhead is your biggest expense as a small business, that can make a huge difference to your bottom line.
How to Boost Your Business Credibility Without Breaking the Bank
- So we covered the big three. Things that may require a small investment to improve upon.
Here are a few other things you can do to increase your credibility as a business. BUT that won’t cost you much more money.
Take Professional Looking Photos
iPhone cameras are good enough these days. Find a space with good lighting. Make sure the background is clean and not your kid’s toys covered in pizza cheese. Stick with stock photos if you have to, but real photos of real people help more.
Show Off Reviews from Happy Customers
People who love you will leave reviews when asked. The majority of your customers just need a quick reminder like “Hey leave us a review!” These things are free and yet they build SO MUCH credibility.
Communicate Professionally
Simple. Reply quickly. Use correct spelling and grammar. Make it easy for your customers to do business with you.
Set up Your Google Business Profile
It’s free. Shows up in local Google searches. Lists your business address, hours, and customer reviews all in one spot.
Tying it All Together
Increasing your business credibility doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
But it does take intention. Everything you put out into the world representing your business is molding the public perception of who you are.
25% of businesses in the United States are now operated fully remote or via flexible workspace structures. That means more businesses than ever before need to find a way to project professionalism onto the world WITHOUT traditional office space. The days of “you need a fancy office to look legitimate” are long gone.
Virtual business address plans are one of the easiest ways to look like you belong with the big dogs. Combine that with a solid website and consistent branding and you’ve got yourself a recipe for success.
Small business owners. You CAN look like a professional company, even if you’re running your business from your garage.
Customers can’t tell the difference between your business and the business down the street who’s been around for 10 years.
If both look equally professional when encountered online.
That’s the power of investing in credibility.
Start with these foundations. Get your virtual address sorted. Build up your website. Lock down your branding. THEN go nuts building out other trust signals.
The professional image will come. The sales will follow.
