Selling on the internet is a challenge. There is no way to come "face to face" with your potential buyer. That visitor is unlikely to buy from you on the first visit. It's likely to take several visits and contacts before they throw down that cash or credit card.

So, how do you build enough trust in a visitor to make them a customer who will press that "buy" button?

Well, here are some tips on getting started with building trust among your site's visitors.

Put a picture of yourself on your site. Heck, it doesn't even have to be a current one. It can be like mine at: http://www.bizsitebiz.com/larryjohnson.jpg . When my wife saw that she said, "Who is that?"

Have an "About me" page on your site. Let them know how long you have been working on line and a little bit about you and how you do business.

My "About me" page on ebay.com tells my bidders a little bit of information to build some trust before they place a bid. http://snipurl.com/c8z3

Use autoresponders with a series of messages to remind them who you are and what you offer. Include some helpful advice or tips. There are lots if fr*ee ones around like:

http://www.freeautobot.com/
http://www.sendfree.com/
http://www.getresponse.com/

Give some real testimonials from satisfied customers. "Ask the man who owns one", is a great sales approach that still works.

Use a virtual domain name like: (www.mybizplace.com/) (not a real URL). To build credibility, avoid fr*ee sites and hosting that can make you seem less serious about your business.

Give them a real guar*antee for your products or services. Very few will really take advantage of it, but they will feel much better about purchasing from you when you offer it.

Give them a fr*ee sample/first chapter/ etc. This is called the "puppy dog" approach. Let them take it home for a few days and most of the time they will just have to keep it.

Building trust is not an easy obstacle to overcome. It is likely to take a number of different approaches to make your site visitor comfortable with you and your offer.

Best of luck with your promotional efforts.

(c) Copyright 2005 by Larry Johnson