What makes you trust someone?

Don't reaaly know - but I do care about a dozen or so things like: will I get scammed? does this product do what I want? will this product work? what's the price? does the site looks crap/unprofessional (which means product probably too)? if I email support will they reply?

How much rss subscribers they have, how many comments they have, the look & feel of the blog, if there's a picture of him and a short bio that I like, and if when I read something I like the content.

Of course the blogger doesn't have to pass all these "tests", ultimately the content is what really matters to me, that's why I am on the blog to get my questions answered or to learn something, so if he has 0 comments or little subscribers does not mean I'm not reading anything.

That's a great question and very important in the online world.

I think one of the best things you can do is simply look at the credentials of the blogger / product creator. And obviously the content should tell you if he knows what he is talking about.

With regards to sales pages if I see someone post a short video of them logging into their Clickbank/Paypal/JVZoo etc. account clicking on various dates showing sales (and not just a video of a page that can be easily edited with a Javascript tool) then I trust their earnings are genuine and I am likely to buy. Earnings screenshots are often fake. I want to be sure the person is actually practicing what they are preaching.

No one can really earns my trust, they can only lose it.

When it comes to a sales page, I look out for red flags like income claims, false testimonials and blind sales copy. If I can't read a sales page and say, this is a product about XYZ then why would anyone buy it?

I also stay far away from illegal products about 'systems' that teach you how to make X per day, because they generally will teach people to just sell the same product, which in the United States is considered an illegal business model to purchase a business opportunity where you make money by selling the same business opportunity. No matter how fancy it's worded, what's inside the actual product itself or who's promoting it.

And promoting something illegal is a quick way to lose my trust, how anyone could trust a person who recommends they do something illegal or unethical to make money, even if they're 'getting away with it' or 'making money with it' is completely irrelevant to an honest person.

As far as the income claims go, I've found those products to be some of the least valuable in my experience. If you're showing me a paypal account to sell me something, in my experience I find the content to be very thin and often times not the full picture of what that person is really doing to generate their income anyway, so I've slowly drifted away from purchasing from people who need to resort to using income claims instead of quality content to attract my purchase.

But for me personally, even though I've been lied to in the past.... I don't automatically assume everyone else will be a liar too. That's a miserable way to live in my opinion. Since I'm an honest person, I automatically assume others are honest until they prove me wrong. It might not be the best method, but it works for me.

Every blog article is an attempt to secure the reader’s trust.

If the reader doesn’t trust you, they won’t buy from you.
If the reader doesn’t trust you, they won’t believe what you’re saying.
If the reader doesn’t trust you, they won’t convert.
Whenever you write, you should pay attention to this all-important subject of trust.

So how do you do it? How do you build trust? I’ve assembled a list of 11 statements that have been proven to build trust.

It’s important to remember that trust is a whole-package deal. You can’t simply throw in a few trust words and expect all your readers to automatically trust you. You have to use other trust factors such as detailed copy, authoritative tone, consistent output, high quality, social signals, and a good reputation.

Along with these things, you can add in phrases and words that will drive that trust even further.

If am reading a sales page and the product has you interested, then contact customer support and ask a few pre sales questions.

This usually gives a hint as to whether they can be trusted or not.

What kind of answers they provide to your questions and how long they take to get back to you and so on, goes along way in my decision on whether to purchase or not.

Also, silly income claims and income images don't really scream trust to me either anymore, especially the ones that are dated for 2012!

As for trusting a blogger, then the big thing for me is the content they are providing.

If it's really good content, then I tend to believe that the blogger knows his stuff.

they bring value, they're kind (what a good sales people they are), and they keep their words...
That makes me trust those people . =)

For me, I wouldn't trust you if you are not using what you are selling.
I've seen some marketers selling a website tool, for example, and they
didn't use the said tool to do the present website I'm reading. ALARM
bells go off for me.

-Ray Edwards

Personally, when I engage in a relationship with someone online I like to observe whether they are consistent and congruent.

For example, if I join someone's List and at the beginning in the first Email this person says they do not believe in SEO and abstain from it and then later talk about how to rank high in the SERPs.......well I will more than likely Unsubscribe from them for being so inconsistent with what they say.


- Robert Andrew

For me one of the most important things is to help others. When I see that someone is actually helping me get things done, answer my questions, and being helpful and friendly I usually trust them faster.

People who just pitch their latest offers or are just interested in earning the money right from the beginning don't usually gain trust.

The second aspect is what Raydal said. People who sell something they have not yet tried should not be trusted. I trust people with experience who went through a whole process and know what works and what doesn't.

When I buy something I always look for people that bought that before to see their comments and what they think about it.

Sebastian

You should always look into other people's experience with that person. Find testimonials.

If you are thinking about buying their product look at what others have to say about their service.

If there are video testimonials, that's even better.

Feedback and Sample

Hi karlstech,

Haven't seen anyone mention this but I've been taught that:

Vulnerability builds trust and accountability builds performance.

So with that said, Trust is built for me when I see someone who is willing to be real and show flaws and weaknesses that he or she has.

I would say real testimonials from people seeing results would make you give that persona try and when you try and you see results you being to trust.

1. if they have a high forum posting, i know they will not risk it
2. if i paid them good money, because no one is willing to give away secrets for $7
3. i will not trust him, if they tell me that he wants to help me BECAUSE HE WANTS TO GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY AND HE MADE ALL THE MONEY HE NEEDS: FULL OF SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

The payment processor. If they don't accept Paypal they probably won't get my business. There are a few exceptions, but not many.

I trust PP to cover me. They always have.

Trust earned the second time is harder than trust earned the first time. I look for people who strive to be truthful, transparent and honest in their blog or email. Since I can't read their eyes like I do in person, I try to read behind the lines...

Trust your gut feelings. You don't need to be an expert in a subject matter to know if someone is talking sense in his sales page. If the sales page convinces you - go for it. If it doesn't, it means the either the seller doesn't know his craft well or he just is trying to make some quick money. Either way you got to avoid him like plague.

On a side note - I personally tend to trust people and that has "taught" me a couple of things. If you want to be in IM long term you HAVE to learn from your mistakes and sometimes those mistakes come in the form of someone not living up to your expectations.

What makes me trust someone (online)? Not much. If it sounds good and i want it, i usually buy it. If i feel like the product sucks, i get a refund. That's it. I don't do too much research online regarding a seller - especially if i know and trust the payment processor.