Introduction
Trustworthy, honest, straightforward, transparent, inclusive, conscientious.
These are values that describe me and my business. Why am I telling you this? Because in our culture right now, people are skeptical.
Knowing someone’s values can make it easier for them to say yes to your offer.
Now, I’m not offering you anything right now. Today’s episode is all about how you can build trust with your audience, your prospective course students, and your colleagues who might become your best affiliates.
Because without trust you might get lucky and make a few sales, but in today’s skepticism, it won’t create a sustainable business that supports your needs.
The Importance of Trust in a Skeptical World
In today’s digital age, where information is readily available and AI is constantly evolving, we are becoming increasingly skeptical.
I even mentioned to a fellow mastermind member that some words these days just make me skeptical. And I think this is especially true if you’ve ever been burned by a deal gone sour, someone who didn’t follow through on their promise, or a program didn’t even come close to being worth the investment.
We are bombarded with marketing messages and sales pitches in our emails, our texts, social media, tv, podcast ads, and so much more that it is draining. Add to that, our audience (and us as consumers) can find it more and more challenging to figure out what is genuine and what isn’t.
This skepticism is what makes developing trust all the more important right now.
These experiences that don’t meet our expectations erode trust and make people wary of future online purchases. That’s why simply stating your values, as I did in the intro, is just the beginning. We need to demonstrate those values through our actions and build a foundation of trust that resonates with our audience.
What happens without trust?
- Decreased Sales and Engagement: Our skeptical audiences are less likely to purchase our courses or engage with our content. They are hesitant to invest their time and money in something they don’t trust.
- Negative Brand Reputation: A lack of trust can lead to negative reviews, social media backlash, and ultimately damage to our brand reputation. This can make it difficult to attract new students and build a sustainable business.
- Missed Opportunities for Collaboration: Trust is essential for building strong relationships with colleagues and potential affiliates. Without trust, you may miss out on valuable opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Clearly, trust is important. Let’s talk about three ways that I use to build trust and then we will get to our action item for the episode and something that I’ve been thinking about lately.
Three Ways I Build Trust
Idea 1: Share Your Values to Attract Aligned Buyers
One of the most powerful ways to build trust is to be transparent about your values. People are drawn to authenticity and want to work with people who share their beliefs.
I remember when I first started sharing my values publicly. I was nervous about putting myself out there and potentially alienating some people. What if I missed talking about a value I genuinely held and was a requirement of someone? We would be a great fit, but because I didn’t share about that specific value we might miss out.
But what I found was that it actually attracted a community of like-minded individuals who resonated with me, first and foremost. They felt a sense of connection and trust because they knew what I stood for. And my biggest fear, that I would miss talking about a value that I genuinely held, was completely unfounded. Those people reached out and talked about their values and I could address their concerns. Because I was open about my values, it opened a conversation. And that is worth its weight in gold.
How do we go about this? Because you can’t just list your values at the start of a podcast or a video.
- Determine Your Core Values: Take the time to identify the values that are most important to you and your business. Be specific and authentic. I love the free tool called a Values Card Sort. There are a lot of them online and to print off. DO a quick Google search and choose one. My favorite is one that you print from Motivational Interviewing. I’ll link that in the show notes. I love it because when we are sorting one the computer it is easy to just point and click. With the printable Motivational Interviewing card sort you can pick up each value and move it around. You stop and think just a little more.
- Integrate Values into Your Content: Once you’ve clearly identified your values, start sharing your values through your blog posts, social media updates, and course content. Show your audience how your values guide your decisions and actions. You won’t just be listing them like I did at the beginning of the podcast, instead you will make sure they are infused in your content. For example, if you value family, tell stories about how you turned down a business opportunity for a family outing and share some of the best moments of the day. Or if you value ethics, talk about how you have made sure that you are operating as an ethical business that looks out for your client’s best interest. That could be with a money-back guarantee.
- Attract Aligned Buyers: When you start integrating, very intentionally, your values into your content, you start to attract and retain followers, listeners, and buyers who share your beliefs. In a course, this means that when you make a mistake, they are more likely to reach out and ask for a solution than to just ask for a refund or to blast you on social media. It also means that the community you create is one that meshes well because all are led by similar values.
Values are a key piece to building trust, but they are just one part.
Idea 2: Show Emotions and Empathy
In a digital world, even in our courses, things can start to feel impersonal. I think this is especially true as our work gets more and more polished and edited. In addition to sharing our values, we need to show emotions and empathy.
I used to think that I had to be really professional in my videos and presentations. But I realized that by showing my emotions and sharing my own struggles, I was actually connecting with my audience on a deeper level. You’ll hear me telling stories about when I was implementing something tricky and it didn’t work the first couple of times, or when I was celebrating the very first time Stripe ever chimed on my phone with a sale. When we share these emotion-filled moments we become real and not just another talking head in a reel, ad, or highly edited video.
There are a couple of ways to build trust through emotions and empathy.
- Share Personal Stories: Don’t be afraid to share your own experiences and vulnerabilities. This shows your audience that you’re human and that you understand their challenges. I am not saying that you should share your most intimate stories. The stories you tell should have a purpose and be relevant to the situation. Telling stories that don’t line up with what you are talking about or teaching can backfire and will actually break trust. So choose wisely.
- Express Empathy: Going beyond just sharing our own stories and emotions, we have to acknowledge the challenges and frustrations that our audience may be facing. We can show them that we care and that we support them. Empathy comes across when we actively listen, when we are paraphrasing what we hear from our clients and students, and show compassion. Just a word of caution, sympathy and empathy are two different things. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone. Empathy is showing compassion and understanding. We want to Show them that you care and that you’re there to support them.
- Create a Safe Space: Finally, we can foster a sense of community where students feel safe to share their experiences and ask questions without fear of judgment. We can welcome hard conversations and invite dialogue, grounded in respect. Set guidelines that encourage open, respectful communication, not topic bans. This will naturally allow for empathy to be at the forefront.
So far, we’ve talked about sharing values and fostering those in our communities as well as sharing and fostering emotions and empathy. These are softer, more ambiguous approaches to building trust. Let’s shift and talk about Idea 3 for building trust.
Idea 3: Lay Out the Logic and Demonstrate Expertise
While emotions and empathy are important, they need to be balanced with logic and expertise.
I’ve learned that people appreciate a clear and logical explanation of the concepts I’m teaching. They want to understand the “why” behind the “what.” This shows them that I’ve put thought and effort into my course and that I’m committed to their success.
For so long, we were taught to share the “what” now the “how” in our free content, webinars, masterclasses, and challenges. To save the “how” for the paid product, like a course. I think we are starting to see a shift here and we have to share not just the “what” AND the “how”, but the “why” as well.
Remember when I said I was skeptical of some marketing words these days? If we can show that we have thought through the “5 W’s” – who, what, when, where, why, and how, we shift perspectives. We become seen as the expert with a viable solution instead of someone who is just trying to make some money. There are a couple of ways that we can do this and you might already be doing some of them.
- Provide Evidence-Based Information: Support your claims with research, data, and case studies. Show your audience that you’re knowledgeable and that your methods are effective. Even Gemini will tell me sometimes that I’m too academic in my writing and my presentations, but the reality is that sometimes we have to mix in the academic language to share research and data. By showing that the recommendations we are making are research-backed, we gain trust. Our followers aren’t just hoping that our solution will work, we are showing that there is every reason that it should work.
- Explain Your Process: We can also share our logic and the thought process behind our course and solutions by walking our audience through our thought process and explain the steps involved in our approach. This builds transparency and demonstrates our expertise. You don’t have to share each nitty gritty step, but if you can highlight the important or key parts of why you decided to make this decision in the process that shows again that you are putting thought into what you’ve created.
- Showcase Success Stories: Finally, we can share testimonials and case studies from students who have achieved success with your courses. This provides social proof and demonstrates the value of your offerings. In a parallel way, we are showing that the logic we’ve employed to create our course, workshop, or offering has been effective.
Thinking about sharing values, emotions, empathy, and logic might feel uncomfortable. Some elements more than others.
Action Item
This week, I challenge you to add more of you to your work and business in the form of values, emotions, empathy, and logic.
Think about a time you felt connected to someone online. What did they do that made you feel connected to them? What made you click on the subscribe or follow button? Now, think about how you can create that same feeling for your audience.
- Share a personal story on social media that relates to your course topic.
- Create a short video where you express your emotions and empathy for your audience’s challenges.
- Outline the logic behind your course framework in a blog post or video.
And if you are getting a little nervous thinking about opening yourself up this way, I get it.
I’ve Been Thinking About This…
Sharing your values and opening yourself up to criticism can feel uncomfortable. But here’s the thing: It’s actually a good thing. It helps you attract the right people – the ones who are aligned with your values and will be a good fit for your courses. And it filters out the people who wouldn’t have been a good fit anyway.
So, don’t be afraid to be yourself and share your authentic voice. You’ll build a stronger community and a more fulfilling business. And for the haters that you attract, just appreciate that they are telling the algorithm that you are awesome because they took the time to comment. And when the algorithm thinks you are awesome, it starts to share your stuff more. This is a good thing because more aligned people are likely to find you!
Where to Go Next?
Building trust in a skeptical world requires authenticity, empathy, and expertise. By sharing your values, showing your emotions, and laying out the logic behind your offerings, you can create a strong foundation of trust that will attract and retain loyal students.
If are ready to add more stories to your content and business, I would encourage you to check out Episode #107: Storytelling during Networking: Interview with Sean Tyler Foley. Sean Tyler is a master storyteller and will help you identify some key stories that you can incorporate into your business.
And if you are getting tripped up between personal and business values, check out Episode #159: Unlocking Your Vision and Values: The Essential Foundations for Course Creators. You’ll also find some values card sort exercises linked in this episode as well.
As a reminder, this week, I challenge you to add more of you to your work and business in the form of values, emotions, empathy, and logic.
As always, thank you so much for listening in. If you found this episode helpful, please share with your entrepreneur friends and colleagues who are building a digital course in their business and be sure to subscribe to the Digital Course Creator Podcast wherever you are watching or listening to this episode.
Until next time, happy creating!
