How to Create Credibility Online Even if You Are Just Starting Out and Don’t Have a Following

Every coach, consultant and service provider wants to become known as a leader in their industry. The harsh reality is that many people struggle to rise above the noise in the marketplace.

So what do you do if you don't have a ton of money to spend on ads and want to stand out in a sea of other coaches, consultants, digital marketers?

Focus on the "Big C", Credibility.

No matter if you've been in business for a year or you're just starting out, you want to start working on building your credibility as soon as possible. 

"Credibility allows you to close more sales."

It means more leads are going come to you. So the sooner you can start building your credibility, the better. Let's break down this simple formula for creating C.R.E.D.I.B.I.L.I.T.Y online.

By the way, if you prefer to watch rather than read the training I did on creating credibility, just click play on the video below!

C- The first letter is all about Consistency.

Now I know it can feel like an uphill battle, but you must be consistent with your content. Look at people like Russell Brunson, Grant Cardone and Gary V, they all put out a TON of content.

"If you want to be perceived as an expert, you need to show people over and over again that you are one."

This means being there for your audience and consistently putting out content. There's lots of different ways you can put out content. You can write long form posts, short posts with an image, live stream, break down a framework, record a video, etc. The method doesn't matter as much but consistency is the key. This means showing up even when you don't really feel like it.

I know again when you're just starting out, you might say, "Well listen, I don't have much engagement. No one is paying attention to me."

Do it anyway. Create content as though thousands of people are going to see it.

You want to show up consistently for your audience, because I guarantee you that if you're not there, you've got a dozen other competitors that are showing up and vying for the attention of your same audience.

R - is for relationships

Relationships are key. This means taking the time to build your audience. So whatever platform you're using whether that's Facebook or LinkedIN, actually take the time to build your audience.

We call this going to the great blue ocean, where there is a ton of people online. These people are looking for help, they are looking for leadership.

Go and find out where they're hanging out and pull them into "your pond," into your network.

When people enter your network, now you can start to build your relationship, show them your content, demonstrate that you know what you are talking about and ultimately turn them into raving fans and clients.

There's lots of ways that you can do this, but what's key is that you want to build real relationships. If you want to know how to build relationships so more of your content is seen, check out this free LinkedIn training.

But do not pitch people.

"A common mistake I see entrepreneurs make is to drop into someone's inbox and try to pull them on your list or immediately sell them your services. Don't do it!"

Focus on building real relationships. Show people that you care. Respond to people that comment on your posts. Social media allows you to reach people from all over the world and create an audience so start doing it right now!

E- is for educate

This next piece is huge. So many service providers out there are constantly spamming their audience. Go to your newsfeed right now and I guarantee you will see a ton of people pitching their products and services.

Rather than educating their audience, they are "stoking the pain" and selling the solution. If you wonder why you post twenty times before a launch and no one ends up buying I can guarantee you it's because you haven't taken the time to really educate your audience.

"Start to teach others what you know. Show them that you are the expert and not just some great copywriter who just wants to sell their products."

You can do this by live-streaming with a whiteboard or using props. See how I taught on a livestream below.

You can put together a slide deck presentation or write an article but start teaching what you know and showing people that you are the expert.

"But I'm worried about giving my stuff away!" Don't. Give it away.

Show people you know what you are talking about. This is how I built my business and it's what allowed me to bring in almost a quarter million dollars in sales in the month of January all without "pitching" anything to my audience. So does educating your audience work? Yes it does!

D- is for distribute

The next thing you want to do is distribute your content. Some of you are already putting out awesome content, but you're not taking the time to distribute it. There are so many places where you can put your content.

Now, I recommend starting with a couple of platforms. You can take your Facebook lives, download them, and then upload them to LinkedIn. You can upload your livestreams and videos to Youtube. If you have a blog, upload your videos there too!

Want to see me break down my process for maximizing and distributing content? Check out this free livestream training.

I've had people that found me on Youtube or came to me through my website and bought my products and services. So make sure you that you're distributing your content, especially if you're doing lives or taking the time to write great content.

You have already invested the time into creating content, take an extra ten minutes and distribute it across multiple channels.

This doesn't just mean cross posting, you can actually take your content and repurpose it and get it published on other online platforms. Online publications are always looking for experts to contribute content. Write an article and submit it for publication. Now you have your message being pushed out to a whole new audience and another way for people to find out about you and your services!

"Remember that any chance you get to be in front of an audience, take it."

You invest your time into creating an expert piece and in return you build your credibility and bring more people into "your pond" or network.

I - is for interviews

Another big key to creating credibility is to get interviews. I've done over 50 podcasts over the last several years. Every week I see people in my newsfeed saying, "Hey, I have a podcast and I'm looking for guest." Say YES.

You can find podcast opportunities in groups. You can find it in your newsfeed. You can literally go to your newsfeed and post the following message:

"Hey friends, I'm looking to get my message out in a bigger way. I help ____ (who) to achieve _____ (result). I can speak on these 3-5 topics. Can you help?"

I guarantee you will get a half dozen people or more commenting with opportunities. Interviews are once again you investing your time to create your credibility and as a bonus, you get to be in front of other people's audiences. Check out this awesome interview I did on Automate and Grow.

This is really powerful.

Now when people go to Google your name, they see that you actually have interviews and links to credible resources, ie.e podcasts, where you show up as the expert to share your wisdom.

B - is for blogging

Another opportunity is blogging. Blogging is huge. When most people are trying to solve a problem, they don't go to Facebook or LinkedIn or any of the social media platforms. Where do they go? They go to Google and they type in, "How do I make more money in my coaching business?".

When you blog and/or when you put it on Youtube this means you show up in the search engines. So whether you do a video blog or just place your content on your blog, you create a trail of content that leads back to you and your site.

You can upload your videos to YouTube and Google will index them.

My first year in business as a coach, I posted a video and got a new $5K client in one week who found me on Youtube. I didn't even have like a following yet!

You can also guest blog which is another opportunity where you leverage other people's sites and start to pull people into your pond. Remember the great blue ocean that we were talking about? This is the blue ocean of Google. You can pull them in to your pond through guest blogging.

I - is for inspire

Your audience wants to be inspired! You can do this by telling your story. Why did you start your business? What was your epiphany or "aha moment?" What did you discover that changed everything for you? Inspire people. Show them your lifestyle.

Show them how things are different now that you've started your business or achieved a certain level of success.

Inspire them through sharing wins in your own business and wins in your clients' businesses. Inspire them through storytelling. Just remember that so many people are held back by fear. Inspire them to take action to get out of pain and solve their most urgent problem.

L- is for live

Go live on Facebook. I believe that Facebook Live is one of the most powerful mediums to reach your ideal clients. Soon LinkedIn Live will be released and it will create a massive new opportunity!

Going live is Powerful. Livestreams have greater engagement on Facebook than any videos you're going to upload.

Go live as much as possible. I also want you to guys to get live as in "in person." This means leaving the comfort of your home and going offline.

I was sharing with a client of mine that I was at an event with maybe 80 people and Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof Coffee, was live streaming and teaching. The biggest takeaway from his speech was that when he was building his business was this...

He said YES to every opportunity to speak and to get in front of others, even if it was a room full of only 50 people.

He didn't care because he knew if he could share his message and get one customer, that the lifetime value of that customer would compensate him far more than his time he gave to speak for free.

Dave Asprey built a multimillion dollar business. How? Grassroots, just like anybody does when starting out, they get in front of people and they speak as much as possible.

Brendon Burchard is the highest paid coach in the world. He is Oprah's coach and runs High Performance Academy. I was at his event where he shared that when he started out, he ran meetup groups. It didn't matter if there were just a few people in the room, he took the chance to share his message. That's how he started his business and within a year he had a $1 million in his bank account

The lesson here is get LIVE. Go live online. Go live offline. Share your message. If someone is willing to hear you and give you their attention, take it!

I- is for influencers

The next one is connecting with influencers. There's a lot of people out there who've done the heavy lifting. They've been at this game of entreprenuership for a while. Want to get ahead? Consider this...Do you have a product that that can support what they're doing that's not competitive, but really enhances it?

If you can find that need in the market, that gap and fill it, you can create a profitable business quickly. Imagine if if you connect with the right person that has the right audience that is perfect for your product. Are you going to be able to sell it faster than trying to figure it out on your own for three years? YES.

So start to build the right relationships to help you go further, faster. Take the time to connect with influencers and to be a part of their world. You can join their masterminds, be coached by them, join their groups and add value.

With the right relationships, your business will explode.

"They say that your network is your net worth."

This is why people join masterminds. That's why they hire coaches and consultants. So whether you're hiring them, or becoming friends with them, focus on creating and nurturing these relationships.

T - is for testimonials

The next piece is testimonials or social proof. 

If you don't have testimonials, you need to go out there and get them if that means helping people for free in the beginning so that you have some social proof.

Take Russell Brunson got example. He was already successful when he approached Tony Robbins. He offered to build his funnels for free because he knew he could get him incredible results and that it would create an epic case study. Guess what? It did and now Tony is a client and together, they have both made a ton of money.

If you already have testimonials, don't be shy, share them!

And yes, sometimes you have to ask your clients for them three or four times. Keep at it. Testimonials can be written or video is even better.

You can live stream and interview your client about what life was like before you worked together and what life is like after. You can take screenshots of your phone conversations and depending on your relationship with your client, choose to blur out their name or not. The point is this: show social proof.

"Show your audience that you are not just putting out great content, but that you actually know what you are talking about and that you've gotten results for your clients."

Y - is for you get what you give

The last key to creating credibility is you get what you give. I truly believe in the law of reciprocity which basically says that when someone does something nice for you, you will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return.

"If you're hoarding all your best stuff and refuse to give anything away unless someone pays for it, you are setting yourself up for failure."

But if you give just for the sake of giving, people are going to reward you. They will share your content, comment on your posts, tag other people, send introductions to you and potential clients and of course, some will become paying clients. Check out this comment on one of my free live stream trainings.

Pretty amazing right?

Think about it, if someone consistently shows up and gives you value without asking anything in return, who are you going to buy from when you need help solving a problem...

The guy in your newsfeed constantly pitching his services or the one who put out compelling content, educated and trained you absolutely for free?

The latter I hope.

"When you give away high quality material, you are establishing yourself as a person of integrity and credibility- you know what you are talking about."

You also demonstrate empathy because you show that you understand your audience needs help and you are someone who is willing to give it to them. Finally, you are showing them that your goal is to genuinely be of service, to help them rather than just take their money.

Understand that you get what you give.

"If you give to your audience, they're going to love and adore you. They're going to trust you and they will want to work with you."

And I guarantee you they're going to pick you over the dozen other people who haven't given them any value yet who are constantly pitching their products and services.

So give just for the sake of giving. This is your brand. This is your message. So give, give, give and I promise you that it will come back to you tenfold.

I built a multi six figure business by creating credibility and consistently giving value and showing people who I am.

It's also the foundation of what allowed me to do almost a quarter million dollars in sales in just 12 days without paid traffic.

It's what will allow me to cross the seven figure mark in my business this year. This is exactly how I did it and you can too.

Building a business does take time, but if you do it the right way, I promise you will lay a solid foundation that allows you to grow by leaps and bounds every year.

"Remember experts are people that solve problems."

So get online and start solving problems and showing people that you know what you're talking about. These steps to creating credibility are the perfect way to get started.

Be sure to download my four part video series on How to Get 50 High Paying Clients in Your Coaching or Consulting in the Next 12 Months.

About the Author:

Jessica Yarbrough is a Business Consultant and Strategist. She has quickly developed a reputation of being one of the top consultants for entrepreneurs wanting to become in demand experts who sell high value products and services.

Jessica is a genius at showing entrepreneurs how to rapidly raise their value, build their credibility online and attract high paying clients. She travels the world teaching and inspiring entrepreneurs and helping them grow their influence and make the income and impact they desire.