Low Budget PR – Building Credibility In The Public Eye

Did you know that consumers base their opinions about any given product, person, service or company on their perceptions, and of course what they’ve heard through the grapevine? The sad truth is that perceptions and perspectives provide a very limited amount of information which forces the consumer to fill in the blanks about a product on their own – which can only spell disaster for an entrepreneur. This is why it is so easy for the incredible product to appear to be chocked full of credibility to the average consumer.

While credibility can be measured in many ways when it comes to cooking up a publicity campaign, it is often measured by the number of articles published on the web, in a newspaper or trade magazine about a business. It can also be measured by the amount of referrals or references made towards and about a company. In short, credibility is the gateway to success for the entrepreneur – and it is guaranteed when you are interviewed by the media. You must realize that what is written about your business is of the utmost importance. Words are never harmless – they can be a magic wand and create miraculous things in publicity or they can be a weapon of mass destruction. So be careful.

Moving forward, it could be said that credibility is two parts muscle and one part hustle. While rival entrepreneurs take reverie in knowing that credibility can be instant and guaranteed in publicity they fail to prepare the proper strategy to building it. The muscle of the credibility machine includes the originality, and expertise of the entrepreneur – it’s what you know that interests journalists and consumers.

Your product or service should be unique and your delivery within the interview should be effortless. Furthermore, you must possess a certain level confidence and expertise at what you are selling. That is not to say that you have to have an MBA, but you definitely should know your craft. Think about it – would you buy something from a person who didn’t know what they were selling? What about someone who just did not seem to believe in their own product – would you buy anything from him? I know I wouldn’t. If you do not believe in yourself, or your business then who will? No consumer will support an amateur, so make sure you’re a pro – or at least come off with the confidence of a pro during your interview with the journalist.

The credibility hustle lay deep within the ideal of believability. A consumer will only consider you to be credible if you have a product or service that they can definitely depend on. Something that is both believable and invaluable to the consumer at large. In your interviews you have to forge a sense of trust with both the journalist and the reader or target consumer. They must feel compelled to learn more about your expertise. Without trust, nothing can be accomplished. Not to mention, it takes a journalist only seconds to decide if you work ethic is trustworthy and their perception translated into words will be the basis of how consumers perceive you. Make sure you intrigue the journalist because it is through their words that you will be granted the credibility that you so avidly seek.