Take better care of your business brand online

It’s the wheel and the printing press and the internal combustion engine all rolled into one. The Internet, and all the things built on top of it, has made the impossible possible.

Quarter of a century on, we’re still learning about the things we can do in our connected world.

Call it misinformation. Call it marketing. Call it lies.

Call it what you want - but one thing is clear. The Internet has a trust problem.

Trust has collapsed over the past 10 years. No one knows what to believe anymore. Your business will not solve the Internet’s trust problem, but you can do one thing.

Make your corner of it more trustworthy.

It’s harming your business in two ways.

First, it’s affecting your ideal customers. The type of people you already serve and serve well. They’ve been lied to so often, they don’t know who to trust anymore. And trust is the one essential ingredient in the buying decision. If they don't trust, they won't buy.

Second, it’s affecting your business’s marketing decisions. Everyone knows the Internet can connect you and your customers - no matter where you are. But lots of businesses have had bad experiences with marketing on the Internet. Everywhere they turn, they hear something different.

“You need some SEO.”

“You need a newsletter.”

“Why aren't you on TikTok?”

“You should be posting on LinkedIn.”

“Every business should be running Google Ads.”

All of this is exhausting for businesses and business owners everywhere. Is it exhausting for you? Has it made you turn away from it? If so, you're missing out on a massive opportunity.

We say your business needs just three things to succeed on the Internet.

1. To communicate your Value.
2. To demonstrate your Credibility.
3. To build your Visibility.

We believe each of those three things is achievable, even for a small or medium business or nonprofit.

Everything else (your website, newsletters, SEO, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and all the rest…) comes second to those three things.

Value is what your business has delivered for other people just like that ideal possible customer who might be looking for the exact thing you do while you sleep.

Value is the promise your business makes.

Most importantly, Value has almost nothing to do with what your business does, and everything to do with what your ideal customer gets.

Businesses that succeed online – everyone from Ryanair to Mattress Mick – understand this, and they put value front and centre.

Trust is the most powerful human emotion. With trust, everything is possible. Without it, nothing is.

Many small things build trust. Many other things, when done wrong or left out, destroy it.

When you're credible, people trust you.

Are people finding you? Seeing you? Looking for you?

Writing a blog on your website or posting on Instagram might seem like you’re doing what you need to do to be seen.

But what happens if no one is coming to your website, or algorithm changes mean few people are seeing what you post?

What happens when your website is so far down in Google that no-one’s seeing it?

If people can’t see you, they’re never going to see that you're credible or weigh up the value you offer.

If people can’t see you, how will they trust you?

If people can’t see you, will they do business with you?

Jim Collins, the author of the business books Good to Great and Built to Last, came up with the concept of the “The Flywheel Effect”.

A flywheel is a series of steps which, when completed one after the other over time, create a powerful and unstoppable momentum.

The big thing about the flywheel is that if one piece stops working, the whole thing grinds to a halt.

Value, Credibility and Visibility can be a powerful flywheel to power your business.

If you’re trying to roll a boulder off the top of a hill, the first few inches are always the hardest.

In the first few inches, you’re fighting a war against mass and gravity.

Get that boulder moving and momentum will carry it all the way down.

You struggle with the first few inches, but the next two hundred feet happen without you.

That’s momentum.

And those three things every good digital presence delivers — Value, Credibility and Visibility — are all about the momentum of the flywheel.

Do two of these without the third, and you’ll find yourself stuck at the top of the hill, wondering why nothing’s working.

DigiDoc helps you with all three pieces of this flywheel so your business can start experiencing that momentum.