What do you think when you’re looking for a product or service on the web and you find a web site that doesn’t have any contact details except an email form?

I ask who is behind the web site. Is it a genuine business? Can they actually provide what I’m looking for? Should I trust them with my money?

What I’m looking for is proof that they are a real business.

What do you need?

A question of trust

With so much fraud, spam emails and phishing attacks, most people like to satisfy themselves that they are dealing with a bona fide business. An email address linked with a specific domain (such as hello@z2z.biz rather than a free email service), preferably a landline number rather than a mobile and a postal address can assure potential customers that you are a real business.

If I get to the point where I want to buy from a site but find the only way of contacting the company is through an email form, I simply won’t buy from them.

What if I have a question or something goes wrong? How do I know that anyone will answer if I fill in and send their email form? How do I get a refund?

Credibility is important in building customer relationships

Once customers can see who you are and where you are, they’ll feel more confident about buying from you.

Now you may have a very good reason for using a mobile phone rather than a landline, especially if your business keeps you on the move most of the time. That isn’t a problem if you also offer other contact details. Two or three methods of contact demonstrate that you are accessible and can be contacted easily. If you have other ways to prove this, these will help to establish credibility.

Do real businesses hide?

Why would any business looking to generate sales hide? Getting your contact details out as widely as possible makes it easier for customers to contact you and buy from you.

What do you think?

z2ztip2 – look out for futher z2ztips at z2z.biz

And what do other people think you look like?

They can’t tell if you don’t have a good photograph. And many people in business still don’t have a decent photograph of themselves.

What do you need?

Why do you need good photos?
It no longer surprises me when someone has taken the effort to write and distribute a press release but hasn’t thought about an accompanying photo or image. They will probably spend hours trying to get in front of an important potential client, forgetting that they could also get noticed by having their photo published alongside an article.

When I do ask, often I receive a photo taken at low resolution with a mobile phone camera or a badly composed picture taken in an office with battered box files and piles of filing in the background.

How do you get a good photo?
I’d recommend a professionally taken photograph, but even a well composed shot at high resolution against an uncluttered background is a step in the right direction.

That means a JPEG file with a resolution of 300 dots per inch at a size of 500K to 1MB or more, depending on the efficiency of the camera and any photo editing software (if you use it).

What can you do with it?
Add it to your web site, online networking profiles, send it with press releases or articles. Before long, people will see your face popping up everywhere and be more aware of who you are.

More importantly, if you get a call out of the blue asking you to comment on a topic in the media, you’ll have a photo ready to send so that not only will you sound professional, you’ll look professional too.

And just to show that we practise what we preach, we’ve included a photo of z2z partners Robert (I’m on the left) and Simon.

z2ztip 1 – look out for further z2ztips.