10 Ways to Ruin Credibility and Lose Trust
March 10th, 2009 | 50 comments
I’ve always liked top 10 lists and i know many others do as well… not the ones solely created for link bait though! But if done with good intentions, like the list below, they can be very valuable!
Today I noticed a few good examples of people who will never be successful online until they realize that what they’re doing is not helping anyone. I’ve added them as well as several others I’ve seen over the years… here they are:
1. Act like someone you’re not! This is something many people do without realizing it. Don’t get on social sites etc. acting like you’re some big successful business man if you’re not! Just be a nice, helpful person and HELP PEOPLE! That’s what’s important! I guess many people speak and act like the person/people they want to eventually be like. BE YOURSELF! There are many people more successful than I am, but I’m Josh Spaulding damnit… they can never be me and I can never be them… I am perfectly fine with that and you should be too! Be yourself because fake people are easy to detect!
2. Promote a product, whether it’s your own or someone elses, that promises to increase blog comments (for example) when the blog you’re using to promote it has a total of 5 or 10 comments. That’s one example, but you get the point. Today I followed some guy on Twitter and he had an auto DM sent out to new followers promoting a Twitter Ebook about getting “Thousands” of twitter followers. This guy had 300 followers… come on guy, you might as well say “I have no credibility, why are you even following me?”
3. Make a claim with absolutely no proof or means of backing it up! This happens ALL the TIME! Just login to any of the more popular Internet Marketing Forums (excluding my Internet Marketing Forum) and you’ll see thousands and thousands of “THIS is how you do it” with absolutely no proof, other than “My guru said so!” Give me a break… be your own guru and find out for yourself by DOING it and you’ll start making money and building trust!
4. Create a website with no Contact, About or Privacy pages. This is one many people just forget about. I’m guilty of it from time to time as well, but it’s important. I believe search engines look at this, although that’s just an educated guess and many people, especially on an e-commerce site look for little things like that when deciding whether or not to make a purchase or enter personal details.
5. Publicly “Rant” about everything that you don’t like! It’s one thing to clarify a myth or clear confusion, but to just moan and complain about people and things you don’t like just annoys most people. Be positive, people LIKE POSITIVE THINKING! I’ll admit, I’m guilty of this one from time to time as well, but I do make a conscious effort to hold back and I only rant on rare occasions these days.
6. Take refunds and/or constructive criticism personally. You simply can’t take things like that personally in this business. It doesn’t matter how good your product, blog, Website etc. is, you’re going to have people who don’t like it and some people who just legitimately don’t need the info… there’s nothing wrong with that! It doesn’t mean you’re bad or producing bad content, although that could certainly be the case as well. You’re not always right either. There will be times you KNOW you’re right and those who argue have no proof, just let them know that you would be happy to accept their logic if they can simply provide proof… then move on.
7. Promote products without actually reading/using them! Obviously this isn’t important for affiliates sites and other sites that aren’t meant to be authoritative (there are many different business models out there.) But if you’re in a niche where you’re trying to build authority and trust, you must be honest with your recommendations! If you’re recommending products people who follow you will know when you’re being honest or not! Whether you realize it or not, people can tell if you really did read/use this product or not! Be honest… there are very few products out there with NO flaws! Your reviews should reflect that.
8. Present your content in an unprofessional “ugly” way. I know many people disagree with me on this and that’s OK 
This is something I’ve realized after years of testing. Obviously this isn’t always the case, but in many cases, especially for first time visitors, a site that is professionally designed will gain you more trust and credibility than one that is not!
9. Do audio and/or video when you’re a horrible speaker. If you notice, I don’t do audio or video. The reason being, I’m a HORRIBLE speaker… I’m much better off typing 
Video can be a very effective marketing tool, but it goes both ways! It can also ruin, or at least hurt, your credibility. Not long after I launched Article Marketing Domination I decided to split test the sales page with a video I personally did. The results were horrible! The video KILLED conversions because I should have never done it myself. If I had a talented speaker do it there’s no doubt in my mind conversions would have increased rather than decrease.
10. Fill your site full of ads. Something many people seem to believe when creating their first website is that the more ads they have the more money they’ll make. That’s simply not true and in many cases not only will you see lower conversions, you’ll see less and less visitor retention (people won’t come back.)
There you go… do you have one to add? Let me know what you see others do… things that you believe ruin credibility and cause that person to lose trust in the comment field below… there may be a X ways to build trust coming up in the near future.
photo credit: JJZ
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10th March, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Great points Josh! #5, #7, #10 are probably the ones I hate the most.
10th March, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Very true, Josh! When I see crap like this you can bet I’m never coming back.
10th March, 2009 at 7:57 pm
11. Fail to tell the truth. I hate this in business in general. Why can’t people just tell the truth? My favorite is the “my server went down” follow-up email.
Mark
10th March, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Great list of 10 Josh.
I know I am guilty too of # 4 sometimes. Sometimes I just forget I guess.
Thanks,
Bryan
10th March, 2009 at 8:02 pm
@ Mark Mason – I know it, man. You would think being honest would be a given, but for some it’s not.
@ Bryan, just so you know, I removed your link because there were no outgoing links on the page. That’s called a “dangling” page and it’s bad news for SEO.
10th March, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Josh
I am not convinced about point 9 – audio.
None of us like our own voice when we hear it played back.
MP3s are the most convenient and time effective way of receiving information.
When I listen to teleconferences on the internet, it is the presenters who speak with conviction and who provide valuable content that I return to regularly, regardless of whether they are Australian, American, Scottish, Irish or English.
Josh, I believe that there would be a massive demand for an audio product from yourself!
In fact I think we should have a campaign on here to get you to do an MP3 and let us be the judge.
After all Josh, you always advocate testing before reaching a conclusion about whether something works or not.
So come on guys, add you comments and lets get Josh to do a teleconference!
Paul
10th March, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I was talking to a friend this morning and she said, “Well, you know, since all this is an illusion, we might as well make it the best illusion we can.”
We should all talk our truth, otherwise, we are simply talking someone else’s philosophy. We can turn that philosophy into our truth only by experience and the only generator of experience is ACTION. Then OUR experience is OUR truth and will be someone else’s philosophy until they get THEIR own experience.
John
10th March, 2009 at 8:11 pm
@ Paul – I’m not saying audio isn’t effective, I agree it can be very effective.
And I’m not referring to different dialects and “slangs.” I’m saying some people just aren’t confident speakers.
If I’m listening to a podcast, watching a video, what have you, if the man or woman is saying “Uhh” more than anything else and/or slurring their speach etc. etc. etc. I’m gone.
I’m a very confident person in general, but for some reason I’m just not a confident speaker and I know there are many other people out there who are the same thing.
So, if you’re a confident, solid speaker ABSOLUTELY DO audio and video, but if you’re not you may do more harm than good!
@ John – Very wise words there, very true
10th March, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Nice post, Josh, sincerely. But I can’t help but note that you violated your own principle (No. 5) in spades!
10th March, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Excellent Points.
I have another one:
- So called Internet Marketing Pros posting information that is unclear, misleading, and incorrect.
I am always reading blogs in the IM and MMO niche because I am always looking for advice on how to do things better or differently.
I read a blog-post earlier today that said how easy it was to find a good niche. Some of the information in the post was incorrect. As a result, there was more damage than good done from that one post and it destroyed much of the confidence I had in the veracity of the information presented anywhere else on the blog.
BTW – Great List
10th March, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I really hate #10. When I click through to a site and it takes more than 10 seconds to load with a high speed connection, I rarely even let it finish.
Too much flashing and no content won’t earn the owner any money. (I know, I had that mindset three years ago!)
Tommy
10th March, 2009 at 8:18 pm
@ Dave – Can you help but note this part of it? “I’ll admit, I’m guilty of this one from time to time as well, but I do make a conscious effort to hold back and I only rant on rare occasions these days.”
10th March, 2009 at 8:45 pm
very good points all around. I am trying video and I must admit that it is difficult to be your own judge on whether or not you are a good speaker.
I figure if my feed count goes up, then that is the tell tale sign. If not, then I will scrap the blog and sell the domain, LOL
I also agree that it is stupid to promote crap that you don’t personally use.
AL
10th March, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Love you comments & I only broke one rule
. Of course I did it on purpose because I was doing a case study on a Twitter Follower software and wanted people to see the results as they came in.
I also had a couple of my other accts available for them to see what the results could be
Thanks for sharing
Tex
10th March, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Josh, I admin I am often guilty of #4 – In fact reading your post reminds me I need to finish that entry (create legal pages on sites missing them) on my ‘to do’ list.
But ANOTHER big mistake that I’d add to your list – One that STILL too many marketers make – A mistake that not only sets an immediate tone of distrust, but also REALLY gets my goat big time (so I figure it’s irritating to others as well… )
The ‘SCAM’ sensationalism heading. You know the ones.
“Is Google a Scam?”
“They’re All Scams!”
“Work at Home Scams”
“Must Read Info on ‘X’ Scam”
” [put anything here] Scam ”
I wish these shortsighted people would just stop it. Somehow I feel that the distrust and negativity these ‘scam’ headings produce ultimately affects all of trying to grow a legitimate online business.
Dan
10th March, 2009 at 10:44 pm
You make good sense Josh, one of these days I will take your advice.
I also agree with No. 9
I am not a great speaker, but my son
does podcasts with video and just voice. He is a great speaker, course he was in radio for awhile.
10th March, 2009 at 11:31 pm
If I see incorrect spelling, punctuation and poor sentence structure throughout a web site or in a sales letter I leave. No matter the product or how helpful it may be I don’t trust the promoter or promotion. I will look for it somewhere else.
Barbara
10th March, 2009 at 11:55 pm
This is an excellent post! Where do you find time to come up with this stuff! I’m teaching my brother IM and I’ll be sure to lead him to your blog!
Thanks again!
10th March, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Josh,
I hate it when I see too much advertising and not enough content. I am in the fitness niche and I see this all the time on other websites. People want great info first and then they will open their mind to products that dig a little deeper into specific topics.
Great list!
Rusty
11th March, 2009 at 12:04 am
Hi Josh,
This is nice list you`ve put together here.
There`s one other big mistake I think a lot of marketers make, and that`s only promoting products to their list without providing any useful content along the way. Even worse is when they’re promoting an affiliate product and use the promotional email templates from the product`s affiliates page. There`s nothing worse that receiving the exact same email from 2 or 3 different people. I`ll usually always unsubscribe from each when this happens.
11th March, 2009 at 12:40 am
Ok… I’m guilty on the privacy policy issues. I need to add this to many of my sites. I am doing it little by little. But, I really need to set aside a morning and just do them all.
Tell you the truth, I’d much rather spend the time building another mini site.
Jonathan
11th March, 2009 at 1:41 am
Hey Josh,
This is a great list, I think number 5 is an overlooked point.
I tried a rant style blog once and it was terrible. Basically I bitched about everything and that negativity just spilled over to my over blogs as well. I felt worse after each post, so I shut it down.
Steve
11th March, 2009 at 2:38 am
@ Jonathan – You can spend those few minutes working on another site, just understand your adsense account can be suspended at any time and it wouldn’t surprise me if Google has lest trust on your sites that are missing those pages.
Just complete each site before moving on to another (including contact, about, privacy pages) and you won’t have any problems
11th March, 2009 at 3:10 am
Very good points! Definitely some very common mistakes that can easily be corrected for more success. I really like #2… that’s just ridiculous!
11th March, 2009 at 3:17 am
Cool post Josh…I agree totally with these ideas…
but, actually, I know I and a lot of people had to use the “fake it until you make it” mentality to get ahead..and build authority and credibility..
I’m not saying that I was making outrageous false claims, but I believed that I was already successful in what I did..and that I think helped me progress…
Stuart Stirling
11th March, 2009 at 3:23 am
@ Stuart – It’s one thing to “fake it until you make it” and something entirely different to teach others what you learn as you learn it! If you built trust and credibility, my guess is that you taught people what you learned as you learned it and you didn’t fake anything!
11th March, 2009 at 3:24 am
@ Stuart
That’s a good point, I share the same views on that one! It really does help when you have 100% confidence in yourself!
Dontrell
11th March, 2009 at 3:47 am
Hey Josh,
I’m guilty of 4 and 6!
I need to get that privacy page up very very soon and stop taking constructive feedback personally
Does anyone here know how to create a privacy page? Can you actually use the general template everyone else is using? I’m confused on this one.
Anyway nice post as usual. Keep more coming.
Cheers!
Welly Mulia
11th March, 2009 at 3:58 am
Josh,
I am definitely guilty of no 10, but I learned from experience and took the ads down. Now I’m trying to figure out what else I can do to monetize my blog. It had such a wide subject area that Google ads were completely useless.
Do you think an email address on the about page makes up for the lack of a contact page?
11th March, 2009 at 4:23 am
Some great points in there! Definitely thngs we all need to be reminded of!
11th March, 2009 at 4:42 am
Great information Josh – I need to correct one or two of those myself
One more thing that drives me crazy is people repeating advice they heard from someone else, who repeated it from someone else…. This goes on and on without anyone Verifying the information (or at least asking WHY they should follow that advice).
That’s one of the reasons I follow your advice – you back it up!
Thanks,
Steve
11th March, 2009 at 7:40 am
Huge, unbelievable claims with no proof has to to be the one that annoys me – at least make it sound possible if you don’t have any proof!
Obviously if you do have proof – go for your life!
11th March, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Hi Josh,
Thanks for all the great advice.
I might have made the same mistakes before but not anymore after reading your article.
11th March, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Hi Josh
I really can’t stand hype – the ‘we are the biggest, the best, etc’. That just makes me move on quickly to a site that lays out the goods – and let’s me decide.
11th March, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I’m going to have to disagree w/#9…Just because YOU are someone who doesn’t do well with videos because you suck at public speaking doesn’t automatically make it something someone else shouldn’t do. Case in point, listen to Chris Carpenter…dude sounds like’s stoned in every video. How well do you think that build credibility? Not sure, but at least his customers get to know what he’s really like.
11th March, 2009 at 6:17 pm
@ Welly – You don’t want to copy other people’s privacy pages, as they’re copyright just like any other content. You can find general privacy policies out there, just make sure they cover all of the important areas, as each Website is different. If your site collects name and email, be sure that’s covered as well as cookies etc.
You might start off with a few Google searches like “privacy policy generator” that will be better than nothing.
@ Beth – It’s better than nothing, but really how hard is it to just put up a simple contact page?
@ Ray – That’s true. As a matter of fact that’s basically what I said. Audio and Video can be very effective if you’re good at that kind of thing and your readers benefit from it. It all depends on the person. You don’t necessarily have to be a professional speaker, but some people just don’t have it, and I’m one of those people.
11th March, 2009 at 8:52 pm
[...] research, namecheap, Twitter, viral marketing Powered by Max Banner Ads Yesterday, Internet Marketing Coach Josh Spaulding posted about the 10 Fastest Ways to Lose Credibility as an internet marketer. I loved item #2. [...]
12th March, 2009 at 3:04 am
Great list Josh and yes, I need to stop ranting!:)
Along the lines of point 7, the thing I see now and then is some Internet marketers recommending products to their list/members that they simply don’t need. It’s one thing to tell a seasoned marketer about an advanced PPC tool but another altogether to tell a list of newbies who don’t yet know what PPC even stands for. It all stems back to whether there is a genuine desire to help people or just get their credit card number really.
12th March, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Josh – You might want to add: Copy/pasting articles from other sites. I see a lot of those going around, and their website usually has subdomains like http://blog.blogspot.com.
I don’t have a privacy page for my blog. Is it necessary?
13th March, 2009 at 2:16 am
@ Michelle – You definitely have a point, but at the same time no product is going to be needed by everyone on someones list. There will always be some who just don’t need it, but if the product really is good, there’s nothing wrong with promoting it.
@ Kai – Yep, but we could just say “Don’t spam” which should be an obvious one
Privacy policy: For credibility It’s definitely needed if you have a site that sells products. And if you have a site that displays adsense you have to have a privacy policy to be within the Adsense TOS.
13th March, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Hi Josh.
I can only speak as a potential customer.
Beware of ads that slow down the loading of a site.
The same can be said of videos. So many of them start automatically and hold everything else up. Then they start before being fully loaded and are jerky. I hate jerky videos.
15th March, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I agree with every single point you made. Amazingly many so called “big gurus” out there don’t do what you just wrote. That’s why so many of them have lost my respect.
Being sincere and being yourself is the best way to be.
People don’t want to be sold to but they want to buy. If they trust you they know that you wouldn’t hype something up just for the sake of a few dollars.
Unfortunately many biz owners look at the short term benefits of hype and end up losing a lot of money because people don’t trust them anymore.
Great post – “gonna” go tweet about it.
All the best,
Eren
17th March, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Biggest turnoff is poor spelling, grammar and general presentation of site. Research shows we have 7 seconds to catch our visitors attention. A badly presented website and I’m outta there!
Guilty of #4. #5 – best advice Josh, pity more “angry ants” can’t put a positive spin on things.
#9 – videos, we may not all have the perfect speaking voices but how about reading from a script, at least. May stop the “hundreds” of ummms and ahhhhs happening.
Regards,
Suellen
18th March, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I am certainly guilty of several of your top ten.
Great list Josh I am going to work on the About page and contact right now on my sites.
Allen
21st March, 2009 at 12:14 am
#15-ish A terrible picture is a total credibility-killer! My fave is a picture that was obviously cut in half with the other person’s arm still in it! Hilarious – and completely unprofessional.
23rd March, 2009 at 10:01 am
[...] 10 Ways to Ruin Credibility and Lose Trust Josh Spaulding goes all out in this post, with some of the most common mistakes people make online. Mistakes I see almost every day in this industry. You may want to check the list to make sure you’re not making any of these mistakes yourself lol. The 47+ comments are great too. [...]
23rd March, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Josh – I love the ethical principles in your post, I note that is your focus “ethical internet marketing.” I see examples of each of your points everyday online and many of the people crossing the line are well meaning about creating success, but lack the confidence needed to be authentic and trust that the people and resources needed to accomplish their goals will be attracted to them – so they try to force success.
The internet provide a platform where a person can present themselves to be anything they choose. Social Media is a game changer because it is so transparent and tends to expose the impostors in a short period of time.
My advice is to keep it real, be yourself and as you said Josh; seek to help people, be nice, be yourself.
Great advice!
James
23rd March, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Great article here! A very good learning piece, every marketer should be required to read this! Thanks for the heads up on what NOT to do!
27th October, 2009 at 3:58 pm
#9 very good point, why ruin conversion rates doing something you’re uncomfortable or inexperienced in. Outsource it to a pro and watch your conversions soar!! Simple
22nd February, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Josh,
Number 5 is my favorite. Odds are, if you don’t like something, then neither do 85% of other people online. There is really very little point in flaming topics this way, and if I really want to hear what “Grinds My Gears”, I’ll just go watch Family Guy.
Good Post!