Business Internet Marketing Strategies for You

Even when you have conversations with someone face-to-face, it takes time to build trust with a potential client. Add on top of that the impersonal Internet universe and building trust can seem like a pipe dream — but it isn’t! There are many ways to build business relationships online. Today we’ll look at how to write a case study that people will believe … and trust.

Honesty is the Best Policy

In order to earn someone’s trust you must first be trustworthy, and the foundation for that is honesty. Always tell the truth, even if on the surface it may seem to be to your disadvantage.

One example of the way we do that here at 1424 is that we sometimes turn away people who want to work with us. There are a variety of reasons we might do this. The important thing here is that we tell them why we will not take them on as a client, and we try to steer them toward a solution that will work for them. 

We tell them the truth. Sometimes it’s a hard thing for a person to hear, and it can be equally hard for us to say. However, in the long run, we will always do the right thing for people — even if it means we don’t do business with them. Sometimes we end up with a new friend instead. Sometimes we create an evangelist who sends potential business our way because we were honest. Sometimes these people become clients later. 

How Do You Apply This to a Case Study?

You get real. No project ever undertaken has a blemish-free complexion. Don’t just talk about the raving success you had with a client or a project. Show a few of the warts, but talk about it in a way that shows how you either learned a valuable lesson OR how you were able to turn it around into something positive. In the best of all worlds, you can do both!

The negatives become a story within the story, and you should follow the same basic rules for these inner stories that you apply to creating the Case Study itself:

1. Define the problem.
2. Explain the solution.
3. Present the results.

In the end, you should treat everyone as if they are your friend. Relax. I am not suggesting you tell everyone your deepest, darkest secrets. What I am suggesting is that you be honest, be consistent and look for the win-win possibilities in all your relationships. Do that, and it will spill over (in a good way) into everything you do — and you’ll instinctively know how to write a case study that builds trust.