source: http://www.nairaonline.com.ng/the-power-of-trust-in--nigeria/

Trust is a very powerful thing; no doubt. We need it for society to function. We trust that people will stop at the traffic light when it turns red. We trust that our Doctor will give us the right Prescription when we’re ill because he care he knows what he’s doing and cares for our well being. We trust that the sun will rise in the east and go down in the west, Without trust we would be paralyzed with fear. Although some people maybe more suspicious than others, they do trust somebody.

The Immortal words of Nigerian singer 2face comes to mind : “I know you Kinda trust nobody, but you have to trust Someone…..” So it goes with our contacts and customers, especially those on our email List. We need to provide them with continual reassurance that they can us trust us and that we know what we’re talking about.

Truth be told, been an Affiliate Marketer here in Nigeria is no easy task, the trust of the general public ( our potential Customers) has been broken by Online fraudsters and 419er’s ( general Nigerian term for a Con artist). Most people in Nigeria looking for assistance and services have had bad experiences of been scammed including yours truly.

So in Nigeria, the trust factor may come, but not easily. But how can work and build the trust of Your Potential Customers here in Nigeria? Well they are a couple of ways:

1. Free Information

Look, we’re all in this business of Internet marketing to make money. Everyone knows that. Nobody expects to continually get something with no expectation of something in return. But sending free, valuable information in advance of asking for somebody’s money improves the odds that they will eventually buy from you. That is because that information helps establish you as an authority. You Know your stuff, and they should trust you. Hopefully you’re providing evidence inside that information that what you’re saying is true. A steady stream of quality ,, actionable information in advance of a sales pro,motion does wonders!!



2. Personal Experience

When the time comes to ask your contacts and customers to open up their wallets, nothing works better than demonstrating your own personal success with a product. A lot of Affiliate Marketers in Nigeria and other Parts of the world, make the mistake of Only citing other people’s success. In my early days as an Internet marketer, I made that mistake and I see a lot marketers emailing their lists and talking about how the Product owner had this or that success.

Yeah, Yeah. And you expect us to believe that product owners are open and honest about that kind of thing? I don’t think so…. Besides, even if the product owner is 100%trustworthy and telling the truth ( many of them do share real proven results), your contacts don’t trust them, they trust YOU. So if you can demonstrate your own success with a product you’re much more likely to land a SALE.

Personally I do the both of these things regularly and the results are encouraging.

What do you think, are they other ways you have used to increase the trust of the Contacts on your Email List? I would love to know How!!