When we interact with others, either personally or professionally, one of the most important factors is credibility. We want to know and work with people and businesses we believe to be trustworthy. Establish your own credibility with these 20 tips.

1. Articulate your mission. What drives you to wake up and do what you do each day for work? Make sure you’re communicating this to your target audience(s). People believe in those who are passionate about the things they do. So, share your passion!

2. Be an expert. Part of the very definition of credibility is expertise. You trust someone because he or she is an expert in the field. Make it your business to truly know your business. Stay current in your field. Attend conferences, read journals—wherever there are conversations about the latest advances or practices—be sure you’re following.

3. Stick to your niche. We don’t mean you should make yourself small in this world. Rather, resist the urge to be and do all the things for all the people. You have a valuable and specific set of skills. Use them. Amaze people with them. But be careful when it comes to expanding into areas that aren’t necessarily your forte. It is better to do a few things exceedingly well than many things less competently. Credibility is about being able to deliver on what you promise. So, promise only that which you can deliver well.

4. Share your knowledge. Be generous with what you know. Look for opportunities to demonstrate your subject matter expertise. Contribute to conversations in your field. Post (or respond to posts) on LinkedIn relevant to the work you do. Be a guest blogger or podcast speaker or journal contributor. By sharing what you know, you establish yourself as an expert.

5. Know what you don’t know. Many a small business has opened with a wish and a prayer. It’s okay if you don’t yet know all the things, but it’s important to figure out what gaps in education or experience you have and then fill them.

6. Be a perpetual student. New technologies, different generations of potential customers—the world of business is always changing and what worked yesterday may not be what works tomorrow. You limit opportunities for growth when you stop learning. So, while you don’t have to stay in school forever, you should see the world as your classroom and avail yourself of every opportunity to continue to expand your knowledge base.

7. Let your work speak for itself. An exceptional product or service is the world’s best advertisement. Do your best work always.

8. Strive for excellence. Whether you’re working with your customer base, your team, or colleagues in your field, aim to make it a positive experience. Note that we said strive for excellence, not “be perfect.” No person or business can do everything perfectly all the time. But you can make it the bar you aim to clear.

9. Ask for feedback. Feedback is another tool for learning. Whether it’s a customer satisfaction survey or an open-door policy (or suggestion box) for your team members, ask for and be open to receiving feedback. What do people love about your product/service? Where have you missed the mark? How does your team feel valued or underappreciated? All feedback, except that of the troll variety, helps you and your business. It informs what you continue to do and what you need to do differently.

10. Be accountable. When you do miss the mark—and you’re human, so you will—own your mistakes. Address any missteps or issues with an intention of correcting them. When you know better, do better.

11. Provide outstanding customer service. Excellent customer service doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be flawless. (Remember what we said about the difference between striving for excellence versus being perfect?) It means that you are 100% committed to customers being satisfied that they’ve been heard and that their needs have been met. A mistake handled particularly well can entice customers to speak well of your business too!

12. Plan to fail. Rather than just retroactively remedying mistakes, be proactive about potential future issues. Whether it’s systems you have in place, your business plan (or lack thereof), your staffing (or lack thereof), where are you are particularly vulnerable to difficulties? Plan to strengthen those areas. Even if you don’t have the time, money, or resources now to fix the broken things, you can prioritize what will make the greatest impact on your bottom line and plan accordingly.

13. Hone your communication skills. Communication is key to building and maintaining credibility, and it’s an integral part of several of the tips we’ve shared here. Credibility-building communication articulates your mission, distinguishes your brand and marketing, and relates to how you speak to (and listen to) your team. Words matter—use them intentionally.

14. Walk the walk. Say what you mean and do what you say. Not just sometimes, when it’s easy or convenient, but when it’s hard too. Especially when it’s hard. When you are a person of your word, your word means more because people know they can rely upon it.

15. Get folks talking. It’s good if you say what you stand for and how your business operates. It’s great if you do what you say. It’s better still if you’ve built and operated your business in such a way that others are talking about what you stand for and how your business operates. When you run a business (and a life) with integrity, a wonderful side effect is that your efforts are conveyed to those with whom you interact. And happy customers are more inclined to speak well of you too. Be warned here that the converse is also true, which is why the “how” of your operations is so very critical.

16. Rally ambassadors. Don’t be shy about asking for testimonials or reviews when you know you have a pleased customer, vendor, or colleague. Word of mouth is an incredibly powerful marketing tool. (It is also the best form of validation for the effort you make and the work you do!)

17. Respond to the critics. Respectfully and with humility (unless they’re trolls, and then respond with silence.) Why are they displeased? What could you have done better? How can you make it better for them? Fix what you can. Convey that you’re sorry you didn’t get it right this time but that you’ll do better moving forward. And then do better.

18. Be transparent. Transparency leads to trust, and trust leads to credibility. Be open and honest about the business of your business—your sourcing, pricing, and revenue for example. Keep in mind that being transparent doesn’t mean revealing your secret sauce. But it does mean that you’re straightforward about how you captain your ship.

19. Be consistent. You know that restaurant that makes that one dish you love and go back for time and again? Ever go on an off night when it didn’t deliver on its usual promise and feel disappointed? Aim not to disappoint and to deliver consistently on what you promise. Be known for being the business that can be relied upon.

Most importantly…

20. Be authentic. Don’t be who you imagine others want you to be or promise what you believe others want you to deliver. You are not meant to fit yourself or your business into someone else’s mold. Be authentically you and deliver your unique value proposition to the world.

Developing a successful career and building a flourishing business have many similar steps. While you are personally developing your experience, education, and leadership skills as an individual, businesses are constantly evolving through their experience, staff training events or courses, and the growth of leaders within the company.

As we’ve highlighted in our January 2020 blog, Powerhouse Planning is providing a wealth of knowledge to bolster everyone’s 2020 success, publishing a new article each month that gives 20 tips on a new subject. This month, we’re focusing on 20 tips to take your career and/or business to the next level.

Twenty tips may feel like a lot; it may be overwhelming at first. To ease your mental state, these 20 tips are broken down into four easier-to-digest categories: development, habits and planning, leadership, and marketing.
Whether you are taking your career or business to the next level in 2020, we want you to know that we support you in your goals!

Development
Tip #1: Become a proverbial sponge.
Kids are often referred to as walking, talking sponges, and for a good reason. They are constantly in a state of learning, which is something many businesses and individuals should take a lesson from. Lifelong learning doesn’t mean collecting degrees, though if that’s you, I’ll tip my proverbial hat to your determination. Information is a constant in our digital age. Being a lifelong learner can mean researching the areas that mean the most to your company, like target audience, marketing research, or education and experience requirements for the dream job you’ve always wanted.

Tip #2: Create a growth strategy.
Whether you are planning for a project management role, a certain caliber of income, or year-over-year growth projections, create a growth plan. Personal development plans are similar to the business version of growth strategizing. It’s the process of creating an action plan based on awareness, values, reflection, goal-setting, and planning for personal development within the context of a career, education, relationship, or for self-improvement [1]. Both versions have what equates to a mission statement, strength or competencies, education and training, stages or steps, and metrics to indicate a measurement of time and success.

Tip #3: Cultivate a portfolio.
A well-thought-out, beautifully designed portfolio is more than the perfect image and glowing testimonials, although those are key aspects. Most small businesses aren’t aware they are building a portfolio through the use of past client folders or in-depth interaction archives with vendors, prospective clients, or products. In many cases, these portfolios can be for the creator’s eyes only, a reference guide of what you’ve done, how you’ve improved, and how your current client, project, etc. make a difference in the grand scheme of things. As an individual working on your career, a portfolio early on may consist of papers or projects from school you’re proud of, but it won’t stay this way as you branch out in business. Consider portfolios of personal accomplishments as well, like memory books. We live in a global age that highlights the importance of diversity, and travel may be your key to developmental success.

Tip #4: Analyze for future growth.
Reflection and self-awareness on a personal or business level are paramount to success, which is where a SWOT analysis comes into play. If this is a new acronym for you, it stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The best part of SWOT analyses is that they are versatile. Analyze your professional status strengths and weaknesses, what opportunities you face or may face in the future, and what threats may emerge. Take this into the academic realm for completing a semester of classes after being out of the classroom for years, or when you’re trying a remote career path for the first time. In business, SWOT analyses are used in every facet of a business, from initial conception to communication strategizing, marketing, fiscal planning, or staff training in a small, medium, or larger-sized company. SWOT analyses don’t need to be in-depth, but you’ll find that after you start, you may spend much longer than intended mapping out the four sections.

Tip #5: Make someone’s day.
In business, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plans may appear to be a potential revenue drain initially but can pay off exponentially long term. Look at companies like TOMS Shoes, which made millions of dollars with their “buy one, give one” policy or a “one-for-one” approach. This policy launched the small company into stardom early on, and though the company faced bankruptcy rumors in 2015, they’ve pulled through this year by broadening their CSR approach and updating it to current social responsibility movements, while never forgetting the one-for-one policy that set them apart from all the other shoe manufacturers [2]. Don’t worry, though, if you’re building a career and not a business. Sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can make the biggest impact. Consider offering services pro bono to someone in need to add to your portfolio or professional references. Don’t stop with these CSR suggestions on a personal, local community, or global scale, and perhaps you’ll find a market for a service or product you can turn into a company all your own.

Habits and Planning
Tip #6: Learn to take risks.
Risk-taking may sound potentially detrimental to your health or your business’s well-being, but in fact, risk-taking helps you face your fears and meet challenges. As an individual, it helps you learn new skills, builds self-esteem, empowers you to continue to try new things, and creates opportunities. Risk-taking breaks you out of your comfort zone and allows change to happen. In business, managing risk and determining when to take appropriate amounts of risk are major aspects of both study and specialization.

Tip #7: Embody mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a state of active attention to the present moment, specifically observing your thoughts and feelings without judgment [3]. It is important to acknowledge both the good and bad moments in business because lessons can be learned from every situation. You can start right now by closing your eyes and taking a minute to focus on your breathing. Take a moment to sort through each thought that surfaces before dismissing it. If your mind focuses on a specific upcoming event, try not to feel the emotions around the situation, but focus on the details relating to the deadline, project, goal, etc. Your determined focus may bring new insight.

Tip #8: Be realistic with time and resources.
Our perception of how our time is spent may be skewed. Whether you’re running a business or working toward career goals, time management is often one of the more challenging problems you may encounter. You may believe that you spend about 30 minutes answering emails each morning, but the reality may be much different. One way to establish honest representations of time is to track how you use your time at work or in a business building by downloading an app such as Roadmap, Time Doctor, or Calendar [4]. These apps are not only wonderful additions to team settings in the workplace, but can also help analyze time usage and make appropriate changes to improve productivity.

Tip #9: To-do lists can be your friend.
It’s true—to-do lists don’t always seem like a friend, especially if your inbox is swamped, your team has multiple approaching deadlines, and you walk into work to find a new pile of paperwork on your desk. In business, whether you’re the CEO or a staff member, to-do lists can feel like the enemy, but they do not need to be. Before you leave work each day, write down the top three to five tasks that need to be completed the next day by order of importance. Seems pretty easy, but sometimes deciding which tasks need to be completed first can take longer than you expect. Don’t fret. You’ll get faster at analyzing the priority list, and if you continue to struggle, create a priority matrix [5]. When you walk into the office—remotely or otherwise—you already have your daily starting point. If a couple of additional items show up in your inbox overnight or on your desk in the morning, add them to the priority list. Start at the top and work your way down. To-do lists can change your productivity levels when you simply optimize how you use them.

Tip #10: Eliminate half work.
This may sound like a silly concept, but we live in an age of constant distraction, which has caused us to split our focus between what should be our priority and everything else. It is very common to find ourselves balancing emails with messages and to-do lists while also trying to accomplish other tasks, like preparing for a meeting. A strategy that may work for you is to block [6] a certain amount of time in the morning and afternoon to minor items. During time blocks, ensure that the task at hand is your only focus, and you’ll find your productivity and time management naturally improve.

Leadership
Tip #11: Learn to delegate and outsource.
There is a reason these skills are often hard to learn. For some, it can be difficult to let someone else do work that they used to do. For others, they don’t have the time to train someone else to complete outsourceable tasks. The important consideration is that both delegating and outsourcing are time-saving devices that every individual and business leader should master. You can hand over responsibilities to team members who are qualified or hire outside to a contractor or freelancer.

Tip #12: Lead by example.
Remember back to show and tell in school, where each child gets to share something during circle time? Each month was a new theme, such as art, summer vacation, pets, and so forth. Leadership is about setting the example—showing others, not just telling. If you want to set an example for punctuality, make sure you get to work on time or early. If ethical behavior is paramount to your company, make sure as the CEO you lead by example both at work and in your personal life. Treat everyone—in-person or online—with courtesy and professionalism to set the tone for yourself, and your employees will follow.

Tip #13: Communicate effectively.
Communication is more than what is spoken. In fact, 55% of communication is nonverbal, 38% is through tone of voice, and only 7% is verbal [7]. As a professional or a business leader, it is important to be aware that the way you stand, your tone, and how you use your hands all affect how others hear and perceive your message. This is especially true as the world continues to diversify, and cultural perceptions, norms, and personal biases begin to play a part in how we communicate with those around us [8].

Tip #14: Ensure meetings are productive.
In this fast-paced age, time certainly feels like money. Naturally, it may feel essential to limit tangents and other time-wasting aspects of meetings. At the beginning of a meeting, state the goals regarding a decision or tasks that need to be accomplished [9]. If you use PowerPoint presentations as a professional, in business, or as a leader in your field, use more pictures than words and be sure to end the presentation and meeting in general with a summary of the decisions made and the next steps for the group. Another wonderful tip for boosting productivity and energy within the group is to take a small group outside on a walk or somewhere outside to sit. If your meetings are online, let everyone know what the agenda is ahead of time so the meeting can begin without delay and save time for other offline tasks.

Tip #15: Be emotionally aware and present.
Business is ultimately about relationships between people. To make a meaningful connection, you need to be emotionally intelligent as a leader and professional. It is essential to be sensitive to different points of view, different backgrounds, and experiences. Sometimes it is a challenge when the business world pushes us to think solely about what is best for the team, company, or brand, but don’t forget to have a heart. Be mindful that your tone in a phone conversation, Zoom call, or conference meeting can say more than the words you speak [10].

Marketing
Tip #16: Follow the 80-20 rule.
The Pareto principle is also known as the 80-20 rule, where 80% of results come from 20% of the effort put in [11]. This principle is commonly used in sales, as 80% of sales are typically from about 20% of the customers. In content marketing, another common use is that 80% of content should be educational to about 20% advertising or promoting a product, service, etc. In an opposite view, 20% of a blog’s content generates 80% of its traffic. The use of this principle is unlimited, and it applies to every aspect of life. Consider it while growing your career and you may be surprised what you uncover.

Tip #17: Build a community.
If you wish to grow your career, surround yourself with those who challenge you, expand your thinking, and support you. Create a network of like-minded people in your field on LinkedIn to create meaningful networking connections and vouch for one another’s skills. Genuine expertise draws other experts, so set yourself up with a blog, a portfolio, or another format that showcases your expertise and share with your community and those you meet. These strategies apply equally in business, especially when marketing a service or product. Create a community of people who believe in your brand, your company, your products or services, and you’ll grow naturally and with meaning.

Tip #18: Remember who you are.
Everything you communicate, either verbally or through body language, is sending a message to those around you. The same way a strong company culture projects its brand, protect your reputation as a professional by keeping a level of mindfulness about the words you choose and the actions you perform. You know yourself best. Start to set yourself apart as a leader within professional communities or local region and find out what can be accomplished.

Tip #19: Establish a web presence.
Professional contractors, businesses, individual brands, and everyone in between have a form of web presence these days. Traditional company/business websites, a blog, or social media channels are commonplace. In fact, 90% of brands use social media to increase brand awareness, and astoundingly most businesses maintain between four and ten social profiles [12]. You can use your online presence like a portfolio or provide guides/services of your own. Almost anything is possible with a shared hosting account, a domain name, and a website template from the top website design companies like WordPress or Squarespace, whether you’re an expert or not.

Tip #20: Don’t forget the root of business.
The world has become a globally connected technological network of opportunity. The result often feels like an extremely fast-paced world, but it is important to remember that people buy from people and that won’t change. It is easy to get lost behind your laptop and communicate almost entirely via the web, especially if you are working remotely or run a remote-based company. There is something to be said for the business conferences that pop up throughout the year that bring professionals and businesses together to network in person, during informal or formal meetings.