🚩 Being Trustworthy Is Not An Attitude. It's a Consequence - TRUST-able #39
Why Trust Matters More Than Ever + To Be Trusted You Need To Care + Why Focusing on Trust-Building Is Priceless + Working on Credibility + Look Beyond + Content Finder Toolkit 2025
Hello my friend, another year has flown by.
I hope it was a year, where positive things happened in your life.
If it was, I wish you can find the will and determination to grow and nurture the new seeds you have planted.
If it was not, I hope you will change the course of things by trusting your heart, your intuition but also your stubborn, rational mind.
I am here to share with those, who deeply passionate about their craft, don’t feel at ease when surrounded by peddlers, hustlers, and advice-dispensing gurus.
I am here to land a hand to independent entrepreneurs searching for alternative, non-mainstream, non-obvious ways to build reputation and trust with their online audiences.
The objective is empower more of those who want to write, offer a service or create a digital tool, without peddling.
The dream is to see more individuals thrive against the AI-assisted tsunami, not by leveraging pushy marketing tactics, frameworks and funnels but by learning how to build a trusted reputation online.
In a world where AI can replicate content and automate services, there's one thing that can't be artificially replicated, synthesized or purchased: trust.
For indie entrepreneurs, creators, and consultants, trust isn't just another business metric, it's the foundation that turns one-time customers into long-term relationships and casual readers into devoted followers.
But once again: trust isn't a commodity you can acquire or ask AI to generate for you.
Trust is a consequence of consistent actions, authentic interactions, and genuine value delivery.
And in today's AI-enhanced marketplace, its importance has never been greater.
In this issue:
1) Why Trust Matters More Than Ever
2) To Be Trusted You Need To Care
3) Why Focusing on Trust-Building Is Priceless
4) First Steps Toward Trust Building: Working on Credibility
5) Look Beyond
6) Content Finder Toolkit 2025 (New Year Gift)
1) Why Trust Matters More Than Ever
In a marketplace flooded with similar products and AI-generated content, trust may become the most decisive critical factor in business success.
While quality products and competitive pricing will remain essential, they will - in my opinion - become increasingly table stakes.
Here the three reasons why I believe that trust in business is such an empowering and revolutionary factor:
a) Trust Transforms Business Relationships
When customers truly trust you, price becomes secondary to the value they know you'll deliver.
They're not just buying your product or service—they're investing in the confidence that you'll solve their problems effectively. That’s the key differentiator.
b) Trust Creates An Invincible Marketing Team
Think about your own buying decisions. When you find a trustworthy service provider—whether it's a development tool, a newsletter, or a consultant—you naturally recommend them to others.
Trusted businesses enjoy organic growth through word-of-mouth marketing, the most tested and tried powerful form of promotion available.
c) Trust Enables Deep Understanding
Pay attention to this little detail: When customers trust you, they start to share their real challenges, fears, and aspirations.
This does not ever happen when the trust level is low.
By attentively listening to your customer needs, you can create more and better solutions for their specific needs.
Consider a real-world example: Many indie software developers launch products initially with an impressive feature sets, while trying to satisfying as many use cases and user personas as possible.
But then, the apps and services that become successful and stay successful for long periods of time, become those who focus on just a handful features for a very specific use case and person type.
Why?
Because only those who focus on a more specific focus and need can build trust
.
The same applies whether you're:
- A newsletter writer sharing insights
- A consultant offering expertise
- A course creator teaching skills
- An author publishing content
.
Your competitive advantage isn't just what you offer—it's the trust that makes people choose you over alternatives.
.
Duration: 2’:48”
Trust is the key essential ingredient to building an audience.
Devon Eriksen - self-published author of Theft of Fire
Excerpted from this video interview with Dan Koe
2) To Be Trusted You Need To Care
No matter how honest, good-willing, generous and friendly someone may be, it takes a lot more for us to award them our complete trust, especially in a business context.
Those who we choose to trust are a very rarefied minority. A very small percentage of the many acquaintances we have.
And I do remember the times as a teenager when I basically trusted everyone who was older than me, and couldn’t make sense of my parents telling me to watch out and not be trusting of people I became rapidly friends with.
But no matter how trusting, outgoing and extroverted one may be toward others, life teaches us that the people worthy of your trust are a rare specie.
What makes them special and recognizable from others, can be summarized in a very short sentence: they care.
They go beyond just claiming to care - they do it in tangible terms.
As a matter of fact, to be trusted, one must be challenged.
What that means is: In order to develop a high trust relationship, you have to go through some shit.
“The extent of someone’s courage or cowardice can not be measured in ordinary times.
All is revealed when something happens.
Since courage is the foundation of all virtues, your integrity and trustworthiness can also be measured only when something happens."
For example, an indie software developer who listens closely to user feedback and regularly updates their product to address specific customer pain points is likely to build a much more loyal following than one who just focuses on churning out new features. Listening demonstrates true care for their users' experience.
Similarly, an indie author who goes out of his way to share how he works and achieves specific results (without serving them as revolutionary new dogma, with formulas and frameworks that fit everyone’s problem in one swoop) is more likely to earn the trust of his readers than the many who do.
Unfortunately, many businesses fail at this, leaning too heavily towards their own interests and profits rather than focusing on truly serving their customers' best interests.
A creator trying to build an audience, for instance, may be tempted to prioritize clickbait headlines and sensationalized content over more thoughtful, curated work.
But what I can’t avoid seeing, is that the creators who demonstrate a genuine passion for their craft and a commitment to their audience's interests tend to develop the most devoted followings.
The more we truly care for our customer the more trustworthy in his eyes we become.
And the more trustworthy we become the longer our business relationship with those customers will be.
The moment we give greater priority to growth and profits and less attention to caring for our true customer needs, we may be able to build great profits in records amount of time but they may not be as long lasting.
3) Why Focusing on Trust-Building Is Priceless
Consider the entrepreneurs and creators you trust most. They likely share some of these characteristics:
They welcome and treat you like a king and a special friend
When they attend you, they give you undivided attention
They do not always have a ready-made solutions for you. Sometimes they like to take their time and find one that’s perfectly fitting your needs. Even if they may be not the ones selling it.
Their foremost objective is to help you, not to sell you something
They’re frank about costs, obstacles and delivery times. They do not over-promise.
They're transparent about their know-how and limitations
They share insights from failures as readily as successes
They maintain consistent quality over time
That’s how they build unshakeable trust.
Unshakeable trust, means that their customers may try also competing authors, advisors and consultants for the thrill of a new trend, for curiosity, or for an impulse need or desire.
But when it comes to sticking with someone for the long run, serious customers invariably chose those who feels more reliable and trustworthy.
And when our customers trust us:
They are more likely to buy from us.
They are likely to stick around with us for a very long time.
They are the ones who, without us telling them anything, go out and promote our business to their friends and contacts.
They’re less likely to push back on price.
They’re more likely to be open and share the issues that are going on.
They’re more likely to give us referrals and references.
They’re less likely to challenge our statements.
If we make a mistake, they’re more likely to forgive us.
a) Deeper Customer Relationships
When customers trust you, they share more than just their business—they share their true challenges, aspirations, and feedback. This transparency becomes your competitive advantage.
Customers who trust you are more likely to:
Open up about their real problems, not just the surface-level issues
Accept your recommendations, even when they challenge their initial assumptions
Provide honest feedback that helps you improve your offerings
b) Scalable Financial Advantages
Trust can also directly impact your financial bottom line. Beyond just making sales easier, what I observe is that trust allows you to:
Charge higher prices
trusted advisors rarely need to compete on priceReduce marketing costs
through increased word-of-mouth referralsSell more over time
increasing lifetime customer valueAvoid sharp financial ups and downs
through higher customer retention
c) The Safety Net Effect
Perhaps the most valuable benefit is how trust creates resilience in your business:
When you make a mistake (and we all do), trusted customers give you the benefit of the doubt
During market downturns, trusted relationships tend to persist while transactional ones fade
When facing competition, including AI alternatives, trust becomes your moat
4) First Steps Toward Trust Building: Working on Credibility
If the question is:
“ok, but from where do I start building more trust?”
Being credible is the first tangible objective I would pursue.
Why?
Because unless you take some very specific actions / behaviours your desire to become more trustworthy remains that: a desire.
What would I work on?
1) Consistency
Being at it, day in, day out, like a clock, is essential to credibility-building. If you start something follow it up without interrupting or taking breaks.
2) Follow-up
When you communicate or take an assignment, follow it up. Don’t drop it until the other party wakes you up asking what has happened.
3) Evidence
Show how good you are, don’t hide the proofs. Make your best work visible, easy to find and well documented so that people can see and appreciate without filters what you can actually do.
4) Authenticity
Flawless and perfect is 100% not credible. It’s also boring. Being spontaneous, authentic, genuine definitely helps in transmitting a credible image. Speak (and write) like a real person, not as a professor, nor as an expert who has seen it and knows it all. Speak like an advising friend.
5) Vulnerability
Admitting to errors, acknowledging mistakes and forcing oneself to apologize constructively, communicate vulnerability and humility, two essential characteristics of credible people.
There are 4 more factors directly affecting your credibility online. Discover what they are in the full list of credibility factors and calculate your own credibility score.
5) Look Beyond
Building trust is a long-term investment.
It requires consistent attention to both the big pillars and small details of your business.
While it may seem slower than aggressive growth tactics, it creates something invaluable: a sustainable business built on:
genuine relationships and
real value delivery.
Trust isn't a destination.
Trust it's an ongoing journey of alignment between our actions and our audience's needs.
6) Content Finder Toolkit 2025 (New Year Gift)
The Content Finder Toolkit is a comprehensive super-directory of all of the websites and online resources where to find content.
From news, to images, videos, sounds, clipart, films, feeds, I have collected and organized into neat categories everything that an author, indie creator, writer or social media manager may ever need.
A new revised and updated version of the Content Finder Toolkit 2025 is online now.
500+ hand-picked, tested and verified useful content sources (most 100% free) organized into 10 main directories and 60+ sub-categories.
Access it now here as a gift for your readership.
In the Premium Edition
How Let Others Easily Tell You’re a Trusted Advisor
Top Trust-Building Strategies Mindmap
Credibility Mistakes You Must Avoid Mindmap
Help Me Improve This Newsletter
What I Can Do To Help You
Website Audit ($79)
Critical analysis (20 min video) of your site/landing page pointing out limits and weaknesses while suggesting improvements, additions and changes
.
Online Communication Strategy ($199)
90 min - One-to-one private consulting sessionFocus on providing feedback to your existing online comm strategy
after having reviewed your overall existing online presence
(website / social / newsletter).
Trust-Building Content Strategy (contact me)
Two private monthly sessions to review, assess, update and re-define your online content strategy to increase visibility, authority and conversions
Written monthly report with screenshots of your work and specific suggestions on where and how to improve
Website / social media / newsletter video audit
Happy new year!
From Koh Samui (TH)
Robin Good
