In this episode, we discuss the importance of reputation in business. We noticed that a high percentage of our own software purchases are driving by reputation and/or referrals.

The Changelog

* Doug: New approach - website in a day, website in a week at EfficientWP (http://efficientwp.com/).

The Core

* The importance of reputation

* Leads to word of mouth.
* Using or buying products from people we know/follow and trust without much hesitation (Rob Walling (http://www.softwarebyrob.com/2014/12/02/launch-the-2-hour-audio-documentary-of-a-startup/), Pippin Williamson (https://pippinsplugins.com/control-give-grow/), Brian Casel (http://casjam.com/2014-recap-2015-goals/), etc.)
* Taking advice from those people more seriously than from others

* Building reputation - tactics

* Quality content - blog, podcast, etc. that isn’t just created for the sake of creating content
* Direct interaction - comments, emails, phone/Skype, meeting in person, intelligent forum discussions
* Attending and speaking at WordCamps, conferences
* “good” products - plugins, info products, etc. both free and paid

* Losing reputation

* Poor products, poor support
* Hearing stories about (unnamed) people we know getting burned on deals

* How to show references/recommendations: testimonials, LinkedIn, case studies