In 2007, something strange happened to me. I’d been publishing valuable, free content on my blog for eighteen months, no product, no service, just a relentless focus on serving the audience. And people started emailing me with a question I didn’t expect:
“Why are you giving all this away for free? What’s the catch?”
They didn’t trust me. Not because I’d done something wrong, because I hadn’t told them what was in it for me. The absence of a motive was itself suspicious.
That lesson rewired how I think about trust. And it’s the reason I’m writing this.
Why Trust Is the Whole Game
In content marketing, the formula is know, like, trust. Traditional marketing is obsessed with the know, splash the brand everywhere, create awareness, repeat. Add some clever messaging to generate a little liking, and declare victory.
But when a prospect stands at the fork in the road, your product or the competitor’s, trust is the tiebreaker. And content marketers have a massive advantage here, if we’re willing to use it.
Trust works on multiple levels simultaneously:
- Do you do what you say you’re going to do?
- Are your products and services solid?
- Do you treat customers fairly?
- Will you still be here next year?
- Do you actually believe the values you claim?
Address these over time, and prospects begin to see you as not just trustworthy, but generous. Maybe even selfless.
Aristotle Had a Name for It
In classical rhetoric, ethos is the appeal to the authority, credibility, and character of the speaker. Aristotle believed a key ingredient of effective ethos was what he called “disinterested goodwill”, a combination of likability and genuine concern for the audience’s welfare.
Disinterested doesn’t mean you don’t care about the outcome. It means you serve your audience whether or not any particular person pays you. You give away content so good you could have charged for it, and some people will consume it without ever becoming customers. That’s the deal.
This concept makes some business people furious. The idea of providing value to “freeloaders” drives them nuts. I’ve been giving away free, valuable content for over twenty years, and every successful business I’ve started was powered by it. I trust the model because I’ve watched it work, and the know-like-trust equation is the entire mechanism.
Beyond the act of content marketing itself, there are three classical techniques for building trust. Think of them as specialized tools in a broader kit.
1. The Reluctant Conclusion
This one is beautiful in its simplicity. You share how you arrived at a position reluctantly, dragged there by overwhelming evidence, despite your initial resistance.
Say you raised the price of your digital product and watched sales tank. You could quietly change the price back and pretend nothing happened. Or you could tell your audience: “I was wrong about the price increase. I’m reverting it.”
You’ve just accomplished three things at once. You reinvigorated dormant sales. You demonstrated honesty. And you built trust for every future product launch, because this is someone who admits mistakes. (In a world of spin, that’s practically a superpower.)
2. The Personal Sacrifice
The free workshop you’re hosting could have been a paid product. You’ve chosen not to charge because you want to help more people.
You’ve seen this done a hundred times, with varying degrees of grace. The difference between effective use of personal sacrifice and the infomercial version comes down to one thing: knowing your audience. If the sacrifice feels genuine, because it is, it works. If it feels like a performance, it backfires.
3. The Honest Fool (The Lincoln Technique)
Abraham Lincoln was an unusual-looking man with a hick accent and a whiny voice. When he gave speeches during his presidential campaign, he’d open by telling the audience he was a poor speaker with nothing new to say.
Then he’d proceed to deliver a carefully reasoned, deeply informed address that won the room completely. He lowered expectations so effectively that anything competent exceeded them, and Lincoln was far more than competent.
If you’re a chiropractor who writes content, claiming “I’m no master copywriter” before delivering a surprisingly persuasive piece is the Lincoln Technique in action. Lower the bar, then clear it by a mile.
But Here’s What Actually Works
All three of those techniques are legitimate tools. Some audiences respond beautifully to them. Others, and I suspect you might be in this camp, will see through them and roll their eyes.
That’s why I keep coming back to the lesson I learned in 2007: never be shy about saying what’s in it for you.
When I started getting those emails questioning my motives, I realized something uncomfortable. My audience didn’t trust me because I seemed too good to be true. The missing motive was the missing trust.
So I started being upfront. Yes, I’m building an audience because I plan to offer products and services. Yes, I benefit when you subscribe. The value I provide is real, and so is my business intent. If I’m doing my job right, what’s in it for you will always feel superior to what’s in it for me. That’s what makes it a relationship rather than a transaction.
When you launch a product with introductory pricing, explain why: you want feedback from early customers so you can improve it quickly. The pricing benefits you both, they get a deal, you get data. Say that clearly, in your headlines and your content. It works on both levels every time.
Trust Is Bigger Than Tactics
The most powerful way to establish expertise is to demonstrate it rather than claim it. Trust works the same way. Serve your audience with genuinely valuable content, that’s the demonstration.
The classical techniques are worth knowing. Use them when they fit. But the foundation is simpler than any technique: give more than you take, and be honest about the exchange. People are increasingly suspicious of hidden motives. Your primary job is to prove you don’t have any.
Build trust like your business depends on it. It does.