in this video i want to take a look at the question of social proof
especially if you're a small business owner if you're a small business owner you should be using
the power of social proof social proof is a fundamental principle of
persuasion or influence so when somebody is going to choose you pick you pick your business
then it will be of huge benefit to you if you have some social proof working to your advantage
if you remember in school no matter when you went to school there was always kids who had
the latest sneakers the latest runners the latest clothes and
so on we're always wearing the best brands and those people those kids unfortunately
or fortunately influenced other people so that kids went home to their parents looking for
the nike runners or the jordan ear tops or whatever you call them or whatever the
latest fad was in the school but the same sort of principle applies generally when people are
just living their daily lives and deciding what services or who they're going to use to provide
a particular service whether that's an accountant or a tax consultant or a plumber or an electrician
people generally will ask their friends or neighbors if they don't know anybody who would
recommend or would they recommend anybody and this could extend to getting your septic tank
cleaned or your chimney swept nobody wants to go to a party that nobody else is going to and nobody
wants to rock up to a party and be the only person there or be the first person there so people are
significantly influenced by what other people do and say and as i say it is a fundamental principle
of persuasion or influence this question of social proof and the influence that others are going to
have over any individual in arriving at a decision if you're wondering for example next weekend about
what to watch for example on netflix or amazon prime or whatever you might read stuff online
or you might come across various reviews but if a friend of yours or a work colleague of yours says
i watched such and such a series and i really thought it was good i think you'll really
like it you're going to be significantly more influenced by that recommendation
so if what's this got to do with your business from your business perspective as a small business
owner if you are as a say providing professional services or indeed any other sort of service or
goods for that matter the recommendation or positive vibe a positive review from other people
will have a huge impact on the choice that anybody will make when it comes to doing business with you
how can you help with this or how can you influence other people
you could consider on your website and you should have a website publishing reviews uh honest
good reviews from your existing clients this will have a significant impact on you new people
considering you as a provider of a service or for to provide whatever goods you might provide
the likes of the google reviews that you're going to come across google obviously have the business
review system that's very very powerful because people and i know this for a fact
will come to me and say i saw your reviews online there and they're very good
and i want you to ask for me in whatever these are very very powerful measures but even short
of reviews if you were to build up for example a youtube channel or an instagram account or a
facebook profile or indeed a tick tock account and you had a good impressive number of
subscribers or fans or followers then that is very very good evidence of social proof if you
have a facebook page with say 20 000 fans or whatever then when somebody comes across you
they're not going to ignore that they're going to be significantly influenced by it so the best
social proof you can get is probably word of mouth from a satisfied customer the next best
is probably reviews online either on the likes of google business review or on your own website
and obviously other reviews then have the potential to make or break you if you're
in the hotel industry for example we all know that there is various uh ways methods by which
people can leave reviews as well the likes of trip advisor and so forth these places are very very
powerful in influencing people's behavior so it's important that you tap into the benefit and power
of social proof proof it's an incredibly useful tool you can create your own social proof
provided you provide a good service and so on by not ignoring existing satisfied clients but
actually asking them for review and publishing it on your website asking them to review or
give you a review for example on your google business review and when people go online
then to search for you or are wondering what they're going to get you to clean the chimney
or empty the septic tank or do plumbing for you or electrical work or tax consultancy or
even if you're a nail bar owner or some sort of a you know beauty personal services provider like
hair or nails that type of thing reviews are absolutely critical vital very very powerful
and they tap into the whole question of social proof and social proof is a tool that if you have
a small business you should definitely be using in your business i hope you find this video helpful
if you do i'd appreciate if you give it the thumbs up down below and you may be interested
in subscribing to my youtube channel if you are just hit the subscribe button thanks a lot
you