Trust = $. It’s a common theme in the business world, and for good reason. It’s completely true. Think about some of your favorite brands for a minute. Maybe you’re like me, and you’re thinking about the new MacBook Pro that just hit the shelves. Or maybe you’re a bit more active than me and you’re thinking about Nike or Adidas and those new running shoes you want for your fancy Ragnar relay you’ve got coming up.

Now ask yourself, was that just a thought? Or was it a feeling? We all know that trust goes beyond mere thought and facts. It’s actually a feeling at the root of it. This most basic and fundamental fact brings me to my simple point for this post.

Your website and web assets must be branded just as well as any other product, service, or piece of advertising you’ve ever shown to the world.

Watch this short clip and then let’s chat some more.

Your website completes what I call the circle of trust – which, in turn, becomes money in the bank. So let’s just call it the Circle of Money or COM. We all like money, so let’s talk about how to get some more of it. It’s no mistake that that acronym is COM. Your dot com completes the COM as demonstrated in the video above. The key is understanding that your website is THE END of the Circle of Money, not the beginning. Trust begins at the most basic and personal levels known to mankind – with our family and friends. We already trust our friends and family, so we reach out to them for advice about other products and services that we’re thinking about, or interested in. This plants a new small seed of trust within us. That trust escalates as we find more resources on the web to back up what our friends and family have told us. We watch YouTube videos, we read blogs, and we ask more questions. Eventually, we are ready to consume.  The seed has grown, and we are ready to buy those running shoes. We FINALLY type in the URL of the website and we make our purchase.

I can honestly say that this is the pattern I have followed for almost every purchase I have made in the last two years – minor or major.  I’m sure most of you can say the same, and relate in one way or another.

It’s one thing to have a website, a blog, a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel.  It’s an entirely different thing to know how those web assets fit into an overall web strategy and visibility plan.

Every asset must be well thought out and branded to maintain trust throughout the consumption process. If you fall short in these areas, so will your customers.  They may never make it to your dot com and never complete the COM. Get those assets out there, branded, and breathing!  Keep them alive with new content on a weekly basis, and live in blissful, web happiness as you watch the money pour in.