Do your customers and prospects trust your blogs? New research from Forrester says they don't.

Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff recently released a report that had this interesting tidbit, amongst others:

Consumers trust company blogs less than any other channel.

This result comes from a survey we did in Q2 of 2008. Have a look at the data yourself. Not only do blogs rank below newspapers and portals, they rank below wikis, direct mail, company email, and message board posts. Only 16% of online consumers who read corporate blogs say they trust them. If you're a corporate blogger or somebody who advises companies, you need to take this into account.

I'd like to know if you trust what we say here on these pages. we strive to create an open discussion on cloud computing, enterprise software and Web app distribution, amongst other topics.

Last year, Etelos was named as one of Inside CRM's top 20 corporate blogs because we have made an effort to make sure every post is not a promotional spin piece for Etelos.

Earning trust

In his summary blog post, Bernoff advises that an open discourse is essential to establishing trust. Basically, what that means is that trust is earned. For a smaller company in a specialized industry such as we are, this trust is earned first in a small circle of companies.

So, how can companies earn trust? Here's a couple of ways:

• Be honest. If you're a leader, prove it. If you're popular, show it. If you target a vertical, name it. Honesty goes a lot further than blanket claims.
  
• Don't just blog about the positives. Perfect software doesn't exist, especially if yours is wearing a Beta tag.
• Link out, link early and link often. I feel that referring to others enhances your credibility. 
• Let your content speak to your expertise. If you are truly innovative, your content will say so.
• Converse with your readers. Invite comments, respond to comments and post comments on others blogs. 

So, my challenge to you is to earn some trust. Let me know what steps you're doing to earn that trust.