I almost destroyed a key relationship and lost out on building what I know will become a multi-million dollar business in a very short period of time.

This week, I had a big E shock (entrepreneur shock) on a call with a new business partner. My trust was wavering, and luckily we have an open relationship where we can communicate very well.

But he kind of coached me through it, and it really hit me how much being able to extend trust and at the same time make sure I act in a way that other can easily extend it to me would change my results in every area of life.

So, I decided to start digging deeper and try to improve this in myself, my businesses and my marketing. Anytime I want something to change, I believe the key is to get better ideas and thoughts about that topic in my head. That’s why I go to books, audio/video programs so frequently. If I can change my thoughts, and get some new ideas coming in, I can change my actions and therefore my results.

So I started this series on Trust. I also think teaching is the best way to learn, so I’ll be adding to this as time goes on.

Lessons From “The Speed of Trust” By Stephen M.R. Covey.

I am a part of a video coaching program that features a myriad of authors, gurus, speakers, and coaches who speak on everything from tax planning to relationships. The course I am currently focusing on is called, “Trust In Teams.” It is lead by Stephen M.R. Covey, who wrote the speed of trust.

Trust = Money

This is a simple concept, yet something that was a huge paradigm shift when I first heard about it.

The idea is that as trust goes up, speed goes up and cost goes down.  Making everything more profitable.  If you can get to a result faster, with less cost you will inevitably make more money.

That is why Stephen M.R. Covey constantly makes the case that trust is a hard edge, economic variable.

Social Media, Marketing, Business and Trust

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Joseph Ranseth about his social media adventure. He spoke about the idea the social media IS NOT changing the way we do business, but instead that social media is allowing technology to catch up to the way business is done.

I want to take the idea a step further for you.

Social media is changing the way we trust businesses.  It is changing the way we trust anyone selling anything online.

If the more people trust you, the fast they buy from you and the less it costs to persuade them, then do you think that doing something free to increase your trust in the market place would be worth it?

I really do, and that’s the social media phenomenon that I have seen work again and again.  There is something about the idea that if you know a person is accessible and real because of their social media presence, and that you can call them out publicly if they don’t deliver on their promises that give you an immediate added trust in buying.  It’s happened to me before many times, I wondered if what was being sold would really come through for me, if it was real or whatever, but I knew I was facebook friends with the person selling it, so I had no reservations.

Conclusion, if you want to make more money get more trust with more people.  A simple way to do it may just be getting more friends, fans and followers.

What Are Your Thoughts?

I really want to know, and I really would love to hear from you what you thin about all this.  Make a comment below just to let us know you’re alive at least!

Want To Hear More About this Topic?

I’ve had a lot of responses on face book and twitter specifically about this topic, and from friends who called and told me they liked this post, so I wanted to give you a way to hear more as I continue to go through this process.  If you’d like to know where to get more info on the Trust In Team course, or receive email about other posts on this topic, enter your name and email below and I will let you know as that information become available.