Long ago, I had a client, a financial planner.

One day, while visiting his home office, I noticed a BMW sportscar sitting in his driveway. He had always driven a pickup truck, so I assumed it wasn’t his.

But he said no, it was. Except pretty much the only time he drove it was when he was going to meet with a client.

As he explained, “If your financial planner shows up in a pickup truck, you assume he’s not very good.”

That seemed to make sense. And I guess it also means if your plumber shows up in a BMW sportscar, you assume he’s overcharging you.

The fact is, we make all kinds of assumptions – consciously and otherwise – when deciding who to hire.

You may have all the experience and degrees in the world. But if something feels off about you or your business, prospective clients have no problem walking the other way.

With that in mind, and especially if you are just starting out, here are two simple things I recommend paying attention to, to ensure the assumptions made about you are the ones you’d prefer…

#1. Your Web Site

I was on a live Facebook event for freelancers this past Tuesday (I’m highly sought after). At one point, the interviewer asked if I thought a web site was necessary.

I was about to say “definitely,” but it occurred to me that maybe the paradigm (SAT word!) I’m pushing is outdated.

After all, these days, if I meet someone new or read something somebody wrote, the first place I go to check them out is LinkedIn, not their web site. So I was much less adamant about a web site’s importance.

But, as I thought about it later, I realized the benefit of a web site is not just in the information found there. Its existence says something about the site owner’s commitment to their own business.

I can set up a new LinkedIn profile in an hour. A web site, even a simple one, takes time. Just choosing and buying a custom URL (mycompany.com) and setting up an associated email address requires a much deeper dive.

If you’ve gone through the steps to produce a web site for your business, the message you are sending is, “I’m in this for real.” To a prospective client, that’s valuable information.

[Note: If you are using a Gmail or similarly free address service as your business email, you are likewise sending a signal to prospective clients. And it’s not a good one.]

#2. Your LinkedIn Profile

You could probably take a six-week course on the best way to set up a LinkedIn profile and still not know everything. But here are just two things worth thinking about…

Consistency.

LinkedIn provides the opportunity to lay out your entire work history, all the way back to when you covered the late shift in college as a cook at IHOP. But you are under no obligation to list everything.

Instead, your goal is to tell a story. And the story is simply this: “I’m the most qualified person on Earth to do what I do.”

So toss out the things that are irrelevant (even if impressive), and do your best to showcase what you have done that supports whatever you now sell.

It’s not going to be perfect. But lots of extraneous experiences are just distractions to those who are trying to decide whether you are worth talking to.

Recommendations.

These are powerful; they show prospective clients that other people have had positive experiences working with you.

You may not yet have a lot of client work to highlight. But you’ve worked with and for all kinds of people. Take the time to ask these people to write something for you and get it posted.

As you get more and more client experience, keep tapping those happy people for some kind words about you. Unlike children, there is no limit to how many you want.

Bottom Line

Choosing which professional to hire is not science. And hiring anyone always feels risky.

Once your prospective clients can check off the essentials of experience, credentials, and certifications needed, it quickly turns into a game of “How does this feel?”

And while you can’t control everything, it’s worth making sure you’ve paid attention to the things you can.

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Discussion Questions:

1. When was the last time a plumber came to your house?
2. How many children do you think is too many?
3. Do you have a company web site?

Share your answers below…