[Reposted due to database problem]

In my early-morning plan-my-week surfing, I came across a marketing/computer website (yes, both at once) with decent content, but no indication of who the person is who's running the show.

A note on the homepage lets me know that the person has been watching the Internet expand and has a background in computers. (Both of which don't tell me how he or she will help me with my extremely specific computer issue, but that's another blog post entirely.)

But there's no picture of the person (whoever he or she is) on the homepage, nor is there an About Us page to give me the opportunity to find out more.

Now, I'm the last to advocate putting a lot of time and focus on an About Us page -- but when dealing with a small business on the Web, I (the hesitant prospect who's seen a lot of Internet scams and is very, very wary), I want to know names, faces, backgrounds.

Are you showing your prospects and customers who you are? Not just on your website, but also in your other materials.

If hungry prospects are actually seeking out info on who you are, it's a sign they might be convinced to buy. (Active prospects are literally trying to give you business.) But you've got to give them the opportunity to see who you are and why they should trust you.