When a Stranger Told Everyone I Faked My $50K Business
The moment she showed me the real secret to growing online
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Last week, someone left this comment on one of my posts:
“You’re lying. There’s no way you make $50K from your writing business.”
I stared at it. My first instinct? Fire back. Defend myself. Prove every penny. My chest tightened. Not because of the comment — but because it echoed a voice I know too well: the one that whispers, ‘Maybe they’re right.’
But before I could type a word, one of my subscribers jumped in:
“Actually, Derek’s helped me loads. I’ve seen his stuff work.”
That’s when it hit me. This isn’t about one comment. It’s about the climate we’re living in online. Where everyone’s selling something. Everyone’s performing. Everyone’s skeptical.
That comment wasn’t hate. It was a symptom.
We don’t live in a troll-filled world. We live in a trust-deficit world. And if you want people to follow you, subscribe to you, or pay you…
You’re not doing enough to build trust.
Why everyone’s skeptical
The biggest mistake I see writers make?
They assume people trust them. They assume people believe them. But they don’t. Readers are cautious for a reason. They’ve seen too many fake claims, too many “six-figure coaches,” too many promises that led nowhere.
So they hold back.
And so do you. You don’t want to sound salesy. You don’t want to push yourself. I get it. But here’s the truth: you’re not promoting yourself — you’re helping people.
And the only way to help them is to prove you’re credible, trustworthy, and real.
I used to wrestle with that myself.
For months, I’d downplay results, skip the good stories, avoid sharing wins. Afraid I’d sound full of myself. My early attempts to sell looked like me tiptoeing through a field of eggshells… with a PayPal link.
But I’ve learned something that changed everything:
Sharing truthfully isn’t bragging. It’s being transparent. Because people don’t buy from perfection. They buy from people they believe. I get messages every week asking, ‘But is this real?’ I used to take it personally. Now I see it as part of the job.
So how do you build that belief?
Here are the three trust signals that make readers stop doubting — and start buying in.
Pillar #1 – Show some proof
Want people to trust you? Show them.
Post screenshots when your workshop sells out. Share testimonials, comments, and behind-the-scenes moments. Let them see what’s real.
When I run a live masterclass, I screenshot the Zoom screen. When I release a new product, I release the sales figures. When someone emails me ‘This course has finally got me writing consistently’ I share it.
Those details aren’t flexes. They’re proof.
Proof isn’t about flexing. It’s about removing doubt so people can accept your help. They show that what I teach works in the wild. You don’t need to post every number or brag about every sale. But if you never show any proof, people will quietly wonder if there’s anything real behind the curtain.
Trust starts when you open the door.
Pillar #2 – Be usefully right
The fastest way to earn trust isn’t to be loud.
It’s to be useful. Share advice that works—deeply, practically, and repeatedly. Not recycled Twitter platitudes. Not “mindset hacks.” When readers try your ideas and get results, that’s when belief forms.
When I shared how I’ve built a whole business around my monthly masterclasses. I didn’t hold back or theorise. I just showed what really worked. How one live session becomes a post, a product, and an income stream that keeps stacking. And when readers messaged me saying it’d really helped them, that’s when it hit me. Usefulness is the real credibility.
Be right in a way that helps people. That’s the quiet power move.
Pillar #3 – Stop hiding behind perfect
People don’t trust brands. They trust humans.
The ones who tell the truth. Who share the doubts, the detours, the messy middle. When I told my readers I wasn’t sure I was worth paying for — that coaching felt like charging for air — I figured people would bail.
Instead, 4 hit subscribe. And one even paid me.
Or how Veronica Llorca-Smith taught how to grow without the sleaze. How selling can feel generous, not grimy. Embarrassing to admit I’d ever tried it any other way. But that post brought in two new paid subscribers.
Because trust isn’t built through polish. It’s built through proximity. Through letting people see who you actually are.
Turns out, the posts that scared me most to publish were the ones that made people stay.
The real takeaway
The internet doesn’t owe you trust. You have to earn it.
You earn it through proof. Through usefulness. Through honesty. So next time someone doubts you, don’t rush to argue. Don’t screenshot their comment or spiral in frustration. Just keep showing up, helping people, and telling the truth.
Because once you earn trust, you don’t need to chase attention.
Trust is attention. The kind that lasts.
Derek
Hi Derek! This one hit deep.
When someone calls your work “fake,” it doesn’t just challenge what you do. It challenges whether you belong at all.
Here’s what I’ve learned in years of storytelling for real-estate pros: trust isn’t handed out. It’s earned.
And you earn it not by defending every accusation. But by showing up, again, and again, when no one’s watching.
By sharing the drafts, the doubts, the “half-done” you. Because real work is messy.
Real trust grows in the small stuff:
- “Here’s what I experimented with this week.”
- “Here’s what I noticed changed.”
- “Here’s what I screwed up, and here’s what I’ll try next.”
When you build that rhythm, sudden accusations are just part of the noise. They don’t stop the proof you’re quietly delivering.
Thanks for being real enough to write this.
— Delroy A. Whyte-Hall
Founder, Whyte-Hall Communications Network | ThePRwriter
Derek, thank you so much for this article. Sometimes there are articles that you stumble upon at the right time. And this is one of them. I've been holding back so much on selling myself. Because I believe it's often such a sleazy, "I'm full of myself" approach to get attention. But what you mentioned here, that people need to trust you, before they can accept your help, for some reason it helped shift something in me. It suddenly made click. I feel I now have the confidence to promote myself more. To help others see what I'm great at. To make them understand where I can unique contribute and improve their lives. And that is something I need to share. I need to help them see what I see.