How to Create Your Ethics Statement and Why You Need One
Reading Time: 5 minutes 
Do you live by your principles? Is how you run your business based on those very same guideposts? If someone were to ask you what principles you run your business by, would you, without hesitation, have a concise and enthusiastic answer for them?
prin⋅ci⋅ples
a guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct: a person of principle.
If you read my post, How to E-E-A-T Your SEO, I discuss how your trustworthiness contributes to your business’s website and overall perception. Since then, I have received several emails asking how to accomplish that.
Mission Statement vs. Ethics Statement
You can also have a Mission Statement. Your Mission Statement is generally a couple of sentences stating your primary core ethic clearly and concisely. However, your Ethics Statement allows you to go one step further and explain how that Mission Statement came to be and how you will back it up.
Why have an ethics/trust statement on your website? Because it allows you to share in detail what you feel is vital to those considering doing business with you and what they can count on. That’s called a win-win!
Over the years, I have found that many who want to start an online business to earn additional income or supplement their current income have no baseline of principles that should guide them. Instead, they just want to make money.
New business owners do not realize that having a written ethics statement on their website and backing that up can separate them from the competition, which will contribute to their long-term success.
My Code of Ethics
I have always posted My Code of Ethics for all to view. My Ethics Statement is a declaration about how I run my business. If you want to work with me and read that page, you will know what I stand for. I note what I do, what can be expected, and, just as importantly, what I am unable to help with.
Once you have your trust and ethics statement, it permeates every decision. So, for example, I do not use affiliate links where I can make a buck or two, to make a buck or two, unless I’ve used the product myself. (See me Affiliate Statement).
I’ve been offered some incredible deals to promote products on this site that I haven’t used, but I can’t do that because I know folks trust me to tell them the truth. So unless I’ve used it, I can’t recommend a product or service.
What is transparent about pushing a product I’ve never used or had experience with? But many onliners don’t hesitate to do so. If I use the product and it rocks, I’m all in. Otherwise, I’ll pass.
For the thirty years I’ve been doing business online, I have operated based on my stated principles every day. That one little page has also made my life a lot easier—and probably easier for folks who read it to see if their values match. You know where I stand because I take a stand on what I stand for.
You should be as transparent as possible, and you can do that by creating a statement page for your business. It puts you on the record and helps build your trust factor with those contemplating doing business with you.
Your principles must be based on the 5 Core Values—respect, honesty, integrity, ethics, and character. Sadly, too many websites feel these stated values are unnecessary or something they can disregard. To make a buck. Those websites also tend to be “here today; gone tomorrow.”
5 Core Values
Here are considerations to mull over as you create your unique statement of trust for your website:
- RESPECT: Your primary guidepost should be to respect the time and efforts of others, whether suppliers, partners, or customers. Not respecting others’ time or hard-earned dollars is a critical error in judgment.
- HONESTY: You need to be upfront and transparent about how you run your business. This includes any mistakes you will make. And you will make mistakes—we all do. You must be prepared to correct your mistakes promptly and without excuses, regardless of cost. Own it.
- INTEGRITY: You must be prepared to stick to your principles regardless of the monetary value. I’ve had many opportunities to take advantage of what clients don’t know to make more money. I could also sell products at great margins that I do not use or have confidence in. But I don’t, and neither should you. Set high standards for your promotional activities.
- ETHICS: Be ready to do what’s right regardless of the pressure, hype, or cajoling of others to do otherwise. You know when that is. We’ve all been there. Sometimes, standing against the tide is the toughest thing to do—but it can be the right thing to do!
- CHARACTER: Character is born of the four traits above. This is how you build your reputation as an honest and forthright business owner. Reputation cannot be bought; it must be earned. Every. Single. Day.
Simply enacting a Code of Ethics or a Trust Statement will not make your business successful. But you can build a trustworthy reputation by consistently living by that statement over the years.
What do you and your business stand for?
How will you know if you have crossed a line if you cannot express the values you hold when running your business? When will you know it’s time to step out and follow a different path? It’s possibly an even more profitable course.
Without the above, you are no different from all the other fly-by-nights or snake oil websites that exist purely to take advantage of or get into their customers’ pocketbooks, with business models that rarely last.
Doing what’s right because that’s how you roll, and telling everyone who wants to read it what that allows you to look yourself in the mirror at the end of each day and know you did the very best you could. By those who know you, those you work with, and most importantly yourself.
Honesty — and Flexibility
Having principles doesn’t mean you are not flexible. On the contrary, you may need to modify your ethics statement as you encounter new situations you may not have considered at its inception. But only do so when these changes uphold your stated core values.
Be open to doing that, as flexibility can lead to new opportunities. Just be sure you will live by and for those changes. The key is to be truthful and transparent and then back that up.
The key is to foment trust upfront about what is important to you and your business. Keep in mind that not everyone may agree with your statements. And that’s okay — you can’t be everything to everyone.
Now, what are you waiting for? Get your ethics statement in place!
At your service,
