This week I’m grouping together several broad topics with one point: establishing credibility.

One of the keys to building a great company and raising investment is too seem credible in the eyes of customers, partners, and of course investors.

Patrick and I started Collar Free with a business plan and 15 years of combined business experience. The challenge we faced is that we had not built a company and/or sold one. So the question of execution has always been raised. We knew we could execute but “show me” was a common response from investors.

So we have not only continued to prove it through metrics, but also by establishing our credibility online and through other publications and each time the response gets better. Also when someone google’s Collar Free, Jimmy Hendricks, or Patrick Dillon we show up in articles and because of the personal blogs we write.

This week our political competition was covered by Impressions Magazine. Also we received confirmation from David Silver with Santa Fe Capital that we will be in his new book, ”The Social Network Business Plan” being released Feb 2009.

CollarFree’s name appears frequently, because the book is mostly about review, rank and recommend. Chapter one has 18 revenue channels. There is one more another few chapters in, and it’s that consumer brands will start to use social networks to  have the social networks shape, package, name and price the new brand they are launching. ~ David

So my tips this week are to be an active participant in what you read. Everytime you read a great article, leave a comment or shoot the author an email. When you read a good book do the same. Send the author an email and ask a few follow up questions. Everyone loves compliments and insight from their readers.

If you want to build credible PR, build relationships, don’t just ask for favors.

If you have a great story, you will get covered and will have a greater chance at securing funding even in a tough market.