Reputations may seem amorphous, but they are built on simple, actions that create a foundation of trust. The basis of these actions is ethical. If you have a strong ethical sense, it will serve you well. Knowing what you will - and will not - do helps. Regardless of philosophy, there are ways to build a foundation.

Know your limits: Be honest about what you can and cannot do. Everyone wants to grow their client base but we only cause problems by promising more than we can deliver. Don't try to be all things to all people. Develop a niche and stick to it.

Be honest about you niche: If a potential client wants something that is going to require a lot of extra work from both people, say so. Tell the client it may not work or that he may have to do more than he had originally thought.

In this regard, beware of these traps:
- The enthusiasm of a client that leads you out of your niche.
- Wanting to help someone you can't.
- Being tempted by challenges.

Learn to recognize these pitfalls and avoid them. It's better to catch long-shots, insurmountable difficulties and impossible situations early than try to stretch everyone to the limit. Trying to make a bad situation work through the sheer force of will can be a humbling lesson - at best.

Have a referral base: If a client doesn't fall within your field of expertise, refer him or her to someone better suited. You may lose that particular client, but you have still helped the person, even if it's twice removed. Since people do swap names of trustworthy people, they are likely to tell their friends about you.

In a power-partnership, business people in other niches also will refer the business they can't handle to you. You will end up with more clients as a result not only of your reputation but your contacts.

Do what you say you'll do, when you say you'll do it: In today's busy world, we're all swamped. Coming through on time is one of the best ways to build a reputation for professionalism. People who realize you are reliable will trust you when you say something can be done by a certain date. Over the years, that makes all transactions easier.

This is especially true in service industries such as real estate, medical, or marketing that rely on knowledge as much as product. In these fields especially, your expertise may be superb, but if you don't follow through on time it won't matter how great you are.

Use the 24-hour rule: Return calls and voice mail within 24 hours. Conventional wisdom says an efficient person never touches a piece of paper twice because the person acts on it immediately. Save yourself time and energy by doing as much as you can today. Look like you are on top of situations because you are. Conversely, if you can't keep an appointment, have the courtesy to give the person 24 hours' notice.

Make good: If something does go wrong, ask what you can do to fix it. Make sure you understand what the client wants by repeating what is said. Sometimes repeating it will also bring clarity to the person himself. At other times all the person wants is to be heard. Once he's had his say, that's all he really needs. Listen carefully to find out what the person really wants.

Be fiscally responsible: Business people are generally wary of trashing others, no matter how questionable their reputation. Instead, they will be lukewarm in their praise, which allows everyone to read between the lines and draw his or her own conclusions.

There is one exception to that rule, however. Being slow on payment or not paying at all opens the floodgates. If you stiff a vendor for services rendered, all bets are off. The word will get around. Being a scofflaw gives everyone license to say everything they've ever thought.

Making good on satisfactory services rendered is part of an implied contract. Small businesses usually can't pass the cost of bad debts to customers. Yet non payments often have a serious impact on small vendors or service providers.

A Japanese proverb says that the reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour. Once lost, you may never win a reputation back, no matter how hard you try.

Luckily, building and keeping a reputation is easy whether you base you professionalism on a strong ethical system - or a few common-sense rules.