As Toolman said, there isn't a very good answer other than the cliche. Once you gain a reputation (which is built slowly, over time), you're able to begin to have more and more success. For example, my hosting company had the same response from one of the communities online but now we're doing better hosting business with them than anywhere else. We've gotten a few dedicated servers hosted because our reputation (albeit in a very small group of people at this point) has become solid.

It just takes time and continued effort.