standing out Tag

06 September

Say My Name: One Surprisingly Simple Way to Have a More Popular Business Online

Erika Madden | Business Tips, Customer Service, Online Etiquette | 7 Comments

To have a more popular business online, your main priority is to make people like you. To do that, just use this quick and simple communication technique!

The one thing I am sure is fact is that the very heart of having a popular business comes down to one thing: how likeable it is to other humans.

(And likeability is all about how well you serve those humans, whether that service means a friendly reply tweet to a fan or issuing a guilt-free, retaliation-free* refund to an unhappy customer.)

* retaliation-free refund: a refund in which you do not then take to social media or your email list and begin ranting about "This One Customer," your rights + philosophies as a business owner, and how people generally need to get into line if they want to enjoy the privileges of buying from you.

But does it ever seem to you that, sometimes, the "how" behind delivering better service to people can sound like a complicated, tiresome chore?

I have to be honest. I sometimes feel that way.

(It usually happens when people start talking "systems" and "comprehensive client retention strategies." At that point my nowhere-close-to-Type-A personality becomes a small, weary puddle of discouragement.)

I am of the personal conviction that business is done better when it is done with more simplicity. So, today I'd like to give you a simple exercise that is so small and so straightforward that it takes NO planning, NO monetary investment, and NO big effort, yet still has a surprisingly profound effect on the likeability + popularity of your brand.

Here it is:...

06 January

Prep Your Brand For 2017 With These 5 Seriously Smart Actions

Erika Madden | Business Tips, Classy Marketing, Customer Service | 4 Comments

Prepare your brand for 2017 by taking these smart steps to improve your social media profiles, audit your website, deliver better customer service, and more!

No matter what kind of business we run or blog we have, there is one universal truth among all of us: we all want more people to swoon over our brand.

Whether that means more social media followers or just more sales (though it's likely both!), we can spend a crazy number of hours searching for "the latest and greatest" way to market ourselves and make ourselves attractive to people. I've definitely done it, and I'm willing to hazard a guess that you have, too.

The problem is, "the latest and greatest" isn't always the best. And sometimes the info we get can be awfully flashy, skeazy, or downright ineffective.

Today I'd like to share with you 5 solid tips from my own experience in online business that will immediately have a positive impact on your brand for the upcoming year. These tips are simple, and yet will help you look more professional and be more likeable -- so that you can achieve more of your brand goals in 2017.

(For you maybe that means making more money, reducing customer churn, obtaining more speaking opportunities, winning more recognition, making more relationships, or _________. Whatever it is, doing all of the following can seriously, and perhaps surprisingly, impact what you achieve this year.)

I invite you to try them out!
...

10 December

The “Secret” Trick to Delivering Consistent Customer Service as an Online Business Owner

Erika Madden | Business Tips, Customer Service | 10 Comments

The "secret" to consistent customer service online! This trick is used by big politicians + successful companies to wow their customers EVERY time -- and it's ideal for busy solo business owners, too! Implement it and you'll be faster + better at giving people the customer experience they hope for with your biz.

When I was a Journalism major back in college, I did something unspeakable.

I decided I wanted to work in the White House.

(I blame it all on Allison Janney and The West Wing. She made political work look like an irresistible adventure.)

This slight detour in my education landed me a coveted internship for one of the U.S. Senators for my state. Among a collection of rather mundane duties (checking the mail, collecting press clippings, gossiping with the chief of staff's assistant), I was responsible for one extraordinary thing:

Responding to hundreds of constituent letters.

In the Senator's name.

How did I do this? I could put a sentence together as well as anybody (or so I thought), but something as significant as a politician's official correspondence would not be left to chance.

These letters also had to be written quickly; there was no time to agonize over tone, massage adjectives, and then recruit a higher-up to edit for accuracy + political correctness.

The trick? A script database. A big one.
...

28 October

Delight: The Digital Biz Owner’s Guide To Creating A Pro Client + Customer Service Plan (A Workbook)

Erika Madden | Business Tips, Customer Service, E-Books, Reputation | 9 Comments

The complete guide to creating a customer service plan for your small business. Delight: The Digital Biz Owner's Guide To Creating A Pro Client + Customer Service Plan is for creative business owners, freelancers, Etsy shop owners, and entrepreneurs who want to get more clients + buyers + forever fans by delivering heroic service.

A long time ago (32 weeks, to be exact) in places far away (that would be Twitter, Instagram, + Facebook), I posed a question.

It went a little like this:

After a lot of studious tallying by candlelight into the wee hours of the morning (not really), the answer was resoundingly clear.

"Create #2!" the masses cried.

It was a happy day, as you might imagine. (Oh, if all our future business plans could be so obvious.) But today? Oh today, my friends, is even happier.

That's because Delight: The Digital Biz Owner's Guide To Creating A Pro Client + Customer Service Plan is finally here. (And I can't wait for you to see it.)

What are the details of this one-of-a-kind workbook? Let me show you:
...

22 October

Winning Trust: 50 Proven Ways to Make Your Business Look Professional Online

Erika Madden | Blogging Tips, Business Tips, Classy Marketing, Customer Service | 40 Comments

Use this heroic list of 50 proven ways to make your business look professional online to boost your brand cred and be more successful. The tips here will help you be a trusted, respected authority online, meaning you get the followers you want and the clients + customers you need.

You've figured it out by now.

If you want to be successful (read: get followers + make money to pay your bills) in business online, it's not enough to simply have a website.

It's not enough to simply put up some services or products.

It's not enough to simply post on some social media accounts.

You can have ALL those things -- and still barely get noticed.

And while you no doubt get that, it's still frustrating. That's because while you know that it does take more, chances are that you're simply not sure what that "more" is.

Does it take gobs of money? Friends in high places? A whiz partner helping in the background?! Or maybe $20,000 worth of e-courses + masterminds?!?!

Let's all take a collective cleansing breath, because I'm happy to tell you that NO: it does not require a single one of the above.

(If I can be a little bit personal with you guys here, I'll tell you that I myself had none of those things that I just listed when I started Olyvia.co. The truth is, I had just left my destructive marriage, was living alone and on food stamps + Medicaid with three young children I had to care for full-time, had absolutely ZERO business connections because I had been a stay-at-home-mom for the past seven years [blogging + doing mostly free freelancing in my spare time], and could not afford to buy a single e-course or mastermind "opportunity.")

What it takes, more than anything, is to make the right impression.

In part 1 of the #heroicbrand series, I taught you all about making an impression through relationships. In part 2, you learned to build a reputation for yourself via the quality of content you put out into the world. Today, in part 3, we're going to take it a step further: You're going to learn the 50 exact...

02 October

The Extra-Heroic Guide to Writing Remarkable Blog Posts

Erika Madden | Blogging Tips, Business Tips | 51 Comments

The extra-heroic guide to writing remarkable blog posts: what makes a blog post valuable to your audience, attracts new readers, and makes your brand strong online. Comes with free worksheets and TONS of tips! Visit Olyvia.co for more.

When you think of a #HeroicBrand in your life and the blog they keep -- the blog that helps you genuinely improve your business, or your blog, or your fitness, or your cooking, or your hobbies, or anything else that's important to you -- what comes to mind?

What is it about it that makes it so darn valuable?

Why do you follow it, refer to it, and tell your friends about it -- over and above most of the other blogs out there?

There's no doubt that a good blog includes many things: a blogger who is dedicated to being responsive, kind, and helpful, an attractive + distinct "voice," eye-catching photos + graphics, clean design, and so on. Those all are sure to make your list.

But a terrific blog -- a blog that stands out from the crowd and earns an ever-growing + loyal audience -- has another unique quality all its own:

It provides specific, in-depth, remarkable content that people can use to immediately accomplish goals or fix problems in their life.

In short, it's not just a pretty place, a warm fuzzies place, or a mildly interesting place.

It's a worthwhile place. It serves people.

That's why you + a throng of others keep coming back to it, right? It's not just a narcissistic, "look at what I'm eating for dinner!" project on the part of the blogger...