website advice Tag

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!
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16 February

101+ Popular Blog Title Templates That Work (Just Fill In The Blanks!)

Erika Madden | Blogging Tips | 63 Comments

Finding great blog title ideas (and then writing one that is attention-grabbing and actually works in getting people to click) is hard! Instead of stressing, use these 101+ free blog title templates -- just fill in the blanks and voila: catchy headlines! (This post also comes with a printable booklet for free download!)

Tell me: how many times do you go to write a magnetic title for your blog post and instead come up with something so insufferably dull that it gives you honest-to-goodness nightmares?

(You get 'em, right? Those dreams where all you do all night is think about writing -- and re-writing -- the best gosh darn headline in the entire history of headlines?)

Well, whether or not writing blog titles keeps you tossing + turning all night like an scary-obsessive blogger (I wouldn't know anything about that, by the way), I think that, actually, it should.

Until you read this post and swipe all the foolproof, fill-in-the-blank headline formulas I listed for you, of course!

BUT until you do that, yes. Headline writing should preoccupy you, my friends.

Here's why:

8 out of 10 people will read your headline copy.

But on average, only 2 out of those 8 people will be interested enough to go on and read your post.

Your content could be mighty, remarkable, heroic -- more heroic than any other blog post for ~~miles~~ clicks around -- but if your blog title can't lure them in?

It just sits there.

Unread. Unappreciated. Unloved.

All that hard work, wasted.

As a blogger + someone who depends on blogging to help me make a living for my little kids and I, that depresses me. I'm sure it depresses you, too.

That's why, above everything else you do for a blog post, it's your job to make your headlines as click-worthy as possible.

But hey, I'd prefer this task didn't give you nightmares. Like other people I know. Ahem. That's why I did the work of surveying smart, popular blogs like Hubspot, Copyblogger, Inc., etc., and created over 100 fillable blog title templates based off their most effective, compelling headlines.

The blog title formulas are easy to customize no matter what...

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 | 50 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...

27 July

91+ Outrageously Helpful Blog Posts That Will Make You A Better Blogger + Biz Owner

Erika Madden | Blogging Tips, Business Tips, Resources | 39 Comments

91+ of the best blog posts out there to help you launch your online brand, blog successfully, market yourself on social media, deal with clients + customers, and more!

If you have Too Many Open Browser Tabs Syndrome you're not going to like me for this post (as a fellow sufferer I know the struggle is real, so I hope you can forgive me) -- but I promise, there is so much insane usefulness here if you want to:

start blogging (for hobby or biz)
improve the blog/website you already have
start or grow your email list
use social media like a #boss
become the overall smartest online business owner, entrepreneur, solopreneur, infopreneur, etc.

So, despite the fact you're going to have 91+ tabs open to check out all the stellarness (just made that word up, thanks), what I'm saying is this: you're going to be grateful you did, my good friend.
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19 June

The Epic 21 Day Brand Impressions Detox for Digital Business Owners

Erika Madden | Blogging Tips, Business Tips, Reputation, Resources | 53 Comments

Making an A+ first impression online is so important as a small business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur! This free email course is out of this world helpful in improving your website + social media accounts so that you look credible + professional to potential clients and customers.

Hello again, friends. :) Since absence makes the heart grow fonder, I just know that right about now you consider me your greatest online love.

This month marks the Olyvia.co 1 year birthday -- wild, right?! -- and to celebrate with you I wanted to create something cool + helpful you could use to refresh your blog + social media accounts + brand reputation (and look 10x more pro online).

So, for the last 2.5 weeks I've been buried in InDesign + Illustrator + Mailchimp working (fun, but I missed you!) -- and what I came up with is this:

A 21 day free detox for your brand's online spaces.

(Henceforth known as "The 21 Day Brand Impressions Detox" -- because I like to make things sound all official like that.)

It's for new and intermediate level bloggers, freelancers, creative business owners, coaches & consultants, solopreneurs, and anyone with a personal brand online who wants to:

1. Make certain that their online presence screams "modern" and "professional" -- not "dated" or "amateur"

2. Do a serious, effective cleaning of their digital spaces so things look bright + clean, not dull or junky

3. Get a (virtual) kick in the derrière to take their brand up a notch, and have some laughs along the way (totally at my expense, I assure you)

Here's how to get started:
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