Online Business Blog — erica.biz — Erica Douglass teaches you how to start and grow an online business!

Imagine waking up every morning and feeling like you have been hit by a freight train. You take naps throughout the day, but to no avail — you feel worse when you wake up than when you went to sleep! Every time you eat, no matter what you eat, you feel as if you’re slipping into a coma.

It’s hard to concentrate for more than a few seconds; writing anything more than two sentences is almost too much effort. You can’t remember anything and begin to slip on making appointments because your brain is so foggy. You find yourself constantly glancing at your calendar for fear you have missed another appointment. You are invited to social events, but can’t muster the energy to go. Even taking a 20-minute walk makes you feel like you need another nap. (more…)

My journey through Silicon Valley has come to an end. Now, I relive it for you, including full details of some harrowing experiences I haven’t yet shared publicly, and explain what’s next.

The Beginning

In August, 1999, a few months after I graduated from high school and having just turned 18, I packed my car full of everything I owned and drove to the promised land — California.

I was young and naive. I moved from a small farm town in Indiana to smack in the middle of a huge, 1-million-person-plus city (San Jose) and chose to live in the dorms at San Jose State, where, needless to say, I stuck out like a sore thumb. (more…)

Web site copywriting secrets; how to get your
web site visitors to buy.What’s the difference between web sites where visitors buy products consistently — and web sites where visitors don’t buy at all?

Many times, it’s not your product, price, or site design that make your visitors whip out their credit cards. Instead, your web site’s copywriting — the words used on your site — make all the difference. (more…)

Which cash back rewards credit cards are worth it?When I started my search for a cash back rewards credit card several months ago, there was a bevy of cards available, each seemingly offering something better than the next.

I ended up picking up a Chase Freedom rewards credit card, which offered 3% cash back in the 3 spending categories I used most, plus an additional $50 bonus cash back for every $200 in cash back earned. I paid off my credit card balance in full every month and benefited from thousands of dollars in rewards.

Now, due to the credit crunch, credit card companies have been tightening their purse strings. My Chase Freedom card is the latest victim. There are no more 3% bonus categories. Also, the $50 bonus when reaching $200 in cash back rewards is gone.

The bonus being nixed means my Chase Freedom card essentially becomes just like every other 1% cash back card out there. Thus, I set out on an adventure to find a new credit card that gave me better rewards. (more…)

How to choose a business.Ben writes in: “One of the issues I struggle with is focus. I have too many ideas and dilute my time pursuing several of them. What process do you use to choose which business idea you’ll run with?”

V also has a similar question: “I’d like to hear your thoughts about involving in many businesses at once. I’m mostly interested in web-based projects with a high requirement of up-front work (but not necessarily up-front money investment) and ‘passive-income’ potential.”

Instead of some boring stats and humdrum analysis, I thought the best way to show how I chose web hosting — and became successful in it — was to tell you my story.
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