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

What if you had a secret mind-reading device that grabbed thoughts out of your potential customers’ heads and told you exactly what they would pay for that you could create?

That would be pretty awesome…wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, such a device doesn’t exist (at least as far as I know!) However, you can get pretty close to reading potential customers’ minds with the two methods I describe below…and if you’re anything like most business owners, you’ve probably never tried either one of these. Use both, and you may just be unstoppable… (more…)

I’ve been working like mad on my new startup, BestBlogs.net. My goal is to release a (very) beta version at South by Southwest in Austin, TX later this week.

Meet me at SXSW

Speaking of South by Southwest, I’ll be there all week for Interactive! Will I see you there? I’m not organizing a meetup or speaking–you will mostly be able to find me in the blogger’s lounge. Stop by and meet me, get a sneak peek at my startup, and generally hang out.

Hope to see you there!

Or…meet me at IMPACT!

After SXSW, I come back home to San Diego, where I’ll be a panelist at the IMPACT conference. IMPACT is put on by Ken McArthur, who is one of the most genuinely nice marketers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you’re going to be around 3/19-3/21, stop by–it’s only $97 for the whole weekend, and you will get to meet some Internet business greats.

IMPACT is a great place to get your Internet business questions answered, meet with other entrepreneurs, and interact with a great group of people. (more…)

“Pfft. That’s been done before.”

If I had to count the phrase that has killed more interesting business ideas than any other, “That’s been done before” would be it.

Ironically, it may also be the phrase that will make your business hugely successful…with one caveat. (more…)

Read this post, and in just 10 minutes, you’ll have created your own survey for your customers or readers! Better yet, you will save hundreds of dollars, as you will likely never pay for an online survey tool again…

It used to be, if you wanted to survey your customers or readers, you would have to pony up some hard-earned dollars for a paid online survey tool. In fact, many of these tools carry a monthly fee, and some don’t easily let you export your data–holding you (and your survey results!) hostage. That is no longer the case. (more…)

I’ve received lots of emails and Twitters with your questions, comments, and thoughts about this blog, and I sincerely appreciate them all. I know that there are thousands of you subscribed and reading, so I wanted to give each of you the opportunity to tell me what you want. (more…)