A successful entrepreneur shares her thoughts on business success and failure.

Public Speaking


“Erica…delivered probably in the top 5 of talks I’ve ever seen for SaaS founders. The notes can’t do it justice but it ROFLstomps the utility of anything you’ll read on the Internet this week.”
–Patrick McKenzie (@patio11) on Hacker News

Erica at Microconf 2013
Erica at Microconf 2013 (Photo by Eric Darnell)

I started my “side business” — a web hosting company — when I was 20 years old. In a commoditized industry with over 20,000 companies competing in an often cutthroat manner, I grew my business from $0 to over $1 million per year in revenue — without taking on any investors, and while spending less than $25,000 on marketing. (My confession: Most of that $25,000 was wasted money!)

I thrive on teaching others how to create and run inspired, successful businesses. I actively engage your audience with powerful attraction techniques designed to empower and motivate everyone in the room to succeed.

In 10 minutes, I can have your audience making successful elevator pitches. I teach how to use Internet marketing and SEO techniques to build a million-dollar business, and I will show your audience how to get started in business. I even enjoy speaking about my mistakes — to ensure that no one else has to go through them.

All of my speaking gigs include plenty of time for questions so your audience leaves feeling more knowledgeable and in control. Your audience will love my energy and the nothing-held-back honesty about how I grew my business to $1 million at such a young age.

I am an excellent closer and am consistently a top performer in sales. As an event promoter, I can make you thousands of dollars by splitting product sales 50/50.

I’ve spoken at the following conferences:

  • BarCamp 2006, San Francisco (topic: Ask Any Web Hosting Question)
  • Web Builder 2.0 2006, Las Vegas (topic: Navigating the Web Hosting Maze)
  • BarCampBlock 2007, Palo Alto (topic: Ask Any Web Hosting Question)
  • HostingCon 2007, Chicago (topic: Forget the price wars! Here’s how to attract more profitable customers.)
  • She’s Geeky 2007, Mountain View (topic: Confidence)
  • Hackers Conference 2007, Santa Cruz (topic: Selling Your Business)
  • Pat O’Bryan’s UnSeminar5 2008, San Antonio (topic: How To Build a Million-Dollar Business)
  • JVAlert Live, Orlando, 2009 (Expert Panelist; “Women in Marketing”, “Social Media”)
  • Pat O’Bryan’s UnSeminar6 2009, San Antonio (topic: Turn Your Blog Into A Business)
  • Srini Saripalli’s Internet Income Summit, 2009, San Jose (topic: Turn Your Blog Into A Business)
  • JVAlertLive, San Diego, September 2009 (Expert Panelist)
  • Pat O’Bryan’s UnSeminar7, San Antonio, October 2009 (topic: The Easiest Way to Double The Value of Your Next Product)
  • Hackers Conference, Santa Cruz, November 2009 (topic: Starting A Business for Geeks)
  • StartupCircle, California State University-San Marcos, February 2010 (topic: How to Quickly Find A Huge Pile of Customers)
  • Ken McArthur’s IMPACT, San Diego, March 2010 (topic: How To Build a Million-Dollar Business)
  • UnSeminar8, June 18-20, Austin, Texas (topic: Get Clients While You Sleep)
  • San Diego WordPress users meetup, August 2010 (topic: How to Get an Avalanche of Traffic (Even If You Never Write Another Blog Post!))
  • BlogWorld Expo NYC, May 2011, New York City
  • Pat O’Bryan’s UnSeminar9, July 15-17, Austin, TX
  • StartupCircle, San Diego (June 21, 2011)
  • Women 2.0, Austin, TX, 2012
  • SXSW 2013, Austin, TX (topic: How to Find The Perfect Co-Founder)
  • Microconf 2013, Las Vegas, NV (topic: How to Measurably Move the Needle with Your Software Company)

Upcoming speaking engagements:

If you have an upcoming conference and want to bring in a dynamic, engaging speaker, please contact me.

Example: “How Sending One Email Can Make You Thousands of Dollars”

Just one of the gems I shared in front of a large audience full of Internet marketers:

Feedback:

“Erica is a great motivational speaker. How she built her company into from a small start up into a business that sold for over a million dollars is informative. Her speaking style makes the audience feel comfortable and eager to learn more.” –MJ Schrader, June 3, 2009

“Just a quick email to say thanks for the great session you did at HostingCon – Very informative and also very fun, which is what is needed in this industry just a bit more often!” -HostingCon 2007 participant

“It’s inspiring to see another young lady so accomplished. Great speaking skills and presence!” -UnSeminar5 participant

“Great talk. You have fantastic energy!” -UnSeminar5 participant

Welcome to erica.biz!

Photo of Erica Douglass

I'm Erica Douglass.
After selling my online business at age 26 for over $1 million, I created this blog to help you grow your own business quickly.

If you are motivated to change the world and want to learn from my successes (and failures!), please get my free business tips and join over 112,000 other monthly readers!

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