About Erica

Hi! My name is Erica Douglass. Thank you for being a part of my community!

By writing this blog, I intend to show you how to become more successful in your life. I became financially successful at a young age, having sold my web hosting company for $1,100,000.00 at age 26. (But it wasn’t an easy road — as I talk about in The End of An Era.)

After I sold my business, many people started asking me how I became so successful. I felt I needed an answer, and I honestly wasn’t sure, so I started this blog as an exploration into how anyone could become successful.

Three Basic Factors That Make People Successful

I now believe there are three basic factors that make people successful:

• Persistence. Most people give up far too early. It usually takes at least 18 months, and sometimes much longer, for the effects of anything you start to really be felt on a large scale.
• Listening to those who matter, and tuning out those who don’t. You can safely ignore the family member who tells you you won’t ever make it, but it’s important to listen to your customer when he or she has a complaint about your service.
• Creating on a consistent basis. Emailing, Tweeting, and watching TV don’t count as “work”. Actually creating something, every single day, is how you build a fantastic business.

I write about these three principles on erica.biz often, and integrate my own personal experience as much as I can, even when my personal experience is not 100% successful.

My Personal Goals

Some of my personal goals include:

1. Make $10,000/month from writing.
2. Build a $1 million/year passive income business by the time I am 30.
3. Travel around the world (and get paid to do so–either by doing one of my favorite things–speaking and sharing my knowledge–or by getting out there and meeting people I can help.)
4. Build awareness of, and cure, Celiac disease.
5. Leave this world a better place than it was before I lived here.

Many people ask me why my goals so often revolve around money. “What would you ever do with $1 million?” they ask. Certainly, I can tell you from experience that money makes you more of who you already are; you can have a lot of money and still be depressed, sick, or lonely.

My answer is that I have big goals, and I believe those big goals require money. I believe that we create our own reality and everything in it. Having recently been diagnosed with Celiac disease, I realized I chose this path, and I determined that if I chose it, it must be for a big reason! So, with that in mind, I set an intention to cure Celiac disease. (You can read more about Celiac disease, what it is, and what symptoms Celiac sufferers have in my post Diagnosis: Celiac Disease.)

This will take money, no doubt. And $1 million a year is just a start. If I have to become a billionaire to cure Celiac disease, I will find a way!

I am here to make a huge impact on this world. I want to create excellent products, give them away or sell them to people who will find them incredibly useful, and build an information business — then use that money to make changes in the world so that we all live in a better place.

Why Many High Earners are Depressed–And the Solution

Many executives and high earners are depressed, and I understand exactly why. When you get to a point where your monthly income safely covers all of your expenses, and then some, you start wondering about bigger issues. You see, most people live in a reality where they set only personal goals. “If I had $100,000,” they say, “I would pay off my mortgage.” Okay, great. What if you could pay off your mortgage in a month, and knew that same amount would come in the next month, and the next? Here’s what happens: You get really depressed.

“What is there left to live for?” you ask. The answer is: Something far beyond yourself. It’s this pattern, I believe, that encourages huge earners like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to dive headfirst into philanthropy. Life, lived for yourself in an ego state, quickly becomes indulgent and meaningless. Why do so many executives work so hard and have no life? Because they fear the emptiness that confronts them when they arrive home.

The solution is not to make less money. The solution is to make your life more meaningful. That’s what I’m here to show you — by example.

I will show you how to build an online business and automate your income — through my own trial, error, and eventual success. I will also work through your money blocks with you so you stop fearing earning more. And finally, I will encourage you to make wise money choices so that you can use the bulk of your money to change the world.

Your Next Step: Take Action!

I would really appreciate it if you sign up for my free business tips. Not only do I have a ton of free goodies for you when you sign up (including a whopper 62-page ebook), but I will deliver excellent content to you every single week.

I encourage you to take action and follow through with your dreams–however large they may be!

Thank you for reading.