I was helping a friend out with her business recently…giving her some advice and coaching on pricing. She is setting up a workshop to teach others how to start a business in her niche. I felt her price for the workshop was too low, and told her so.

Her response: “Well, these people are just starting out…they don’t have a whole lot of money, right?”

I replied: “Be careful. Don’t write the story for your potential customers.”

What Does “Writing the Story” Mean?

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A product roadmap helps you figure out
where your business is going.Amy asked, in a recent comment, “Do you have a plan on how not to overwhelm yourself promoting 10 products after they are all launched? Thinking of your 10 separate products reminds me of the traditional business advice of only focusing on one start-up at a time. Do you think it’s better to launch 10 products that perform ‘ok’ as opposed to 1 product that performs great?”

Great question, Amy! I’ve shared my goal about creating 10 products in 2010, but I haven’t talked much about how they all fit together… (more…)

oDesk review from a real user. Does oDesk work? I wrote about how to outsource around-the-house tasks earlier, but many of you (including, most recently, Christine) wanted more detail on how to outsource jobs that can be done online.

I’ve definitely had success outsourcing jobs online. In this blog post, I’ll show you which tasks I recommend you outsource, how much you can expect to pay, and where to find good workers. When you’ve read this post, you can immediately take action and start taking some work off your own shoulders. (more…)

Last month, I made $4,795.76 as a direct result of blogging here at erica.biz. Today, I break it down, so you can see where every penny I made came from, which promotions were most successful, and what you can do right away to boost your blog’s income.

At the end of every month, I tally up all my various income sources. I noticed a hugely interesting pattern when I looked at the difference between January, February, and March: (more…)

What if you didn’t need more money to live the life you want? What if you could live on less, spend less time on your business, and still be happy?

This is the founding principle behind “lifestyle design”–a term that has become popular since Tim Ferriss released his book Four Hour Work Week. The idea behind a “lifestyle business” is to grow a business that sustains your daily lifestyle while allowing you the time freedom you need to pursue what interests you.

Here’s what my optimal “lifestyle design plan” looks like: (more…)