There is a complete disconnect between people ages 18-25 and the people who hire them (employers–that’s us!) This is a huge problem–one that we as employers need to recognize, and respect, before we lose an entire generation of young workers.

What’s Wrong With Us?

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Something has to change, because this is killing me. It’s taking over my life, and it’s slowly but surely sucking my soul away. And yet, getting rid of it may prove to be one of the most difficult feats I’ve ever attempted.

Before I tell you what it is, let me share with you a typical day in my life as of right now. I want to show you exactly what the hell is that I’m going through. (more…)

How to hire an employee. I’ve spoken a lot about hiring employees here on erica.biz, and why it’s so important to start hiring early, especially if you are just starting out and you don’t have a lot of free time to pursue your business. But many people I speak to don’t know how to hire an employee.

With this post, I’ll take hiring an employee step-by-step and show you exactly how I hired someone to help me out at home. (more…)

You’ve spent hours working on your business concept, and you’ve figured out something people will pay you for. Congratulations!

Now, you may be inclined to jump head-first into creating a business. Lured by dreams of freedom and setting your own hours, you spend all of your free time researching a name and hammering out the details of getting people to your door.

But there’s a common problem that may trip you up and cause you to work long hours for low pay (not the most exciting prospect!) Here’s a good example of how that can happen, and what you can do to avoid this situation. (more…)

“I came to South by Southwest. In a kayak.”

Tyler Tervooren and I were walking along the street toward my rental car to head out and grab the best chicken wings in town for lunch at South by Southwest.

Tyler decided to stay in a hostel directly across the river from the Austin Convention Center. And although he took the bus from the hostel to the convention center every day, he told me he envisioned renting a kayak and simply kayaking across the river. “It’s a straight shot,” he said.

While Tyler saw kayaking across the river as an interesting story, I saw it as an example of something else: something I’ve recently been completely fascinated by. I call it the 100% verbal opt-in, and I’ve lately become obsessed with documenting this phenomenon. (more…)