For some reason the Rockwell song from the 80's is blasting through my head as I write this.  'I always feel like, somebody's watching me, and I have no privacy.'

This isn't my first time at the entrepreneur rodeo.  In fact, I've been here many times.  I'm also not one of those perpetual starters who never finishes.  I have sold several of the companies I have started.  However, each start comes with another challenge of having to prove I am fully capable of being in that ring.

Life is about evolving, and you should be doing the same in business (just like I talked about yesterday).  So if you started the same business over and over again, it just wouldn't be interesting.

And even when you think you have proven yourself enough, you discover more people who don't know who the hell you are, let alone your product and service, and they're not going to buy in immediately.

It's frustrating because you know (and I knew) you may have the best of whatever...

he Entrepreneur Summit was created because I was getting sick of waiting for someone to create the type of event that I wanted to attend.    I love Dallas but found many of the events featured the same speakers.  I wanted different, and I wanted to connect the start-up and small business communities.

I had two choices when I created this business.

1. I could play it safe and put little money on the line and do what everyone else was doing.
2. I could put the money down for an event that I wanted (while still being conservative, mind you), but create the event that I saw was needed.
   I met with hotels and started setting a budget and was shocked at how quickly things added up.  As I made a list of potential speakers, I thought why not go for the mac daddy of Dallas Entrepreneurs with Mark Cuban.  I reached out to his agent and learned his fee is $150,000.

I had to take it down a notch, but things were still adding up quickly.

When it was all said and done, my...

I have to apologize for pretty much disappearing over the last three months.  In a few other posts I talked about grabbing onto the things that terrify you and trying something new.  To knock out one my biggest fears in 2016, I decided to take on an event.  Of course in Erin fashion, I couldn't take on a standard event.  I had to go big.  Originally, the idea was to have it be an extension of The Starters Club, but as I worked through the target market, I realized I had to make this its own company.

What I thought would be a great side project, turned into becoming a beast of a business.  I want to get real with you for just a minute because as I lay out all the great things that have happened after the event, I want you to realize that there were days when it felt like extreme hell getting there.  I cried.  I cried a lot.  I literally sent emails about a month before the event to friends half-joking, asking if I could quit.

'Why', you...

It's great to think grand.  After all, as Donald Trump once said: As long as you are going to be thinking anyway, think big.  (This by no means is linked to my political affiliation.)

However, when starting a business, although it's great to think big, and big is needed for long-term goals, starting out simple will get you where you need to go, faster.

There are many moving parts in a business, and even with the best research and mentor in the world, there will be parts you didn't even know were there until you need to deal with them.  The further you stretch yourself, and the more you're trying to juggle, the harder it is going to be for you to gain momentum.  Here are three different perspectives of your business where simplicity is going to be the best decision you can make.

1. Your product or service.  I speak from experience on this one as I tried to get really extravagant with my product offerings.  If someone said they needed it, I...

This one is a bit heavy on my heart today because as I prepare my taxes for 2015, I have a giant write-off from a company I invested in several years back.  Long story short, I should have known better.  However, I made a pretty big rookie investor mistake.

I invested in a product versus a person.

That may not make a whole lot of sense.  After all, it's the product that will be purchased, and it's the product that the whole company is based around.  But what I learned was that even with the greatest of products, if a person behind the scenes isn't willing to work, your product is worthless.

I saw the signs, but I chose to turn the other cheek.  I thought the product would rise above the mess, but it never did.  Now I will never see that money, or the promised return.  I just owe a little less on my taxes.

A similar topic was brought up this morning at a networking event.

How do you get people to buy into your product or service when you're just...

Shalon Ironroad helps people get organized and prepared to hire someone to start helping in their business.

When you realize that you’re ready to finally make that leap and hire someone to help you take some things over, what are some steps you can take to get yourself ready?   The biggest mistake people usually make is to not make a plan before hiring.  Delegation is a huge fear for a lot of people, and people think it’s something that they need to get over.  However, there’s a reason why you’re hesitant, and you need to get over that in order before you hire.

There are usually two types of people who hire a VA.  The first is someone is so out of control and overwhelmed, and they need someone to come in and really help get things straight and more organized.  The second is someone who has their systems in place, and they’re ready to take on extra projects and just need a person to come in and take over so they can do...

Yes, we're right now right smack dab in the middle of the holidays, and I will say this week, right now is by far my most favorite time of the year.  This is a moment when a big old reset button is allowed with no questions asked.  This week is where it all begins, the set-up of changes, upgrades, and newness that comes with a new year.

It's a time to look back and see what worked well, and see what didn't work at all.  That's what I always tell my clients and students that business really is; just doing more of what works and less of what doesn't, and repeating.  It's really not that hard of a formula.

So this is the week when we decide what's going to be on our agenda for 2016. If you read my post from a few weeks ago, I challenged you to take on something that really scares you.  That freaks you out.  Something you knew that was going to push the needle, but you have been avoiding it for fear of the unknown, and the fact that you didn't have all...

This is probably the cheesiest stock photo I could find.  However, it really does describe how I felt today, and how I tell so many people to analyze a decision that's on the horizon.

Today I was sick to my stomach, and felt like I was 10 years old all over again.  I felt like wanted to throw up, then wanted to eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard, but I didn't, then wanted to go in the corner in the fetal position.

Yes, this is extremely dramatic, but today I finally pulled the plug on a decision I had been toying with for a while, I signed the contract and started making speaker payments for my first ever event.

2015 was a year of knocking out things I didn't have experience with, speaking and selling from the stage, writing and publishing my first book, and putting together a few more courses.  All of these things seemed so daunting and impossible just 12 short months ago, but now they're all a piece of cake, relatively speaking.  So you're right, it's not like I can...

Yep, I did a little podfading, which I'm not happy with myself about.

However, I explain in this podcast, about why it happened.  How I hit a breaking point, and why you may need to start taking just a little bit more care of yourself.

I also give a little insight into what's coming for 2016!

You find someone who has a similar audience, you love their message, and you think dang, we need to work on something together.  You reach out to them, they love the idea, you love the idea, you put together a course, and all is rainbows and puppies.

But then something goes wrong.....

Now what?  You're not officially in a business partnership because this course or event was created on a handshake.

• Who is responsible?
• Who gets the list of attendees?
• Who is liable?

All of a sudden all of these questions come up, and you're left trying to figure them out far too late in the game.

Yes, even affiliate marketing is an incredible way to build your business.  However, you should set yourself up so you're protected and planning.  So just in case if something goes wrong, you're covered.

Tamsen and I had been asked to cover this topic, and I was excited because I think it's really an important one.

We talk about:

• What to think about before you jump into something...