My 2¢ Worth

t is with great pleasure that I bring you another exclusive interview this week. Today we have Linda Offenheiser visiting with us.

inda provides one of the more unique and valuable services on the Web, writing web site copy. This is a great thing for those of us who simply can't write. The words on your web site subliminally convey a message to your potential customers. It is with those words that they will decide whether to purchase from you or move on to your competitor's site.

f your web site's copy is sub-standard, I suggest you contact Linda. Visit her web site, Stress-Free Copy.

inda doesn't have a photo available and rather than hold up the interview, decided I should just publish without her photograph. Linda says, "Your readers will just have to wonder what I look like! I'll be a 'woman of mystery'!"

ithout further ado I bring you the mystery woman!

Feature Article

Special Interview

with Linda Offenheiser Stress-Free Copy

My name is Linda Offenheiser and I live in north central Michigan. I grew up in a small town, lived most of my adult life in one large city or another and now I'm back to being a small-town gal again. The area where my husband and I live is very scenic and quiet ~ a good place to get in touch with things that really matter. I love taking long walks with my two Labrador retrievers; it gives me a chance to get the cobwebs out and focus on something other than work. It's also a great way to just enjoy nature and to gain a little different perspective on life.

My husband, Dave and I have been married for almost 24 years and we have a combined family of five grown children and six (the seventh due in January) grandchildren. We also have two labs, Chessie and Casey, who are important members of the family.

For as long as I can remember words have played an important part in my life, either writing them or reading them. I love to do both. I guess it was natural that I would end up making my living with them and I love doing it! I've been marketing on the Internet for a little over a year and, with my copy writing service, have finally found the niche where I'm comfortable and productive.

Web Sm@rts: Thanks for doing this interview with us Linda.

Linda: Ed, it really is my pleasure.

Web Sm@rts: Could you give us your background? How did you get started in writing?

Linda: I started out as an English and Journalism major at Michigan State University. However, after leaving school during my senior year to get married, it didn't take me long to discover that there wasn't much I could do in that field that would actually earn me money unless I wanted to teach - which I didn't. So when I went back to school - many years later - I changed my major to Business and Marketing which is what I actually hold my degree in. I've worked primarily in public relations and advertising.

As far as writing is concerned - I can't remember a time when I wasn't writing! Even in grade school a friend and I wrote plays and short stories - they were really terrible! But I did win a Gold Key in the Detroit News essay-writing contest when I was in high school. I loved all of my creative writing classes in college and have always kept a journal - not so much to record what's happening in my life but as a way to keep those creative juices flowing! Of course, most of my work involved writing in one form or another; from writing newsletters and annual reports to ad copy.

Web Sm@rts: I think your Web site, Stress-Free Copy, provides a wonderful service. How do you come up with the right words for you clients? What I mean is everybody's different and they have different needs. I assume you have to do quite a bit of research before you begin the actual writing.

Linda: A lot of the research I do concerns the clients themselves. It's important to know my client - I need to know what they're like as people, what their motivations and goals are, how they came to be involved in whatever they're promoting. If I know these things I can personalize their sales copy and get their feelings across rather than mine. I do have to research the topic of the copy, of course, but that's the easy part. Facts are facts and anyone can write them down. The hard part is deciding the approach that's needed to make them appealing to the target market.

Web Sm@rts: Do you write ad copy as well as copy for Web sites?

Linda: Oh yeah, I probably write more ad copy than I do for websites. Ad copy is harder for most people to write because you have such a limited amount of space to get your message across. Therefore, each word you choose is much more important and has greater impact. The shorter the ad, the more difficult it is to write effectively.

Web Sm@rts: What mistake(s) were you making at the start that you later realized you were holding you back?

Linda: Gee Ed, where would you like me to start? No seriously, I think we all make mistakes as we go but that's really okay because, hopefully, we learn from each of them. The biggest mistake I made was trying to fit myself into ready-made programs and promote those. That's not to say there was anything wrong with the programs themselves, there wasn't. It's just that they weren't personal enough for me; I had a hard time making them mine and really caring about them. I invested a lot of time and money in programs for which I just had no passion. It wasn't enough for me and it showed in my lack of dedication to them.

Web Sm@rts: When did you start using the Internet regularly and why?

Linda: I didn't use the Internet regularly until a little over a year ago. At first I used it primarily to learn about new things, to entertain myself and to keep in touch with family and friends. I'd reached a point in my life where I needed a new challenge and decided that as long as I was spending so much time online I might as well try and earn some money at it. That was when I got involved with the downline clubs and affiliate programs.

Web Sm@rts: How did you decide that you wanted to start your own Internet business?

Linda: As I said earlier, it all started with my involvement in "one-size-fits-all" programs. I really wasn't happy with my progress and I didn't enjoy the work I was doing. One day it dawned on me that the only thing I was really enjoying was the writing I was doing - articles for ezines and ad copy. I decided to start my own business in copy writing so I could do what I enjoyed and where I had the necessary skill. Now why it took me so long to make this decision I can't imagine. Considering my interests and my background, it should have been an obvious path to take from the beginning. Maybe I just wasn't ready, maybe I hadn't acquired enough knowledge of the Internet, or, maybe I was just plain scared to go out on that particular limb. I suppose it was a combination of all those things.

Web Sm@rts: How long did it take your Web site to start making a profit?

Linda: I was really fortunate Ed. It only took about a week before I was earning a profit. My overhead is very low - I try to keep my expenses to a bare minimum - so that helped a lot. But business started coming in almost immediately. I was really shocked by that and, of course, very pleased. Copy writing is basically a feast or famine industry - there never seems to be a happy medium in the amount of work you have. Even considering that, I've been fortunate to average a nice profit. I'm not getting rich or anything Ed, but I'm doing very well considering that my business is less than 4 months old. I've had some wonderful projects to work on and my clients have all been pleased so I'm thrilled with the way it's going.

Web Sm@rts: You also publish an E-zine, All the Write Stuff!. Could you tell us a little about that?

Linda: Now that's where I have my fun!! I've always wanted to have a creative outlet like "All the Write Stuff!" so it's really a blessing to me. I just started publishing less than a month ago but it should have been sooner. I was a little afraid to do it but there were a couple of publishers who encouraged me and helped me gain the confidence I needed. I'm so glad I did!

All the Write Stuff! is a weekly ezine and focuses on Internet marketing in general and copy writing in particular. There are some great articles from other marketers as well as a section on copy writing tips that I write. I really want ATWS to be an interactive ezine where my subscribers can have their voices heard so I've included sections to display their comments and thoughts. Each subscriber has the opportunity to submit a free ad for each issue and I have contests to reward participation with other free advertising opportunities. Each issue also contains a humor section and an inspiration/motivation section which may include an article, a quote or anything I come across that may give my subscribers a boost. There are only a few of the subs who have been very active so far but I'm hoping that as they get to know me and become more familiar with the ezine that number will increase.

Web Sm@rts: Which sites do you visit most regularly?

Linda: Aha! You want to know my vices don't you? I spend a lot of time on the ISORegister and i-Cop affiliate sites because there is so much valuable information on them that helps me with my maketing program. I also like the Newbie Club site because I'm not a "techie" in any way and that site answers a lot of questions that come up. I belong to a couple of networking forums and those are always fun and very informative. I spend so much time at the computer that I miss a lot of what's going on in the world so when I have time I check at CNN or MSNBC to catch up on events. I go to www.quickinspirations.com when I need a little motivation and that helps to keep me centered. A lot of the ezines I subscribe to have interesting sites. And when my brain gets tired, when I just can't work any longer and just want to relax at the end of the day, I go to Yahoo games or www.jigzone.com. So now you know all my deep, dark secrets!!

Web Sm@rts: What advice would you give someone wishing to get into a business such as yours?

Linda: My personal belief is that you have to love what you do to be truly successful and I'm not defining success purely in financial terms. If you don't enjoy what you're doing you may as well be working a 9-5 job in the "real" world. Unless you like what you're doing you aren't going to devote the energy required to succeed and you'll be discouraged when your efforts come up against obstacles. You must have perseverence to succeed on the Internet - or anywhere else for that matter. I believe it's a lot easier to overcome those obstacles and presevere if your business is an integral part of you. So my advice would be to find something you really like, put your apprehension and doubts aside, make a commitment and then go for it!

If you want to get into anything related to copy writing specifically you have to realize that this line of work is labor-intensive. Unless you have a staff, which few of us do, you must do all the research, all the writing and all of the promotion yourself. Sometimes it can get pretty hectic so you have to be able to work well under pressure. You also have to be an expert at self -promotion, keeping in mind that every ad or article you submit had better reflect well on your copy writing ability. One of the best ways to promote yourself is to submit your articles for publication in ezines - that way you brand yourself and your business. As I mentioned before, this kind of work is very erratic - you may go for a week and have no requests for your service, then you may get 5 at once. You can't count on "being paid" on a schedule. But if you love to write, have a knack for it and can devote a lot of time and effort to it - just do it!

Web Sm@rts: Thanks for visiting with us Linda. Would you care to do this again sometime?

Linda: Hey Ed, this has really been fun! I've really enjoyed it and I'd love to do it again anytime! Thanks!

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Change an Image Daily

Here is a nice little script that will automatically change an image that is displayed on your webpage based on the day of the week. This is a great script for displaying a "special of the day", or just to give your page a fresh look each day. This is limited only by your imagination.

Be sure that you edit the names of the images inside of the following script, to match the names of the files you uploaded to your server - or vise versa.

<script language="javascript1.1"> today = new Date(); day = today.getDay(); arday = new Array("Sunday.jpg", "Monday.jpg", "Tuesday.jpg", "Wednesday.jpg", "Thursday.jpg", "Friday.jpg", "Saturday.jpg"); document.write("<img src='" + arday[day] + "'>"); </script>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insert this script on your webpage in the location that you would like the images to appear. Yep. It's that easy!

* Get these syndicated tip feeds for yourweb site, free. *

Second Article

Protect Your PC from Viruses, Worms & Trojans

by: Mike Burstein The SOHO Wiz

Each of the items in the checklist below is part of a broad and easy to implement security policy.

If you create a similar program, you can protect yourself and your PC from the numerous threats to your security and privacy.

1. Install all windows security patches for your operating system from the Microsoft Update site - it's free! All that's required to keep your operating system up to date is an Internet connection.
2. Install and configure a firewall - either a hardware or software based firewall is a must! If you are using a router, it probably has firewall capabilities included. Software firewalls are available at minimal cost; one of the best is free!
3. Install and configure antivirus software - the cost is minimal, there are even free versions available - the protection is priceless! Update it daily - scan your drives weekly - it can all be automated with most programs.
4. Create a backup - even the best plan can be circumvented - be prepared for the worst with a complete backup of your hard drive! If you already have a CD burner and software installed in your machine, you probably have the tools to create a complete system backup - for only the cost of a few CD-R's!

Obviously, the costs to properly protect yourself from the worst threats to your security are almost nil. If you need help with any step above, simply use a Google search to find help - it's freely available.

Follow these four simple steps and you will have implemented comprehensive and complete protection for your PC. If you are unable to initiate your own plan, hire an expert to do the job. You won't be sorry!

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Mike Burstein has been helping the SOHO and Small Business community grow & prosper for over 20 years by solving start up problems, creating best practices, automating their offices, getting free publicity and dramatically increasing traffic and sales. Visit www.SOHOWiz.com for the latest FREE business tips. Email the Wiz at: SOHOWiz@SOHOWiz.com

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