Interview with Catherine Heiter

1) How and when did your online business get started?

I first started looking for ways to earn online in June of 2003. My own business actually launched in May of 2006 when I was approached by an owner looking for assistance with his program.

2) Which exchange(s) do you own or co-own?

I own Pulse Clicks and Traffic Exchange Network.

3) Do you currently work exclusively online?

Yes.

4) How many hours per day do you spend on your exchange(s)?

It varies. Some days, it is several hours. Others, it’s just a matter of minutes. It depends on what needs to be done. Most of my time is spent taking care of clients’ programs. And I usually work an average of 12 to 14 hours daily, six days a week.

5) Do you do support yourself, or do you outsource support?

For my business, I and two staff members handle the support/customer service and admin of several programs online. We have no one outside assisting, except for some things that I cannot handle myself – such as programming.

6) How fluent are you with HTML, javascript, and PHP?

HTML, I am fairly adept. Javascript and PHP? Not so much. lol

7) Approximately how many members join your exchange a month?

I do not advertise very much for my own exchanges at this time. I am getting ready to revamp both of them. I probably average around 100 new members per exchange each month.

8) Does most of your advertising come from members referring, or you?

Any current advertising is mainly from my members. Once I make the changes that I want to make to them, I will be promoting them again.

9) Are you subscribed to any blogs? Which is your favorite?

At this time, I think I am subscribed to three. My favorite one is Jon Olson’s HEN.

10) What would be the biggest tip you could give to readers?

First and foremost, choose ONE thing that you are good at and build on that. Align yourself with people who are like-minded, and learn from them. Be willing to network and share what you know with others as well.

Have fun with what you are doing. If you don’t enjoy it, what the heck are you trying to accomplish? If you are trying to build a business online so you can leave the old offline J.O.B. behind, one of your reasons should be that you want to get paid for doing something that you truly enjoy. Take it seriously, build it as you would any offline business – one brick at at time – but make sure that it’s something that you really want to be doing. Otherwise, don’t even bother to start.