Part 1 : Origins of WorkingDogWeb

When did you first encounter the Internet and what sparked your interest in this new medium?
I will never forget the day in early 1996 when a colleague at the university where I work called me in great excitement. A computer staff member in his college had created a multimedia "page" about that college, he said, and had put it on a computer allowing people anywhere in the world to see it. Didn't I think our whole public relations and communication staff should learn about this? I of course said: "Yes!" Three weeks later we had a training session about the World Wide Web, and a month later a staff member in my office was in charge of updating the links on our first, primitive university home page on servers maintained by the Information Technology department. 

Before the Web burst on the scene, I had been aware of Gopher, the all-text predecessor for Internet communication, and our office had made some minor use of it. But it lacked sizzle! The minute I saw that first Web page, combing text and full-color pictures, I knew the world had an extraordinary new medium for learning, for enjoyment, for reaching out to customers and for connecting people around the world. A long-time communication and marketing professional, I was hooked!

Barbara, there's obviously a close link between your website and your personal interests, but what sparked your decision to build WorkingDogWeb? What goals did you want to achieve?
My husband and I have had Siberian Huskies for almost 30 years, and Rick competed for many years in sled dog races around the Rocky Mountain West. His sled dog experiences and knowledge became the basis for our small specialty publishing company, Heritage North Press, offering sled dog books and The Racing Siberian Husky newsletter.

But we've always hankered to provide information resources to a wider audience of people who work with their dogs, so that was the first goal. Thus the name WorkingDogWeb.com. Second, we wanted to use the Web to reach sled dog lovers and sell our books and newsletter. Third, we wanted to create an online bookstore for working dog fanciers in conjunction with . It was the Amazon.com affiliate program that gave us the push to get started because it offered another revenue stream for Heritage North Press.

Because I could see the Web was going to be very important to my work in university marketing and communication, I realized I was the logical person to be the webmaster. I set out to learn as much as possible about this new medium itself and about marketing online. So that was a very important added motivation.

Once you decided to "go online," how did you go about learning the skills necessary to produce, manage and promote a website? What were the most useful learning resources?
During the first year, 1997, I subscribed to every Web magazine available. At first, these magazines were really helpful as they were filled with practical advice on everything from HTML to page design. But they quickly became consumer Web guides and I dropped all of them. I bought a number of books, of course, and used the manual that came with the software.

But, without question, the most important learning opportunities were provided by the Web itself, thanks to the extraordinary good will of webmasters who offered free or low cost advice, graphics and services to improve Web sites and attract visitors. Joining the Link Exchange free banner exchange program helped me begin expanding the marketing of WorkingDogWeb.com. And signing up for the free Link Exchange Digest e-mail newsletter was invaluable -- it connected me to a network of Web pros who shared helpful tips every day. I now read several e-zines about the Web and online marketing and continue to believe the best learning resources are on the Web.

Your background is in English, literature, and communication. Was that a help or a hindrance when starting up the website?
An enormous help. First, my background has trained me to think about the audience first when creating any communication project. Every webmaster who hopes to create a growing number of loyal return visitors for his or her website must have that outlook. Nothing delights me more than a short e-mail or guest book note from fans proclaiming WorkingDogWeb is the best dog site they have found online or announcing that they have made WorkingDogWeb their daily browser start page. Wow! That kind of loyalty occurs when you make your audience No. 1 in all your creative thinking and planning.

Using cool graphics and awesome technology without meeting your visitors' needs creates a site people will come to see once, like a tourist. Meet their needs and you'll create a community where visitors return often for fun and information, and where they'll do their shopping as well.

Second, the writing and editing needed to create quality content for a website, or for marketing a website, comes naturally to me, so I can do that efficiently, with a professional result. In a similar way, I am used to organizing information, and that's critical for a big site.

While I use all kinds of software, I'm not a "techie," so from the beginning I determined to use a local ISP, a firm I trust, to run the server for my site, so I could concentrate on content development and marketing. That's turned out to be the right decision for me.