I recently caught up with one of the most successful woman online, her blog tops the major search engines like Google for major keywords. I am quite surprised that despite what she has achieved, she is still very humble and “down to earth” for her to have granted me this interview.

It is an honour to present to you my friends a woman of substance, a woman who “went through fire and came out without burns”, and a woman who has seen it all as far as internet marketing is concerned. I present to you Lynn Terry!

I assure you are going to learn a great deal from this interview.

May we meet you please! What’s your name in full?

My name is Lynn Terry. I am 37 years old, a single mother of two teens, and have been in business for over 14 years. I live in the beautiful valley of the Cumberland Plateau in middle Tennessee (just SE of Nashville) and work from home full time.

Tell us a bit about your background?

I quit my last real job in 1996 to start my first business. My daughter was only 5 months old, and I was working a minimum wage job doing data entry on a Unix system. Prior to that job I had zero computer experience. I wouldn’t say I had much more than that when I left there two years later – lol.

My first business was an offline shop in partnership with my then husband, which we started on less than a shoestring budget. I got a computer and internet access (dial-up on a 96band modem back in those days!) to run the business, which is when I first got online.

When did you get to know about internet marketing?

I think I invented it. LOL – just kidding.

It was the late 90′s and computers were just becoming a household item. AOL was sending out discs and people were starting to get online. Small businesses were in the process of transitioning from paper to computer for things like inventory and accounting.

I saw the huge opportunity right away. There were very few people that knew how to operate their computers, work with the software, or get their business listed on the internet. I started a second business that same year offering computer training, classes and web design. Shortly after I had a full blown web development company with an international web team.

How did your folks {I mean your spouse, friends, colleagues, etc} take it when they heard about your new found love for online marketing?

I don’t honestly recall. Perhaps because I never took my eyes away from the computer screen that first year and totally missed the whole conversation.

What were the mistakes you made as a beginner online?

I was very focused on my service-based business those first few years, and it grew very nicely. It wasn’t until later when I was transitioning away from clients and into affiliate marketing, that I really found myself floundering a bit. The biggest mistake was having my fingers in too many pies at once. It pays to focus and stay on track with ONE business – and for that one business to be a very specific niche with a tight focus as well.

So the biggest mistake I learned from was doing too much, and all of it being too general.

What were the challenges you faced as a beginner?

There were a lot of challenges when I first got started. There was very little software, and very few guides or how-to web pages. You basically had to learn HTML to create a simple web page, and you had to learn everything on your own. I can remember learning CGI so I could customize shopping carts for my clients – all in plain text.

Did you ever think of quitting at a time?

Never! Of course, I didn’t have a choice!

A couple of years into starting the two businesses, I went through an unexpected divorce. That same year my son got very sick, so I had to work from home exclusively. I didn’t have the option of taking a job outside the home at that point, so I had to make it work. During the years he was ill is when I shut down my web dev biz and began focusing on affiliate marketing and passive income sources.

I know that you didn’t just make money almost immediately you started, so when was that turning point?

Actually, I did. My very first client paid me for my work, and paid me very well. The business was profitable from the beginning. My teen son also started online by freelancing and taking online jobs http://www.clicknewz.com/2710/online-jobs-work-from-home. That lead to his landing a very nice job *and* starting his own business, all in the same year – by the age of 19.

Reading the contents of your blog one will know that you’re such a prolific writer, what’s the secret?

I have always enjoyed writing, but to be honest I wasn’t that great of a writer when I first started blogging. I look back at some of the posts from my first year and shudder – lol. Time and practice have really helped me improve. Over time you start to get a feel for what your readers respond to best, and your personality starts to shine through naturally.

That said, one of my secrets is to write “conversationally”. I try to write as if I were talking to someone on the phone or in person.

Judging by the huge traffic your blog is receiving on a daily basis, one will assume that you’re already making a lot of money online. Isn’t it?

My blog at http://www.ClickNewz.com is actually one of my newer properties. I’ve been blogging for almost 8 years. I have a few newer niche affiliate sites that I operate under pen names, and several older sites. The majority of my online income comes from affiliate marketing. While my blog does earn money, it’s more a labor of love than a primary money-maker.

But yes, I do very well online.

What’s your own definition of success?

Having achieved financial success, I can honestly say (even to my surprise) that money was not it. Most of us grow up believing that money will solve most of life’s problems, but that’s simply not the case. Money is good, mind you – very good! But if I had to put one word on a definition of success… it would be: happiness.

For the benefits of my readers who loved to share from your wealth of experience. How can one be a successful blogger?

The key is to choose a topic you can really get into, and then blog consistently. Everything else can be fine tuned along the way, but passion and consistency are definitely the keys to blogging success.

As a woman in a predominant man’s world so to speak, have you for once been intimidated by the male folk?

I don’t see the internet as a man’s world. When I first got started back in the 90′s, the majority of the people I knew that were “making it” online were women. They weren’t gurus or experts or speakers – they were real people doing real work. I met them in discussion groups (back then, email lists).

I still know a lot of women who are very successful online, many of which have become close friends over the last decade. Very few of them blog or teach or would be known by anyone other than their friends & family – and perhaps their market, if they use their given name instead of a business name.

If there were ever a true census, I believe the world might be surprised at which gender dominates the charts by sheer numbers – not to mention, profits.

As for the Internet Marketing space, with it’s experts and gurus and speakers, yes – it’s predominantly male. And to answer your question, no – I have never felt or been intimidated by that. Personally I believe it’s by choice (on the women’s part). I can only speak for myself, but I have no desire to be “on the circuit”. I am quite happy quietly working from home and running a successful online business.

The men are quite nice, by the way – and would love to have more women speaking and creating high-end products. It’s a wide open market, and I have never personally seen any real gender issues.

What lessons have you learned so far online?

The biggest lesson I have learned is that every single click, every comment, every email… comes from a real live person on the other side of the screen. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of my readers in person over the years, which really helped to put a face to those metrics.

When you start to see keywords as real people searching for real answers, and clicks as real people with real interest, it changes the way you market your websites. In a very good way.

Any word of advice for beginners/upcoming entrepreneurs?

My advice would be to see it as a business opportunity. It’s not a slot machine or a lottery – or a way to get rich quick. It takes time and it takes hard work to start any type of business – online is no different. The opportunities are endless for true entrepreneurs that are willing to invest in their future.

Your last note?

Thank you for this interview, Joseph! and thank you for those that read all the way through. It was fun sharing some of my life and experience with you! I hope that you’ve gained a little something that will inspire or encourage you, or help you take your business to the next level. *cheers* ~Lynn