Interview with Doris, Finance Expert

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Interview With Doris Dobkins of Creative Finances www.creativefinances.com By Alyice Edrich

I understand that you came up with a great way for people to get out of debt, can I ask for a brief overview of your system? Define financial freedom for yourself and set personal financial goals. Create a plan for getting yourself out of debt and reaching your goals. Analyze each area of your spending and look for ways to cut costs. Live below your means. Follow your plan and reward yourself along the way. Save, invest, think long term and you can achieve it!

When did you come up with this system and why? I've struggled with credit card debt since graduating from college. Getting married and have double incomes didn't seem to help. No amount of raises or promotions seemed to make the debt go away. The more money we made, the more debt we incurred. Then I decided I wanted to stay home with my young children and in order to do that, we would need to learn to live on one income. We learned to live on half the income we were used to when I decided to stay home. By creating a plan, budgeting, and paying off our debts, we have been not only happier, but able to maintain a debt-free life. We are still working on the mortgage but have a plan in place to pay it off early. So what I've learned from this whole process is that more money doesn't mean more happiness and that it really doesn't matter how much money you make. What matters is how much you get to keep.

What made you decide that you should market this system? There is a lot of information out there about money, financial freedom and finances. Many people have a lot of head knowledge about the subject but don't take that next step and apply it to their own situation. I decided to create my home study manual 'Financial Freedom A-Z' and share some of the many financial strategies that have worked for me. To differentiate my manual from other books, I included a a self-assessment section at the end of each chapter where the reader can take the information they have just learned and apply it to their own situation. This is really where the rubber meets the road. Unless one acts on the information they have learned, it doesn't do them a whole lot of good. I also have a burden for working moms who would rather be home with their children and for children who need their moms at home. If I can help families to better manage heir finances to make that possible, it is the biggest reward I could ask for. My home study course is available at my web site at the following link: www.creativefinances.com/book

What was your typical day like when you first began marketing this system, versus your days now? The beginning days were more developmental and my days now are more maintenance. In the beginning, I had to design my site, add pages, write and rewrite copy, add functionality and features, work out bugs, etc. Now I spend more of my time looking for ways to market my e-zine and my product.

I understand that besides your web site, you also produce a quality financial newsletter, how did this come about? I had read that it is important to capture the email addresses of visitors to your site and that one of the best ways to do that was through a weekly e-zine. So I decided to do just that. The newsletter has been the KEY to my success on the Internet. It gives me a captive, opt-in audience on a weekly basis that I can talk to. I am developing a relationship with a group of people who are interested in what I have to offer.

What was your first newsletter like compared to what it is today? My first newsletter was much shorter, didn't have as much reader feed back. It had an article and some ads and a reader poll if I remember correctly.

You now have some 8000 opt-in subscribers, how did you come to get so many subscribers? In other words, what secrets would you care to share? I write my own articles and distribute my articles to other e-zines that are interested in publishing them. I include a tag line at the bottom of each article for those interested in joining my e-zine. That has been the biggest contributor to obtaining e-zine subscribers. It takes time to build these relationships but it has been worth it.

Has the newsletter helped your business any and if so, in what ways? Absolutely, like I mentioned before, it has been the key to my Internet success and book sales. It provides ongoing feedback from my readers on what they are interested in. It educates and informs, it encourages and teaches and it helps me sell my product.

How has the click on ads helped your site, as far as bringing in the bacon, so to speak? I just started doing this and so this method is still in testing.

Most web site owners as well as newsletter editors seem to have trouble getting readers to respond to requests for questions and answers. How do you get your readers to send you questions and answers? My problem seems to be the opposite. I have so many responses and emails from each e-zine that I have trouble keeping up with them. I make it a point to respond to every email I receive. I try to give a personal touch. Many of my readers are so surprised when they hear from me personally. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up but I will do my best. I also like to think that people are happy with the responses that they do receive. My Dilemma Corner in my e- zine seems to be the most popular and I have personally learned a lot from this section and I know my readers have too.

On your web site, you have a money making page with Multi-Level- Marketing (MLM) type companies, are these companies that you believe in or are they advertising? If they are companies you believe in, how did you decide these companies were legitimate and worth investing in? I love to try out MLM companies. The ones that work for me, I promote. The ones that don't work out, I don't. They all take a certain amount of time and effort. I try to offer several so people have a choice if they are interested in those types of programs. I usually check with the Better Business Bureau and a few of my Internet Savvy Friends before joining in a program. Sometimes I join a program if a reputable person refers me to it. After joining a program, it just takes a short time and you can easily tell if they are reputable or not. So trial and error has taught me a lot.

Have you ever run a homebased business with kids underfoot? If so, how did you juggle it all? I have two kids 4 & 6. My kids are not only underfoot but I home school them as well. So they are with me all day long. Juggling it is a challenge. I know that if I spent more time on my business, I could make more money, but for now, I do what I can and spend as much time with my children as possible. In a few more years, my children won't need me as much and I'll have plenty of time for my business then. I do try to get in a couple hours a day when they are playing outside or watching their favorite videos. The rest of my work I do in the evenings after getting them to bed. Sometimes, they go to their grandparents for the day and I can really get a lot of work done then.

What would be the one thing you would tell any parent in regards to teaching their children about money matters? Start early and involve them as much as possible in your finances. Children need to understand how much money it takes to live the lifestyle they are living. My kids are still a bit young but soon I will be paying them for working for me. I will have them take out their tithe money, take out some savings money and then let them spend the rest. If I can get them in this habit early, they will hopefully learn to live on less than they make, to save and to stay out of debt.

If someone came up to you today, and asked how did you get over the fear of becoming successful, what would you say? I'm not afraid of success. I want it more than anything. I'm willing to give myself time though to keep my priorities in line. What I am afraid of though is failure and fizzling out. I need to make an effort to keep making progress, maintaining my vision and never giving up. Quitting at this point is not an option and so I don't let my mind take me there.

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