How does being a systems analyst, writer, band manager, rock band magazine editor, undercover journalist, and graphics designer lead to operation of a successful eZine and a Web design company? This month Judy Vorfeld interviews Joy Williams of Artist Web Design, and JoyZine & The Adventures of Zoë.

You've moved around the world quite a bit. Do you hold citizenship in more than one country?
I was born in Australia of an Australian mother and American father, but my father immediately registered me as a Child Born Abroad of an American Citizen. Since I lived in the US from the age of 9 until recently, I retained my US citizenship and never had to renounce my Australian citizenship. I was assured by both consulates that I was one of them ("We don't care what they say, you are [fill in the blank]"), and now I carry passports from both countries and can freely travel back and forth. It's very nice.

Where did you launch your career?
I was born in Australia, but grew up in Sunnyvale, the very epicenter of what became Silicon Valley - so I naturally fell into the computer industry. As it expanded in the early '80s, I was given a chance to progress very rapidly: when an industry is growing more rapidly than people can get degrees, it gives the rest of us opportunities that don't normally exist. Within three years I was able to go from "project librarian" directly into development work in applications programming, then into systems analysis and programming.

As a member of the five-person team converting Western Union from the old teletype machines to PCs, using satellite technology, I had one of those moments when you suddenly "see" the future. I suddenly realized that one day the businesses of the world would be linked via a satellite-controlled "web" of connections. I had no idea that everyone would have a PC in their home, of course, but when the Web came along, it was easy for me to accept the concept and the promise of what was to come. I knew immediately that it was time to learn how to be a part of the new "revolution."

When did you begin your active involvement with the arts?
I've been interested in art, drawing and painting from childhood. Art was put aside, though, when I married at 16 and soon found myself having to contribute to the family income. I went into computer programming partly for the money, but also because of the opportunity to return to art. At the same time, an opportunity arose to manage local bands. That was an enormous drain on my time as the pressure of work in programming increased, so I switched to publishing a popular 40-page fanzine, Artist Magazine, which was great. It gave me a build-in social life, and I got to interview, write and do graphics art.

Frustrated with the sexism in the almost exclusively male programming world at the time, I quit to start my own business, Artist Publications. I closed the magazine and started a publishing agency for free-lancers, which soon penetrated the domestic and international markets.

The severe disruption to business brought on by the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake in northern California coupled with the start of the deep recession that followed the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War, prompted me to move to Los Angeles as assistant editor on a number of rock magazines.

What triggered your move to Moscow?
It was at a Hollywood party for the Stray Cats that I met a Russian band, their manager and interpreter. This connection opened the door to my becoming a foreign journalist based in Moscow, and for the next 3-1/2 years, I worked for a number of major Moscow newspapers (e.g., Moskovsky Novosti, Novaya Yezhednevnaya Gazeta, and Moskovsky Komsomolets), often on-location in Moscow, observing and experiencing first-hand the enormous changes and tragic spectacle of a society that has lost its way, at least for the time being.

Once you returned to your homeland, what changes did you make relative to the Internet? When?
In 1998 I began publishing JoyZine and The Adventures of Zoë and then started Artist Web Design. I am also the Australian correspondent for APBNews, a large on-line crime reporting site.

What led you to start your Internet business?
I saw an emerging opportunity and I started JoyZine as a device for learning Web design and marketing, using my associated skills via the Web. I also thought it would eventually serve as a way for me to make connections and to move into Web design for clients.

As mentioned above, I'd long believed that there would one day be "an electronic Web" connecting businesses, so it was easy for me to accept that the World Wide Web, when it arose, was a revolution on the scale of the Industrial Revolution. Heck, here was one of those rare opportunities in the history of the world, where one has a chance to get in on the ground floor of a whole new way of doing things. How could I not participate!?

How has this worked for you?
On all fronts, things have gone very well. I have learned the fundamentals of Web design, started Artist Web Design as a business, and have now designed or redesigned Websites for a number of clients. In addition, many people with whom I had lost contact when I was traveling about and overseas have found me through the Website, and I have also established many new contacts that prove valuable.

The APBNews job came through one of these new contacts, who recommended me to the editor. JoyZine enables me to have a good presence on the Web and to prove to prospective clients that I can do what I claim I can do - the visual proof is there. In addition, I have learned how to make a site stand out, as JoyZine now ranks extremely high in many different searches - very often in the Top 10, sometimes as high as #1 out of thousands of hits (on Alta Vista, Google, MSN, Netscape, etc).

What is the purpose of Artist Web Design?
The business part of the site, Artist Web Design, provides a visual representation of my design skills, plus basic information about the services I provide. It also is listed in search engines and thus attracts new customers.

What were your primary goals? Short-term and long-term.

• Learn Web design and marketing, which has been done.
• Start my own Web-based business in design, which I have done.
• Return to journalism and writing, and to eventually attract attention so that I can publish a book and/or movie script about my time in Russia as an undercover investigative journalist.

What are your Web development strengths?
I can take a client's inchoate ideas and turn them into an attractive, easy-to-navigate Website - and I know how to promote it. My sites tend to be artistic and colorful, but I can also do classic low-key graphical or business looks. I am able to do any number of styles, depending on the client's likes and the need to capture the correct look and feel of a business.

I can also explain needs and processes in plain English, so that a client who doesn't know much about the Web can understand what is happening and why. I will also soon be teaching myself Flash, in order to keep up with the new multi-media technology. Essentially, because of my programming background, I am able to quickly learn any new technology as it is required by a client, and to incorporate this as needed.

What aspects of your Web business are the most enjoyable?
I love the graphics part more than any other. I used to paint, and Web graphics gives me a way to satisfy that creative, visual urge while also making a living.

Speaking of art, where did you find the fantastic fractal art that graces the cover of JoyZine?
Some time ago I realized that a good way to 1) attract traffic, 2) increase cross-linking (very valuable for ranking in the search engines), 3) force myself to take the time time to look at what is out there and what other people are doing, get ideas and make contacts is to run an "Award" program. It's a lot of work, but it does pay off in many ways. For example, I obtained the cover artwork by judging a site, then writing to the webmistress and telling her I really liked her work and would she consider becoming a contributor to JoyZine. Tina Oloyede, a British doctor now living in Scotland, replied and said she'd be delighted. I get an interesting focal point for my site, and she gets the links back to her site, to attract attention and traffic to her work.

If you had all the time in the world, what other features would you have on your site?
I would totally redesign it using Flash (multimedia)

What is your approach when one or more of the categories of a client's site falls outside your particular skills?
Find out how to do what they want. It's not that hard to find the information. And I learn technical stuff very quickly. I have a few experts I can turn to for advice if I'm truly stuck, but mostly, any information I need can be found on the Web. If I did hit a point where it was so complex I couldn't learn quickly enough, I'd hire an expert to do that part. So far that hasn't happened.

Give us an idea of the most comprehensive site you've designed.
I haven't yet had to design a site more complex than the 11,000-page demographics site: breaking the Census information down into police districts for the state of Queensland - which, incidentally, is 4 times the size of Texas.

Can you name a few of your favorite software applications for Web development?
Front Page: Oh, you'll hear lots of professional web developers scream about WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors, but Front Page allowed me to start immediately, without having to take a lot of courses and learn HTML, etc. By generating HTML, I was then able to analyze what what had occurred, and in time learn HTML. I still use Front Page to generate the tedious stuff that's the basis of a web page, but I then go into the code and "clean it up", modify it, add JavaScript, META tag coding for the search engines and so forth.

Photoshop: I couldn't function without Photoshop as it is marvelous for graphics, especially if you start collecting "plug-ins". It takes time to learn to use it really well, and I'm just barely past the novice stage as far as truly professional graphics creation is concerned, but it is great fun to rescue plain photos or scans of old b&w printed stuff I'd once published into an "arty" graphic (see the King Crimson article for example).

Web Graphics Optimizer is also fantastic, as it allows me to reduce the size (kilobyte size) of an image so that it will load more quickly.

The WWW itself - Practically anything you need to know about Website development can be found on the Web. If I want to figure out how to do a "mouseover" or swap images or run a slideshow or prevent people from downloading copywrited images, I can find help somewhere out there.

What technological difficulties give you the most problems?
The worst thing all Web designers have to deal with is in relation to all the different browsers, monitor settings and sizes, resolutions, etc. It's extremely difficult to get a good-looking, up-to-date site to download quickly and look good to everyone on the Web. Also, the slowness of things. I believe that one day Websites will look pretty much like videos on TV today, but that's not possible with 28.8 (or even 56kpbs) modems.

What are some of the advantages of having a business on the Web today?
You are visible all over the world. You are part of the revolution in progress. We are rapidly approaching the point where not having a Website means you're not quite credible. And, if you are a big business, Web-based purchasing, etc, is far faster and cheaper. This is why General Motors has told all its suppliers: "Get on the Web and make it possible for us to do all our purchasing from you that way, or we'll drop you."

If you were starting your Web development business today, what would you do differently?
I'd start with my own proper domain name. Otherwise, nothing.

Joy, what advice do you have for people who want to quit their jobs and make a fortune in Web development?
Get a fortune first, then quit your job. It's not easy, it's not automatic. It takes a lot of time to develop an idea, the skills, and develop a presence. If you're going into it full-time, you need contacts and investment, just as you do when starting any business. You need a business plan. You need to know what you're doing. You need to know how to run a business. And you need to understand that you have only a small chance of becoming rich. It's a huge gamble. You need to have the "entrepreneur's" personality, just as you do if starting any business. Business is business, no matter whether it's bricks-and-mortar or cyberspace-based.

To reach Joy Williams, write to mailto:joyzine@zip.com.au. Visit her site at http://www.joyzine.zip.com.au/