Hmm, I didn't explain it well. First, there's a "<", then the words "font color=white", then a ">". Then you type your text. After that, there's a "<", a "/font", and a ">". Make sure there are no spaces between the brackets and the tags (or commands) they enclose.
Heh, I'm not sure that made it any more clear.
For example:
<font color="blue">And the text following comes out in a color. You turn the color off with a generic </font>, and you go back to the default color, black.