Well, that’s kind of complicated…….

But first, I’d like to just state that this site is being thrown together hastily and will get a lot more attention as time goes on. I’m in the middle of a few eCommerce projects that are taking all my time at the moment but have been asked one too many times: what is my website? I have over 40 sites of my own and have built a variety of websites for others and yet it hadn’t dawned on me to create my own “brand.” In fact, I got pretty ticked off when I couldn’t buy the domain of my name without adding my middle initial! Some realtor in California beat me to it so I will begin to recommend to everyone that their first domain be their own name.

My short story is that I’ve lived technology and computers my entire life. Having built my first computer back in the late 70’s (an RCA Cosmic Elf with I think 2k of RAM with switches and LED’s for input and output), computers always fascinated me. In the early 80’s when the original IBM PC came out, I built an XT clone as soon as Phoenix released their bios chips. I’ve tinkered with and used in my professional life everything from old Tandy computers, Franklin Ace, the MAC SE, various DOS and early Windows laptops, etc. I own an original IMac that I bought in August of 1998 when it was released.

Please note; I am not a geek. I’m a hobbyist with a decent ability of picking up how things work. I’m the same way with working on cars, various repairs of just about anything and remodeling which includes some major construction projects on my own homes. Electrical work has always been a favorite and my mom says that I was sticking things in outlets before I could walk so I guess it was in my blood.

Even though I spent my career working for the likes of Xerox, Tektronix, Lexmark, Panasonic Toughbook, etc. and could build a computer with ease,  I never had a clue what made the internet tick. I even made commodity investments using a 300 baud acoustic modem and an Atari 800 back in the 80’s but never learned how FTP, IP addresses and everything else associated with the internet actually worked.

Having been royally screwed by one too many employer –

I was in IT sales and had much of my efforts stolen from me by management of a few companies. In fact for one of my X employers, I worked over two years closing a deal with a major Northeast utility company and the account got taken from me after I got paid on an 80 unit pilot order. More than 3000 fully loaded rugged laptop computers worth well over $10 million was credited and paid to my boss instead, who had nothing at all to do with the account or my efforts. My professional profile is viewable on LinkledIn.

I went on to do what I did well and ultimately got shafted by a couple more companies. I was fit to be tied and felt that there has to be a better way to earn a living. I wanted to work for myself and be involved with something that I loved.

Fast forward to 2010……

I looked at this internet thing as it continued to grow but I didn’t understand anything about it. I wanted to build a website but what should it do or be about?

As a home automation nut since my involvement with X10 back in the early 80’s, I decided to let everyone know how great it was to turn lights on by remote control. I remember struggling with a website builder on the host that I got my first domain from. I was lost, frustrated and basically clueless. At the time, I knew nothing about html, php, css, wordpress, keywords, SEO, links, gateways, etc., etc. I began writing articles on EZines about home automation.

Now having understood the 1’s and 0’s of Boolean algebra and having studied basic computer science and programming while in school back in the 70’s, I knew that I could get this. Since I’ve never been the classroom type, I used the internet to learn about the internet.

I now just love what I do. Everyday is a learning experience. In fact, while working on a huge file for uploading a few thousand products to a new eCommerce site the other day, I needed to use the “consolidate” function in Excel. It was real frustrating to learn the hard way that it only works on numeric fields. A few hours later after scratching the surface of Microsoft Access (which I never used in my life before), I got through the task at hand completed and I also had new knowledge. Typically, learning things while doing, through the school of hard knocks has given me a good understanding of stuff and the know-how stays with me.

Well I learned about website building, wordpress, eCommerce, SEO, payment gateways, affiliate programs, various middle-ware for specific tasks, shipping management programs, auto-responders and a bunch of other pieces of this big puzzle. I love the way it all works and having the ability to build sites now gives me a huge sense of satisfaction that no boss can take away!

A couple of years ago I became intrigued with energy deregulation. After much research, I decided to become a Commercial Energy Consultant. Finding the best possible electric and gas rates for commercial and non-profit entities in the deregulated energy states is what this entails. I became associated with a great company that does all the legwork and has working relationships with all the major energy suppliers in the deregulated states. To learn more about this great career path check out An Energy Consultant