Skills & Interests

I’m a person with many interests and curiosities – both professional and personal. In this area, you can learn a bit about what interests me and what I’ve studied.

If there is an incongruent subject here vs. my resume or LinkedIn profile, it is most likely due to my laziness or lack of time

Right: A handful of logos I developed through the years

Information Technology

I began learning to compute before I was even a teenager on ancient systems such as the IBM PC, Jr., and ZEOS 386SX, which bings me to my first and foremost skill and interest – IT.

As an IT professional, I work remotely – and have for the past 15+ years, conducting IT services sales, consulting, service-architecture, business development and much more.

To power all those things, I run a full-service network with all that one would expect in a professional working the way I do. I have redundant workstations, connections, a dedicated photo/video editing machine as well as an equally sound setup for travel.

Also worth noting is that I’m versed in numerous SaaS systems, including Keap, Zoho, Basecamp, Smartsheets, SEMRush, Ahrefs and many other, less mentionable systems.

Systems & Software

I’m versed in a wide variety of systems and software’s commonly used across a multitude of businesses. I take my profession
seriously and am versed in numerous highly technical specialties.

Listed here are what I consider my top three systems and pieces of software, as well as why that is.

GSuite, Trends & Gemini

When I’m asked what kind of high-end, expensive, esoteric software I run to do the things I do, most are kind of shocked when I list my favorite software.

Google – Marketing Platform, G Suite, etc

These days, it seems like Alphabet just keeps giving us more and more useful software. I am not the kind to hold back or run propaganda here; even if you don’t like something about the company, I get a lot done using Gemini, Trends, Analytics, Drive, and a host of other apps from Google.

Yes, there are downsides, and I understand the arguments against Google, but for pure pragmatism sake, they do make some good stuff.

Note: A big part of why I am listing this here is because of my software philosophy that tracks with Google’s. I believe SaaS is at its best when it’s single-purpose, created with a modular design, and has the ability to easily share data with non-users. For example, the use case of creating something in another app, i.e. RawTheraPee (RAW photo editor), and sharing it in Google Drive with the client.

Smartsheets

Of all the apps I use, advise, and stand behind, Smartsheets is perhaps the most universal of them all.

To look at a screenshot of it, you might mistake it for a simple Excel clone that’s hosted online – but this is far from the truth. Smartsheets allows for granular access for users and groups, the storage of nearly any file type, and it’s designed to work well for agile process management. Furthermore, smartsheets has the ability to easily create dashboards – and you’re a Zap away from sending data from Smartsheets over to your marketing automation app or elsewhere.

This kind of app depends upon the user to define their own use-case – I love that. Many modern apps require the user to bend and flex to the app, to follow a kind of pre-programmed modular pathway that gets them into the software step-by-step, costing more and more time and money – not Smartsheets.

Smartsheets is a prime example of a piece of software that is built to cater to the needs of many by elegant simplicity combined with high reliability and versatility.

Canva

Canva is one of those apps that, once used, makes a number of other apps effectively useless.

With Canva, I can create presentations and express myself easily, and with the assets, I need are readily available. It’s not a costly app, but it offers a ton in the way of features and benefits for those of us who use it.

I could have listed many more pieces of software here, but it’s truly these simple three that make up the core of my workflow when I’m doing SEO.

Whether I’m doing research, developing a presentation, or even editing a simple document and just want to easily – and securely – share it with a client, these apps have me covered.

RELATED INTERESTS

I’m versed in a wide variety of systems and software’s commonly used across a multitude of businesses. I take my profession
seriously and am versed in numerous highly technical specialties.

Listed here are what I consider my top three systems and pieces of software, as well as why that is.

Writing...

The art of crafting stories and developing compelling narratives and aesthetics has always been a critical component of my work. During the second decade of my working life, I found myself being forced by circumstance more and more into the explicit role of being a writer. Writing to me is not merely scripting together an assembelange of words or one of multiple venues of communication, it’s the crucial intersection of modern marketing and as-such, has been a core emphasis for me for many years.

GNU/Linux & FOSS

My interest in GNU/Linux began in the early 00’s at the dawn of the modern internet and is rooted in my innate desire to tinker with things. I first began as a Unix enthusiast but soon migrated to using Linux once it was mature enough for daily use.

Note: I am not a purist or a single OS zealot, through the years, I’ve been an active member of the Amiga community, GNU/Linux community, as well as numerous open source software communities of lesser renown.

For those interested, I presently run Linux Mint and MXLinux as my daily OS’s for my network.

Photography

Photography is one of my most beloved hobbies; I got into photography for practical purposes as an adjunct to being a designer, and this spawned an interest that’s stuck with me for life.

I prefer to shoot with vintage manual focus lenses and work with a variety of cameras to achieve the results I want. I offer much of my work for free, and you can see a small gallery here.

Electronics & Audio

I became interested in electronics after having been tasked with conducting video training webinars, which required me to record audio and video for their YouTube channel. My interest started with the basics of microphone technology and soon moved to preamplifiers, signal processors, and eventually electronics generally.

I spent many countless hours studying electronic circuits, learning to solder, building kits, and watching excessively too many videos to count. Today, I count myself among those hobbyists who restore vintage audio equipment and benefit from being able to repair many things that we used to throw away.

Design

My interest in graphic design began in earnest in my teens, when I began working with applications such as Newtek Lightwave, Bauhaus Mirage (now TVPaint), and numerous other design applications.

Through the years, I’ve worked on everything from logo design, websites, brochures, business cards, and signage of all kinds, as well as released numerous wallpapers and icons into the public domain.