About Me
Hi there, I'm Melanie. Nice to meet you. :)
Let's get a few things out there to start with:
- I'm about as informal as they come. I don't take life too seriously and I like to have fun with everything I do. This is not to say that I am not professional and efficient, I just tend to infuse humor into work.
- I am self-taught. I am not a certified anything, a licensed anything, or formally educated in computer technologies, though I've run through more tutorials and how-to's than you probably even knew existed, and I've been doing so since 1995. I do this because I truly enjoy tinkering with computers and web technologies and this is my idea of fun. (And yes, I do realize that sounds like a sickness to lots of people.)
- I don't know how to do everything already. I have this odd knack for researching though, and it's rare that I can't find a solution to a problem. (At least where computers are concerned. Regular everyday life... well, that's another story altogether.)
- I do have actual professional experience, but this is not the only work I do for a living these days. I didn't enjoy the corporate world much when I was in it, and so I now work for a friend in a small retail business for my regular paycheck.
- I tend to under-promise and over-deliver. I can't guarantee this will happen everytime, but it seems to be the norm.
- I'm not out to make millions, just a little extra cash.
What does all this have to do with what I'm trying to sell you?
Basically, the answer is that I'm fun to work with, I'm pretty good at building things on the web because it's something I like to do, I'm good at solving issues, I've got experience with the medium, and I do good work that won't cost you a small fortune.
If that isn't enough for you, I'll get serious (or at least I'll try) for a minute or two here and give you more detail.
I worked as a technical support specialist for an Internet Service Provider and 2 different software companies. I spent some time as a software configuration engineer (meaning I built websites and fixed problems). I managed a technical support staff for a couple of years and spent a year working as a project manager at an Internet company. (One of the very few that not only survived the dot-com bust, but thrived in the aftermath.)
The combination of these skillsets lends itself to what I propose to do for you: take your idea for a project on the web and make it a reality. And I can even do tech support.
Caveat Emptor!
Because I strive to do business in a non-evil fashion, I feel I have to also point out the negative aspects of coming to me for service. (There are marketing executives that would have minor strokes reading such a sentence...)
There are limits to what I can do. I will tell you upfront if I don't think I am capable of helping you realize your goal. I will generally point you in the direction of someone who can though. As well, I will ask that you keep in mind that this is not my full time job and I do have one of those. That means that I'll be working in the hours you're probably asleep. Sometimes this means that it might take me a little longer to complete the work necessary, and I may not always be available for direct interaction. If that sort of thing is really important to the project at hand, you'll probably want to keep searching for someone else to work with. No hard feelings, ok?
If you want to know more, take a look at my MySpace profile or if all else fails, I'm open to questions. Feel free to contact me with any questions you can think of. I might even answer them all. :)
