Hooray! Michelle's Masterpiece and its blog are finally up and running!
I have done quite a bit of freelance work for small businesses across the US. Thus far this has mainly consisted of cleaning up graphics to helps sites load more quickly and neatly, editing flash menus originally created by other designers, and creating simple new websites.
In 2005, freelance work for a small webhosting company also gave me the opportunity to pick up several skills when it comes to managing domains and websites. I also learned about cPanel, WHM, email, and the importance of good customer service.
I got my first 'real job' in web design in 2000 building a site for a new discount warehouse. Durring this time, I learned a lot about how businesses are run.
In 2005 I helped my grandfather expand his small business, Snug Harbor, to the internet. This opened the doors to helping several new customers find and contact him. PayPal allowed him to offer more payment options and taught me a thing or two about maintainting a merchant account.
In March 2006, I began to work for for Bio Nutraceuticals and continue to work there today. THis place given me the opportunity expanded my skills of W3C compliant HTML, the use of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to edit pictures and create product labels and brochures. This is also where I began to work with PHP and MySQL.
I am working toward a bachelors degree focussing in IT at Colorado Technical University (online.) I got off to a great start but am taking a break since I realized that the 'real world' had more to teach me in the industry. I am looking forward to going back later this year to learn more about how successful businesses are run.