Got a small business but no website / IT?

[Brian the Automator]

I've been thinking about expanding my professional horizons a bit, and taking on some new work. A little background on me... I work full-time as a software developer (mostly websites, both private and public), specializing in Microsoft (.NET) and Java (J2EE or Grails) development. My "wheelhouse" is websites for small businesses, end-to-end (meaning from the front end all the way to the database and integration with other software packages).

 

I figure that we have a pretty wide audience here, so perhaps you've been looking to get your feet wet with an internet presence but have no idea how to get started, and don't want to get ripped off by the proverbial "my friend knows a guy" guy http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. You would be surprised at the revenue you could generate or the money you could save by automating manual processes.

 

Give me a shout if you're interested.... Here if you want an open discussion, PM me, or email me at webmaster@brewerfan.net ... Even if you think custom web development or system integration is completely out of your price range, I'll at least be able to give you a idea of what you might be able to do, and what you'd be dealing with price-wise. I'm currently looking to build up my portfolio a bit, so my rates are currently negotiable and will more than likely be very competitive.

[Katuluu]

What's your experience with Wordpress? Interested in dabbling in theme building?

[Brian the Automator]

I'm not really a graphic artist sort of person. I do well with CSS and have a decent eye for design, but not so great at creating graphics from scratch.

 

Does that help?

[rotoherb]

I don't have any work for you, but do have a suggestion. If you have a background in java then look into building some Blackberry apps, even if you just do it on your own to get your feet wet. I'm half way through our site's first blackberry app and can see how the smartphone media has a lot of potential for businesses.

 

The need for Blackberry/iPhone/smartphone developers is going to increase mightily in the next year.

[Brian the Automator]

Yeah, the problem with iPhone apps is that they're written in Objective-C, a language I don't know (and frankly, don't have time to learn... although it'd give me an excuse to buy an iPhone). Java, I know back and forth, so doing some Blackberry apps is a good idea. Windows Mobile is also coming out with a "marketplace" to sell apps to compete with the iPhone, and there's also the Android platform that Google is coming out with. I was thinking about writing some mobile apps for Brewerfan as sort of a test, so we'll see if it's my cup of tea.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

[rotoherb]

Yeah, the whole thing that iPhone/iPod touch apps need to be programmed on an intel based Apple computer is crap, though it forced us to buy a mac mini for the office so if their objective was to sell more macs then it probably worked. I'm having one of my programmers work on an iPhone app so I don't have to go through it.

 

You can download the JDE from the blackberry site along with some sample apps. Any tutorials for blackberry apps are very limited, though, and there really are no books on it. The funny thing is that I saw at least four iPhone app "how to" books at Barnes and Noble last week. More blackberries were sold during the first quarter of this year than any other smart phone, including the iPhone. People seem to overlook that.

[valpocrewsader]

Brian, a friend of a friend is looking for a web developer to redo the front end of his bank, requesting someone comfortable in content management systems (like Joomla or Drupal?). Not a full-time gig, just an on-the-side contract. Just figured I'd pass it along. I can PM you more info if you're interested.

[pretendastronaut]

Just seeing this thread for the first time, but, I've worked independently for over two years now, doing largely web design and front-end development. I know a bit about PHP, less about .NET. For larger PHP jobs I usually bring in a friend from Michigan, but I pretty much always turn down .NET RFPs because I don't know anyone well who does .NET and freelances.

 

I'll keep you in mind the next time I have a possibility of a .NET project and we can talk.

[Brian the Automator]

Valpo - I'm not really well versed in Joomla or Drupal, but I appreciate the thought....

 

Pretendastronaut - That would be awesome

[Thats Freakin Sweet]

Well, yesterday I took a leap of faith and left my well-salaried, full-benefits job as a CPA to start a business with a childhood friend doing digital signage. My friend has run a multi-media advertising business for years, but he doesn't design websites. He has "a guy" but I don't think he's over-the-top thrilled with him. We have our URL already (alcovedigital.com), but I took web publishing back in the mid-nineties so I'm unsure what language can be used to build it. I'd love your input Brian.

[Brian the Automator]

PHP is probably the easiest "entry-level" programming language. It has a very large community, and hosting PHP websites is very cheap.

[pretendastronaut]

Most of the popular free Content Management Solutions (CMS) run on PHP as well.

 

PHP doesn't do anything for your front-end though, you'll still need to use XHTML/CSS for that.