Beginning as a Graphic Designer in 1999, I've been blessed to have a 20 year career doing what I enjoy. I'm a Father of three, avid baseball fan, leader of my local neighborhood watch, Siberian Husky dog-dad, and owner of The Microtechs. Since 2007, I've specialized in online marketing and web design & development. I'm one of the leading experts in the United States for Joomla! and the Open Source Matters community.
As a late Gen-X, or member of the "Oregon Trail Generation", I have both tech-native qualities and the practical paper-and-ink thinking of those who came of age without the internet. I grew up alongside computer and online technology as it happened. In the 80's, while other kids were riding their bikes, I was learning to program games in Atari BASIC. From TOS to DOS, to designing game scenery pixel-by-pixel in 16 colors (and then 256), I learned each new technology as it became available. In the late nineties, I started my career designing print collateral and traditional marketing media, from offset and digitally printed catalogs, postcards and brochures, to insurance proposals and sales sheets.
By 2000, I managed all design for Aetna US HealthCare's 19 offices in the western half of the United States. Over the next decade, I served as a Graphic Designer, Marketing & Sales Manager, and RIP and Offset & Digital Printing Consultant. As the printing industry declined in the mid-2000's, I moved toward online media. In 2007, I began working with Joomla and Wordpress.
I always felt like Web Designers were very frustrating to work with. As a Marketing guy, I would have to hire designers and developers for the companies I worked for. Having to wait days for simple changes, and be nickle-and-dimed for hourly rates, would always leave me feeling like they were padding hours and stringing us along. With Joomla hit the mainstream in 2007, it was the answer I had been looking for. As one-by-one I saw Design Firms and Agencies going out of business, I set out to disrupt the website industry's norms and learn from their mistakes.
The Microtechs was founded on the simple idea that people should be able to edit and manage their own website without being dependent on skilled specialists doing it for them. Instead of trying to hold on to each client and rack up hourly fees, I set out to provide my clients with solutions that didn't need me. Since January 1, 2008, I've served over 350 clients and produced state-of-the-art CMS solutions that their least tech-savvy staff and volunteers are able to manage without hired help. By 2010, The Microtechs was earning nearly $200k a year in revenue with no employees or real overhead. Through the years we've operated as a Co-op of independent professionals and contractors working together, remaining lean with most projects requiring only a single developer or designer. We've produced hundreds of automatically updating, open source content management systems that don't become obsolete. As of March 2018, there are still a half-dozen websites online that were launched ten years ago.
Some of my favorite, most noteworthy companies and organizations I've had the privilege of serving have included Pixar Animation Studios, Leapfrog, The Oakland Athletics and Old Navy. Feel free to browse through my featured clients.
I'm happy to help with all of your Marketing, Development or Design services. Thanks for your interest, and I look forward to being of service!
"this is how I always envisioned our website. fantastic job!"
Dave Shapiro, CEO, Cartelligent