I started my tech journey by teaming up with a loan officer and mortgage broker manager. My job was(is) to create websites, manage servers, generate traffic, analyze data, and ultimately drive business through the door.
Initially, I utilized normal WordPress websites for each of our niche sites. During this time, I was really focused on learning anything and everything their was to know about Search Engine Optimization(SEO).
Then, I decided to utilize the multi-site installation configuration offered by WordPress.
Finally, I moved away from WordPress all together and developed each of the mortgage websites from the ground up.
Doing 100% of the front end and back end coding - mainly utilizing the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP) Stack and some simpler javaScript and Json.
I was also responsible for 100% of the social media accounts, local citations, email campaigns, and anything else needed to amplify the Search Engine Optimization.
Today, the 5 websites I developed generate between 10-20 internet mortgage leads per day - or 300 - 600 potential business conversions per month. These Mortgage websites also drive 500-1,000 unique visitors per day and were all accepted into the lending tree affiliate marketing program.
After a while, the mortgage industry was losing my interest and one of my partners offered me an opportunity to join a new - yet some what related industry.
Selling and Financing Commercial Semi Trucks.
Although I was excited about venturing into a new industry, I also wanted to emphasize my focus on developing eye-catching & unique software.
Thus, I spent an immense amount of time learning about the dubious intricacies of designing slick, eye popping, front end designs while also solidifying my techniques focusing on concrete consistency on the back end.
Finally, I found what I was yearning for - jQuery. jQuery is an extremely well written library created from javaScript.
I also learned a descent amount of angular javaScript during this time period, but I didn't like how much it impeded on the speed of my websites - which lead my tendencies toward utilizing jQuery.
On the back-end, my answer came in the form of the PHP PDO Abstraction Layer. This is an efficient, object oriented way to communicate between my server side code(PHP) and the MySQL databases in which the PHP code interacts with.
The next phase of developing my dev skills was more efficiently bridging the front-end world with the back-end world.
This lead me to a head first dive into the abyss known as Ajax(Asynchronous Java Script & XML). Ajax allows you to send messages between the browser and server without needing to reload the entire webpage. Thus offering a way to load data in the background. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
I utilized these technologies to create a really cool trucker forum, a responsive amortization financing calculator with an option to email anyone the amortization table, and an extremely unique front-end to back-end lead generation form that has spiked the daily leads by over 500%.
During this time, I also made an android loan amortization calculator phone application. The purely OOP Java was needed for this.
After months of working on creating dynamic websites with full back end systems, I was presented with another opportunity.
I was offered to come on as partial owner to help develop and sell a Pro Tools Audio Signal Processing Plug-In. Audio Programs usually utilize C for their core algorithm & C++ for modules/objects.
Believe it or not, converting a real world sound into a bunch of binary digits and back out in at linear algorithm speed is complex. Most signal processing technologies utilize what's known as the Fast Fourier Transform input/output samples of binary data linearly.
Since the FFT allows for linear processing speed(input/output = same speed), you are able to process/change audio data in real time, which is absolutely crazy.
So summing things up, I've learned quite a lot since starting on my tech journey, and I hope to utilize those learned skills to help improve your project in the near future!
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