An introduction

My name is Craig Junghandel [yoong-hondel]. I am a 39 year old dad, husband, web developer and aspiring IM badass.

My love affair with the internet began back in the late 90’s, when I acquired my first Windows PC. It was also at this time that I decided the internet was going to be my vehicle to making millions. Aaahhh…the sense of wonder and limitless potential I felt back then.

My first stab at becoming my own boss began with my launching of an online collectibles shop. I had been an avid collector of comic books and sports cards, sitting atop what I felt was a healthy enough inventory to start a business venture. Also at this time, I had discovered the mania that was the Beanie Baby craze of the late 20th Century. I had thought those little bean bags were pretty silly at first, and not deserved of such collector frenzy, but after my first few sales I was a huge fan of Ty’s. 😀

At any rate, my plan was to launch a website that would allow me to tap into the collectibles marketplace and eventually make millions. What a dream that was…

Being that I didn’t know the first thing about website design back then, I hired a local IT company to build one for me. I hand drew a logo for my business, supplied the developer with a few images and creative concepts, a basic site structure, and then he performed his witchcraft. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only about 10 days or so, I finally was presented with my own website! I felt so proud and accomplished at that point. The world was my oyster, with me now poised to dominate the collectible bean bag, comic and sports card marketplace.

That feeling only lasted for a few days… I quickly realized what was going to be required of me in order to compete in this game.

For starters, I was going to have to learn web design. I didn’t have the resources to pay for regular site updates, plus I knew that I wanted to have full creative control of my site.

Ahhh… so much to learn…

Next: How I got started in web design