James Swearengin’s Web Experience

Genesis of my internet experience

I started learning how to code websites when I was about 12 years old. I used free domain and webhosting services such as Angelfire and Geocities. I learned how to code HTML with some friends over AOL Instant Messenger and I continued from there by learning whatever I could. It has been 18 years since I started making websites and I’m still here making websites to this day.

I graduated high school on a technical path in 2005 and in 2010 I graduated from Chattahoochee Technical college with an associates degree in web design and an internet specialist certificate.

First real world design job

I luckily landed a job working at the AT&T building in Atlanta, Georgia almost immediately after I finished my associates degree. I was employed by a staffing agency called Technisource, but working at AT&T alongside hundreds of other employees such as consultants, designers and proofers. I quickly got up to speed and conformed to the rigorous standards set by management. I started outperforming several of the employees who had been working there for years and management would often approach me with urgent tasks due to my speediness.

I was eventually assigned to the website redesign team and was responsible for satisfying AT&T’s clients who were displeased with poorly designed websites. After about 2 years of working 10 hour days, I became burned out because of no advancement opportunities and stagnation. I felt like I was just another fish in a very large ocean, and I was indeed expendable. Instead of remaining miserable, I decided it was time to move on and pursue something different.

Greener pastures in Buckhead

After surviving off of freelancing and music sales for a while, I ended up getting a new job in Buckhead, GA working for a design agency that specialized in affiliate marketing.

I was working with a much smaller, tightly knit team of designers and developers. My computer setup was 10 times better than when I was working at AT&T, and things were just much better overall. I honed in on my affiliate marketing skills and learned a lot while in Buckhead, but all good things must come to an end and I was eventually let go due to funding issues.

Altitude Comfort Heating and Air

In 2013, I partnered up with one of my former bosses to help start up a Heating and Air company in Denver, CO. We went on to create one of the best and most successful heating and air websites in Colorado.

I designed and developed AltitudeComfort.com from the ground up using various languages such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP. Today, the site consistently ranks on the first page of Google. I still manage the graphics and website responsibilities for Altitude Comfort and the company is now well established in Denver with over $2 million in sales.

Beam Global Media

A co-worker introduced me to Beam Global Media when they needed help designing branding for a new healthcare supplement product.

They were outsourcing their design work to a someone from a foreign country who was hard to communicate with and slow to respond. I analyzed some of their package designs and their test group ended up liking my recommendations the most. The owner of the company was intrigued with my analysis and decided to hire me for some design work. I’ve been designing for Beam Global Media since 2016.

Freelancing

I currently freelance from home and love the freedom that comes with it. I’ve had a lot of success building and designing websites for clients all over the USA.

I’ve helped many companies create successful websites over the past several years and I have plenty of professional references to back up my claims.

If you need someone that will work into the wee hours of the morning to meet deadlines, and someone who is dedicated and passionate about creating websites, feel free to contact me and let me know how I can help you!