About Me
My name is Michelle Brown-Green. I am a web developer and digital marketing specialist from Fort Wayne, IN. I have more than 20 years experience in the digital marketing space. My specialties are Shopify (for ecommerce) and WordPress (for services) development. My web design style is clean with pops of color. My design strategy is conversion-focused, so each project is heavily driven by how I can make the site convert better for your end goal and target audience.
How I Got Into Web Development & Digital Marketing
I became an entrepreneur at a young age. My father, a laid off GE employee, used to scavenge for junk washers and dryers, fix them up and sell them. I use to spend hours in the garage, watching him fix what previous owners obviously deemed worthless appliances. I was fascinated by the fact that he could turn garbage into something people were willing to pay $75 to $250 for. From this, my entrepreneurial thirst grew.
I became a kid entrepreneur and ring leader of numerous money making ventures that I would convince my youngest sister and cousin to par take in. One of my most memorable businesses was a local cleaning service. My sister, cousin and I hand wrote flyers and put them in the mail boxes of all the nearby homes. We got one phone call from an older lady. She even called us back a second time; my first experience with repeat business.
I never lost interest in entrepreneurship. In college, I pursued several businesses including envelope stuffing, math tutoring, and an errand service that I launched not long after purchasing my first vehicle – a 1989 Ford tempo. I purchased a set of magnetic signs printed with the ad copy, “Michelle’s Errand Service” along with my phone number, and I was in business. Well, not exactly. I still had a lot to learn about marketing at that stage. But it was a good try.
My last year in college was when my interest turned to the Internet. I signed up for a wholesale drop shiping account; after watching one of those infomercials? My intentions were to sell on Ebay. However, the competition was too fierce and I quickly learned I would need a website to break away from the downward price driving environment of online auctions. That’s when I began learning how to build my own website.
At the time, I didn’t know much about domain names and web hosting; but in the past, I’d created personal profile pages on AOL Hometown…yeah, I’m that old. From there, I figured out how to add Paypal buttons, along with my product images and descriptions, and my very first ecommerce site was born.
I still knew nothing about website marketing and promotion at this point, so business wasn’t exactly booming, but believe it or not I was able to land a couple of sales. One was a $500 order, which I ended up refunding due to the item being out of stock. That sucked. I still don’t know what’s scarier, the fact that I built an ecommerce website from a personal AOL profile page, or the fact that somebody actually ordered from it.
Although I made only 2 sales, one of which had to be refunded, this activity solidified my belief in the ability to do business on the Internet. In 2001, I attended an Internet marketing workshop, where I learned about website promotion, which was the missing link I needed, and I’ve been developing my skills ever since in the fast-changing world of digital marketing.
My hope with this website is to be a source of helpful information for both newbies and experienced Internet Marketers as I continue my ongoing journey of expanding and enhancing my portfolio of digital marketing skill sets.
This year, I had an ah ha moment; after reflecting on my career and realizing that I’ve always accomplished more when using my gifts to help other individuals or businesses. As a result, my focus has shifted more so on using my gifts to provide B2B web development and digital marketing services; to help individuals and small businesses.
About My Personality
Just for kicks, I took the 16 Personalities test recommended by one of my most respected mentors, Mike Dillard. I have to say it nailed me exactly, so I thought it would be a good addition to my About page.
