Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob O’Shea.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rob. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My career in website design and development started inauspiciously. I’ve always been right-brain dominant, with a proclivity towards art, design, and creative thinking. While going to school, I started playing with Adobe Photoshop, mainly for fun in my spare time. I became interested in graphic design, and took several courses on the subject. A few years later I designed graphics for, and built a very basic website using a visual editor. The website sparked my interest in web design. I shifted my focus in school away from kinesiology to graphic and web design. This experience allowed me to get a job as a junior graphic/web designer shortly out of school. I worked under a very experienced web designer, and learned a lot on the job through hands on experience. I sharpened my design and front-end development skills, while learning internet marketing: SEO, PPC, social media marketing, etc. The company I worked for focused solely on the automotive industry, which was tanking due to the economy. In-turn everyone in my department had their hours cut, which led to me taking on side-work. As my portfolio grew, I became exponentially busier with side projects. I decided to make the transition to freelancing full-time when my side work was keeping my busier and paying more than my job at the time. I left on amicable terms, and became business partners with a friend that had extensive experience with sales and marketing. Fast forward 9-years, and we’re still designing, developing, and marketing web-based projects for clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any business, there are ebbs and flows. It’s certainly been a learning experience, and we’re still learning each and every day. The industry we’re in is very competitive. Competition isn’t always a bad thing, as it implies there’s a market for the product/service. It can be challenging to identify your unique sales perspective, and separate yourself from the competition.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Controlled Fate – what should we know?
We are a small web shop with big ideas, and big agency capabilities. We are a one-stop-shop for anything web and graphic related. Our close-knit team of designers, developers and internet marketers work in-house; nothing is outsourced overseas. Keeping the work in-house ensures that you are working directly with the people responsible for your project. We are based in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and we can remotely provide web design and internet marketing services across the U.S. and North America.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Person-ability. One of our biggest advantages of being a small web-shop is we strip layers away from the process. You work directly with us, as opposed to facilitating information through receptionist, project managers, salesman, etc.
Pricing:
- Basic websites starting at $499.
- Search Engine Optimization starting at $99/month.
- Pay-Per-Click (AdWords) campaign setup and management starting at $99.
Contact Info:
- Address: 310 S. Windhaven Ct.
- Website: http://controlledfate.com
- Phone: 8153885600
- Email: controlledfate@gmail.com
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