Experience

Founder  |  Website Developer

April. 2018 - Present

• Co-Founded SportSesh.com, a website & mobile app which aims to connect like-minded sports fans. 
• Recommends local bars (and other venues) where fans of common teams or players can meet up. Hence the name "Sport Sesh".
• Our USP is that we're making televised sport more sociable — whether that's attending our recommended venues in person, or conversing using the app after a game.
• Bars have the option to pay for advertising space on our site, and to offer fans exclusive match-day promotions — food & drink, for example.
• Our venues database currently covers the UK's most populated city centres. It's quickly becoming the largest, and most comprehensive, of it's kind.
• The app itself has a simplistic Facebook-like interface, enabling fans to separate sport from their typically cluttered social media accounts. We developed it with mobile friendliness as a key priority.
• We launched SportSesh in time for World Cup 2018, and ran several ads campaigns targeting football fans looking for local venues televising country. 
• I anticipate that by the close of the 2018/19 Premier League football season, our app will become the UK's most comprehensive pub finder, as well as an active forum for fans all over the country.

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Content Writer | Freelance SEO 

December. 2017 - Present

• Wrote several articles for a blog section on UKITService.co.uk, a London-based IT Management Service.
• The blog highlights the advantages of outsourcing IT tasks, and how UK IT Service can help small companies to overcome pain points in order to maximise their potential.
• I researched & wrote content on several topics including:
  • The advantages of managed IT services.
  • The dangers of cyber crime, how to prevent them from damaging your business.
  • Typical difficulties SME's encounter in growing their business, and how technology can be put to better use.
  • The risks companies face in depending on one "IT Guy" to manage core technologies.
• I drew upon my own knowledge, as well as first-hand experiences working in tech startups, to provide helpful and engaging content.
• SEO skills were essential for these written tasks, as the content is intended to climb Google search rankings with a view to get find local sales leads.

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Founder  |  Writer  |  Website Developer

Sep. 2017 - Present

• Founded NicheCarve.com, a website which documents my business pursuits and encourages others to 'carve' their own niche.
• Recommends products, services & tools which assist in creating an online business.
• Targets the popular topics of 'online business' and 'startups'. My main objective is to apply the same affiliate marketing techniques effective in sports data services (see Punter2Pro) to Niche Carve, in order to capture and monetise a much larger audience.
• Informs readers of the potential pitfalls and difficulties one faces in creating an online business. This incorporates several lessons learnt from first hand experiences.
• Serves as a hub that raises awareness of my other products and services.
• NicheCarve is set to publish original content focused on the topics of: Amazon FBA, importing physical products, SEO, online marketing, rapid web development, e-commerce and techniques for driving traffic to a new website/blog.

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Founder  |  Product & Brand Designer

May. 2017 - Present

• Researched existing football equipment and observed the lack of creativity, innovation and focus on Goalkeeping products.
• Founded 'Rectrix', a London-based sports brand focused on Goalkeeping equipment. The name and concept compares the 'Rectrix' tail feathers of a bird —which provides stability and direction during flight — to the Goalkeeping position.
• Developed the RectrixSport.com website and logo. I intentionally focused on a predominantly black/white colour scheme to create a 'technical' and 'scientific' feel to the brand. I drew the logo by hand and converted it into PSD format.
• Designed & developed the first Rectrix product — the Reflexx 1.0 Gloves — aimed at the upper-mid to lower-high end of the Goalkeeping glove market. I supplied photoshop designs to overseas factories and requested samples for close inspection and trials.
• Received feedback from academy goalkeepers in order to improve the design of the gloves. The retail price, materials and unique glove features were key considerations for the final product design.
• Negotiated with various equipment factories to establish a price and product specification that would enable sustained growth of the Rectrix brand. The end-user requirements, Amazon FBA costs, as well as marketing expenses were carefully considered.
• The Reflexx 1.0 is currently being launched. I'm also developing a second pair of gloves, aimed solely the high-end of the market.

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Co-Founder  |  Writer  |  Website & Software Developer  |  Product & Brand Designer

Jul. 2015 - Present

• Co-founded ‘Fly GA’, a start-up specialising in educational products for European aviation students (see Fly-GA.co.uk)
• Researched the needs of flight students by seeking advice from established pilots and instructors. This enabled us to write targeted content for our website, and design aviation products to meet precise specifications.
• Wrote unbiased content that's unaffiliated to specific flight schools or services. This makes us one of the only established 'third party' aviation blogs in the UK focused on the Private Pilot Licence (PPL).
• Sourced UK manufacturers to develop a unique set of ‘flight tools’ to aid pilots in making calculations under flight examination conditions.
• Worked closely with UK flight schools to create an outlet for our physical products. Several flight schools provide our tools to their students, making Fly GA one of the UK’s fastest growing suppliers for specialist aviation rulers, plotters, flight computers and topographical stickers.
• Applied basic SEO techniques, launched PPC campaigns, and promoted our written content via social media channels and popular aviation blogs. This has helped to raise awareness of the Fly GA brand.
• Developed and distributed a competitively priced aviation 'Starter Kit' using the Amazon FBA service. The set includes over 8 original Fly GA products, and offers purchasers unrivalled value for money. The set is poised to be the 'go-to' set for student pilots.
• Designed & developed an in-browser educational platform — ‘AeroExam’ — with a small team of programmers (see AeroExam.co.uk). The product enables aviation students to practice their PPL(A) theory examinations from home, or via their mobile device, utilising a bank of over 4,000+ official questions. It's currently in the Beta testing phase.

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Founder  |  Writer  |  Website Developer

Jan. 2015 - Present

• Launched a sports analysis blog, Punter2Pro.com, which has since grown to 400+ unique visitors per day and 5,000+ Twitter followers. The website is becoming increasingly well recognised by online sports betting communities. Maintaining full transparency has been instrumental to its success.
• Wrote unique content inspired by my experiences working with professional sports traders (see 'Secret Horse'). I discourage traditional gambling. My posts advocate the use of data analysis for identifying a mathematical advantage, or 'edge'. I explore different approaches to betting, proving or disproving various theories along the way.
• Monetised the site's content by collaborating with third party companies. I promote specialist subscription services through the blog in exchange for a commission. For example — odds analysis tools, sports trading software and value bet finders.
• Applied SEO techniques to boost traffic for keyword searches. As a result, Punter2Pro.com is one of the most popular information sources in Europe for 'value betting' and 'arbitrage'.
• Adapted data collection tools from previous projects to tweet automated updates on horse racing market activity. This helped to acquire new followers and drive more traffic to the blog.
• Spoke on BBC Radio 4 about the dangers of sports betting scams, and helped journalists to investigate criminal activities related to online gambling.
• I continue to provided sports betting advice on the answer bank, Quora. I hold 'Most Viewed Writer' positions for several topics such as 'Sports Betting'. Many of my answers aim to address serious issues such as compulsive gambling and addiction. I emphasise the importance of maintaining realistic expectations, and responsible betting.

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Co-Founder  |  Sales Strategist  |  Customer Service

Jan. 2014 - Present

• Collaborated with ETT (ExpertTableTennis.com), a popular and highly respected table tennis blog with thousands of daily visitors — including ranked  players and professional coaches from around the world. ETT serves as a platform to advertise products to a wide and very niche audience.
• Located manufacturers for specialist sports equipment and built a supply chain using the Amazon FBA service as the main distributor. 
• Transformed the little-known ‘Palio’ table tennis brand into a recognisable name within the industry. Palio provides our company sales exclusivity on a custom line of products within their brand. This gives an advantage over our competition, and has helped us to consistently hold the Amazon '#1 Best Seller' rank for table tennis bats in several European countries.
• Developed and wrote content for the PalioxETT.com website. The aim was to provide additional information about our company, USP, brand and background.
• Applied SEO techniques to ETT in order to boost traffic for key search terms. As a result we are able to reach out to even more table tennis enthusiasts across the world.
• Strategised and launched several digital advertising campaigns via PPC and social media. The successful ‘Expert In A Year’ YouTube campaign lead to millions of views and a substantial upturn in website traffic that's sustained to date (see ExpertInAYear.com).
• Dealt directly with customers to identify strengths and weaknesses in both our products and method of distribution (Amazon). We have used their feedback to reduce return rates and maintain high standards. A consistently positive customer experience has been fundamentally important to the success of our business.

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My past projects were predominantly tech based — involving programming, data analysis, and project management. 

Co-Founder  |  Project Manager  |  Lead Designer

Feb. 2012 - Jan. 2013

• Co-founded and developed 'Exchange Traded Advisor' — one of the first-known market comparison tools for ETF data. The concept was innovative and much needed within the industry. 
• Established the brand and user interface for ET Advisor. Ease of use, as well as speed and readability, were crucially important design considerations.
• Assembled and lead a team of software developers that transformed our design concept into the first fully-working product. We received continuous feedback from potential end users and incorporated more features — such as additional search functions and data filters — throughout the development phase.
• Prepared presentations and a detailed business proposal. We liaised with experts working within the [then new] ETF market and established several potentially profitable marketing strategies for ET Advisor. Our aim was to retain IP, and provide the service on a subscription basis. However, this was challenging for our small team, as most organisations sought to take the entire project in-house.
• ET Advisor garnered the interest we anticipated, receiving positive feedback from various industry-leaders. We eventually elected to sell our project to a leading Market Maker with the capacity to take our concept and drive it forward beyond the means of our company (with comparatively limited resources). We retained a share of future proceeds.

Co-Founder  |  Developer  |  Project Manager

Apr. 2010 - Aug. 2015

• Co-founded a subscription-based service which collated market data extracted from online sources such as Betfair, BetDAQ, the Racing Post and several Bookmakers. It calculated an accurate probability for horses to win a race, and identified under and over priced odds.
• Served over 250 clients that used our service for both recreational and professional purposes. Many individuals sought our data to identify “value bets”, or to better predict price fluctuations in the sports markets. Value betting later became a focal point of my blog Punter2Pro.com (see above).
• Extended our system to include niche data items — such as pedigree (bloodline) information for horses. This feature was enjoyed by many racing enthusiasts, and soon became one of our specialities. 
• Incorporated football into our software. We could accurately model the 'true' odds for almost any known soccer market. This appealed to sports data fanatics — as well as Fantasy Football players — which helped broaden our customer base.
• Collected & distributed historical data, and developed analysis tools. These features were available to all existing subscribers, and provided a detailed (visual) insight into price fluctuations.
• Worked with sports traders (both clients and collaborators) to build an array of automated sports trading programs that applied similar techniques to those used in finance. These could be tuned and monitored via a website interface.
• Developed a database system for storing client's details, managing payments, sending out automated reminders/updates, and dealing with troubleshooting enquiries.
• Created a sports betting site, 'Bet Central', using ASP.net and Bootstrap. It was used as a platform to promote our products, as well as other non-competing sports betting/analytics services. The Bet Central website and all its content was eventually archived, to enableour team to realign focus on adding more features to our data service.

Co-Founder  |  Lead Developer  |  Project Manager

Feb. 2010 - July. 2010

• Assembled a small team of Warwick University Computer Scientists to develop a social network aimed at connecting people at UK festivals. The concept originated with company prominent in advertising events for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, looking to offer paid advertising space. We were granted a stake in any profits accrued from the social network.
• Conceived the Hanging Rock logo and brand. This hand-drawn concept was well received by all others involved in the project. It blended the themes of live music, performance, and youth.
• Created Photoshop website designs that were put before focus groups. The groups voted the 'best fit' for our target audience — a young demographic, aged 18-24.
• Selected the 'PHP Fox' software as the framework for the project. It enabled our team to rapidly build and customise a social network with comparable features to Facebook — including instant messaging, wall posts, image tagging, fan pages, and events.
• Overcame several challenges, such as security vulnerabilities and speed issues. These were a major concern given a potentially large user-base in the near future.
• Whilst the development phase was largely successful given our short timeframe — the project lacked a marketing strategy. We agreed to retire the social network with a view to relaunch it at a later date.