Josh Shear

Through That Josh, I offer a variety of services in the form of partnerships – this is your brand and your image at stake, I want your involvement. Please read my philosophy on working together.

Social media consulting. I try out just about everything that comes across my desk. So far, the sites I have found the most value in are Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Flickr. I can also help you understand the value of a blog, and work with you on joining communities in your field.

Search Engine Optimization. SEO is not a dirty word. You probably get lots of poorly worded emails offering to do SEO campaigns for cheap and promising you many links to your site and high search engine rankings – quickly and on the cheap. SEO is an involved process, but it pays off if it's done right, and it can have lasting effects if you maintain it.

Blogging/content creation. I can help you start your own blog, or write one for your business. I can also create content-driven web pages that can help your business succeed.

Websites I work with HTML, CSS, WordPress and Blogger (see samples). I can design something for you, spruce up your existing site, or work with you to ensure you understand how your website works so that you can maintain and update it yourself.

Proofreading I can help with your academic paper*, your novel, essay, short story, presentation, web site or other written work to improve its readability.

*My field of expertise is mass communications. If your paper is in another field, I won't know the jargon, etc., but will still be happy to work with you.

Contact me for more information or to get something started »

Current Web sites:

The Lexington Financial Group is a Fayetteville, NY-based financial services firm offering securities, life insurance and more. This site used an out-of-the-box WordPress theme from AntiSocial Media, with some CSS tweaks. I taught some very unsavvy technologists how to update the site and handed it off so they didn't have to pay anyone for updates.

Prime Steak House came to downtown Syracuse's Hanover Square in late 2010. We launched a website to essentially host a menu and give off a little bit of the atmosphere with some photos and textures. Again, we used an out-of-the-box WordPress theme that the client could updated without help. The restaurant was already doing its own social media when it was in the planning phase to gather some hype.

Hurst Associates, Digitization 101 and eNetworking 101 – We took two static websites and two blogs, all with different formats, and consolidated to one static site and two blogs, all with the same look and feel. Now visitors understand that they are on sites maintained by one company, and they are able to navigate easily between the three sites, thanks to the two menus at the top of the page.

Armory Massage Therapy – This site was developed with a number of goals in mind. First, we got the client out of a bad web hosting situation. Second, I used WordPress so the client could update the content on her own. Third, we made some decisions to not only simplify design and make it more accessible on multiple browsers, we were able to give prominence to a salable item (gift certificates) on every page and make the business's contact information available from every page. Last but certainly not least, a mobile solution was added to this site so that out-of-town visitors seeking massage therapy services on their mobile devices would have a clean, easy way to view the site.

aSweetPeace – This was a well-written food blog with a fair number of comments and a really tough design, so I just took a Blogger template and modified it so that she'd be able to lay out her blog posts in a cleaner format with bigger photos. Yum.

CNYSPaRC.org – The Syracuse Professional & Recreation Club needed a site that could be handled fairly easily by volunteer designers who (according to their bylaws) turn over every two years, assuming people stick for their full board terms. I created a WordPress site that met their needs, and includes an event calendar plugin.

ShearXtreme.com – This site was created for a salon in Northampton, Massachusetts. In addition to the site, I suggested they get set up on MySpace and Flickr, which has helped give them more exposure and put them in a better place to interact with their clientele.

AndreaColler.com – This site was created in 2002 for a singer-songwriter based in Northampton, Massachusetts. Andrea passed away in April, 2008, of complications related to cancer, but the Web site remains as a tribute.