Shouts & Hollers

Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Kevin Smith, a 20 year old from Matewan, WV, currently studying Graphic Design at Marshall University. To pay for school and keep money in my pocket, I do a lot of freelance web development and I’ve started a few small businesses. I stay fairly busy.

When did you start developing websites?
I began developing “websites” in 1995. My first attempt at publishing online was through a very simple, template-based service which took basic text input and pumped it out onto a single, static page. At seven years old, I was pretty amazed by this. Anyone in the world who, like me, had internet access could see what I had written. At this time, I had no clue that the skills I was developing would one day turn into a profitable career; at the time, it was simply something I could do to entertain myself on rainy days.

Only a few years ago did I really begin to delve into true web development. Another interest of mine is in music. I would often search for song lyrics and find them on websites covered with advertisements and annoying popups so I developed a song lyric website for myself. In less than a year, I had a website with over 20,000 artists and a steady income from nonintrusive advertisements. It became a bit too much for me to handle alone and I wanted to spend more time with friends so I sold the website in 2003, but continued to experiment with web developement.

What other websites have you developed besides SecretTweet?
Other than SecretTweet, I’ve had several online ventures. My most recent personal projects include VisitMatewan.com (a tourist oriented website for my hometown), MozunkHost.com (a webhosting service), and, of course, SecretTweet.com. I’m currently working alongside Eric Roberts, a freelance web developer from Racine, Wisconsin, on a website aimed at the new “Web 2.0″ online attitude. I’m beginning to work away from self-managed websites and projects and starting to focus more on freelance web programming and development. This is much less stressful and much more profitable (depending on your work ethic, of course).

How did you get the idea for SecretTweet?
For several years now, I’ve been a fan of PostSecret.com, a website in which visitors mail in thousands of “secrets” every week on creatively designed postcards which are then published online. When I discovered Twitter.com a little over a year ago, I saw an opportunity for an online version of PostSecret to succeed and I ran with the idea. SecretTweet has received mixed reviews from a lot of people and I respect that. Personally, I feel SecretTweet is a fabulous reminder that everyone faces amazingly difficult struggles everyday; that’s part of what makes the mundane things in life so wonderfully blissful.

Do you have any other website ideas that you plan to launch?
I have literally hundreds of ideas for new projects. It’s simply the public need, personal time, and sometimes personal knowledge that prevent me from acting. A website doesn’t go online overnight. Hundreds of hours go into developement and, after you’ve spent the time and money creating the website, it can take well over a year for the website to even become profitable or form an audience (if it ever does). I’m currently working on a website for Marshall University’s AIGA, a graphic design group. As mentioned before, I’m also working with a designer from Wisconsin on a personal project called “Hey, We Make Stuff!” that will hopefully be online sometime in 2009. Beyond that, private/freelance work keeps me happily busy.

Where can people find you online?
Anything anyone would like to know about me can be found on my personal “playground” at www.KevinSmithDesigns.com. KevinSmithDesigns.com is a rather informal website intended to share what I’ve been working on and also contains links to most of the popular social-networking websites that I have an account with. So, don’t be a stranger, network with me!