Hello world!

Welcome to O`Bannon’s Leap! It seems like everybody always deletes the initial “Hello World” posting created with a new installation of WordPress, but I thought why do that? Is there any better way to launch a blog, which is a social site by its nature, than to say hello and introduce myself?

So who am I and why am I blogging?

It’s kind of funny, but I’ve wanted to keep a ‘personal’ blog for a long time. Seriously, I bought this domain name for that purpose all the way back in 2006.

However, as I’m sure most can relate to, life and work often have other plans for us and while I did sit down to launch this blog many times over the years I’ve never been able to truly commit to it until now.

Since 2002 I’ve been the owner of Bannon Productions. A web services company providing a wide range of services and products to primarily small business clients.

If you really want to know more about Bannon Productions or my work experience then I invite you to visit https://scottbannon.com.

The summary is that I have over 16 years of working in web technologies, programming in various languages, have worked on the (re)designing of countless websites for hobbyists and international organizations, and grown a business that began with a single server into a global network co-locating in seven data centers spread across three continents. 

Gosh writing that feels like I’m applying for a job, but what I hope is that it will translate into my being able to share valuable knowledge and tips and even some tutorials along the way that is helpful to others.

Which brings me to why I’ve wanted to run a personal blog for so long: because when you work in a tech field you suddenly become the go-to guy for family and friends with all things technology related, just as when you own a small business that makes it past the two year mark and earns profits you suddenly become the go-to guy for those same folks with questions on earning extra money, side hustles, and questions on launching a new business.

And of course when you own a successful business that’s in a tech-related field, well you’re the guy for all of it.

I love that I have been able to answer so many questions and helped quite a few to turn their ideas or desires into reality over the years when they came to me, and that’s why for a dozen-plus years now since I purchased the OBannonsLeap domain name I’ve wanted to make a blog where I could suggest solid resources and talk about some of these things in a practical and real-world kind of way.

What do I mean by practical and real-world?

Here comes my “kid from the streets of Pittsburgh” nature shining through, but hey that’s who I am.

Look, the Internet is full of folks with advice on everything, and whatever you search for often it’s great advice you’ll find (Google does a good job at lifting up quality overall). But, it’s also often self-serving or slanted to benefit some cause or ideology, or even a specific group of people.

A perfect example of this is if you’re looking for information on creating a simple web page layout for a landing page to capture visitor’s email addresses. For a home or small business person, you don’t want (or need) to dive into the very deep wells of web tech and coding standards and best practices. You just want something that lets you accomplish your task and to move on.

CSS Grid is a perfect tool for such a layout, but when you look it up you’re going to find tons of information and how-to’s that go so far beyond your basic needs it’s bound to frustrate and discourage you.

Now, I’m all for using best practices and adhering to coding standards, and if this were a topic I was blogging on I’d certainly link out to such useful information as well, but my main focus would be on the simple way to use it so that you can complete your task and get on with your day.

Someone who sells shoes or operates an eBay drop-shipping side-hustle doesn’t want or need to know the best practices and coding standards behind HTML 5 or CSS 3, they just need simple advice on getting customer’s names and email addresses onto their newsletter lists.

There’s often a disconnect between the deep and the necessary with things like this and I hope that’s a void I can fill for readers here.

Why now?

I’ve said why I’ve put off launching this blog for a dozen years so I should explain what’s changed that I have the opportunity now.

Basically, I’ve pulled back from work recently. Over the last few years my mother has had several life-threatening medical conditions. She’s recovering though it’s been a very long and slow road for her, but she needs around the clock care and monitoring.

Fortunately (and I am blessed in this), I was in a position where I could step back from being hands-on with the day to day of my business and focus on being there for her.

I have found myself with brief periods of free time throughout the days and evenings, and so I thought finally getting to this blog was a great way to use those windows of time. 

So, welcome again to my blog, and please use the comments below to say “hi” back, or tell me if there are specific topics you’d like me to cover here.