Name: Billy Deakin A.K.A. The Action Geek
Location: UK
Online since: The mid ’90s

Bio: Billy studied computer science and electronic engineering at the University of Salford, specialising in  audio and video engineering and graduated in 1998.  His first “online business” involved selling video games through the (at the time very new) eBay auction site while he was studying at college.  That business might have only turned over a few hundred dollars each week, but it kept him in beers all through college and started his interest in online business.

He began developing websites, and e-commerce stores commercially in 1999 and founded his own web design company in 2002.  Shortly afterwards he began developing multimedia projects and Flash games, founding a site which became an “overnight success” drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors per month with no promotion – in fact the sheer number of visitors crashed the hosting servers on more than one occasssion.  That site was featured in the UK press, and Billy decided to concentrate on Flash and multimedia, building sites and applications for himself and clients for several years.

By the mid-2000s he was beginning to change focus.  The online world was rapidly evolving, and realising that his business also needed to change in order to keep up he began studying marketing, and implementing his new knowledge into his business.  He diversified into a number of markets, and built over 100 websites in niches as diverse as pet care and home business opportunities. Through repetition, testing and study he slowly gained expertise in a wide range of IM related subjects, built a solid client base, and managed to stay “under the radar” while building an online presense in over 20 different markets.

Today Billy continues to run and expand his online business, working as a developer and consultant with major brands such as Orange, Miniclip and The BBC, and teaches both online and offline to share his skills and experience.