Michael

Hello, my name's Gareth Hodson and I've been developing websites for a little over eighteen months. I currently live in England and I am at college studying: Spanish, English Literature, ICT and Physical Education. In my free time (when I'm not working online) I enjoy chilling out with my friends, and of course playing/watching football!

Tell us about your main project, hostedfx.com
Well this site was only really formed due to the popularity of my other site (codedfx.com). I worked very hard to make CodedFX as big as possible, when we reached a few thousand members I realized that I had a big online audience that I could advertise to. By now I'd had my own dedicated server for CodedFX - so I thought why not start a small hosting company? And that was how I started HostedFX. Nowadays HostedFX is booming, we've gained a lot of clients and I'd say all of them are extremely happy with the service. The beauty is, I don't have to put that much time into the company - I simply create the new accounts and answer the odd support ticket (we don't get many). The idea of running a company/business has always appealed to me, and the Internet has made this possible for me. However, this only came about from the huge success of CodedFX, it just goes to show - forums are a massive marketing tool.

How did you start off on the net?
I got my first PC when I was around 14, I'd only really use it for music or to play games for the first 6 months or so. It's actually quite a funny story how I found the online world that I'm in today, and even a little naughty :P My mate sent me a song that he had downloaded, I took a look at the notes in the mp3 (I don't even know why I did it), and I found a link to a forum. Curiosity made me visit - and it all started from there. I began finding more and more links to other forums, then my power-hungry nature resulted in me making my own. I, of course, started out on the free hosts and the free domains; however I quickly realized the importance of such things and invested in my first domain name codedfx.com. And the rest, is history :P

What was your first project?
My first proper project, as mentioned above, was CodedFX. I'd been around a few other graphic design forums and gotten into sig making and such. I made this community because, at the time, no other community really catered for BOTH design and coding - it was either one or the other. I'm glad to see that my very first project is actually going well to this very day - with well over 5,000 members and growing daily.

What advice do you have for someone who is starting web design/ web development?
Plan and organize. It's a little advice that I need to take myself. Even now, I find my self running out of time to do things that need to be done. I'm trying to get a schedule sorted that fits in a social life, my sites, college and my friends - 24 hours is NOT long enough for a day. So my advice is to make a to-do list everyday - set out what you want to achieve by the end of that day, and keep working until you do. Schedule these tasks so you have enough time for each, and don't get side tracked by MSN or games :P Maybe even set aside some `you time` for fun, but if you're looking to make decent money from your sites then you need to work and be disciplined. I sometimes see my time at the computer as a part time job, I know I shouldn't, but I do - and it's the best job in the world; unlimited possibilities.

What would you do differently?
If I was to start over, then I wouldn't do much different. I'm happy with how things are going and I think I'm doing quite well. One thing I know now that I haven't always known is the importance of good contacts. When it comes to emails - always give responses, always be polite, and always try to help - you never know when you could need a favor returned Basically, treat people how you'd like to be treated, that may be a cliché but it's certainly very true when it comes to the Internet.
Tools of the trade?
When working I use the following:
- For design: Adobe Photoshop, Cinema 4d.
- For coding: Crimson Editor, Dreamweaver, text pad.
- For contacting: MSN, email, mobile phone.
- For inspiration: Windows media player :P

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Spare time...what's that? Well in the little time I do get I try to spend it with my friends. We usually play sports such as football, badminton, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. I actually keeping fit as well, I go running each day which helps me in my football matches which I play on a Sunday.

What are your current Projects?
Currently, I have my main established sites and one or two in the works. My main ones:
- 1StopDir.com - my free web directory, currently going very well with over 1400 links submitted.
- PageHole.com - the original $1 link site! This site has been a big success so far, you can see how many links there are for yourself, it's doing very well.
- HostedFX.com - my hosting company, growing each day and one of my favorite projects to date.
- CodedFX.com - my community - I love this place and the members are awesome, I post there daily and we just keep growing.
- GarethHodson.com - my blog, a place for me to let out thoughts, advice and secrets :P I haven't updated for a while, but I'm going to later this week. I've simply been too busy.

A couple in the works:
- DevHow.com - where experts in web development will meet. I'm currently integrating the custom backend with the design, and waiting on the forum skin. When it's done, I'll be speaking to Mike :P
- ManLax.com - this place is open, I just haven't marketed it yet. It's basically a place for men to chat and relax. It's not sexist at all, I just wouldn't have made a good female forum :P

Thanks for taking your time to take do an interview with us.