ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Musgrave is a nerd.
He was born and raised in Newcastle, NSW – one of the toughest markets in Australia that is often used by large business as a testing ground for all manner of products and initiatives. He finished at Whitebridge High School in 1989 and held several jobs in retail and a part time job at NBN Television as station mascot Big Dog’s personal assistant before landing a position in sales and marketing with 2NM/POWERFM Hunter Valley.
This was an excellent initiation into the world of advertising and media sales, and with success in this regional radio station James was quickly offered a job back in the much larger and much more competitive Newcastle media market at NXFM. Within a month of starting there, the station was bought out by national radio giant Austereo. This is where James learnt the majority of his sales skills and started his love affair with not only the internet but also with Joanne – a fellow nerd who he met online and ended up marrying.
Several sales and promotions jobs at various stations and networks around Australia including 2ST/POWERFM on the South Coast, 105.7 The River in Albury and 4RO/Sea FM in Rockhampton before a short stint at a Sunshine Coast advertising agency and a subsequent move back south to the NSW Central Coast.
All this time, James and Joanne had designed dozens of websites as a sideline to his radio career, using his skills as a marketer to target businesses and discuss with them how getting online or getting their websites inproved would help promote their business and form part of their overall marketing mix, and using Joanne’s ever-increasing skills as a web site designer and graphic artist. They decided on the name Net Perceptions for the business, as it not only refers to the perception that the website viewer gets through the web, but also refers to the whole marketing mix.
When they arrived back at home, James quickly built up a portfolio of clients including some very well known businesses in both Newcastle and the Central Coast. Apart from the fact that James still had some great contacts from his radio days, one of the reasons he believes he was so successful in establishing the web design business as a full-time concern is his ability to look at the internet from an advertising and marketing perspective and not just a designer’s perspective. He has also been able to discuss in a very easy-to-understand manner how the website can help a business promote themselves and grow, even to business people who still think a computer is a typewriter in front of a television.
When he is not being a self-confessed nerd, James enjoys physical activities such as running, rollerblading, cycling, soccer and baseball. He and Joanne have two border collies – Jess and Jedi – that they found on the internet at The Trading Post. If they could find some kids online they’d probably have a couple of those as well, but sadly Angelina Jolie and Madonna seem to have the monopoly on them!