How does a UMass (Class of 1991) alumnus who created his own major, titled "The Psychology of Interpersonal Communication" -- with a focus on self-esteem and the communication behaviors that foster self-esteem in children -- end up as problem-solving, solution-finding computer consultant?

JUNIOR HIGH AND EARLIER
It probably started with fascination with computers and stereo equipment when I was not yet a teenager. That would have been somewhere between 1978 and 1980, somewhere between my 10th and 12th years on this planet. Of course, when my folks bought an Apple II for me and my two younger siblings that helped too.

HIGH SCHOOL, LEARNING TO PROGRAM & THE IMPORTANCE OF BACKING UP YOUR DATA
I then took a few computer courses in high school, the first of which was in 1982 in my 9th grade year. Later, as a Junior or Senior in High School, I would learn to program in Pascal and Basic and had a blast hacking into computer programs and creating my own.

The funny thing is that I even remember when my 9th grade teacher told the whole class at the beginning of the year that we would each have to buy a computer disk to store our work. As I watched her hold up a 5 1/4" floppy disk (they really were floppy back then!), I thought, "What on earth am I going to want to store -- let alone keep!"

It was also in that class that I would learn, once and for all, the importance of backing up my data! One day, not quite paying enough attention -- and needing to completely erase one of my several floppy disks -- I typed in the command to do so. As I hit the Enter key, I noticed that I had just told the computer to erase the disk I wanted to keep! The Erase procedure was irreversible! The data and all of my time intensive programming was gone! (Yes, setting up simple, redundant, easy to maintain backup systems for the small business, the professional, or any individual in their home is one of my favorite things to do! I am never without a backup plan ... even for my Palm Handheld and my cell phone!)

But I digress...

TECHNOLOGY HELPS US GET THERE BETTER, QUICKER, MORE COST-EFFECTIVELY
My love and main interest with technology and computers, however, was and is learning how to use them and make them do things for me. In particular, how could I get computers (or technology) to do my bidding and allow me to get what I wanted and needed to get done AND to do it faster and more efficiently. I was more interested in how the combination of computers and the programs that they run could help me be more effective.

Throughout high school, my love of technology and computers and what they could do would only grow. In college, I had was a frequent visitor of the computer labs where I would type up my papers.

COLLEGE, THE MAC, EXPLORING AND USING WORD PROCESSING, PAGE LAYOUT, DATABASE AND SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE
Then I discovered the Mac. Wow, what a paradigm shift -- and to think they stole it all from Zerox! The graphical user interface just blew me away. I "got it" instantly! Drag and drop. Fonts. WYSIWYG or What You See Is What You Get!

I began teaching myself how to use the Mac. Then I got my own one. I read manuals from cover to cover. I acquired Word Processing Software, and Spreadsheet software -- and then database software.

It would be years before I fell in love with and understood the power and flexibility of spreadsheets. But, that didn't stop me from helping student clubs and other organizations make fliers, envelopes -- even a full newsletter!

I started learning how to do mail merges for form letters, etc. Then I got interested in database software and built a few for my own fun and use. In my Sophomore and Junior years at UMass (1988-1989), I would discover the emerging role of computers in business as a friend of mine and I started one. We created a service to help students sell their used text books to other students. And, yes, computers nearly ran the whole show. From designing the publication in which we listed the books to creating the ads for local business who bought ad space, to maintaining the database of listings, computers were essential to our operation.

Little did I know that all of this knowledge and experience was to give me my career for the next 17 years!

THE BUSINESS WHERE I CUT MY TEETH, AS IT WERE
Just before I graduated from UMass in 1991 (I was on the 5 year plan), one of the partners of a new business in Western Mass. kept hearing my name come up as he tried to sell advertising to local business for his new Apartments magazine.

First, they hired me to design an invoice template. Then I was brought on to do data entry for their accounting system. It wasn't long before I was doing Accounts Receivables, Bank Account Reconciliation, and Supply Ordering.

As their computer needs and business grew, I took on the role of doing hardware and software purchasing research, recommendations and implementation.

I started designing ads and helping put the magazine together. When the partner who had found me and brought me to what was then "FRG Publications" left, I became the Office Manager and key technology/computer guy.

When the company, a publishing firm, switched over to the Mac, I spearheaded the entire conversion -- and managed all of the networking, upgrading, backup, training, etc. for them. By this time, "Green Publishing Company" had incorporated and had the 4 or 5 top targeted photo-classified magazines in Western Mass. Their Apartments and House Hunter magazines are still the most sought after in the Pioneer Valley. Their Auto Buyer and Truck Buyer magazines are still #1!

THEIR TECH. & MY PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
And, all along the way, I have been handling and managing their technology and computer needs. I setup their first Macintosh network -- and still manage their network which includes Mac and Windows machines.

I have been responsible for maintaining and adding printers to the network.

I designed the workflow for several of their magazines -- and wrote computer programs to automate the flow of images through the systems.

I have overseen the managing and the upgrading of the accounting system across at least 12-13 years. I designed the billing system from the ground up in a database program. I designed their Customer & Leads database -- as well as several other mission critical databases and systems for them.

I have designed ads, crafted word processing documents, installed all kinds of hardware and software -- and still manage their entire backup system.

When there is a computer problem, I AM their go to guy.

In my personal life, I have used computers and the programs that run on them to do everything I have done for Green Publishing and more.

I maintain my entire schedule, task list, contacts, memos, and more on my Palm Handheld device. That data is shared (or synchronized) with my computer and a website so that my family can add events and see what I am up to.

I have fiddled with just about every common end-user technology out there from digital cameras to printers to pointing devices to scanners to Internet phones to hard drives, etc.

I read an average of some 10,000 pages of magazine per year -- and as many computer and technology news stories per year.

All the while, solving problems, overcoming tech. challenges. It is rare when I can't solve a problem -- either for myself or for a client! Usually, if I can't solve it, it is because the hardware is dead and broken.

If software has a bug, I almost always find the work-around.

BRANCHING OUT: MARK SHAR CONSULTING, INC. IS BORN! IT IS ALL ABOUT BETTER, QUICKER, FASTER -- AND MORE COST EFFECTIVELY.
It was within the first few years after the new millennium that I started having thoughts about expanding my client base and seeing who else I might be able to help.

But it wasn't until late in 2005 that I started seriously thinking about taking on new clients. So, on January 1, 2006, my attorney informed me that my corporation was official. I cut back my hours at Green Publishing, where I had long been working as a consultant, an independent contractor. Slowly, I started approaching other businesses and individuals to see how I might be of help.

Today, in the summer of 2008, and almost 2 1/2 years later, I have several other clients -- whom I have setup so well that they rarely need me.

I have also found a superb website design, development & hosting company with which I have partnered to assist businesses get on the Internet with a website -- or give a complete refresh or update to their current site.

I have been studying marketing and sales so that I can better help business use technology and the Internet to boost and grow their business ... and do so quicker, better, faster -- and more, much more, cost effectively.

Contact Me Now... Please pickup the phone and call me today! 24-hour voice mail: 413-306-4243. Then count on me getting back to you within 24-48 business hours.

Or send your contact information to me right away... Use my Urgent Contact Request form.
photo of Mark Shar, Owner of Mark Shar Consulting, Inc.
Mark Shar
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