I work in higher education, but I'm not really an academic - I do not, for example, have a string of academic papers to my name [OK, there is one on domain names, but it was in a now-defunct journal]. However, I have worked full time at a university in the North East of England* since 1999, with another five years before that on a 'visiting lecturer' basis [it's a fancy term for 'part time']. More specifically, from '99 to '03, I was in an e-commerce research unit - and since 2003 I've been a senior lecturer in marketing.

It was in the period '96 to '99 that I got involved with this Internet malarkey, working with what was then a very small company - but one that grew to be much bigger. This was practical e-commerce at the sharp end, learning about the new communications medium and its impact on business - and society - as we went along. For example, I know a lot about domain names simply because I advised so many organizations on what name to register and I know the basics of search engine optimization because I spent hours trying to get a domain name registration website to the top of the likes of Hotbot, Excite, Alta Vista and the other pre-Google search engines.

Also during that period I spent a lot of time [oh yes, a lot of time] in front of Business Clubs, Chambers of Commerce and the like 'preaching' about the Internet and how businesses must be ready for its coming - and then later, how to best match the potential of the Internet with the needs of the organization and customers.

Although my area of expertise, research and publishing is in e-marketing I also teach general marketing at both under- and post-graduate level. I have also taught e-commerce at Master's level - the first time in '99 on one of the first e-commerce programmes in the UK. Over the years I have also developed and delivered e-marketing / e-commerce training [in and beyond the UK] - predominantly to SME owners and managers, but also to corporate clients.

My previous work history is not really relevant in this scenario, except to say that after a spell in the Civil Service I spent most of my working life in retail management of some kind, and I have run my own - successful - businesses.

Qualifications came later in life - after I had given up working for a living [hey, come on, being a lecturer in HE is not like real work]. I took my first degree - a 2:1 in Business Studies - full time '90 to '94 and a Certificate in Education part time '94 to '96 - both at the University of Sunderland. Also studied part time was my MA in Marketing from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle in '04.

So, no academic papers, but three academic texts - one as second author and two on my own - Key Concepts in e-Commerce, Online Marketing - a Customer-Led Approach and Internet Marketing - a Practical Approach. There is also a non-academic book aimed at managers: the Digital Revolution, and a couple more that I have self-published: Choosing the Right Domain Name and a support-text for my Internet Marketing book, A Glossary of Internet Marketing Terms, Phrases and Concepts. If the titles don't give you a gist of what they are about, the imaginatively titled page books written by Alan Charlesworth will take you to more information on each. For a whole host of reasons I have a number of websites on a variety of domain names here's a list.

By way of self-promotion [isn't that what this page is all about?] I am one of only a very few people to have published more than one book in this field of study - and the only one to have written as sole-author. Perhaps that makes me an expert?

* As the contents of this site represent my views and opinions and not those of university for which I work, it is only fair that I do not identify my employers on this site. However, if you really want to know who I work for, a few minutes on any of the main search engines will give you an answer.