About
Central Maine Business Connections is a 1 person small business offering a wide range of services in marketing with a more personal connection to ensure quality custom work at an affordable rate.
Hi. My name is James R. O'Kane. I was born in 1990 into a family full of engineers. However, not wanting to raise there family in the city moved back to the state of Maine. Even at a young age I was exposed to computers and the internet. While 1993 was nothing like the internet world of 2024, my mother did do some type of remote work. By the age of 5 I had a computer I could use and share with my brother. I also grew up with rare medical condition that made mobility a challenge. Needless to say this meant I spent a lot of time with a computer and learned a great deal before I even started my schooling.
When I was in 7th grade I created my first website for an independant country singer a family friend had recommended me for. By high school I was only of the only students to show interest in HTML class at the time and was using Adobe Photoshop at an internship to make signs for a new multi-trail system. We also created a digital editable data base of the historical sites of Castine, ME that allowed you to basically walk around town, mostly due to the number of historic sites. Six months later Google Maps came out with better and nation wide version of being able to walk around town with the Street View, however our design was first!!!
Once in college I studied graphic design, but at a time that Central Maine Community College also offered a pre and post press (yes printing press!!!) production. There was also a single website design class, of which I gained about 65% of my knowledge and skills for website design. I also learned the value of designing a digital file to be used for multiple print applications, espically if printed in bulk. Of course, I don't own a printing press in my basement, but I still understand the value of having a logo printed all your paper work and can produce a fairly large quanity of printed products. Also, while at college I majored in Business, Supervision and Management. However, it was grandparents more than anyone that I learned how to run a small business, espically with my unique prices.
My grandmother was an amazing book keeper of the family's expenses. I remember she would record on paper every single night exactly how much money was spent or earned and had to have the recipts match up to the penny. Later she helped me a great deal my highschool accounting classes, so much so I'd say I learned more off of me than the teacher, and in turn so didn't the rest of the class. In 8th and 9th grade she let me run a business which she was the main customer of digitizing her music collection so she could still listen to them. However, I had to be responsible to cover the cost of materials, including mistakes, and got to pick all the rates. If I didn't plan accordingly, then I'd actually end up going into debt, but if I over charge she, acting like a normal customer would decide not to use my services. This taught me a great deal about running a small business.
Between my knowledge gained from education at college, personal life experiences involved in technology and the know how from experience makes me an exceptional choice to help with your marketing needs.
One of the biggest keys in my pricing is remembering this a side business and not my main source of income, meaning I don't have to charge the normal labor cost that's associated with most businesses. My hope and wishes are that over the next 30 to 70 years this business will blossem into something that my son can inhert and both of us can live off of completely, but that would require hundreds of clients and I'm just starting now.