diydivas.myfastforum.org

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:48 am

Tell me about yourself.

My name is Joe Oliveri and I am a married 33 year old father of 2. I currently live in New Jersey and have been here for the last 9 years. Technically I am a New Jersey transplant, living in Staten Island (A borough of New York City) all of my life. By day I am a network engineer for a large software development company. My job is to keep all these computers talking and playing nice with each other. By night I’m a craft making geek trying to come up with that next cool idea!

What do you make? What are your favorite materials to work with?What is your favorite color?

Let me give a little background first. I have been in technology (specifically computers and networking) most of my life, as both a hobby and career. Over the years, as computers would become obsolete and ready for the trash, I would take them home and attempt to salvage parts and make working computers to donate to charity, schools or friends. Well lets just say that sometimes there are computers that even a charity doesn’t want. I can’t bring myself to throw away these old systems and parts, its just contributing to our landfill and waste issues.

So in comes GEEK GEAR! Geek Gear attempts to make new items out of repurposed computer parts and technology items. My favorite materials to work with are circuit boards, floppy disks, and hard drives. My favorite color is black.

Where can people purchase your goods?

All my goodies can be purchased on Etsy.
http://geekgear.etsy.com

I have also started my own online venture.
www.geekgearstore.com

Its not 100% ready but feel free to give it a click!

what is your favorite thing you have ever created?

Well Geek Gear started with an idea, the idea of converting an old computer Hard Drive into a clock.

What is the worst thing you have ever created?

I don’t like to say “worst” when it comes to my creations. I try new things all the time. Lets just say for every 5 new ideas only 1 will make it to the shop.
If I had to pick one really bad idea, it would be the Tape Cassette notepad. After gutting the cassette and inserting the paper, it turned out to be too small and had sharp edges. It’s a shame since I have a lot of old cassettes.

What inspires you to create?

I am an entrepreneur, my inspiration comes from creating something out of nothing, and the continued success of my ideas. My motivation comes from running my own small business. All my life I have worked for someone, simply because my finances will not permit me to quit my day job. My dream is to run my own successful small business, and with Geek Gear Store the possibilities are endless.

What is your favorite film/music/book/artist?

I am going to be “dating” myself by answering this question…
Film – Any 90’s Sci-Fi like Star Trek, or Back to the Future
Music – I enjoy all music, but if I had to pick Styx and Van Halen come to mind
Book – The Da Vinci Code, or any book from Dan Brown
Artist – I’m not the artsy type, so I would say none…

Who is the most important person in your life?

There is no one more important that my family. (I know the question is looking for person) but I would have to say persons! My wife and two children.

Who is your favorite DiY designer?

Whew.. good question! I don’t think I have a favorit DiY designer. However I am inspired by many of the designs and ideas on these two websites.

http://makezine.com/blog/
http://www.instructables.com/

Do you have any advice for other DiY designers?

I have lots of advice and even some examples of how I am measuring my success.

1. Don’t ever quit! If things are not going as expected, take a step back and adjust your approach. I have had many “failed” ideas over the years, but I never quit.

2. Set attainable goals. When I started Etsy my goal was to make enough money to put gas in my car for the week. I not only achieved that, but made enough to even take my family out for dinner every now and then!

3. Marketing, Marketing, Marketing. Don’t simply rely on Etsy or ebay to sell your crafts. Find other outlets local and on the Internet. Some good sources are Craig’s list, Postaroo, Google ad words, and Yahoo adds.

4. As an extension to Marketing – Networking, Networking, Networking (and not the computer kind) Talk to other DiY’ers and craft people, try to be featured in blogs and on websites, maybe have a local newspaper feature you in a story.

5. Treat your DiY craft shop like a real business. Calculate the cost of each item you make, including your time and materials. Keep your shop sales and income separate from your personal money. Set budgets for materials, advertising and developing new ideas.

6. Most of all.. HAVE FUN!

Contact Geek Gear on Diy Divas
GeekGear

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:51 am

I'm so excited to have such a cool Diy dude featured!

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 14 Location: North Adams, MA

Wow! Cool stuff! My hubby will love it! Very Happy

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 6 Location: Albuquerque, NM

Oh yeah, my husband will flip over the floppy pen holder!

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 2 Location: New Jersey

I just wanted to say thanks for featuring my shop and for the wonderful interview!

Its really appreciated!

Thanks again,
Joe

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:47 pm

hehehe...flip flop

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 2 Location: New Jersey

Hi all,
I just wanted to add this to my spotlight.
One of my products (the red pencil holder) was featured in the Washington Post Express today.

Check it out here: http://www.geekgearstore.com/images/wpe040207.pdf

This print story brought over 500 hits to my website today..

Smile

Thank you,
Joe