About "Us"

OK,"we" here at Wise Llama Technical Services have a little confession to make.

The "we" and "us" you've been reading about on this website is really "I" and "me," Warren Ernst. When you hire Wise Llama Technical Services, you are hiring Warren Ernst. The reason I keep saying "we" is because every other small consulting company is too, even when they're a one-man shop. The difference with Wise Llama is that I'm telling you up front and they don't.

Yes, I occasionally employ the services of a programmer, an artist, or an assistant when one is necessary, and I have backup techies who can tend to your emergencies if I'm travelling, but basically, what you get with Wise Llama Technical Services is me, Warren Ernst.

Wait, wait, this is a good thing. Let me convince you.

Qualifications

Why hire me? Why indeed. Let me tell you about my...

Technical Experience

My professional start was doing end-user telephone technical support for a software company while in college. I took support calls 8 hours a day, three days a week, for two years. Then, my first job out of school was doing more end-user technical support for another software company, answering tech support calls for 40 hours a week for three more years.

Solve fifty computer problems a day over the telephone for 4 years, and you'll probably get pretty good at it too.

This talent came in handy when I started consulting in 1988 as a "freelance tech support guy," solving software and computer problems totally unrelated to the software I handled in my day job. I still have that first client, and I'm still doing freelance tech support for them.

Writing

I started writing software user manuals for that company I was doing technical support for. That turned into a full-time technical writing job with another company, and that turned into the first commercial book on a brand-new program called "Netscape" in 1994. It was the first of 6 books I wrote for Macmillian Publishing. Some are still available at Amazon at bargain-basement prices. I continue to write user manuals for a major computer peripheral company.

The retail books got my foot in the door at various computer magazines. I've written for Netscape World, Windows Magazine, Time/Warner's Ultimate SpeedZone, and now PC Magazine and CPU Magazine, where I have a regular monthly column.

Finding solutions for clients usually leads to interesting articles and reviews in my magazines articles. Likewise, the new products I'm exposed to every month are frequently useful in solving problems for my clients. It's a win-win for everybody.

Internet Knowledge

I started using the Internet when it was only a bunch of lines of text on a green-screen monitor. So when Netscape created the first popular web browser in 1994, I was in a good position to introduce The Internet to trailblazing clients, and the general public at large with my first book "Using Nescape."

Since then, the Internet has transformed from a plaything of nerds and geeks into the engine of commerce, entertainment, and recreation it is today. Blogs, podcasts, Internet gaming, and auctions are all within reach of the average user, and stuff I've been doing myself, and helping others to do, for years. If you need a guide to these new technologies, why not choose someone whose been there since the beginning?

Deal with the Owner

Hate dealing with underlings? When tasks get "staffed out," are you irritated? Like knowing where "the buck stops?"

If this describes you, then you'll love working with Wise Llama, because The Buck stops with me. When you call Wise Llama Technical Services, you get the tech, the writer, trainer, your account manager, and the owner all at the same time.

Convinced yet? If you still aren't, give us a call and let me take a crack at you over the phone.