Tamebay is getting a new editor and we’re thrilled to give a warm welcome to our friend Paul Skeldon as he joins the team.

(Don’t worry, Dan and I aren’t going anywhere but Tamebay is getting busier and there are never enough hours in the day, hence Paul coming on board)

Paul has been at the forefront of innovation in multichannel retail for the last decade and until now has worked on our sister publications at InternetRetailing so brings new expertise to the team. Paul is a fanatic about mobile and has been managing editor of M-Retailing, the leading online news source for the mobile retail industry published by InternetRetailing since 2011 and acting editor of e-commerce information site eSeller.net since 2014.

I am a bit of a nerd and like gadgets and stuff. I fell in love with the idea of a mobile phone watching Star Trek as a kid – when they became reality I really felt like I was living in the future. I still do!
– Paul Skeldon

Paul lives with his son, two cats, six iPhones, three iPads, five laptops, a dongle and a garage full of mobile handsets dating back to 1992 in the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire, UK.

Paul first Tamebay projects

Paul’s recent work has focused on the growth sector and how in particular smaller businesses and entrepreneurs can use market places and manage their own web stores in order to grow their business.

Initially, Paul is going to be focused on white papers, e-books and ‘how to’ guides that will take a fresh look at getting started and building up your business. His latest project with the InternetRetailing media group is the creation of our first DIY e-commerce guide – coming soon exclusively via Tamebay.

Paul’s past work and experience

Paul’s first book – M-commerce – was published by Crimson Business Publishing in November 2011. His second – the DIY Guide to eCommerce – is due out later this year.

He is also managing director of video and podcasting production company, Videobaby Media, and has worked with numerous brands and publishers to produce video and audio content. So if you want a video made you know where to go!

Q&A with Tamebay’s new editor
Paul Skeldon

What do you do?

I am a freelance journalist, video and podcast maker specialising in things to do with mobile and online commerce and entertainment. I have a particular interest in how mobile – and other tech – is reshaping how shoppers shop and how retailers retail.

How did you get into it?

I wanted to be rock star and have played in many rubbish bands over the years (I still make music in my back bedroom but only for my own enjoyment) but also loved writing about music and culture and stuff. Having been refused a post on the University newspaper – who also refused to interview my band – I started my own magazine. I sort of carried on writing and slowly, as dreams of stardom evaporated, I became a journo.

A bass player I knew was also editor of a telecoms mag and I ended up working in the phone world back in the 1990s and specialised in mobile.

I ended up working for InternetRetailing after meeting the owner in a pub who said he was looking for writers. Three months of silence later, he got in touch. The rest is history.

What do you think is most interesting about Tamebay?

I love Tamebay: From being set up by enthusiasts through to the obvious dedication to the site shown by the guys that run it day to day which takes me back to the old days of starting my own magazine all those years ago.

I am also geekily fascinated by marketplaces – I think they are set to be the main route to ecommerce for retailers large and small. I also think they, along with mobile, reshape how consumers shop. I have done a lot of work in eSeller about how small retailers can leverage the web to build a business. Marketplaces have been a key part of that. I have also looked in depth at how big brands are also turning to marketplaces and what that means for e and m-commerce.

I am looking forward to exploring these issues – and more – through a range of ebooks, white papers and more with the Tamebay team in the coming months and years.

What do you like about what you do?

I like the fact that I work on different things everyday: the subject might be the same, but every day produces a new story. I love overseeing my coverage of the mobile world and slowly becoming an expert in it. I also like getting stuck into a project like researching and writing and ebook or white paper from scratch.

Having been a journalist for many years, I have also travelled the world and done many extraordinary things – flown on private jets, driven a racing car, sung Kar-e-oke with an Arab prince, been stock car racing, experienced an earthquake and met two Prime Ministers – one by accident. I still get to do all manner of fun things. Most recently I got to test drive a Tesla and buy a hat.

Working from home is also a boon: I like to keep my own time and work when I feel like it – so long as I hit the deadline, obviously – and it means I get the perfect work-life balance… well maybe too much work, but I certainly get life too.

What do you do in your spare time?

When not marvelling, spellbound, by my phone, or contemplating the future of retail, I sit noodling on my guitars, tinkering with loops and sounds and making music – not that I have that much time: my partner and I have three young kids so a lot of the time I am either ‘manning’ or ‘dadding’ – or both.

And no, none of the kids like my music. They think I’m lame and a tad embarrassing – but what do they know? The stuff they listen to is all just noise, isn’t it?