Rocket-fast SEO improvments! FREE E-BOOK!

First off, the free stuff!

Now that you're more likely to listen to what I have to say, I'm going to first go over the main points of the e-book I just posted.

Everybody LOVES free stuff!

That's one major point, and by major i mean about the whole book is based around the fact that people love free things. It means less work that you have to do, and the more or better quality you get is directly related to how often you're going to return to that company or website! Seriously, if some company, like us, gave a group of people a free website, like the Snow guild of Rusty Hearts, people would go ballistic and try to find out how they can get one too. You see what I did there? So in a roundabout way I'm introducing Snow's new guild website/forum and congratulating them! Feel free to join them and look into Rusty Hearts while your at it.

Newsletters

People don't prefer newsletters, but if you have free stuff inside it on a regular basis, then people will look for it in the newsletters and then will eventually read about other stuff inside of it as well. Not guaranteed to work every time, but will with a majority of people, especially if you mention it up front and also offer like a free e-book for sign-up.

Those are the major key points that apply to the majority of the web, and now I, Jacob, am signing off. Look forward to tomorrow's post, Short-URLs and your business.

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When an obsession becomes art.

Have you ever...

Ran into, or know someone who does only one thing for the majority of everyday? Believe me, I know I am one of that crowd. My family actually says that I spend about 15 hours a day on the computer, which my retort is usually along the lines of laughing. That isn't the main subject of this blog post though, it is to pose a question. That question is namely, "When does an obsession become artistically thinking?" It's been on my mind for a little while now.

There are dozens of intellectual legends that have been deemed obsessive or even crazy. My favorite artist for example, Vincent Van Gogh. In just ten years, he had around 900 paintings. That is probably the definition of obsessed, or is as most people consider it, art. So that poses more reason why I ask the question, when does an obsession become art? Is it when people recognize it for the impact it has on the world, or is it the amount of people who know about you or your work? I think the answer is much more internal than having to do with anyone else and their determination of what you are.

My answer

I think that when you find yourself aiming for perfection and always looking for that perfect situation or problem to capture, that's when it becomes art. I think that's one of the biggest factors. If your a painter, you're looking for that perfect landscape to paint, a programmer always looks for the most efficient way to code something, and a contractor puts every ounce of his energy to make something as beautiful and fast as possible. Once all of those people mentioned actually find that niche for their passion, the work just flows out of their minds or bodies.

Once all is said and done, the result is usually a thing of beauty in their eyes and several others. I think the only reason famous "artists" are famous is either because they changed the world, or were so absolutely crazy about their passion that it was like a car accident, you can't help but look. Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you want to talk with either Ben or me, go to our forum or chat and sign up!
Several people might like this news, we are bumping up the frequency that we do these blogs. We will now do them four or five times a week, Enjoy!

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What's your web needs?

So you want a website?

There's a lot of ways to go about creating a website, but the biggest problem people have with this is knowing when they can't do it on their own anymore. Most people I've run into have always thought that WordPress is okay for any site. I really need to stress this. WordPress doesn't count as a good website creator. It is made ONLY for blogs and SOME e-commerce sites. It is by no means a one-size-fits-all solution. You don't see Microsoft running off of WordPress do you? NO, you don't! They knew that WordPress wouldn't cut it from the start.
The tell-tale signs that you need a professional are a little obvious, except for a few that are pretty subtle.

1. You are entirely lost when it comes to working on your website. This usually happens when you run into a website tutorial that has A LOT of jargon you have no clue what they are.
2. You find that you're sending more time on your website and modifying it than you do with important tasks needed for your business.
3. You're site looks like a two-year-old ate crayons and pooped on your computer screen.
4. You're spending just as much money on software as you would for a web designer.

Now there are a lot more signs that you're not capable anymore to take care of your website as well as your business, but these are the major ones. Next I go over what site would suit you best for your general needs.

HTML/CSS/a little Javascript

This is one of the most basic sites that you can get, but it fits the most people. It's your basic listing on the internet that you exist. This will definitely bring in some leads and interest into you business. This is usually associated with a blog on a separate site or with WordPress. The most basic of plans with the major web hosts will suffice your web site needs.

The above and PHP/MySQL or Ruby

These are server side languages that make more complex things like e-commerce and a back-end for adding content possible. These are complex things to understand, so don't attempt this at home. (lol) But if you try to do e-commerce without a professional knowledge or an actual professional coding this, then you're going to be sending out a lot of letters to people having their identities stolen because your server gots haxored.

The works (Flash, Dedicated server(s), etc. and all the above

This is the most expensive class of websites, and the hardest to code and understand. If you're considering this kind of website, you need to have your own IT department first.

The prices for each go as following

1. HTML: $300-$1000
2. PHP: $750-$3000
3. The Works: $3000+

So if you're any of the signs above, please consider us or someone to take care of your web presence needs, for the sake of your business.

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The secrets to success

Watch video first!!

To those out there who want to succeed at anything they do MUST work hard for everything that they accomplish.  As most of you know life isn't about sitting ideally by watching your life slowly disappear in front of your eyes. Sometimes good things just fall right into your lap and these things can change your life dramatically and be grateful when these times come by your door step. But do not take this as a sign that you can "slack off" these are the times which you should work your ass off and do everything you can to keep moving forward. Life will only get harder the with each successful moment that you accomplish.

And as your life gets harder and you feel like giving up learn everything you can about what your going through and apply that to how you got to where you are only then can you discover the secret to success. There is no direct way to success it changes from person to person it depends on how you have gone through your life and the choices you have made and you alone are the only one that can figure out how to find success in all of your mistakes or should I say simple moments that teach you how to keep moving forward.

You see I have found my own way to success I can't tell you how I have come to the place where I stand now other than to say it was not easy.  The road was rough and dark sometimes I lost sight of my goal of where I want to be. I got lost in the darkness but I found a way to get back on the path that would lead me back to where I wanted to be. I still travel down this road but I have found a light to help guide me.

I leave you with a simple question.  What light can you find to guide you?

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Learning how to program on your own

What does it take to become a programmer?

A really big theory is that only really smart people can program. Which this is not the case, anyone with a computer and access to the internet can learn how to program. But don't get me wrong it does take some intelligence to do it.  So you're wanting to learn how to program sounds somewhat simple.  Say you are wanting to get into game design programming, don't expect to learn how to do it in a few days it's a lot harder than that.  First things first you need to find out what field you are wanting to get into most. 

For me it was web development so I started by learning how to program in HTML(hyper text markup language) it took me a few weeks to get my head around what was going on.  And note I didn't learn it overnight, and I would suggest never trying to ever do that. Take your time with it to make sure you are learning everything you can about what your going over before you move on. It helps make it so you don't get more confused when you move onto something really difficult. When you are starting to program for the first time it takes a while but you have to stick with it or you're not going to make it.  

How do you get started in programming?

Well to start learning programming the first few simple steps is to decide what it is you want to be doing. And from there you can more forward. So lets say you want to get into web development(only because I know this subject the best). You first want to find a text editor either notepad, notepad++, sublime text 2, or any other such text editor. I would suggest either sublime text 2 or notepad++ I've had the best results with these two and note they are both free I will provide links so you can download them. 

The next step is go to w3schools.com and go over to there free HTML program to get started. Start by going over the basics. Use google and youtube to your advantage and learn everything about the basics that you can. Don't get distracted by the temptation of the more advanced subjects. This will only slow you down and make it harder to learn and understand what you are doing. 

And note if you are learning another language like java, c#, c++, javascript, php, ect.. there are more than enough tutorials on learning those.   

Always challenge yourself, I find that every time you challenge yourself you always learn so much more than you usually would. Never get discouraged keep working hard and push yourself. Stay motivated and keep your eye on the end goal. This will help keep you on a path that will get you to where you need to be.

Further you education 

Continuing you education is a very important aspect of getting a career in doing what you love.  Yes it may cost money but in the long run it is helps out more than you could imagine.  For someone like me it is a little harder to get into college because I never graduated high school. But don't give up if this is your case. Work hard at getting your GED and go to college. Yeah it will  be hard for a few years but in the end you will be glad you spent the time and energy into you education.

On that note it's time for me to go I have a lot of work that need to be done and very little time to do it in. Another thing I have been considering is making tutorials on web development if I can get enough of our readers to comment saying they could use it I will starting making tutorials and link those videos to this blog every week.
Download Links:
Sublime Text
Notepad++

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Never back down

Alrighty, this is Jacob again, because Ben's been busy with somethings. As the title suggests, this is a purely motivating blog post, because I believe everyone needs a little pick me up every now and again. The picture above is one that pushes me specifically, just one I found and I don't own it at all.

Lately has been an extremely trying time for my family, Ben and me. It's been wearing on every last part of our characters and souls, yet I've known for a fact that we're going to outlast all of the trials. I almost relish them, because things come out a lot better in the end and almost seem tripled to how much trouble we've gone through.

I just recently lost my car, as well as a list of other things that would make your head spin, but you won't see a frown on my face. Bravery Technologies & Innovations is just waiting for a contract to be signed for a customer that will bring in at least tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands. We've been working with the customer for a while and this customer deserves it. This contract isn't ours, but the customer's to other major companies. The CEO has never given up and is a bottomless pit of sheer power, and someone we at B.T.I. look up to and respect.

If there's anything I've learned from that man it is to be an unstoppable force of awesome power. The only thing that makes this world better is to plow through all obstacles like they're paper walls. It proves to other people that see the feat that they too can do it, and follow in suit, chasing their own dreams. There's no purpose to the person who sits in the doldrums and isn't aggressive in their chase of a dream. No one sees results from that, they only see the lack thereof. Every person needs a purpose, even famous psychologist Abraham Maslow says that, right up at the top of this pyramid.

Without a purpose, nothing is created and everything is wasted. Creativity is in every single person, and that's where the problem lies. "Everyone has it, so why am I special?" Well, you aren't special. It's your ideas, your past, your story and your future that's one of a kind. The definition of special is: "Better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual." It's the thought that "I'm special!" that's killing the creative process of other people. The people who think that they have the privilege of bragging and boasting with an ego the size of a skyscraper are the ones that make everyone else limited. They are the ones who actively try to make others miniscule to them in comparison and also, inadvertently or not, kill their creativity and their drive.

That's why I say never back down, it's not worth it! You have to keep pushing forward, no matter what! Never let a finger be pointed in your face, telling you you can't do it! Dreams aren't reality, yes, but that's where work and determination come into the equation! You can't stop other people, they let you stop them and vice-versa! No one can stop a force that's barreling through everything in it's path! They'll either move, or be ran over. Think of yourself as a Ferrari and everyone else as a distraction. Sure you can stop and waste your time or even your whole life on one distraction. IS IT WORTH IT?  NEVER! There comes a point in everyone's life when they either realize this or dilute themselves with negative answers and self-affirmations. Ben and I have realized this, and even though we've lost a lot due to external circumstances, we'll never back down. 

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Realistically comparing computers... on your own!

When it comes to comparing computers, it's gotten ridiculous.

You've got tons of different numbers and phrases being thrown at you, yet none of them are really making sense. That's why we've made this! The computer buyer's guide to computer specifications, or "specs," and what they mean. There's an insane amount of computer jargon out there, so we're going to go over some really important ones right now.

GHz

This is usually used in respect with the computer's speed, also referred to as Gigahertz. Speed and size with computers are actually based on the Greek measurement system, such as kilo, mega, giga, etc. So a gigahertz is actually a billion hertz, but that beckons the question, what exactly is a hertz? Well, that's actually one little charge going through the "brain" of the computer, otherwise known as the processor. Since computers can't measure different levels of charges very well, there's two different kinds of charges in computers. On, which is represented as a 1 in the computer, and off, which is represented by a 0. So a gigahertz processor can go through a billion 0's and 1's in a second! 

You usually want around 2 GHz or more and at least a dual-core. "Wait a sec, what's this dual-core bull?" I can hear everyone reading this saying that already. Well, the number of cores is the number of "brains" you have in your computer, so a dual-core can handle two major tasks at once! Quad-core can handle four, so on and so forth. Like I said earlier though, dual-core is probably the best way to go for the budget-minded computer user.

GB / TB

These usually refer to the hard drive space or memory, and both are really important. The hard drive stores all your videos and pictures, as well as any music or documents you accumulate over the life of your computer. The memory is basically what is sounds like, it stores the things you're actively using, like programs, documents, games, what have you. So the more of both you have, the better, especially memory. The more memory you have the more you can do at once without slowing down your computer. You want at least 4 or 6 gigabytes of memory or more and then about 500 gigabytes of hard drive space, but 1 terabyte is suggested very strongly. A single gigabyte is equal to 1,024 characters. For very lengthy reasons that I really don't want to go over, a gigabyte in space is just equal to 1,024 bytes, or characters. Sounds like a lot, huh? Well it's really not, because Windows 8 takes up 20 gigabytes of hard drive and 2 gigabytes of memory to run like a slug. You definitely do not want just 2 gigabytes of memory even if all you're doing is typing documents, the lag between typing and the text appearing will drive you nuts

So I guess a basic rule of thumb is the more, the better.What anyone will want to comfortably work or play facebook games as well as some less demanding games like Minecraft, is probably a dual-core 2.4 GHZ, 500 GB hard drive, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM (a.k.a. memory) and at least 1 GB memory for the graphics. This should be good enough for anyone to use a computer comfortably and without being held back by the computer lacking in any area.

Well, that's my post! Sorry it's a day late, I've been at the hospital with my wife a lot lately. By my next post, I'll introduce all of you to the new addition to the B.T.I. family! Anyways, I always like doing these posts because of some reason that I can't really decide right now, but that's all folks!

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