You've just found the answers to your programming problems.

• Yes, I have a service to sell you.
• Yes, I'm going to give you all the reasons I think you should sign up for the service.
• Yes, this is a sales letter

But,

• No, I'm not going to insult you with large red type and yellow highliting
• No, I'm not going to throw in a bunch of bonuses at the end.
• No, I'm not even going to put up a ton of testimonials from people who are already using this service, even though I could.

In fact, as far as sales letters go, I'm going to do everything wrong because...

I started programming back when the PC first came out.  My first computer was the Tandy Color Computer.  It hooked up to a TV.  But, it had an operating system called OS9 which was a Unix like operating system.  I played around with the Logo programming language and had it drawing circles on the screen.

I graduated from that to a Tandy 1000 and Basic.  This was back when you had to put the line numbers in.  Then I gave Pascal a whirel, which frankly, I hated.  Then I moved on to C.  C didn't exist yet.

I discovered, after having spent 4 years in college for a completely different degree, that I love programming.  So, I went back to school.  If it matters to you, I went to DePaul in Chicago.  When I graduated, the instuctor who saw me the most said of me, "You're the best natural talent I've seen come through our program."

That's great.  But, being the best talent, and actually making a living at this are two entirely different things.  So, off to the working world I went.

To make what could be a really long story relatively short.  I've spent the last 20 years professionally programmed in Clipper, C, C , Java, ASP, MFC, VB, VBScript, CSharp and VB.NET.  I also know (X)HTML, JavaScript, and CSS as well as ASP, JSP, and ASP.NET.  During most of that time, I've been the go to guy for all of these environment.  When someone's code isn't working, I've been the guy they've come to for help.

How much time do you spend every day doing one or more of the following:

• Searching Google looking for a solution to a programming problem
• Tracking down bugs in your programs
• Tracking down bugs in your HTML/CSS
• Tracking down bugs in your Javascript and/or jQuery
  

If your experience is anything like mine, the smaller the company you work for, the more time you spend in those activities.

Let me ask you a few other questions

• Do you regularly participate in code reviews? 
• Do you have anyone in your organization you can go to who will give you reliable coding advice?
• Are you sure you are writing the best code you possibly can?

Again, most people in smaller companies will answer "No" to all of the above.

• Are you using a Version Control system? 
• Do you have a set of coding standards that you use consistently?
• Do you have a standard framework that you use to code your applications?
• Do you have any idea why these questions are important?

Let's face reality.

Most of us work for small organizations.  In fact, there are a lot more of us work for small companies than there are working for larger companies.  The chances are very low that the other programmers in your organization know much more than you do.  And it would be very rare if the programmers in your organization have more than five years of experience.

There are several reasons for this.

First, there are a lot more programmers with less than five years of experience than there are programmers with more than five years experience.  Why?  Well, a lot more people start out thinking they want to be programmers than end up sticking with the occupation.  This happens in every field.  People think they want to be something, find out it isn't for them, and then move on to the next thing.  The other reason there are not more programmers with five years of experience is that the good ones get promoted and can no longer be classified as programmers.

Second, programmers with less experience cost less.  Many organizations hire warm bodies, not skill.  So, if you are working in a relatively small shop, with a limited budget, they just can't afford the experience.

Good for you, because all they've ever seen is the performance of someone with 5 years experience.  They don't expect you to be any better than you are.

Bad for them, because if they were willing to pay the price, they could have much better ROI per programmer by going after the experience.

• Whenever you had a bug you were having trouble fixing, you could call an experienced programmer for help?
• Whenever you had new code you were getting ready to write, you could call an experienced programmer to review your plan?
• Whenever you were looking for a control, or a code snippet, or just some example, you could call someone who could give you a recommendation?
• Instead of searching on Google, Yahoo, or MSN, you could call someone who could supply you with several relevant links?
• When you need help configuring software like version control, web servers, or content managment programs, you had someone you could call who had been there and done that.  Someone who knows where the "gotchas" are?

What if you looked like you had 20 years of experience?

As I mentioned above, I have 20 years of experience programming various languages.  I've been pretty successful over the last 20 years and I've done some things that I would have never dreamed of doing 20 years ago.  But, the one thing I've started to realize is that not everyone who says they are a programmer thinks like I do.

Oh, we all have similarities.  But, I've come to realize that there are several characteristics that set me apart from other programmers.  I'm not bragging here, we all have or strengths and weaknesses.  These are my strengths.  If you have the same strengths, you probably stopped reading a while ago.

First, I have an unusual ability to deduce what a program is doing by it's external behavior.  This allows me to debug programs much faster than most programmers.  In fact, there have been times when I've solved other programmers problems simply by listening to the description of the problem.  I've been able to tell them how there code is currently written, what needs to change, and why the fix works.

Second, I have an unusual ability to use the search engines to find the information I'm looking for.  If you've ever spent hours looking for a solution to a problem you are having, you'll definitely apprciate this.  I've routinely been able to find solutions to problems using the search engines in less than 15 minutes.  This is after the person asking for help has already searched for several hours.

Third, I use the debugger.  You'd think this wouldn't be too big of a skill, but the longer I program, the more I discover that many programmers do not use the debugger to help them understand what's really going on in their code.  Using the debugger is so frequently overlooked that I've determined using it must be a unique characteristic that I have.  In fact, using the debugger is how I'm able to deduce the behavior of programs.

Finally, I can teach.  I've taught for a local training company.  But, what I really enjoy doing it tutoring.  In fact, I've been doing this informally for the last several year and several people have asked why I don't just make a job of it.  So, here you go.  I'm making a job of it.

Once you've signed up for service you will be given access to my online help desk where you can enter a request for service.  This is where you will enter a description of the problem you are having, the solution you are looking for, or the IT service you are looking to have performed.

I will respond to you either by phone, if I am able to help you, or by email letting you know that your particular problem is beyond the scope of my experience.  When I call you, I will expect you to run a small program that I refer to as "The Magic Screen Viewer" which will allow me to look at your desktop.  This program is a client program that calls back to my computer and transmits images of your screen.  This allows us to work through the issue together on your computer.  If you can't run this program, I may not be able to help you, or it may take MUCH longer to come up with a solution.  Using the Magic Screen Viewer allows you to learn how to solve the problems you present to me.  Ideally, I'll work myself out of a job.

Pay as you go:
   $150/hour

Subscriptions:
   $1500/month for up to 12 hours a month

   $3000/month for up to 30 hours.

The first step is to register with our site using this link: Register Now!

Once you've signed up, we can arrange payment via paypal.  (If you don't have a PayPal account, don't worry.  PayPal doesn't require you to have an account if you don't want one.  You can use your credit card.)

What are you waiting for?  Register Now!