August 29, 2008
My New SEO Video Course - available Thursday September 4
Well, it's done. After six months of testing, editing, and just plain hard work, my new SEO course is done! If you're interested in getting the latest instruction on SEO, you'll be able to get your hands on it next week.
Chances are pretty good that you've already heard about it, because we've send out hundreds of review copies to folks all over the world. What my readers might not realize, amid all the hoopla surrounding the release of "Stomping the Search Engines 2," is that this is my baby, all the way.
I had planned to release this course as "White Hat Black Belt SEO," but when Stompernet offered to market it, and gave me virtually unlimited access to the faculty and other resources, well… I jumped at the chance.
Not only did this make the course a lot better, it means that a *lot* more people will be able to afford it. As in, pretty much everyone.
New Info & Tactics, Same Great Strategy
If you've already read SEO Fast Start, the overall structure of "Stomping 2" will feel very familiar… so what's different? Well, for starters…
- It's hours and hours of video - which means we can get into some stuff that just wouldn't fit into SEO Fast Start. SEOFS is only 99 pages long, and the script and slides for Stomping the Search Engines 2.0 are a giant stack of paper… one that I still need to get off of my desk.
- It's right on the cutting edge - the final updates of the content were turned in to me on August 19. This included brand new information on the Google Keyword Tool changes, and a very useful bit from Leslie Rohde on the right way to handle breadcrumb navigation. Turns out you can do it wrong - who knew?
- Speaking of Leslie Rohde… he watched my entire video training module on Site Structure, and then we rewrote the whole thing. Nobody knows this subject better than Leslie, and between my "cautious" approach and Leslie's knowledge, I don't think you'll find anything better or more up to date.
- Readers will probably agree that I do a pretty good job of shining a light on how search engines work, and why… but Andy Edmonds, who actually worked on MSN's Live search, spent a great deal of his time to review, update, and re-record the module on "How Search Engines Work."
- I've been criticized for over-simplifying On Page Factors… so we got Jerry West, who obsessively tests and tweaks, to give you *both* the "Dan Thies shorthand version" and the Jerry West "details matter" version… I think the fusion of the two is fantastic.
- All introduced by Brad Fallon & Andy Jenkins, who created the original "Stomping the Search Engines" course… and by the way, in case you didn't get a copy of that course four years ago when they sold out, it's included in the package. That course sold for $297, and you're going to get both for… sorry, I can't tell you just yet.
Are you & Stompernet gonna stick it to us, Dan?
No!!! In fact, you won't believe the offer we're going to make next week.
And it has to be that way… you see, I have no doubt that every single one of my readers, if they liked SEO Fast Start, will want to get these videos. The only thing stopping you from doing it would be the price, right?
OK. I got that… and I can't tell you the price just yet. I have been sworn to secrecy and they know where I live, so for now, I'll just say that when we make our offer to you next Wednesday, I expect that nearly all of you will decide that it's a no brainer to order my course.
And that's exactly what we want. We want everyone to have this information, not just a privileged few.
I'll let you know when it's time to "go," or you can head on over to www.stomping2.com, read more about what's in the course, and watch the countdown.
Trust me - you won't have to think too hard about this one. Here's that link again:
www.stomping2.com
Thanks!
Dan
P.S. By the way, this isn't a "supplies are limited" deal… we're producing thousands of DVDs as we speak, and we'll make more if we need to. As long as you order next week, we'll have your DVDs on the way to you in a hurry. There will be some strong incentives, of course, for those who don't wait around too long.
Comments on My New SEO Video Course - available Thursday September 4 »
I TRUST you Dan…You are the best! "Dan you're the Smartest Trustworthy Internet Guru on the planet'.
Hi Dan — Is the course going to be only on disk? I am living in Peru and would like the course , would there be a way to download the file? Thanks ps your site is great
Hi Dan,
I had a chance to look at the some of the modules from inside StomperNet a few weeks ago and I must say it is top of the shelf material.
As I told you in an e-mail my main suggestion is that your provide accelerated versions of the videos, transcripts and slides. It is hard for me to find enough time to watch full length videos. Plus, I have a very bad internet connection at home!
Keep up the great work.
Hi Dan
Interesting to hear your inside story and STSE2 is an excellent product.
Your module on keyword research has certainly opened my eyes up to just how superficial I was being on this essential issue.
As a non-techie I struggled with some of Leslie's sessions on optimising site structure and Jerry on optimising content but I gained so much from the entire program that it really is a big thank you from me. Especially as I had one of the free review copies although it was tough getting through it in a short time period and paying back you and Stompernet.
It is great to see that such a good SEO training program will be available and I hope it stays on the market for a long time.
people do get tired of the hype around a launch but afterwards start thinking about what they've missed.
@Tony, it's going to be on a DVD-ROM, so it would be shipped (postal) to Peru.
@Hamlet, this is on DVD, no online component to it. We've talked about doing a print version but not yet - I can hook you up though.
@Paul, thanks for your comments. The technical stuff is always a challenge for us - leave it in and someone's gonna get confused, leave it out and you're not doing your job. I'm glad to hear you didn't get hung up on it.
Dan,
You're the man. Can't wait to open the packet.
Thanks for your hard work.
Jonathan
Currently working on some server tech stuff, folks - the traffic is killing us, estimating we'll be live at 3:30p Eastern.
Great! Pls hook me up.
BTW, Should I write a script to refresh the stompernet 2 page and alert me when it is actually open? At this rate, it seems that you will keep pushing the opening until midnight, LOL.
I see you are using Amazon for video storage (S3). They offer scalable hosting too (EC2).
Cheers
We dropped a form on the page for a notification-only email list, and it looks like we're going to hold until 2pm Eastern tomorrow.
We seriously "misunderestimated" the demand, that's for sure. Thousands of sessions a minute stacks up pretty quick. We've got 2 bottlenecks but the servers aren't the problem.
Unfortunately, EC2 is a bit dicey for a shopping cart. Video, images, stylesheets etc. on S3, sure, but you can't push secure transactions into the cloud quite as easily.
Oh well… an extra day at least gives us more time to up the DVD production.
I'm on a business trip tomorrow and Friday. I might not have Internet connection. What do you recommend?
Grab it on Saturday, Sunday, Monday… I wouldn't worry about being gone for a couple days, Gail. No false scarcity here, we can make more DVDs.
Maybe you are underestimating EC2. Secure requests are just more CPU intensive than regular requests. CPU on demand is what you get with EC2.
I hope you guys have a great launch today!
Not my area of expertise, really, so I could be wrong, but there were quite a few big ?'s about EC2 when it came up.
Blackhole lists because spammers were using it, issues with serving certificates for the domains, and reliability. We've been affected by S3 outages for example.
Reliability turns out to be a somewhat laughable concern at this point, given that we were not prepared for 30,000 people waiting in line… but we just have to look at that failure as a test result, learn from it, and try to get better.
Update: WE ARE LIVE and taking orders at http://www.stomping2.com
Dan, thanks a million for making your course available this way, it's the best value anyone ever offered on the internet.
Thanks again,
Mark Nolan
Thanks Dan,
so your team managed to organize serving the massive run.
And thank you for the 'in-between' messages as I invited my crowd over here in Old Europe to get your course for their edu-tainment, and could forward the good news to them, too.
Mara
Thanks, Mara!
Just over an hour in, and it looks like we are going to survive the onslaught. Server load hit 30% CPU but we're holding steady.
Hey Dan,
I am very eager to see what's new in your product launch and went to order it. However, I had a problem when ordering it online; is there any way I can talk to someone about it?
Thanks,
Lynn
Is there an issue with the ordering for Stomping the Search Engines 2.0?
When I put in all my credit card information and clicked "Place Order" the page came back to step 2 with no confirmation for the order.
I do not know if the order was completed and I do not want to repeat the order in case I get a duplicate order.
Terry
Lynn, Terry - we're getting an intermittent error on one of the checkout pages, doesn't look like either order completed so probably best to let them work tonight and try again tomorrow.
"P.S. By the way, this isn't a "supplies are limited" deal…"
What no scarcity tactic?
You know Dan, if you keep this honesty thing going you're going to get kicked out of the Internet marketing union.
We may throw in a limited-time bonus or two next week if we feel like it, but only if we can also give it to everyone who already ordered.
So far, no scarcity and "just explaining the offer" seem to be working pretty well.
But it does say a lot about the current state of things that some people thought our technical issues were some kind of a scarcity tactic.
I've ordered mine and can't wait to get started. Unfortunately I'll have to put up with being impatient for as while, as I'm sure it'll take a week to get to Australia.
Okay thank you Dan
I will try again later today. I just didn't want a duplicate order.
Thank you
Terry
I was not aware of that. That makes perfect sense. Hopefully Amazon will figure out a way to keep spammers out because it is a really good concept and system.
BTW, although I had already seen the content, I went away and ordered my copy yesterday!
I'm looking forward to going over again at a slower pace. The content on the newsletter sounds really good. I'm looking forward to it.
Cheers
Thanks, Hamlet. The main updates to what you saw in Stompernet are in Module 3 (Google Keyword Tool) and 4 (Leslie added some content based on member questions, up until the last day). Modules 5, 6, & 7 are all brand new.
Dear Dan,
I really appreciate all the hard work you have out into your blog and SEO Fast Start. It has helped me a lot. I really wish that I could get your free course, Stompernet 2. It sure sounds like a fantastic bargin! However, I have fallen upon very hard financial distress and can not even afford the shipping and handling, even though it is only $10. I wish sometimes an SEO angel would come to my assistance.
Keep up the good work.
Stuart
any openings in your monthly coaching?