Hello, I'm Dan Thies. I've been writing about, teaching, and practicing search engine optimization for over 12 years.
In spite of what you may have heard, SEO is very simple. If you don't believe that, then you really need to read my book! It's only 100 pages long, and it's free.
I Just "Lost" My Job – Woot!
Well, "lost" is probably not the right word, because I am not trying to find it again.
I already sent something out to my newsletter subscribers about this, but thought it was worth a post too.
Yesterday was my last day on the job as a staff member at StomperNet. This has actually been in the works for a while, it's just taken some time to hand off a whole plateful of responsibilities to different people and work out all the details.
Actually, I've still got one more little project to finish but I'm doing this one "on the house" because it's the primary reason why I took the job in the first place.
I will still be a member of the StomperNet faculty, which is actually a lot cooler than working there.
For example, if a faculty member sleeps in until noon on a Monday, nobody's going to notice. If the Chief Experience Officer does that, they call and wake him up, long before noon rolls around. 
(like, at 9:01 am Eastern time – which is 8:01 here. Seriously.)
Having a job was fun sometimes, and sometimes it sucked. Mostly, it took too much time away from what I am actually good at and enjoy doing – like research and teaching.
What am I going to do with all my new-found time, besides hanging out in the StomperNet forums?
Well, about half of it belongs to my family. The rest will go into some new projects** that I've been trying to "find time" for – and some old projects that always seemed to get put on the shelf over pressing work responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the "new StomperNet" is just about ready for public consumption, and it's going to have a very broad appeal.
When they say that internet marketing is going to change forever, well, you could call that hyperbole if you like, but I've seen what's coming. If you have a web site, you will want to be paying attention on September 9th.
**(details coming sooner than later)
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Comments on I Just "Lost" My Job – Woot!
Congratulations on your new projects. When I read your news letter, I was really glad to see that you will still be around. I am sure your family will be glad that you are going to have more time with them. Enjoy your new found freedom of time.
Good luck Dan!! Not that we'll be missing you too much though. Whether you're faculty or staff it's all the same to us. Good to still have your brain in the forums.
Doesn't sound like you lost, sounds like you gained. More Dan in the forums is a good thing! More family time is even better.
btw, the advice you gave me at Live8? Doing it.
Dan you sound excited about the changes and I'm happy for you! Since we still get to tap into your wisdom and share your experience through this blog, it's all good!
Thank you for the update and for all you give to us.
Have fun on your new path – embrace and enjoy! I know you'll do great with whatever you do.
Thanks everyone!
(and Lisa – do let me know how that's going some time)
It's certainly a great feeling you get when you leave a job to do your own thing but it's amazing how quickly you fill all that free time you thought you had!
Are you talking about the new Apple iPod that is being released on Sept 9th?
No Sandy, Apple moved me from the "secret ipod project" to the "secret tablet project" a couple months ago.
My work is already pretty well structured, and to a degree this is rolling back the calendar to what I was doing a couple years ago.
I'm not trying to work part time, just get it balanced better… My uber-simplistic plan is to:
Best Wishes Dan, Learned a LOT from you.
God bless you and your family.
All the best for your new projects… its good that now you have started your own work and you haven't lost your job rather gained something better. Spending time with your family is better than anything else.
Good luck Dan. Your PPC advise has tripled our company's revenues via Adwords. Looking forward to seeing what you are doing next.
Just found you blog, apparently i saw a lot of stuff that you did for stompernet and love every minute of it.
Goo Luck Dan. Wishing you all the best for your new project. Just got your blog and it's a great blog. So many useful contents.
HUGE Congrats your way, my friend.
I look forward to getting to know the happy-go-lucky Dan Thies who stays up late playing Rock Band (how's the Beatles Edition, by the way?) – and sighs often, thinking of how much he enjoys his free time!
From the looks of SEO Braintrust… you haven't slept in until noon. Looks like you've been working your tail off