Leslie Rohde .com - The SEO InnovatorIt’s official … sorta … I am no longer a faculty member of StomperNet … keep reading.
Depending on who you ask, this will result in some combination of congratulations, condolences, condescension, cacophony, cat calls, cussing or other c-words befitting of my long held c-level position with the web’s best known Internet Marketing Education conglomerate (ok, ok, I’ll stop with the c-words already).
But wait … official how you ask? The sales letter of course! Live 9 Lineup. Duh. I’ll admit that I have a mixture of feelings about leaving … but my accountant doesn’t.
So what now? Well, it’s not like I was exactly on vacation all this time. In case you missed the memo, Dan Thies and I have been happily running our own mid-6 figure business since October doing pretty much what we did at StomperNet for the last 3 years — just better, thanks to less help. 
So what about Live9? We’ll see. I do live in Atlanta after all. I have spoken at every single Live event — in fact, I am the one in December 2006 that came up with the name, but I digress — so the habit to at least attend might be too strong to resist. And it is at the W Hotel Midtown which is hard enough to resist anyway. Sigh.
But the real treat of the Live events for me (and Dan too I’m pretty sure he’ll agree) has always been mentoring and networking with the literally hundreds of Internet Entrepreneurs it has been our blessing to be involved with in the last three (plus) years.
You know who you are. We know you too. Many of you have joined us in The SEO BrainTrust. Everyone else … please stay in touch.
It has been a weird and wild ride and if there is one thing that sticks out as a recurring impression since November 2006 when I shook hands with Brad and Andy it is this: “The question”. The one everyone asks at some point: “Why in the hell are you doing this?”
Good question. Took me months to form the answer.
There are many easier ways to make money than running a coaching program — you could argue they all are! Ultimately the only reason is people. Yes, it is hard to believe that someone as irascible (look it up) as me might also be gregarious, but that is my curse. The only good reason to coach is because you care about the impact you have on people. In all other respects, affiliate marketing is a better play.
So Dan and I, the first two StomperNet faculty members, continue doing what we were doing before, during and after StomperNet, for the same reasons, with many of the same people, and many more each day. The one constant is who we are.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
You’re a good man Leslie! Always look forward to you’re amazing content!
You lost the geeky java blogging platform too
Now WordPress + Thesis, though not using the broken noindex/nofollow on archive pages. Maybe the devs will listen to you if you nudge them about it.
Display none on the first header – any data on benefit over something like negative offset?
Not flying over for Atlanta, but sure we will end up meeting sometime.
Yes, very mainstream platform now. What I wanted to do with Pebble, I was just not getting ’round to anyway. The header bit in the current theme is to just get it out of the way, and I am convinced that spiders don’t care how you do it. I’ll be in Europe sometime this Spring, so maybe we can connect in person then.
Well, I plan to be at Live 9, so now you have even more of a reason to show up there.
Seriously though…You, Dan and Jerry were a huge part of what made StomperNet so awesome and I sincerely thank you all for your knowledge and willingness to share it with myself and others but mainly myself.
Leslie,
I certainly understand there being high-energies around StomperNet. One of the things I’m grateful for is that I got to meet you. My greatest debt of gratitude to StomperNet is that is where I met my fiancé Audrey Kerwood.
I also understand the mixed feeling around attending StomperLive 9. I’m kind of addicted to hearing Joel Bauer claim to speak fluent Chinese and how a tactic from his course got him an upgrade to a suite in this very hotel! Joel walks his walk… talking the same talk at each seminar regardless of if the hotel even has a single suite. I might have to go to Live9 if a Chinese friend of mine will come with me to see Joel Bauer speak (http://YourBusinessCardIsCrap.info is about to cross 1,000,000 views without a bot). But I digress.
I want to congratulate you on making a public statement. What I look forward to is the quality of knowledge you and Dan continue to radiate through your students. Many of Audrey’s students are also in SEO Braintrust and you and Dan are her single preferred reference for SEO.
I want to hear more about your European Tour.
Congratulations on all your success,
Ben
Thanks Ben,
Indeed, there are many valuable take-aways from my 38 month stint in StomperNet and with no hesitation at all the single most valuable one is the relationships I have built. Despite a very bumpy ride, I gained many business associates, marketing partners and life long friends — present company included.
And any time you and/or Audrey are in Atltanta — Live9 or otherwise — do let me know.
Then we will indeed find some way to hook up while you are in town!