My StomperNet Review – What is StomperNet?

March 18th, 2010

What is StomperNet?

I’ve been getting that question for years.

StomperNet is often misunderstood. In fact, some actually have some strong feelings against it, even though they have never experienced it.

So I’m writing this information to give the actual facts, as I know them. The official StomperNet websites and web pages tend to be very long, scrolling copy. So I’ll try to answer some questions here (briefly)…

What is StomperNet? What do they offer?

As of March 2010, StomperNet is owned by Brad Fallon, a well-known Internet marketer. He is well known not only for his success in e-commerce, but for having excellent connections with other high-end online marketers.

Primarily, they offer a StomperNet Membership* for $197 per month. It gives you access to training, coaching, masterminds, & tools for Internet marketing. It includes some level of access to over 20 very smart “faculty members” that have various backgrounds in online marketing. (NOTE: I’m not a member.)

StomperNet also offers a monthly magazine called “The Net Effect”*. It costs $50 per month and offers information on Internet marketing, catering mostly to those involved in e-commerce. (NOTE: I’m a subscriber.)

Thirdly, they have an annual event called “StomperNet Live”*. This year is the ninth one (SNL9) and it is being held in Atlanta on March 25 to 28, 2010. It costs $197 to attend and includes one free month of the membership. (NOTE: I attended SNL7 last year as a guest.)

Lastly, they have various other side initiatives that you can buy into for additional costs. For example, they are now offering something for marketing via mobile phone. They also tend to promote and link to others products outside StomperNet. These are known as Joint Venture partners (JV partners).

What Others Say about StomperNet

Many intelligent Internet marketers are very comfortable and familiar with talking about Aaron Wall of SEO Book, Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz, Brett Tabke of PubCon and WebmasterWorld, Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Strategies and SMX, and others.

Yet, when it comes to StomperNet, there is a different attitude and feel towards it. It seems to be more of an insiders club. Perhaps it is because of the way it is marketed. I’m not sure.

Overall, there are plenty of opinions out there about StomperNet, especially from those that have never experienced it. For example, I have heard local people in Charlotte complain that they are spammers and that they can’t be trusted. That has not been my personal experience so far.

They have recently lowered the price considerably in an effort to be considered more mainstream. But personally, I think the style of emails they send and the long form copy on their websites (although effective) tends to give them a certain reputation.

Among those that are actual members, the comments are very positive.

Is StomperNet Expensive?

It’s not as expensive as it used to be! It used to cost about $800 per month. That’s right, almost $10K per year. But the price changed dramatically on September 9, 2009 (aka 09/09/09).

Even at $10K per year, many of the actual Stompers (that’s what they call StomperNet members) did not complain. In attending the SNL7, some are clearly there as a hobby. But many others are legitimate businesses owners getting good, practical advice in solid Internet marketing principles. For them, the cost was well worth it, even before it dropped.

Personally, I have been reading The Net Effect for a year and a half. Let’s face it, $50 per magazine each month is not cheap. But because my business is primarily e-commerce, I still feel it is worth it. I have not found any more practical info that will improve my business more that this magazine. (Honest!)

As for StomperNet Live, the price is downright cheap. Under $200 for a three-day conference on Internet marketing is very good. The speakers and site reviews are excellent. Hotels in Atlanta are not cheap. But other than that, it’s definitely worth $197.

What is StomperNet Live like?

I attended SNL7 in March 2009. Overall the event was enjoyable and enlightening. Some of it seemed a little haphazard. For example, some speakers seemed fairly unprepared and ran overtime often. But it was still good. Some have told me this year will not be that way due to a change in ownership.

I met some very interesting people. In particular, I enjoyed meeting some other businesses that specialize in e-commerce locally here in Charlotte, NC. We’ve stayed in touch ever since.

Who should try StomperNet?

It’s definitely not for everyone. If you have a legitimate online business and want to take it to the next level, this may a great opportunity for you.

To be honest, the value is there. It is. The hard part is knowing if you have the time to absorb and use it. After all, if you are going to shell out the cash for this info, you will want to make the time to practice and work on what you learn.

If you can make the time to work ON your business instead of IN your business, this is a great choice.

Then again, if you find Internet marketing interesting and want to come for fun (as a hobby), go for it. But that’s not me. This is not a hobby, it’s what I do to make money for a living.

Why I’m not a Stomper

As mentioned earlier, I do read The Net Effect. I also have attended StomperNet Live. But I am not a full StomperNet member. Not yet, at least.

It’s not because there is not enough value. There is. I just have some other projects I am working on first. As I’ve mentioned on other posts, I have some very significant projects that are taking much of my time right now. So I have not bothered becoming a full blown StomperNet member.

As for StomperNet Live, I’m still undecided. The timing is not good for me this year. So if I can’t make it, I will definitely make the next one.

LINKS: Here are the links to StomperNet, StomperNet Live, and The Net Effect.

NOTE: Are you a Stomper? Have opinions about StomperNet?
Got a question? Leave it in the comments below.
I’d love you hear your thoughts.

* Note: As a full FTC disclosure, some of the links in this post are affiliate links. But the information is the honest truth as I know it. If you know me, you know this is true.

http://www.safecardid.com nikki

Thanks for your post!

I am a member of StomperNet and it has been a positive value. The things I have most appreciated about StomperNet are:

The range of information in the media and forums are vast. I can’t understand and don’t have time to implement everything immediately as it is put out, but the information is there as a resource for me when it is time for me to focus on a certain topic. Various faculty members are “on call” many times a week to answer specific questions in their area of expertise.

The information provided has been tested. There are a number of voices that are out there to listen to in the Internet Marketing world. Many of these voices advise opposing actions. The faculty at StomperNet provide tested information to busy business owners that want to implement processes that work from the get go.

There are a number of StomperNet community members who run their businesses primarily using Internet Marketing methods. They have employees and run “real businesses” – their marketing just isn’t traditional. It is valuable to be able to mastermind with these experts in forums and in available bi-weekly meetings.

The upcoming event is a great price. The ROI is sure to make the event worthwhile.
http://www.HippoIM.com Corey Creed

Interesting. Nice to hear from another local in Charlotte, Nikki. Always appreciate your comments.
http://www.knowmad.com Diona

Thanks for starting this conversation. It’s very helpful to hear real-world perspectives on StomperNet since I’ve only briefly seen a couple of copies of the magazine.
http://www.aviemorebusiness.co.uk Katie

As stated in our own blog post http://aviemorebusiness.co.uk/blog/348/stomper-net-the-net-effect-weve-fallen-out-of-love/ we have fallen out of love with StomperNet. it is not because of the information they provide – it is excellent, but they couldnt organise their way out of a paperbag. they have become so big, so exclusive that they forget the little people as it were. I read with interest your comment about spam emails…. AGREED – you get deluged with emails from them and there is no let up, you dont have time to read everything and if you ask them to stop they dont. The most infuriating thing though about the whole sorry debacle was that they dont practice what they preach, namely that customer service and your customers are the most important thing – in my humble opinion I think they have lost sight of that.
http://www.HippoIM.com Corey Creed

Thank you for your comments, Katie. I personally have never gotten emails from StomperNet that I could not opp out of. In fact, I signed up for just about everything when they came out with “Stomping the Search Engines”. I got emails from about 20 different of their JV partners, but I was able to unsubscribe to all of them pretty easily. Sorry to hear it did not work out for you. Thanks for your honest (and polite) opinion.
Chris Kellum

A quick note in regard to the emails – I can’t tell you the last time I’ve received a promotional email from them. I’m pretty sure I unsubscribed from that list at some point a few months ago, and now I only receive the member emails (weekly “what’s happening” in StomperNet and so forth).

The membership has been very worthwhile. It is a lot (a lot) of information and I’ve actually gone through a fair portion of it, but there’s certain things that don’t have my interest (social media), so I don’t bother. I’d already worked through Stomping the Search Engines 2 on its own, as well as what was called the “Mega Pack” (as an up-sell t STSE2).

Once getting my full SN membership, I worked through the home study course (ignoring the SEO information, as STSE2 has replaced it), soaking in all of the ecommerce & usability/conversion information. There were also a couple separate files related to those fields, and then I also watched a good bit of the site reviews from previous Live events.

Most recorded site reviews are labeled with the faculty member that did the review, which helps in guessing what type of information you’ll receive (if it says Jerry, Dan, or Lesie – SEO, Audrey – usability, Brad – SEO & usability, etc.).

All in all, I was able to get my first ecommerce site up and running (and making money) within about 30 days of contacting our first supplier. I’m in the middle of building a second one right now – it’ll be up and running within 2.5 weeks of picking the market. It’s because of the information mentioned above that I know exactly what to look for in a market, how to speak to potential suppliers (and what to look for), exactly what I’m going to need to run an online business, how to get traffic to it, and how to convert that traffic into customers.

I am a user of multiple tools offered through the membership. Both my stores are on the StomperCommerce platform. Extremely easy to use, and one of the most SEO-friendly out-of-the-box carts I’ve seen. I’ve done multiple tweaks for SEO and usability/conversion, but I also have a thread in the SN forum which lists many of them (you are able to edit the source code of the cart).

I also use the CommuniQast tool. It’s a great rate for unlimited minutes, and is packed with pretty much everything one could expect to find in a virtual office. I don’t even venture anywhere near its capacity, however.

Once their split testing and analytics software (Storm) is released from beta, that will be a *huge* addition to what they have to offer. It’s been delayed because it was essentially redesigned from the ground up with a new development team and has already begun a limited roll-out to members as the final tweaks are made. It’s got strong analytics features, displays them in a simple-to-understand way, and being able to set up multivariate split tests in a matter of minutes without really knowing anything about editing/writing html is definitely a strong proposition.

And yes, that’s dirt cheap for the Live event. The last time it was held (August ’09), it was several times that amount.
http://www.TheJungleMap.com Corey Creed

Thanks for the update Chris. Good to hear from an actual member. I noticed that you focus on the information you get, not the persons running it. I’m of that opinion too. I don’t really know much about the personal lives of the people that write in The Net Effect, but I don’t care too much either. If the information helps my business, that’s the important part to me.
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