The Internet Marketing Ninjas instructional program including videos and tools conceived by Jim Boykin of We Build Pages, has officially launched.
I think a lot of people in the search marketing industry will be wowed by the sheer volume of quality information that’s available. Currently there are a series of 12 videos from the likes of Aaron Wall, Shoemoney, Neil Patel and Jim himself. Plus, most of the famous We Build Pages SEO and link building tools have been taken offline and included in the program along with many of the private WBP tools.
I was fortunate to be included in the program and Jim was good enough to take some time and answer a few questions about Internet Marketing Ninjas during the launch to cover how/why it was started, how he was able to get some of the smartest search marketers to give up their secrets and what future enhancements are in store.
Anyone who has been in the search marketing biz knows WeBuildPages and Jim Boykin, but for those neophytes to SEO from other industries that read our blog, can you share a bit on your background ith SEO and being a Link Ninja Master?
First let me say “Thanks” again for helping this project by providing an excellent training program presentation. Well done Ninja Master Lee!
I started We Build Pages in 1999 with the slogan “Designing and marketing websites”. In 2003 we dropped designing and went with a focus of SEO…especially with link building. We played the link trade game, the Pagerank buying game, the Florida game, the sandbox game, TrustRank Game, Social Media Game, and will continue to see opportunities and monitor boundaries in search of the “perfect link” that will directly increase a site’s rankings…without pissing off a search engine.
We’ve built a team that has grown to about 30, and continues to grow. Most of our employees are “Link Ninjas”, working on getting links that help our clients to get more relevant traffic, and increase their rankings along the way.
We also work on many other sites which we own. Sometimes acquiring old trusted websites and we work to monezite them.
Our latest project is the Internet Marketing Ninjas program. We’ve collected 12 of the most influential Internet Marketing minds and created a training program covering tons of internet marketing related topics.
We’ve also taken most of the public SEO tools at We Build Pages and made them no longer public. I’ve decided to throw these tools, as well as several private tools we use at We Build Pages, and offer them for free to those who join Internet Marketing Ninjas.
You had approached several people on the new Internet Marketing Ninjas program about a year a go or so. I am curious where you got the idea?
I got tired of going to conferences and watching 10 minute powerpoints of a 101 overview of a Internet Marketing related topics. Some people know what they’re talking about, many don’t. Some people are also on the wrong panels.
I often thought if you could just grab the top people, and let them talk beyond 10 minutes, and get a bit in-depth on what that person specializes in, then I’d learn way more than listening to panels of presenters. With the help of some Ninja Master Friends, and a bit of elbow grease, I think we’ve created a product that can be better than the price of an internet marketing conference. You get the “gold”, the in depth thoughts on topics covered by the best minds in the business. With the We Build Pages tools thrown in, I think it’s a steal.
Can you explain what it is and how it works? How will it stay up to date?
You get online Internet Marketing video training by: Aaron Wall, Andy Beal, Bill Slawski, Jim Gilbert, Cameron Olthuis, Neil Patel, Shoemoney, Jill Whalen, Christine Churchill, Lee Odden, Stuntdubl, and myself.
We’ve already got plans for additional Ninja Masters and training videos for 2008 to be included. It’ll just grow and grow. I can’t even begin to list the topics covered, often it’s getting the dirt and the gold nuggets of knowledge. I know my Internet Marketing knowledge jumped greatly after watching these videos (I’ve seen them many times now). We’re offering preview videos for each person (about 5 minutes each) as well. There’s even some nuggets in the previews as well. Members can comment on the member video pages. You also get access to formerly public We Build Pages Tools (most are no longer public), and some of our private tools as well.
You seem to have captured quite an impressive list of participants for the videos. I was surprised and honored to be asked and even more impressed when I saw the final list. How did you get them to do it?
I’ve been Lucky, I really have. I asked the best people I knew in several internet marketing categories to participate, and most said “Let’s do it!”. The others I’ll get to participate tomorrow 
You decided to take the famous WeBuildPages SEO tools down and include them in the Internet Marketing Ninjas program as well as include some of your private tools. The free tools must have been good link magnets for you, why take them down?
Rand actually did a video on SEOmoz that covers the games you have to play with engines when you’re running tools. Basically the more people who use your tools, the more often the tools aren’t going to work, or the results will be skewed. Most of the public tools were being used thousands of times a day. I know that the tools will now be much more accurate, and we’ll have a lot less “hassle” if we limit the use of these tools. I gave these tools for free for years, but the time has come where I have to limit the use of the tools. I thought I’d just toss the use of these tools only to members of Internet Marketing Ninjas, as a “freebee” to them. I also threw in some tools that have never been public, actually some are the best we’ve built.
Can you describe some of the private tools that are now available to subscribers?
Jim: There’s several. Here’s a few I’m quite fond of: (Bullets added by Lee)
- The Amazing Interlinker Tool. With this tool you can interlink text in your web pages like Wikipedia does. It’s a pretty powerful on page optimization tool that has other SEO uses as well.
- Neighborhood Authority Finder that helps identify sites you should get links from
- Common Co-Citation tool
- Jim’s Link Value Tool
Some have described the price, just short of $3k, as steep. While I don’t personally agree since I’ve seen the videos, what do you say to people who are shy on price for the program?
These training and tools are not for everyone. There’s something to be said about having a “club” with only members serious enough to invest in this program. And I totally believe that those who invest in Ninjas will not be let down.
Outside of the videos and the tools, what else do you have planned for future enhancements? I suspect that after seeing the success of this program and all the exposure it will get, other search marketing experts will want to participate. Do you plan on rotating video participants, keeping the same group or going with an entirely new group next year?
We’ll just keep adding and updating to IM Ninjas. There’s already a handful of people that I’ve been talking with for 2008. We’ll just keep updating and adding Ninja Masters, as well as we’ll keep throwing in tools that we develop.
Not to give too much away, but what are some of the best tips you heard from the videos?
Oh man, hard to name so many….everyone handed out quality information filled with tips, suggestions, and theories.
Thanks Jim!
