I can't speak for the training program as I am not a member but I did buy SEO Book when I was starting out. I have to say that at the time it was one of the most useful sources of information that got me started on the right road. If that "meat and potatoes" approach has been carried over to the coaching then it would probably be good.
You don't need no stupid books. Trial and error is your book. What if you read this book and their method is completely wrong and you see no results? Then you just wasted all that time and are back to square one. Just dive in and test the waters. Pick some keywords write some articles submit them to ezine and see how you rank after your article hits the front page of google for a day then drops, see how many backlinks it takes to get it back there.
While I agree with kinitex that Trial and Error is the best, but it's good to read some guides, so you don't make too many mistakes and increase your problems. I don't know anything about the membership, but the ebook is fantastic. 350 pages, OMG!
i disagree, I think an ebook or a program can help you understand more a lot quicker then figuring it all out yourself. At least it really helped me (the one in my signature). That being said $100 a month is quite expensive, I wouldn't personally spend that much unless I was quite serious about internet marketing and knew it was good.
When you're starting out there is a lot of conflicting and confusing information out there and I found the book gave me solid pointers on the basics. I absolutely agree that trial and error is an essential part of the process but getting pointed in the right direction can save a ton of time as well. I have read several of the "Get rich quick" type things and I would completely agree that they are a waste of time but I would be inclined to think of SEO book more like a text book rather than the usual e-book fare. I know the op was about the training an I can't speak on that but I just wanted to clarify my thoughts. I won't hijack any further
I would wouch for trial and error however you can't really learn if you don't know what you are trying. If you don't know the basics - SEO book is a good place to start. Heck I think it's good enough that it deserves extra backlink.
forums are what helped me the most, but not dp. especially if you look at link building or google or adsense forums there are a lot of horribly misinformed people spouting out complete garbage and backing eachother up there. I honestly don't know where some people get their info.