Wow that is quite a complex layout. I would suggest starting on an easier page if this is your first time using SS. Or you can jump into the deep end and try and tackle that.

When working on a layout like that you would break it down into parts and also work out which parts need to be editable in the cms and which parts are static.

I usually like to work from the top down as well so you would start by getting that main menu to function so that would involve creating pages in the CMS for each and building a menu control (as in tutorial 1). Then move down to the banner area - most of that would be good in the CMS so you would need to add fields to the cms for each (tutorial 2 covers adding fields).. And so on and so on. Its rather complex so just tackling it 1 step at a time helps make it seem easier.