randfishkin

How to start a tech company with founder and CEO of audience research startup SparkToro Rand Fishkin

Rand Fishkin is co-founder and CEO of audience research startup SparkToro. He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through his writing, speaking, startups, and his book, Lost and Founder. When Rand’s not working, he’s usually cooking a fancy meal for the love of his life, author Geraldine DeRuiter. If you bribe him with great pasta or great cocktails, he’ll spill big tech’s dark secrets.

Joe and Robert go into deep analysis on Rand Fishkin's latest post on the difficulty of being a web content creator.

Twitter launches a new product, Communities. Robert doesn't like it and Joe thinks Twitter should just buy Discord.

In rants and raves, Robert raves about Matthew Sweezey's First-Party Data chart, while Joe strongly disagrees with Seth Godin's take on NFTs.

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We are hanging out with Rand Fishkin today, who previously co-founded the SEO company MOZ, and has most recently started a new venture with SparkToro. This tool is quickly becoming one of our favorite pieces of software to do a lot of research. It helps us figure out what content to create around specific topics, what topics resonate around audiences, and you can literally plug in your URL or social media channel and it will kick out all this research from a variety of platforms.   

If you are running ads, you are probably noticing lately higher costs, fewer options, and lower conversions. We break a lot of that down from Rand’s perspective and you’ll see why it’s important to diversify from Facebook and Google if you are solely relying on those platforms. You’ll also hear us talk about what’s in store for the future with the way Google presents search results, and what you should be doing to rely less on links while building up your brand. After you listen, get some more advertising tips with Curt Maly and Tom Breeze. 

“The primary goal is to get people to your website and your email list because that’s the one channel you always get to own and control.” - Rand Fishkin

Some Topics We Discussed Include:

• Perspectives on the zero clicks search problem 
• Checking out the Crack Shack (it’s not what you think!)
• How to get honed in on a specific audience that will convert better
• What do cookies and strange pajamas have to do with advertising?
• Why getting people to like and share should be your secondary goal
• From chicken sandwiches in your email to ground beef in your advertising to al dente pasta on Youtube, we got you covered!
• Which ad networks are lacking in quality and which ones you should be using
• Predictions of what’s ahead in the way in which Google ranks your site and what you should be focusing on in the future

Resources From Rand Fishkin:

• SparkToro
• Something is Rotten in Online Advertising
• Lost And Founder by Rand Fishkin

References and Links Mentioned:

• MOZ
• SimilarWeb
• Buzzsumo
• Full Contact
• Clearbit
• The Butt Pajamas Will Follow You Forever
• HelloWoofy
• Are you ready to be EPIC with us?! Then grab our EGP Letter here!
• Did you know we have an awesome YouTube Channel? 
• Join the Facebook Community - be sure to hop in our Facebook group to chat with us, our other amazing guests that we’ve had on the show, and fellow entrepreneurs!
• This episode is sponsored by Easy Webinar - be sure to check out these special deals for our listeners.
• Unique Facebook Ad Strategies That Are Making People Rich - Curt Maly
• A Step-By-Step Guide To Profitable YouTube Advertising - Tom Breeze

Rand Fishkin is the Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro, a software company that puts audience intelligence at every marketer's fingertips. Before this, Rand was the CEO of Moz, an SEO software business and inbound marketing community that he co-founded in 2004. He is also the author of Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World, as well as a frequent keynote speaker on marketing and entrepreneurship topics around the world.

In this episode…

Is SEO still as powerful for growing a business as it was 15, 10, or even five years ago? According to Rand Fishkin, the Co-Founder and former CEO of Moz, the answer is no. When Rand left Moz to start SparkToro, he took with him the valuable insights and lessons he learned from years in the marketing industry. But to get ahead of his competition, Rand also had to adapt to a changing industry and find his own process. So what modern tactics did he take advantage of to successfully market his brand? 

Join host Brendan Dell in this episode of The Hook as he interviews Rand Fishkin, the Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro, about the best ways to effectively market your brand in 2020. Tune in to hear Rand’s thoughts on omni-channel marketing, blitzscaling, and episodic content, and discover the common marketing and startup myths that simply aren’t true. Keep listening!

Rand Fishkin, founder of SparkToro and Moz, came on the show to talk about the structural issues often found in companies that prohibit them from making the best marketing decisions.

Rand Fishkin is the co-founder and CEO of SparkToro, a company that helps marketers, PR folks, entrepreneurs, and product builders to get audience intelligence without the need for expensive, time-consuming, inaccurate surveys.

Before co-founding SparkToro, Rand is also the co-founder and former CEO of Moz, a company he founded with his mother after dropping out of the University of Washington 2 classes away from completing his degree. The company, which started as a blog called SEOmoz, attracted 30 million visitors annually and grew into a consulting business and now a software company. 

He is the author of the book Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World.

In this episode…

When the name Rand Fishkin comes up, many are quick to think him as the co-founder and former CEO of Moz, the multimillion-dollar software business. But what you may not be too familiar with is that Moz was built during a recession. Having come through the trenches, Rand knows all too well what it’s like to grow a company in the middle of a recession. And with the increasingly negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, businesses are also facing the same challenging times as Rand did when he started Moz.

Rand has learned many things during his time with Moz and one of them is how to best handle the direct and indirect impacts of building at a time of recession. He has since sold Moz and he founded and is currently the CEO of SparkToro.

In this episode of INspiredINsider, Dr. Jeremy Weisz interviews Rand Fishkin about behind the scene stories of building Moz through a recession, why he had to step down as CEO of Moz, and the new challenges that he faced while building SparkToro. He also talks about what makes SparkToro unique in the industry and what it can do for businesses that no one else can. Stay tuned.

This weeks show features very special guest Chris Daley. Chris is a digital marketing entrepreneur with a passion for helping businesses succeed online. After spending years driving traffic through SEO and digital marketing efforts, Chris turned his attention to the study of user experience. In 2014 he started his conversion optimization agency Dayley Conversion later merging with his latest venture, Disruptive Advertising, where he currently works as VP of site testing and optimization. They offer full-service A/B testing solutions to clients including strategy, design, development and analytics.

Really informative chat with lots of key takeaways that you can use in your own job or business. Join us won't you?

07:45 - College Degree or Portfolio? What is necessary for Creatives.

13:00 - Traffic without results.

16:00 - Organic Traffic vs Social Traffic.

18:30 - Conversion Funnel.

22:00 - Starting a business (Dayley Conversion)

29:20 - Scaling a business, using freelancers.

34:30 - Abundance Mentality

37:50 - Developing Trust with your clients.

43:15 - Finding your first client. Pitching your client with Value Propositions.

49:00 - AB Testing fundamentals.

54:40 - Most common problems that businesses make with their website.

56:30 - Merging a business, choosing a partner.

Our Guest:

Chris Daley

disruptiveadvertising.com

@chrisdayley on twitter
@chrisdayley on LinkedIn

The Links:

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The Eggs Podcast Spotify playlist:

bit.ly/eggstunes

The Plugs:

The Show
eggscast.com

@eggshow on twitter and instagram

On iTunes: itun.es/i6dX3pC

On Stitcher: bit.ly/eggs_on_stitcher

Also available on Google Play Music!

Mike "DJ Ontic" shows and info

djontic.com

@djontic on twitter

Ryan R2 SLC/BCN

r2mg.com

ryanroghaar.com

@r2mg on twitter

@r2mediagroup on instagram

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Credits:
Hosted by Michael Smith and Ryan Roghaar
Produced by Ryan Roghaar
Theme music: "Perfect Day" by OPM
 

The Carton:
https://medium.com/the-carton-by-eggs
Feature with Zack Chmeis of Straight Method up now! https://medium.com/the-carton-by-eggs/zack-chmeis-35dae817ac28

The Eggs Podcast Spotify playlist:
bit.ly/eggstunes

The Plugs:
The Show
eggscast.com
@eggshow on twitter and instagram

On iTunes: itun.es/i6dX3pC
On Stitcher: bit.ly/eggs_on_stitcher
Also available on Google Play Music!

Mike "DJ Ontic" shows and info
djontic.com
@djontic on twitter

Ryan Roghaar
http://rogha.ar