115. Rand Fishkin: Founder of Moz and Creator of an SEO Empire

May 14, 2024

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During the early years, SEO was the gas that drove the Internet engine. If you wanted your website or your business to go anywhere, the only way it could move was with the proper SEO strategy. It’s not as important as it once was, but there was a time when keyword placement, rankings, taglines, and on and on, were all part of a successful online effort. They were essential and no one was more connected to those things and how to leverage them than today’s guest.

Rand Fishkin is considered by most to be one of the pre-eminent voices in SEO. He built an incredible business that focused on this service, walked away, and built SparkToro, an audience research software entity, which is moving in that same direction. He’s currently the Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro and joins us to share interesting insights into his business journey, where he got things wrong, what he learned, and how he’s using those things in his current business, working each day to get business and life right. It’s not all about money, it’s about passion and finding your definition of success!

In this episode:

(3:51) – Rand talks about what he wanted to do when he grew up.
(8:10) – Realizes he loves visual arts, but that’s not where his talent resides.
(12:35) – Rand discusses why he was so passionate about SEO.
(20:30) – Rand outlines the debt snowball his business was facing.
(24:00) – Not all entrepreneurs have a safety net.
(29:49) – Human and professional relationships are built on vulnerability.
(34:32) – Advice to people looking to be tech entrepreneurs.
(42:30) – Rand leaves Moz and suffers from depression.
(47:20) – Balance in business and life, without assumptions driving you.
(50:55) – Be brave enough to define success for yourself, on your terms.
(52:20) – The importance of finding happiness in what you do.

Our Guest

Rand Fishkin is the Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro, the makers of fine audience research software. He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through his writing, videos, speaking, 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 fancy cocktails, he’ll pull back the curtain on big tech’s dark secrets.

Resources and Links

Hawke Media

Rank Fishkin

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