Rand Fishkin - How anyone can be legendary at marketing!
Feb 2, 2023
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Learn from Rand Fishkin about his SEO journey, transitioning from consulting to software, battling depression as a founder, and his 3-step framework for startup success. Discover marketing strategies for startup founders in 2023, the future of marketing in the age of privacy, impactful marketing in ad tech, and a founder's encounter with Oprah Winfrey.
Passion, audience focus, unique value essential for marketing success.
Initiate marketing early, build audience, engage in content for profitability.
Distinguish between building audience and community, adapt to evolving marketing dynamics.
Deep dives
Importance of Passion and Audience Attention
Founders should focus on areas where they are passionate, where their audience pays attention, and where they offer a unique value proposition. Being skilled in and enthusiastic about the chosen marketing area, reaching the right audience effectively, and having a unique offering compared to competitors are key factors for success.
Starting Marketing Early
It is crucial for founders to initiate marketing efforts early, even before the product launch. Building an audience, engaging in content marketing, and creating a following around the problem being addressed can lead to a dedicated customer base and faster profitability for the business.
Community Building and Audience Engagement
While not every business needs to build a community, audience building is essential for success. Having an engaged audience that pays attention to marketing messages and content can give founders a significant advantage. Community building and audience engagement play vital roles in marketing and growth strategies for startups.
Building an Audience vs. Community
The discussion delves into the distinction between building an audience and a community. It emphasizes that not every business requires a community and that building an audience is crucial, highlighting the significance of having a dedicated following on platforms like Twitter and TikTok. The conversation stresses the importance of aligning with one's passion and niche to succeed in community building endeavors.
Predictions for Marketing Trends
The episode anticipates a shift in marketing dynamics, emphasizing the impact of restrictions on personalized advertising by platforms like Facebook and Google. This shift could lead to marketers undertaking more personalized efforts to reach customers rather than relying solely on major platforms for targeting. The conversation highlights opportunities for marketers and data providers in a landscape where personalized advertising faces limitations, potentially diversifying marketing strategies across platforms.
Rand Fishkin is cofounder and CEO of SparkToro, 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.
👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.
Timestamps:
0:00 | Episode highlight
0:48 | Intro to Rand Fishkin
2:56 | What drew Rand to a career in marketing?
6:20 | Rand's SEO mentors
10:09 | What made Rand bet on SEO?
16:01 | Moving from consulting to software
19:41 | The non-scalability of consulting vs the omnipresence of tech
28:47 | Rand's experience with depression as a founder
37:03 | Rand's 3-Step Framework for startup founders
43:08 | The mistakes founders make while marketing
46:43 | Community's role in marketing
52:42 | The secret to an uber-profitable 3-person startup team
59:48 | Building the 'contentment' muscle
1:07:11 | Marketing trends from 2023
1:11:01 | Rapid Fire 5: Rand's favorite marketing person to meeting Oprah for the first time
FTC Proposes Rule to Ban Noncompete Clauses, Which Hurt Workers and Harm Competition: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-proposes-rule-ban-noncompete-clauses-which-hurt-workers-harm-competition