Get To Know: The Wizard Of Moz

To anyone working in the search marketing field over the past decade, Rand Fishkin needs no introduction. He is the cofounder, and Wizard of Moz. He co-authored the Art of SEO from O’Reilly Media, co-founded Inbound.org, and was named on PSBJ’s 40 Under 40 List and BusinessWeek’s 30 Best Tech Entrepreneurs Under 30. Rand is […]

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To anyone working in the search marketing field over the past decade, Rand Fishkin needs no introduction. He is the cofounder, and Wizard of Moz. He co-authored the Art of SEO from O’Reilly Media, co-founded Inbound.org, and was named on PSBJ’s 40 Under 40 List and BusinessWeek’s 30 Best Tech Entrepreneurs Under 30.

Rand is an addict of all things content & social on the web, from his blog on entrepreneurship to Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, and FourSquare. In his minuscule spare time, Rand enjoys the company of his amazing wife, Geraldine, whose serendipitous travel blog chronicles their journeys.

Rand Fishkin

Wizard Of Moz

  • Age: 34
  • HQ: Seattle, WA
  • First Job: Receptionist at the Wizards of the Coast Game Center
  • Apple or Android? Android
  • Hobby: Traveling with my amazing wife
  • First Car: Still have never owned a car!

What mobile device can you not live without?

Currently, it’s an old Galaxy S3 with a giant battery that makes it twice as fat as a phone should be (but also means I can go for 48 hours without charging)

Can we take a peek at your phone’s home screen?

Sure!

rands-mobile-home-screen

What app do you use most often for work?

Gmail (via Google Hosted Apps)

What social media network or website do you frequent most when you’re not working?

Not working? When does that ever happen?

In all seriousness, I have taken to having one night a week where I don’t work. Geraldine and I call it anti-work night. Sometimes we’ll go to the movies, or out to dinner. Much of the time we just cook and read books or watch a show on TV. If we do go online, it’s usually to buy a present for someone from Etsy or Amazon.

What’s the first thing you check on your phone in the morning?

Email! Then Twitter, then Google+, then text messages, then Foursquare

What work challenge keeps you up at night?

Creating presentations is always a challenge. People tend to have very expectations and I translate that into a lot of effort to make a good slide deck and provide something truly useful.

What has been the most exciting work development this year?

Moz’s engineering team has kicked into high gear and is producing a lot more that’s visible externally. That feels good. My favorite trend is seeing the adoption of Fresh Web Explorer, which grew from being used by under 5% of our members to almost 10% in the last 45 days.

How many miles have you traveled this year?

I’ve only taken a few trips so far in 2014. I believe around 3,500 miles or so. Although, by the time SMX West starts, I’ll have a few thousand more under my belt.

What other career would you like to try?

Something with less complexity and fewer challenges would be nice. I’d probably get bored, but for the first few weeks, it would be lovely. Perhaps a novelist. The kind who goes to beach cabins and works on a typewriter.

What does your desk look like right now?

rands-home-workstation

What is the last business book you read?

I believe it was Resonate by Nancy Duarte, though I must admit I didn’t read it cover to cover. I’ve been reading a lot more for pleasure of late, mostly because I want to write a book on marketing this year, and I’d prefer my influences come from the world of fiction :-)

Outside of your company’s efforts, what marketing campaign or video caught your eye recently?

Like a lot of folks, I was very impressed with Cheerios’ Super Bowl commercial.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKuQrKeGe6g[/youtube]

I also particularly liked this commercial that didn’t air from the National Congress of American Indians.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR-tbOxlhvE[/youtube]


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Chris Sherman
Contributor
Chris Sherman (@CJSherman) is a Founding editor of Search Engine Land and is now retired.

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