We are often asked for our suggestions on a variety of topics around marketing, software, people, service providers, SEO, startups and more. The following are meant to help scale those answers in a broader way.<\/p>\n
\u2192\u00a0Service Providers in Seattle<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Joe Wallin from Carney, Badley, Spellman<\/a> – SparkToro’s attorneys, who helped us craft our innovative funding structure, and have assisted many other great startups & projects, always to rave reviews \u2192\u00a0\u00a0Tools & Software I Love \u2192\u00a0Startup & Technology Sites\/Blog<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 IndieHackers<\/a> \u2013 my favorite community for founders discussing the best ways to solve the challenging problems of building companies \u2192\u00a0Search & Internet Marketing Sites\/Blogs<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Trending<\/a> – what the web marketing industry is talking about & sharing, updated every few hours \u2192 Interesting Web-Based Utilities and Applications<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Oyster<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 terrifically in-depth hotel reviews w\/ editorial photos from their team \u2192\u00a0News Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0NYTimes\u2019 Most Read Articles<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the most popular stories from the US\u2019 greatest paper \u2192\u00a0What I Read\/Visit in My Free Time<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0The Everywhereist<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 my wife\u2019s brilliantly humorous travel blog \u2192 Conference & Event Recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Mozcon<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0IMO, still the best large-scale web marketing conference out there; content, production value, speakers, and after-hours events are all top notch \u2192 Books that I’ve Found Valuable<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The Billionaire Who Wasn’t<\/a> – A remarkable biography of one of my personal heroes: Chuck Feeney. This is probably the book that’s inspired me most in my professional career. Recommended Companies: We are often asked for our suggestions on a variety of topics around marketing, software, people, service providers, SEO, startups and more. The following are meant to help scale those answers in a broader way. \u2192\u00a0Service Providers in Seattle \u2022 Joe Wallin from Carney, Badley, Spellman – SparkToro’s attorneys, who helped us craft<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/fullwidthpage.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-119","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2022\u00a0Rooster Park<\/a> – a great choice for outsourced and contract software development
\n\u2022 Aeon Law<\/a> – superb patent and IP attorneys (Moz used them for our patents)
\n\u2022 Washington Partners<\/a> – the best commercial real estate folks on the scene
\n\u2022\u00a0Delightful Communications<\/a> – Mel Carson’s remarkable social, PR, and branding agency
\n\u2022 Additional Seattle-centric recommendations on Rand’s FreshChalk page<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n\u2022 15Five<\/a> – What Moz historically used to track our team’s 1:1s and project progress; if SparkToro scales employees, we’ll likely use this again
\n\u2022 Pocket<\/a> – I frequently skim good articles on the web, save them to Pocket, and can then read them anywhere (including on mobile, even when I don’t have a web connection on flights)
\n\u2022 Fresh Web Explorer<\/a> – like Google Alerts, but way, way better, and with a ton of other cool functionality
\n\u2022 Keyword Explorer<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0the best keyword research tool out there
\n\u2022 Mozbar<\/a> – terrific for SEO tasks of all kinds while browsing web pages in Chrome or Firefox
\n\u2022 Followerwonk<\/a> – a tool I loved so much, Moz\u00a0acquired them in 2013 (it’s now owned & run by the wonderful Marc Mims). Great for Twitter analyses, bio searches, and tracking follower gains\/losses in depth.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0Techmeme<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 an algorithmically built news site for the tech field
\n\u2022\u00a0Geekwire<\/a> – coverage of the Seattle area tech & startup worlds
\n\u2022 ProductHunt<\/a> – like everyone else in tech, I’m addicted to seeing what pops up and does well here<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0Search Engine Land<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 news on the search industry and landscape
\n\u2022 Moz<\/a> \u2013 daily blog on SEO & web marketing techniques + how-to
\n\u2022 Dejan Marketing<\/a> – one of the best experimenters in the search world, Dan Petrovic combines creativity and scientific rigor
\n\u2022\u00a0Distilled Blog<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Top notch SEO consultants sharing their findings
\n\u2022\u00a0Seer Interactive Blog<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 very talented and well-written Philadelphia SEO team
\n\u2022\u00a0Siege Media<\/a> \u2013 some of the most sophisticated and helpful content marketing advice you’ll find on the web comes from the Siege team’s thoughtful posts
\n\u2022 Ian Lurie’s Blog<\/a> \u2013 superb advice, rants, & analysis on web marketing, agency operations, and more<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 SkyScanner<\/a> – a great travel resource site; one I hope can compete against Google’s attempts to wholly own the travel search market
\n\u2022\u00a0SeatGuru<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 find the best seat on any flight; a must have for frequent fliers like me
\n\u2022 Niice<\/a> – a great site for finding unusual, visually stunning, inspiring graphics and images<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0Slate.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Opinion, analysis and creative journalism
\n\u2022\u00a0National Geographic News<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the best coverage of the natural world
\n\u2022\u00a0The Stranger\u2019s Slog<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Seattle-based weekly paper with style and substance
\n\u2022\u00a0Five-Thirty-Eight<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 statistically rigorous and impressive analysis of he
\n\u2022\u00a0BBC World News<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 extensive global news coverage
\n\u2022\u00a0Freakonomics Blog<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the \u201chidden\u201d economic factors at play in our world
\n\u2022\u00a0Metacritic<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 all forms of media\/entertainment reviewed algorithmically<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0The Sixty-One<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a great site for independent music
\n\u2022\u00a0SeriousEats<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0scientifically rigorous recipes… yum
\n\u2022 Maptia<\/a> – the best travel writing and photos on the web<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Searchlove<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0my favorite smaller events (3-500 attendees) are those from Distilled; technical, tactical talks from high quality presenters amidst\u00a0a wonderfully friendly and internationally diverse crowd
\n\u2022 SMX Munich<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 one of the biggest and best shows in Europe; Munich attracts great content and speakers from across Europe and North America
\n\u2022 SEMpdx Engage<\/a> – for over a decade, Engage (formerly Searchfest) has been one of the premier regional shows in the US, and is hosted in Portland, OR, one of my favorite cities
\n\u2022 Business of Software<\/a> – possibly my favorite event in the entrepreneurship and broader business community
\n\u2022 Brighton SEO<\/a> – a remarkable, partially-free event in the south of England that attracts great talent and attendees<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Good to Great<\/a> – From analyzing 1,435 companies over 40 years, Jim Collins’ team found 11 standouts. This book looks at the difference between the great ones and the rest.
\n\u2022 Built to Last<\/a> – What do companies that survive for generations do differently than those who burn out fast? Another great analysis.
\n\u2022 Predictably Irrational<\/a> – A phenomenal work from Dan Ariely on why we make seemingly irrational choices.
\n\u2022 The Upside of Irrationality<\/a> – Another excellent book from Ariely, with a lot of new research and a personal take that helps keep the text moving.
\n\u2022 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion<\/a> – Robert Cialdini’s seminal work on how and why mankind thinks and acts. Essential reading.
\n\u2022 Startup Communities<\/a> – In 10 years, Boulder, CO transformed into one of the world’s startup Meccas. Brad Feld, who engineered this process but takes little credit, describes how this can be done in regions around the world.
\n\u2022 Lean Startup<\/a> – Despite all the hype, it truly is a great book on architecting early stage startups
\n\u2022 Incognito<\/a> – A great take on neuroscience as it relates to behavioral psychology
\n\u2022 Nudge<\/a> – Learn about libertarian paternalism, choice architecture, and the science of how human beings can make themselves better decision-makers.
\n\u2022 Radical Candor<\/a> – one of the best books out there on how to manage people in a more thoughtful, holistic way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"