Interview With Bernt (Co-Founder Taskforce Agency)

1) Where were you born and raised? Also tell us something unique about yourself.

I was born in the Netherlands. In Steenwijk to be exact. It's a town in the north of the Netherlands.

I went to school there until high school. Then I moved to Groningen to study.

Two things that haven't changed since then. First: I am a huge nerd. I am constantly creative. Building new websites, new projects, trying things. You name it.

The second: Always keep playing field hockey. I have tried all kinds of sports but with field hockey I have always loved the combination of a team and energy tremendously. Still do by the way ;)

2) What got you interested in marketing and what was your journey?

I actually started posting ads on Marktplaats when I was 13. The eBay of the Netherlands.

In that journey in between, I really did all kinds of things, building websites, SEO, social and much more.

But my focus ultimately stayed with SEA because it had immediate impact and you could actually see results in shorter terms. Although that has changed lately I still do it with enormous pleasure.

3) What skills and industry do you specialize in?

Actually quite simple. I do two things.

1 is entrepreneurship. I see that as a profession in its own right. You can get better at it every day. So my ultimate goal is to use the knowledge I have gained to eventually start working as a business coach, for which I do need the following: experience.

You often see business coaches who have owned a company once and then become a business coach. Some will probably be good but I really believe in experience. And then not from 1 business but with several.

Number 2 is Google Ads. As I describe above I am working on it daily. I wake up: Google Ads. Then again within Google Ads I do everything: Search, YouTube, Display and programmatic.

4) What is your best soft skill?

Hard to say that about yourself. But I think of Problem-solving myself. I often don't see so many bears on the road. And know that you will get there eventually by applying trial and error.?

The nice thing about having it as a softskill is that you get involved precisely in difficult situations.?

5) What softwares and tools do you use regularly?

Sounds maybe crazy but I try to stay away from multiple tools as much as possible. Because I think the core lies in your content knowledge of why you do things. For example, a tool that excludes search terms in bulk really doesn't make sense.

How can you trust a tool that does these things based on data? How does it know that it's a search terms that you never want to deploy again? Soon you will have excluded 5000 words and not know why you are not triggered on that term. If you do everything manually and with a thought you do know this.

Apart from this plea haha, I use: Channable Producthero.com and ClickPatrol . All add extreme value to an SEA account.

6) What are your goals for the next year and into the future?

As I answered the question above, I would eventually like to become a business coach.

But my goals for this year are a bit simpler. Most of all, I want to get back to being an entrepreneur. As a freelancer, you can quickly sink into living for clients. Which is hugely beneficial but ultimately not what you want to be doing until you are 65, at least not me.

That's why this year I want to be busy developing and automating. Taskforce? is definitely a part of that.

7) What has been the hardest thing you dealt with in your career path?

I think the hardest thing in my career is constantly dealing with the responsibility you bear. Or maybe you impose on yourself. When things go wrong (that are unavoidable) I will always feel tremendously bad. Besides, I am constantly working on my business, even during holidays.

Therefore, my goal of question 6 also ties in nicely with this: share responsibility so that together you can make sure it runs smoothly.

8) What is the biggest mistake you made that you want others to avoid?

Biggest mistake. I think that is sometimes trusting that someone is the same as you. Or thinks the same way about it.

I'm fairly direct and clear. Which is typical for a Dutchman haha but even within the Dutch there are gradations within that. Sometimes I share something with the right intentions and people don't tell me what they actually think. If they don't share with me what they really think about it, I don't learn from that either.

So my biggest mistake is: thinking it's right without asking for feedback. It is really necessary to ask people directly for feedback or tips sometimes. If you don't get them it doesn't mean they are not there.

9) Who are your favorite people in the industry that you follow? (We're going to tag them ??)

Favorite, favorite. I like to call them hard workers who stand out to me. The people I like to name are the people who inspire me and who give immensely besides taking.

PPC related:

Denie Geertzen ??

Guy Schepers

Ruben Runneboom

Miles McNair

Bob Meijer

Adriaan Dekker

PPC Agency related:

Lars Maat

Jason Wu

PPC Tools related:

Ardan Bousché

Frederik Boysen

Social media related:

Lo?s Moolenaar ??♀?

I'm sure I'm missing people, sorry about that. But this list above inspires me daily to work on my goals.

10) Who has had the biggest influence on your career to date?

Haha classic but my parents. Both entrepreneurs and both had their own apprenticeships. What I find funniest about how they inspired me is how I wouldn't do it. For example, my father's hard work and little home. And the chaos of my mother.

Of course, also with things I do want to do in certain ways. But I have seen a huge amount in them that I would do differently. And so it happened. Now I sit at home working hard ;)

11) What has been your favorite course that you taken and why?

I'm not much of a course follower. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who prefers to go down on his own 100x. But there's only 1 course I've really taken so far and that's from the boys at PPC Mastery .?

Why? Because this is an all-inclusive course that actually meets all the demands within the industry.

12) What would you tell yourself or someone who is just starting out in marketing?

I highly recommend connecting on LinkedIn with the list I sent above. Get active in the community and learn from everyone around you. That will help you grow the fastest. Don't be afraid to share things yourself, do people disagree? Then learn from that too.

13) If the entire world was listening to you, what would you have to say?

Enjoy and listen to your feelings. If you don't like your work, try something else.?

Don't be afraid. There is always something to do in this world where you feel at home. Don't let external factors influence this like salary or other people's days off at other work.

14) Where can we find you?

For now, I say Groningen, Netherlands.

Basically, I have no borders but I do have a lot of dreams.

Want to follow my PPC & entrepreneurial journey? Then follow me on Linkedin Bernt Muurling