Interview With Justin (Owner @ That PPC Guy)

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

Born in Oklahoma, raised in Arizona. I travel fulltime now in the US with my family. We have visited 43 states and 32 National Parks together.

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

I owned a small automotive detail shop and needed a way to get in front of new clients. I had tried other marketing, including direct mail, email blast, social media, and even spent a lot on SEO services. Nothing delivered like Google Ads and I focused y entire marketing budget to Google Ads. I sold that business and started a career in marketing.

3) What skills and industry do you specialize in?

My niche is businesses already running ads. I enjoy auditing and optimizing existing campaigns more than researching and building new ones. Often times a business has a few small things they can change that will drastically change the performance of an existing account.

I love the opportunity to make these changes and then stick around to watch the results. I work a lot with automotive, home services and ecomm businesses.

4) What is your best soft skill?

Building relationships. I can talk to almost anyone, and enjoy getting to know my clients. Technical skill is only 50% of running a business, the other half is soft skills, communicating, making yourself available, and getting to know the people, and the business, you've been hired to help.

5) What softwares and tools do you use regularly?

I use SEMrush often, but enjoy using Googles own, often under utilized tools, like the Performance Planning Tool, keyword Planning Tool, Auction insight Report, Search Term Report, etc.

These internal tools are more than sufficient to audit and optimize an existing account. I have also used tools like ClickCease and WordStream by LocaliQ before.

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

I call my business a lifestyle business. It's not about maximizing MRR, scaling, or 10x my client list. I have about 30 clients today and I enjoy managing these relationships without a team. I think anymore than that and I would need to hire help. My goal the next couple of years is to really stay out in front of the AI revolution. I have had a lot of potential clients ask how i'm currently using AI, and the honest answer is i'm not.

While there are some powerful tools, especially in the scripts space, I just haven' t seen the value for my clients yet. I'm sure that will change in the next year and it's my responsibility to educate myself and keep my clients best interest at heart.

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

Earning my first couple of clients was monumental. It almost seemed impossible! To go from 0 to 1 is a very big deal. I struggled like a lot of first time freelancers, looking for work anywhere, even beyond the scope of SEM. I would offer landing pages, SEO audits, etc. Happy to say I don't do that anymore!

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

I mentioned offering other digital services above, which was a big mistake. Trying to be everything to everyone is not a good business plan. I wanted to be a Swiss Mary knife when businesses really wanted a subject matter expert.

9) Who are your favorite people in the industry that you follow?

Kirk Williams is someone I follow on LinkedIn, I think we share some of the same values when it comes to our "why" in business.

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

My wife! She is also an incredible entrepreneur. We both run businesses very differently, and thats been good for both of us. We are able to share our perspectives and ideas and discuss amongst ourselves like our own little mastermind.

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

Isaac Rudansky 's course really opened my eyes to the depth of the SEM industry, and just how much could be done to optimize campaigns. As a complete newby 15 years ago I didn't even think businesses hired outside help to run Google Ads. I hadn't for my business, so why would anyone else.

Of course, I was wrong. Having outside eyeballs is sometimes the best way to maximize results. Learning from others helps you sharpen your craft, hear new ideas and builds your confidence.

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

Niche down, again most businesses don't want a Swiss Army knife. Become a subject matter expert and sell the value. Always do the right thing. If it's in the clients best interest, do it. And if you make a mistake, own it, admit it, and move on. The recipe for achieving your goals is simple: First establish what your goals are, and be hyper specific.

Second, you have to have grit. Set backs, bad days, frustration, etc, are trying to convince you to give up. Fight back! Get up every day and remind yourself that you can do hard things.

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

Marketing: Your website dictates the success of your marketing more than you realize. Google Ads does not produce conversions, your website does. So your first step in having a successful marketing campaign begins with your business, how you represent your product/service, and the users experience on the website.

Life: Live your life, not someone else's. You've been told from a very early age what success looks like. If you're an adult of almost any age you've probably realized those images of success don't fit your own dreams. Whatever you want from life you need to take control and put effort into doing it. This is it, from what we know, this one life. So go for it.

14) Where can we find you?

thatppcguy.com