From 9-to-5 to Running Google Ads That Drove $100M for Clients

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04

Unknown

Welcome, everybody, to the new episode of The Founder's Gambit. Joining me today is John, his Manage Google Ads campaigns that brought in more than $100 million in sales. John, listen to the podcast, man. Thanks, Gary. Nice to see you, buddy. Yeah, you too man. I think kind of best way to start is if you tell us a bit about yourself, your journey, who you are and what do you guys do?

00:00:21:06 - 00:00:43:09

Unknown

Okay. Yeah. So my name is John Martin. I run a Google ads agency called Paid ads. Paid ads.io. We work with clients all over the world and many different industries. I like to say that we niche down on platform. We only do Google ads. But for pretty much any viable business that has a good offer, or a good product and, money to invest in Google ads.

00:00:43:09 - 00:01:04:06

Unknown

So, yeah, that's always that's that's funny. You mentioned like Eunice down the platform. Like was there a decision behind that? Did you start with Google ads or did you do everything and then niche down? Yeah. Good question. So personally I like Google ads. Compared to some of the other platforms, to me it's a lot it's a lot more direct.

00:01:04:11 - 00:01:26:09

Unknown

Like it's a lot more, you know, you you put money in, you get money out and there's not much smoke and mirrors, you know, and I that that appeals to me personally. So I always, I always like Google ads and I suppose my, my journey was as a, as a freelancer first. So Google Ads was, you know, this the skill that I planned first or AdWords, that was as it was called at the time, and it just kind of snowballed from there, really.

00:01:26:09 - 00:01:47:02

Unknown

You know, it was it was my skill sets started freelancing and my spare time started it built up, you know, built a team. And we just kind of stuck with Google ads. And I think now we're kind of known for it. And, when I talk to people, a lot of people actually appreciate the fact that, well, Google ads only, you know, it's a complex platform on its own.

00:01:47:13 - 00:02:06:05

Unknown

And I think a lot of people now value the fact that we, we, we do one thing. We do it well, you know. Yeah, I agree with that. And I think that's really important. Like you do something well, you stick with it and you bring, obviously amazing results, as we know. So let's go, back a bit.

00:02:06:05 - 00:02:31:02

Unknown

So how did you start? I know you went from 9 to 5, like, normal office job, and then now you're running Google Ads agency from Thailand. And, like, how did that happen? How did that. Yeah, it sounds cliche, doesn't it? You know, moving to Thailand, but it's true. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I was many years ago, I was working sort of not coaching normal, like office jobs, doing, like marketing.

00:02:31:04 - 00:02:50:12

Unknown

Really, really trying to figure out what what I was doing. You know, what what I liked. I was bouncing from company to company and worked in a number of different industries. And, I mean, I just kind of stumbled into Google ads at the time as a way to kind of develop my skills and, you know, and a bit of extra money, really.

00:02:50:13 - 00:03:09:11

Unknown

I think, I think one of the companies I was working with that was like a traditional marketing role, and they brought in a young guy at the time, I remember, and it was when, like digital marketing was really first star. And like, you know, I don't I'll many, many years ago, over over a decade ago, probably 15 years.

00:03:09:12 - 00:03:29:08

Unknown

And I remember he came in with his with his, you know, Facebook ads or whatever he was doing at the time, email marketing or something. And, and he outperformed Allo just as this guy outperformed like 4 or 5 people on a, on a traditional marketing team. And I was like, that's interesting. Wow. And then like, paid attention.

00:03:29:08 - 00:03:54:10

Unknown

And so it kind of triggered my interest at that point. So, yeah, I spent more time self-taught, you know, got into it doing online courses. I don't even think at the time YouTube there was any content on YouTube or and I don't remember using it. So it was it was hard to find. So, yeah, to kind of stumble my way into it as a sideline at first and then, you know, made some mistakes, recovered.

00:03:54:15 - 00:04:15:19

Unknown

Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, just gradually built it up and then, you know, decided it was a great way to, to have some more flexibility than work in an office job. And I remember this particular office job I had. I'm from the UK, obviously, and I'm from Liverpool, which is in the north, and I had this job. It was it was relatively well paid, but I had to get the train to Birmingham, which is another city.

00:04:16:04 - 00:04:32:14

Unknown

So it was like 90 minute train and I'm on and then a walk to the office and I remember it was like January and Northern England. That's not nice. You know, it was called away and miserable. And I was like, I've got to try and figure this laptop Google thing out. So that was really the motivation.

00:04:32:19 - 00:04:54:00

Unknown

I've always hated winter. And then, yeah, Thailand just kind of came later on, you know, being location independent, having a business that you can run from a laptop seemed like a good idea. And I've been ever since. So, yeah, a lot of cool. I want to touch on a couple of points here. Like, I love that you mentioned like, random guy just joining random younger guy.

00:04:54:00 - 00:05:10:16

Unknown

Right. Just joining joining in and sparking like, okay, he's onto something here. Like he just outreach from the whole team. And I mean, it might not have been the best team in the world to prefer, but yeah. Oh yeah. You know the I came in and it blew it apart. I was like Yeah. It definitely piqued my interest.

00:05:10:18 - 00:05:34:17

Unknown

That's really, really nice. I want to like touch a bit on like you didn't just quit your job one day and decided, hey, I'll go to Thailand and start freelancing like it was more, like, it was rather, you thought yourself, Google ads while working full time, and the reason it transitioned slowly to freelancing. And only then once you got a couple of clients, you moved to an agency model that you run.

00:05:34:17 - 00:06:00:03

Unknown

Right now, I think that's the part that most people just don't understand or skip while hearing these great stories. They just see the end result. Right? How are those days looking for you? Right? Having a full time job? And then what were some resources you were learning Google ads from? Yeah. Good question. Yeah. I have to I have to put myself back in that, times a long time ago, but yeah, like it started.

00:06:00:03 - 00:06:17:21

Unknown

There's just, you know, a way to earn a bit of extra cash, you know, working in the evenings, working at the weekends, you know, train and really, I mean, yeah, in a way, I was getting paid to drive because I was, I was freelancing. I mean, I remember actually a bit of a tangent, but I was working on, Upwork or it was called something else at the time.

00:06:17:21 - 00:06:45:03

Unknown

ODesk or something else anyway. And, obviously I had no experience. I had no no profile, no case studies, no, no nothing coming. I was a total beginner, and I remember I was literally messaging people that would post jobs on there looking for Google ads. I was literally messaging them and I was saying, I will do this job for free just for experience, if you can give me a chance, and if I do it well, will you give me a positive review?

00:06:45:05 - 00:07:01:23

Unknown

You'd think that would be a successful strategy, right? But I must have applied for a hundred jobs, 200 jobs? Nobody even replied. And I remember there's a, there was a guy in Ireland who it was a small job, but he said, yeah, okay, cool. You know, we jumped on a call and he was the nicest guy.

00:07:02:00 - 00:07:13:22

Unknown

And and I did it and it went well. And, you know, everyone was happy. And I was like, I got my first review. I was like, stoked. And he was. It was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pay you. And I was like, no, no, no, it's not necessary. And he absolutely insisted. He was like, no, look, you've done a good job.

00:07:13:22 - 00:07:45:21

Unknown

You deserve paying. And I was like, wow, he's still a client today. That's amazing. He's still a client today, I'm proud to say. Yeah. So, yeah, that's how we got started. That's insane. Yeah. And and these couple first clients, did they like. It's obvious. It's super hard to get any clients without any tools, any knowledge. You were just starting out, like, was there any other strategies other other than applying on Upwork or, these kinds of platforms, like how did you try and find these first clients where they start?

00:07:45:21 - 00:08:05:18

Unknown

There's some tips and tricks someone can use right now to get couple of these success stories so they can get better clients and go, yeah, maybe, maybe. Yeah. I mean, for me, I was I didn't have any connections or experience in with this particular skill set. But it was a long time ago. It didn't feel to me to be so mainstream.

00:08:05:18 - 00:08:20:06

Unknown

Maybe it was, and I was just ignorant to it at that stage. So I really didn't have anybody I could ask for, and I didn't really have anybody I knew. So it was lonely at times, you know, like you're trying to learn the skill. Nobody's there to teach you. And, you know, you have to kind of persevere.

00:08:20:06 - 00:08:43:22

Unknown

So I remember Ivan's. Yeah, it was tough sometimes, but yeah, for me, the only sort of resource I could find was Upwork. So I really hammered it. It wasn't skill. It wasn't anything else. It was volume. I just absolutely applied for every job offer to work for free. And I just really hammered it, and, but in terms of advice to other people going through that journey, I think you have to do that.

00:08:43:23 - 00:08:58:23

Unknown

I think you have to go through that painful period, you know, like a unless you unless you maybe there's better ways to do it. But I think you just have to, you know, bite down on your game shield as they say and get through that phase. And I think as soon as you can do that, you might make some good connections.

00:08:58:23 - 00:09:19:01

Unknown

First of all, I mean, like I just said that my first client is still a client now, like a decade later or more. So, you know, maybe that will happen. They're nice if they do. But I think you just have to do that. And I think once you start to gain a bit of momentum, get some case studies, get some referrals, you know, it starts to snowball gradually.

00:09:19:03 - 00:09:45:18

Unknown

I would also say, I mean, for me, in those early stages, like quick success is maybe not ideal, although that's what you want at the time. I mean, I look back now and if I, if I, if I instantly got like ten clients or whatever, I'm pretty confident I would have messed it up, you know? So sometimes the grind is painful but but necessary I think, you know, I agree with that 100%.

00:09:45:18 - 00:10:06:06

Unknown

And I also agree on the point that it's maybe better to go slower at the start and make sure you're doing good stuff and getting good results for people rather than taking. You can take many clients now because you have the infrastructure, you have the knowledge, you have people. It's different than taking five clients then and doing four job for all of them.

00:10:06:08 - 00:10:27:14

Unknown

So software that's. Yeah. You know, I see people now, I have sometimes, you know, freelancers or people trying to like, recycle my case that are case studies, you know, like that happens, and, you know. Yeah, but but I understand what people do. And if they're trying to just, you know, bridge that gap from where they are to where they want to be.

00:10:27:16 - 00:11:00:12

Unknown

But you kind of just treating yourself like you need to gain that experience or, you know, too much, too quick is often not ideal, really. It might not feel like it at the time, but looking back now, I'm glad that it was. It was a slow, painful process. Yeah, I, I, I can totally agree on that. Like, I have a funny story about after my friend was posting a job, he was looking for someone to help him build websites, and a guy reached out to him and sent one of the website that my team built, and my friend was like, okay, wait, didn't did you guys do this?

00:11:00:12 - 00:11:29:18

Unknown

And like, literally they are doing anything they can, even this shady stuff and they don't know and didn't understand that it doesn't help them. It just diminishes them. Yeah. It's that, it's that fake it til you make it thing isn't it. And I think not, not so much when I was getting started. But I think now also there's, there's a lot more information out there to, especially to younger people, you know, like all this like courses on how to become a freelancer or become an agency, you know, grow an agency, all this kind of stuff.

00:11:29:18 - 00:11:47:11

Unknown

And I think oftentimes people look at it as a quick way to make money. And maybe it is for some people on some scale. But I think if you want to do it properly, you know, you have to you have to take the lessons as well. You know, a great influence. They are so let's set up some kind of timeline here.

00:11:47:11 - 00:12:04:10

Unknown

So you on your job and then you, while you're full time working girls, you are getting some clients or trying to get some clients, some freelancing. What? What, how long was that period like before you, while you were doing both simultaneous and then deciding to quit your job? It was a while. Yeah, it was a while. It was.

00:12:04:14 - 00:12:29:01

Unknown

I mean, I would say at least 12 months, for the same reasons, you know, like, I was also building my skills. You know, I didn't I didn't I never trained to do this particular role. So that was part of the process, you know, where I'm getting things wrong. And luckily, this that first client that I had was I mean, he is a really nice guy.

00:12:29:03 - 00:12:46:07

Unknown

And I would just be honest with him about like, I've, I've made the mistake here when I'm wrong. I'm not sure what happened, but I will figure it out. And he was like really patient and you know for sure he was way further ahead in his career at that time that I was at the time. And I think perhaps he you saw that, you had to have patience and.

00:12:46:09 - 00:13:06:05

Unknown

Yeah, I needed that, you know, and, so, yeah, it was a while. It was at least 12 months. I don't remember exactly, but it took a while. And I had one client for a very long time. You know, I, I purposely just try to focus and do my best work for one person and then two. And then gradually it kind of increased over time.

00:13:06:07 - 00:13:29:17

Unknown

Nice. And was there like a point where, what was the point that where you where you decided to, kind of move away from your full time job and do the freelancing full time? Was there a number of, let's say you get five clients and then you'll do it, or was it something? No. In the works. I mean, I think it was it was definitely that train journey that that was the, the that was a big motivator.

00:13:29:17 - 00:13:56:13

Unknown

But in terms of, like the mechanics of it, if I recall correctly, I think I, I quit before I had enough money to fully support myself. Like, maybe I was 50%. I don't remember the exact numbers. Maybe. Maybe I was making 50% of my usual salary. But I just saw that it was possible. I was like, okay, if it was 30% or 50%, whatever it was, I thought, okay, I just need another one client or two or whatever it was at the time.

00:13:56:16 - 00:14:16:08

Unknown

Yeah. So I could see that it was possible. So, I was nowhere near the salary I was, and and in the, in the office job. But I saw the possibility, and I was like, okay, it's worth a try. You know what? I just need to keep going and, you know, don't give up and stick with it. So yeah, I definitely jumped before it was probably sensible.

00:14:17:09 - 00:14:33:18

Unknown

Yeah, that that makes sense. And do you think that that that helped you like you, you were earning an X amount of money on your last job and now you cut your income in half? Do you think that gave some kind of portion, some kind of, motivation to to try and make this work? Yeah, I think so.

00:14:33:18 - 00:14:53:13

Unknown

I mean, at the time it wasn't like I had savings or some buffer, like, you know, I didn't, like, have the luxury of planning it and thinking, okay, let me stack six months expenses or something. So I think, I think that maybe, you know, not the most intelligent choice, but I think it did help indirectly because I had very little choice.

00:14:53:13 - 00:15:10:19

Unknown

It had to work. But it wasn't a blind step as well, you know, like, I, I knew that I'd had one customer for over a year. I think maybe I had started to maybe I had 2 or 3 and I just, I knew it was possible. I knew I could do it. I had I have no vision of running an agency or anything like that.

00:15:10:19 - 00:15:24:18

Unknown

At the time, I was just purely kind of support myself and kind of work from a laptop. To me, that was that was a dream. You know, I can I can go whenever I want and, you know, connect to the internet and make money, like, in like that. Was it that was that was as far as the vision went.

00:15:24:18 - 00:15:46:04

Unknown

So nobody else after that was a bonus. No more train and obviously escape British winters if possible, like a bus. A good goal in my opinion. Yeah. I'm saying on that side like Q In Croatia you don't have like these severe winters, but still I don't like this. Like now it's already starting to get cold, like give me Sun Beach and I'm fine.

00:15:46:04 - 00:16:14:06

Unknown

Yeah, yeah. I mean like, it's it's a luxury to be able to say that, you know, I don't take it for granted, but, Yeah, it's, it's it was definitely a big part of my motivation. Yeah. Nice. And what was the decision behind going from a freelancer, to an agency? Was it where you were like, hey, I'm every day or every day, all time on these client projects, and now I need someone to help me ask, like, what was the decision behind that?

00:16:14:11 - 00:16:40:11

Unknown

Yeah, again, it was kind of like a slow, organic thing. I didn't have a master plan as such at the time. I picked up a handful of clients. I don't remember the number, maybe 4 or 5 or, you know, around that single digit. Certainly. And I remember at one point thinking like, this is fine. Like I've had 4 or 5 clients make a decent living, have flexibility, you know, but I remember I thought, okay, maybe this is maybe this is it.

00:16:40:11 - 00:16:54:15

Unknown

Like, this is not bad. Like, this is kind of cool. And then I don't know what happened, but over, over the time, you know, more people, I think I think I started got a couple of recommendations and more people were asking me and, it just may I just thought, okay, I need some, I need some support.

00:16:56:08 - 00:17:15:04

Unknown

And yeah, I think it was just it was just a gradual process, really. I never had a master plan. It was just kind of organic. Yeah, that makes sense. And what was the first hire? Like? Who was that person like? It. Was it someone you knew? Was it actually, someone who applied, like, how did that look?

00:17:15:06 - 00:17:35:12

Unknown

Well, it was stages again. So I think if I recall, I hired a couple of I mean, obviously I haven't cut my teeth on not work. The first place I looked again was Upwork. Because, you know, I've never worked. I didn't have any ad agency experience. I'd never worked in a digital marketing company. I didn't, you know, I wasn't in any clubs socially.

00:17:35:12 - 00:17:56:19

Unknown

That anything to do with my digital marketing or Google ads. So I really didn't have anywhere to turn. So Upwork was the natural, place for me. So I think I posted for, you know, part time support. Hired a couple of people. Most of them are bad, unreliable. Maybe I wasn't the best person at hiring at that time as well.

00:17:56:19 - 00:18:16:10

Unknown

You know what? I probably didn't know what to look for. Maybe I could have done a better job, but, yeah, unreliable, didn't have a great experience. And then I think also I brought in, like a staffing agency, not too dissimilar from to hire a dev for a short period of time. And that worked. I don't remember the name of the company, but that, that worked for a period of time, I think six months.

00:18:16:12 - 00:18:32:09

Unknown

I had a guy working with me, and he was. He was pretty good. And then I think, again, it just built to the point where we could the business could support a full time hire. So, Yeah, my first hire was was Daniel, whose is, you know, is still with me today. And. Yeah, but turned out well.

00:18:32:11 - 00:18:56:02

Unknown

I've gotten better at hiring since. That's that's that's great that you mentioned, like, I always find people struggling with these first hires because you don't know what you're doing, right. Or trying to find someone to do something you're doing, but that's impossible. And you need to, accommodate. Like, what are some of the things or main traits you look now when you're hiring, especially you're in a unique situation.

00:18:56:02 - 00:19:16:23

Unknown

You need to have this face to face, conversation. It's all remote. It's all over the internet. What are some of the struggles there and how do you find these a players that can really, help you grow and you can help them grow? Yeah. So depends on the role, of course. I mean, we're we're at a stage now with the agency where we're hiring at different levels.

00:19:16:23 - 00:19:39:20

Unknown

So, it depends on the role. I would say I've made mistakes, of course, and learned from them in the past. I think one thing that really sticks with me now, obviously what we do is, is technical by nature, you know, Google ads, it's you need you need technical knowledge. But I think in the past I maybe hired skill over attitude, which at the time I thought was the right move.

00:19:39:20 - 00:20:03:18

Unknown

You know, experience is important. Skill is important. But I think nowadays I would much rather hire for attitude and build the skills. You know, if somebody if somebody really wants to work, think that, you know, the proactive and they want to they want to pursue. But perhaps they don't have the experience or the skills. I think now, over many years of hiring that to me, I see that as a, as a benefit, whereas I might not have done in the past.

00:20:03:20 - 00:20:25:02

Unknown

And then in terms of the, the remote side. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you know, you need to be able to work remotely. People need to be organized. The quality of, of, data that we have as a company is more important, perhaps, than a, an in-person company. I mean, it's easy if you can shout over the desk and, you know, ask somebody what happened last Tuesday.

00:20:25:04 - 00:20:45:05

Unknown

But, our team and our clients are in multiple different countries, multiple, multiple different time zones. So I like to build systems that are really high quality in terms of data and data out, you know, task management reports, internally and externally so that everybody can work asynchronous to some degree. I don't like to micromanage people I don't like.

00:20:45:05 - 00:21:03:12

Unknown

I don't want to run a company where everyone's micromanaged. So systems are a big part of that. And I'm taking time to, you know, keep in touch with each other as well. We're all in different parts of the world, but before us, I was all over the place. But we have regular I have regular ones, ones with all my team, and we have regular group calls every Monday morning.

00:21:03:12 - 00:21:18:05

Unknown

We're all on the call talking about the week ahead, what challenges we got. So yeah, just trying to keep in touch and make sure I like to tell people that work for us. You'll be left alone, but you don't have to be lonely. Like there's people here who can help you. And support. Yeah, and things like that.

00:21:18:05 - 00:21:36:07

Unknown

But at the same time, you know, if you're doing your work, nobody's going to bother you as much. I like that, and I like that you you mentioned like you have these one to ones with people because some people, even though they might need help, they may feel a restraint of reaching out and asking for help, while that should be encouraged.

00:21:36:07 - 00:21:55:19

Unknown

Right? No. No, of course, try to figure it out on yourself. But if you really stock, like, feel free. Here even go on, thousands of miles away, right? Yeah. Me or somebody, somebody on the team is available. Yeah. And, you know, we use slack for communication as, probably you do. You know, it's completely open.

00:21:55:19 - 00:22:14:19

Unknown

If somebody wants to message me, that's fine. If you want to message somebody else on the team. But absolutely no problem. Like this. It's pretty open in terms of management and communication. We all we all love each other really. And to be honest, I'm really lucky. Like the team we've built. I like everyone that works for me. If I, you know, I could go on, have a coffee or a beer or whatever, but with any of them, all of them together.

00:22:14:21 - 00:22:42:15

Unknown

And I think that helps as well. You know, a good atmosphere, generally good vibes and, everyone gets on. I think that that solves a lot of problems. Yeah, that's super important. Like people need to click, right. They need to have this connection. Is there anything like you got wrong about scaling it in C either? I know there is, but it was like one big thing, like either with clients or with hiring, like, whatever it might be.

00:22:43:09 - 00:23:04:01

Unknown

Which was like wanting did wrong and would do differently. Oh guys, we could probably do a whole other conversation on mistakes. We can. I'm just time you got so many things. I mean, I think mistakes are part of the process, you know? Like, you want to make mistakes. Really? If you're not making mistakes, you know, you probably you're not doing anything.

00:23:04:06 - 00:23:23:22

Unknown

Yeah, yeah. But, you know, I think, I think one thing with, with me and I think with our culture as a company, we, we own mistakes from a client perspective. You know, if if mistakes are made and something goes wrong in an account, I my, my sort of go to stance. And what I try to instill in everybody is we don't run away or hide.

00:23:24:03 - 00:23:50:14

Unknown

We get in front of it. We tell the client what's going on. We we bring solutions, not problems. So I think problems and mistakes are natural. I think how we handle them is, is important. This is this is perfect. I'll touch more on that later. When we talk about trust and how you are keeping your clients. But one thing I want to touch on is also like once this I know transition was like a longer and you're getting more clients and that's when you decided let's hire someone.

00:23:50:14 - 00:24:10:09

Unknown

But what are you doing differently now than what you were doing on, when you were a freelancer? How are you getting these clients? What are kind of channels are you doing? Google ads? Are you doing summary trials in the referrals? Like what's the main, part of that? It's interesting that you ask if I'm doing Google ads now.

00:24:11:08 - 00:24:29:21

Unknown

Google ads for Google ads agencies is maybe the most competitive, market, I mean, literally in the world. So we actually don't do it. People might not appreciate that, but that's the truth. Yeah. I mean, we're lucky really. We've gained a lot. We gained a bit of momentum over the years. So, we've got good we've got good profiles on a number of different platforms.

00:24:29:21 - 00:24:52:23

Unknown

Upwork, clutch. We got good Google reviews, things like that. And obviously we've built that over time. They're always good because they're hard to fake. You know, when you when you have real reviews from real clients or a verified, any prospects or any business that sees that, I think it holds some weight. We do a lot on social, so main mainly ex LinkedIn.

00:24:53:14 - 00:25:10:17

Unknown

We do a lot on that in terms of trying to be regular, trying to give value and that's it. Really. Yeah. I mean, we we also have a number of partners that we work with. So obviously one of the we do only Google and we do we do our partnerships with other agencies that offer other services that are not Google ads.

00:25:10:17 - 00:25:31:12

Unknown

So, you know, might be SEO agency or a, a matter agency. And oftentimes we, we have relationships with, with partners like that where we recommend each other work. So, you know, if we if one of our clients asks for some web development, you know, we might offer that to, to somebody we work with or vice versa, you know, clients recommend to us as well.

00:25:31:12 - 00:25:50:17

Unknown

So that's helpful to and yeah, a little bit of a mix. Really cool. So it's, it's this, partner referrals and then organic organic on LinkedIn and X. And once they go to our website or X or whatever or where Google Cloud, they see these reviews, they see these positive outcomes, you manage and then they reach out.

00:25:50:18 - 00:26:08:23

Unknown

Yeah. And we do get some organic inquiries just from the platforms as well. I mean, because our our profile profile is on the other is in the directory and we got some good reviews and you know, we've invested some time into building those up. So yeah, we do get the yield inbound from that as well, even without any social or anything.

00:26:08:23 - 00:26:32:12

Unknown

So that's been good. Hard to hard to get to that, you know, level where it starts to work. But once you got there it can be good. So anyone listening I would encourage you to do that as well. Perfect. And I know I want to hear your thoughts on this. I know a lot of founders get stuck one on at a certain point, because they are too involved with service delivery instead of trying to grow the business.

00:26:32:12 - 00:26:50:13

Unknown

How are you balancing that, like still keeping in touch with what's going on in your business from service delivery standpoint and keeping in touch with clients, but also trying to find these new clients and growing your business. Like what's the balance between that? Yeah, that's definitely a challenge. As you as you scale. A couple of thoughts on that.

00:26:50:13 - 00:27:15:15

Unknown

So I still quite like Google ads, like, it interests me. It's it's something that I enjoy. So I sometimes have to or not to jump in. You know, the team are good at what they do, and sometimes I'm better staying out of it, even if I don't want to. But, yeah, I mean, I think, I think finding finding the right people and building systems and I think this, again, with us being a remote agency, systems are super important.

00:27:16:15 - 00:27:44:00

Unknown

I mean, I'm kind of like a systems person. I'm not very creative. I can't draw you a picture, but, you know, do some of the spreadsheets and some numbers. So I think it suits my personality as well. But having good processes, good SOPs, and hiring, hiring great people, you know, skilling them up, allowing them to do the work, allowing them to make mistakes to, trying to build, trying to build a team that if something does go wrong, you know, the rest of the team can help you out.

00:27:44:00 - 00:28:04:11

Unknown

So it's tough sometimes. Yeah. I mean, and I think sometimes, you know, clients, rightly or wrongly, perhaps rightly, often want my input. And sometimes, you know, I say to them, look, you don't want me to do it. You know what you want the one of my team to do it because genuinely the better than me. You know, it depends on what we're talking about.

00:28:04:11 - 00:28:22:08

Unknown

There's some things they do far better than I do. So. Yeah, not not be in the face of it. Can sometimes be can be a challenge, but. Touchwood. I think we we do our. Yeah. We manage it. Yeah. So the team is most important part, right? If. Yeah, if they don't know what they're doing, it all just collapses.

00:28:22:08 - 00:28:58:18

Unknown

So system. Yeah it's a system. Make sure they are driving and then they are doing better than you. So that's. Yeah. And and consistency as well. Right. Like if your team's great then that's wonderful. But but you want to try and have the ways that you do things. You know, no two counts are the same. But if you've got ten, ten strategist or ten account managers and they all do it in their own specific way, but that's problematic as well, you know, because you can't manage that and you don't you don't really benefit from the learnings from one account if it's completely different to another account of somebody else's manager.

00:28:58:19 - 00:29:22:00

Unknown

So I think systems and processes as a company as well, help in that regard and make that service delivery better and more reliable, more consistent, which is important in our industry for sure. I love that. And, I want to talk a bit about integrity. I know it's really a touchy, conversation, especially in the agency world.

00:29:22:12 - 00:29:44:00

Unknown

I like the to say like we are we own our mistakes. If something goes wrong, you reach out to the client with a solution to what? What went wrong and explaining why that happened and how we can prevent that in future, which is like communication, openness, and just integrity as a whole. Like you mentioned, you have client, a client that you got a decade ago and they're still with you.

00:29:44:02 - 00:30:05:22

Unknown

So I'm imagining like integrity is a big part of this. How do you manage that? How you make sure everything is running smoothly and communication is open? I think it's just like the culture. I mean, that sounds a little bit, you know, cheesy, but that's how I would work. I'm a pretty straight talker, like if if there was no agency, if I was still freelancing and I was I had a direct relationship with a with a client.

00:30:06:00 - 00:30:25:17

Unknown

That's what I would do. So I think I try and instill that in the business because that's how I work. I couldn't imagine the worst thing for me is a client logs into their Google Ads account and they notice a problem, and they tell me about it. Like, not only is that bad business, it's embarrassing. Like, it should never happen.

00:30:25:19 - 00:30:47:13

Unknown

So, you know, we have to avoid that at all costs. So yeah, I like to be in front of things if and look, you know, it's a complex subject matter. You know, like it's not going to be ten x every week forever unfortunately. You know things change. You know it's not always perfect. So it's just the reality of of what we do.

00:30:47:13 - 00:31:09:20

Unknown

And any business. And I think dealing with those tips is vital really. You know, if you can channel your bad days into good days, you'll be alright. I wanted to touch a bit on, like you mentioned, that a lot of your clients come to you after they already had the horrible experience with another agency and they have like thoughts.

00:31:09:20 - 00:31:34:13

Unknown

Why does that happen? Do they over promise? Do they lie? Like what do they do wrong and what you do differently to avoid all of that? Yeah, unfortunately it is true. That's probably like 99% of of all of our clients, unfortunately. Like there's there's tons of good agencies out there, you know. Absolutely. I'm not I'm not trying to say that we're better than everybody else at all, but but that is the truth.

00:31:34:13 - 00:32:00:17

Unknown

I mean, everybody that I talk to is generally about experience. I think it's like anything. Right? If the if the person if you're running a business, you know, you're not going to be an expert on Google ads and nor should you be, you know, you're doing something else. And I think unfortunately, some people can take advantage of that, you know, and, if you lack the knowledge to double guess what somebody tells you, then unfortunately, you know, you can be misled.

00:32:02:03 - 00:32:23:09

Unknown

Yeah. I mean, it does happen. Like I say, though, that there's tons of good agencies out there and not everybody does that. Well, I think it does happen a lot, unfortunately. Yeah. It's it's easy to overpromise, you know, and, a lot of business owners, they really want it to work. So, you know, emotionally, if you tell them it will work, that that, you know, they're probably going to say yes.

00:32:23:09 - 00:32:42:09

Unknown

And I think a lot of people unfortunately take advantage of that. Yeah. And why do you think that is is it like information is more available now. So almost anyone can do Google ads right. Like you just it's easy to do them but it's hard to do them. Well. Anybody can say they do Google ads. That's it. That's a that's a great point.

00:32:42:09 - 00:33:01:02

Unknown

Yeah I mean there's no there's no degree you can get I mean Google do offer some like certifications. But I mean you could do them in an afternoon. It's like it's really not difficult. So yeah I don't know how you solve that, but I think that's a fair point. I mean, it's like anything because, I mean, I can't fix cars.

00:33:01:02 - 00:33:16:18

Unknown

Like, if I go to a unscrupulous mechanic, you can open the bonnet and tell me anything, and I'm like, yeah, okay, fine. I'm much, you know, like, I think you just have to be as a buyer. You have to be. You have to be aware, you have to check reviews. You know, you have to ask for case. Do these references.

00:33:17:15 - 00:33:46:02

Unknown

You know, I think it goes across all industries. I think it's what you have to do. Are there some, like, big red flags that that the other people can like, spot and try to avoid these kinds of agencies? Should they ask for, not only written review, but hey, can I call that client and ask them how you need or like, are there any red flags and then how to, get rid of those red flags and how to vet the, agency properly?

00:33:46:04 - 00:34:08:05

Unknown

Yeah. Good question. Yeah. I mean, talking to the clients is is a good one. I often I will offer sometimes to people to connect them with some of our existing clients. And you know, they if they want to call them, they can call them. So I think that's a really good one. If you're a, if you're a customer, if you're a, if you're a business owner trying to find the Google Ads agency, don't be afraid to ask like kind of speak to a couple of your current clients.

00:34:08:18 - 00:34:30:18

Unknown

I mean, if they say no to that, I'd probably be concerned. I think other things to look out for, I mean, some of this is just my opinion. But I'll give you an example. Right. So long contracts, like, a lot of, Well, not a lot, but some agencies tie everybody in for six months, 12 month contracts.

00:34:30:18 - 00:34:51:23

Unknown

Now, if that's just a business practice, there's nothing inherently wrong with it. And I suppose some agencies would say, well, look, to get anything proper, to do it properly, to optimize for the long term. We need commitment from the client to make sure that, you know, the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But to me, if you're a great agency, I mean, if you can deliver results, they should speak for themselves.

00:34:51:23 - 00:35:22:14

Unknown

We only offer 30 day rolling contracts. It's literally the only option that we offer. We don't tell anybody, for six months. And personally, I see that as a red flag. If somebody needs me to commit to six months before they can commit to showing a resolve, making up some of that, some of some other stuff that's a bit more obvious, I think, is, I've heard examples of agencies or freelancers that they build the Google ads campaigns and their accounts, and then you as a client pay for them.

00:35:22:19 - 00:35:37:04

Unknown

To me, that's always a red flag. You know, like that. The higher than the data, the ring, the ring fence and everything, if you decide that you want to go in a different direction, they hold the campaigns hostage. I hear about that a lot. That to me is a major red flag as well. You should own your Google Ads account.

00:35:37:04 - 00:35:56:10

Unknown

You should own your campaigns. If you if you stop working with an agency or a freelancer, you should retain them. Yeah. Whatever. Whether, absolutely. You've paid it. You paid to, to produce it. You pay for those clicks that you own. Yeah. That's really like a good point. Especially like these agencies will try to sway you and just watch out.

00:35:56:15 - 00:36:14:16

Unknown

Right. Not all of them. Not all of them. Yeah. There's a lot of good. There's a lot of good guys out there. But yeah, unfortunately, yeah, it's pretty common. What? Why do you think your model works better? And what are some of the benefits for that? For the client, of course they get 3030 days. So they are not stuck in your contract.

00:36:14:16 - 00:36:34:23

Unknown

But what are some other benefits that they get with working with you or agencies like you? Make sure integrity is still there. Yeah. I mean, I think I think the 30 well, it goes hand in hand. I mean, most of the clients that we deal with unfortunately, have had a negative experience or even a even a lackluster experience.

00:36:34:23 - 00:36:54:11

Unknown

You know, where nothing where it wasn't terrible, but nothing really happened. And and so I think the I think the 30 days oftentimes gives them a level of faith that, okay, well, you must be good at what you do because you're not trying to time the ends. And we are. And that that speaks volumes. So I think that that's one thing that clients appreciate.

00:36:55:09 - 00:37:23:04

Unknown

And I think we don't all the promise. I mean, we in my opinion, I believe that we do the basics really well, good old fashioned hard work. Like we put the hours in, we do the work, you know, we don't run away. We're not hard to find what most people that we deal with, most clients we bring on their previous experience is often they sign a contract, the client number one for a week, and then after a month, the less important.

00:37:23:04 - 00:37:42:07

Unknown

And after six months they never hear from the agency and the constantly chasing chasing them for updates. We actually pay attention and, you know, communicate with clients and work and do the basics, right. I mean, it's really not that hard. I think that's that's unfortunate. One of our USPS, I mean, it should be the, the standard, but it's not for everyone.

00:37:42:23 - 00:38:11:10

Unknown

So, yeah, we do the basics, right. We we try, we work hard, we try and be honest and straight with our clients. We don't mislead them or blind them with science or promise them unrealistic results. And yeah, I think, I think that that wins a lot of the time. You know, you don't have to necessarily be doing some crazy strategy or, you know, some cutting edge, you know, techno whatever, like do the basics, do it well, turn up, do the work, be honest.

00:38:11:20 - 00:38:46:15

Unknown

You know, that sounds simple. Circle back. It also circle back. Be honest, have an integrity and make sure clients are getting what you're telling them they're get right. Don't our promises don't, shine on objects and equally if they're not getting it or if it's if it's even on even on a sales side on the, you know, new business side, if we're if we're prospect in the business and we're doing research on a new project, we've absolutely turned ten projects down and just said, look, guys, I don't think Google Ads is right for you.

00:38:46:17 - 00:39:07:08

Unknown

Like, these are the reasons why, you know, in your particular market, it's heavily saturated, the CPCs are inflated. Whatever it might be. I've had those conversations. I've, I've said, look, if things change, reach out. We'd love to work with you. But, I wouldn't I couldn't hands on as recommended as as the good channel. So, you know, you lose a little bit of business occasionally because of that, but that's fine.

00:39:07:09 - 00:39:34:00

Unknown

I mean, you know, what goes around, comes around. That's probably why your churn is super low when you have these clients for years and years and years, not just couple of months, and they skip. So I don't think you lose anything there. It's it's it's part of who you are and your brand. And I think also you've just mentioned the good point that a couple of months and and skip I think actually for some freelancers or agencies unfortunately that's a viable business model.

00:39:34:01 - 00:39:55:10

Unknown

Like there's enough people out there using Google ads that you can just churn customers every three months and unfortunately still afford to stay in business. So, yeah, I think if any, if any clients are watching, just just, you know, buyer beware, do your research, check reviews, ask us for recommendations, because that your money at the end of the day, you know, it's easy to spend money on Google ads.

00:39:55:10 - 00:40:21:12

Unknown

It's the result that matters. This is this is perfect. Yeah. Thanks, John. Like, I believe it would be, like, nice to maybe touch a bit on Google ads as themselves. What do you think was or changed the most about Google ads since you started? I believe it's a totally. Yeah, it changes all the time. Really? Yeah. I mean, it's that, my my team are sick of me saying this, but it's not certain for gas.

00:40:21:12 - 00:40:50:17

Unknown

You know what works the way? What work in three months, six months, a year. And also technically, you know, Google released different things constantly. New campaign types. They changed the way things work within the accounts recently, over the last months and years, there's a much heavier push towards automation and machine learning. So Google encourage everybody to try and aggregate as much data as possible, which for a lot of advertisers means spend the more money, which it might not always be the best choice.

00:40:50:18 - 00:41:12:05

Unknown

So yeah, I mean, it's evolved so much. Yeah. It's and it continues to, you know, and, where it will be in five years even, I don't know, it changes so often. So it's ever evolving. Yeah. Especially now with AI and all this stuff. Like how do you stay up to date with all these changes and ensure you're clients are getting the best service?

00:41:12:05 - 00:41:34:12

Unknown

Is it testing, getting data in and adapting to that, or is there something, you guys are tracking or how how do you go about that? Yeah. In terms of we it's tracking all of our data. It's comparing notes between well, I mean, we're lucky in that although we deal with one platform, we deal with many different industries, products, services, audiences.

00:41:34:14 - 00:41:56:04

Unknown

So, you know, compare notes as a team. What worked over here, you know, some of these selling a, you know, further education in Tokyo, you might do a certain technique with that campaign. And strangely, it translates to some of these seven ecom stuff in, you know, Latvia or whatever. So we'll compare notes. And being open with, with different strategies is important.

00:41:57:02 - 00:42:13:08

Unknown

I think just following what goes on does all the people I learn from, as well as a lot of other agency owners, there's a lot of good resources out there. I'm not I'm not, you know, too proud to say I follow other agency owners and experts on on X and LinkedIn. And oftentimes I learn a lot from them as well.

00:42:13:21 - 00:42:33:12

Unknown

And just paying attention. Really. Yeah. And and making sure you are ahead of the curve as much as possible. Yeah. And what are your thoughts on AI? There are all these headlines SEO is dying. Google ads is dying. Like all these different marketing channels are dying because there are these new LMS that are like credibility. They're taking over.

00:42:33:12 - 00:42:50:05

Unknown

Like, what are your thoughts on that? Are they a bit I think it's fascinating. I mean, AI is is fascinating to me. I mean, I'm a bit of a nerd anyway, so I find the whole thing interesting. You know, I spend a lot of time playing with these tools, and we try and use them as much as possible in the business.

00:42:50:07 - 00:43:17:18

Unknown

A Google Ads is changing a lot, you know? I mean, Google is implementing AI into the product itself. We've got AI overviews now. And, you know, it's it's the mechanics of what happens within Google ads. The matching engine. And but things like that is more and more AI driven. So it's fascinating what happens. I mean, I look at my own behavior, you know, even as a Google Ads agency owner, I, you probably use ChatGPT more than Google now when I'm asking questions or things like that.

00:43:17:18 - 00:43:44:06

Unknown

And, you know, that's interesting. I can't ignore that fact. So yeah, it's it is fascinating. There's still tons of time, I think, with Google ads, you know, they've still got 93% of the market share, I think, although ChatGPT is gaining some. And also, I think personally, I look at the vast resources that Google have as a company, both in terms of money and brainpower.

00:43:44:08 - 00:43:59:15

Unknown

And I just think no matter how big the challenges, I find it hard to bet against Google as a, as an organization. You know, I just believe they'll figure out. So it'll be an interesting ride. I mean, maybe we'll have this conversation in five years and I'll be completely wrong, but, we'll see. You know, it's it'll be fun.

00:43:59:17 - 00:44:17:09

Unknown

Yeah. It's it's it's they are shaking up everything. But you're right. These big companies, they won't just sit there and let them take over like there is the whole process there. So meanwhile, you know, people have said that in the past though, you know, look at Kodak or Blockbuster or whatever. So I could be wrong, you know, but we'll we'll roll with the punches.

00:44:17:09 - 00:44:39:05

Unknown

But I think for at least for the next 12 months, I mean, I think we're all right. You're fine. Yeah, yeah. I still doing some funky things that are like, it's all over the place, but it's improving rapidly, which is, I mean, you use it to, you know, as it, as a positives as well. I mean, particularly when we're analyzing data, but we obviously use some accounts that we run.

00:44:39:05 - 00:44:59:05

Unknown

There's, there's the huge volumes of data that we need to analyze. And oftentimes, you know, we'll use our LMS, to support those with that, you know, to extract data, to model things performance. So, you know, it has its benefits as well I think. Yeah, great for automation and just getting some of these manual tasks, especially there should be easy to handle.

00:44:59:07 - 00:45:28:11

Unknown

Do you have any like is there a mistake that you see brands doing while, doing Google ads like something that everyone doesn't? It's not particularly the best idea to do. I mean, yeah, there's things that are probably common. Having a good track of your data is really important. So conversion tracking, you know, being able to track success accurately and feeding that data back into Google, that seems to be a common challenge for, for a lot of people.

00:45:28:11 - 00:45:51:00

Unknown

So making sure that you got a good handle of your data is really important. It depends on the on the client and the size of the accounts. I mean, there's, there's different common problems as you enter different tiers, I suppose. But but data is definitely a big one. Controls. You know, we mentioned before Google's leaning heavily into like AI and automation, and that's good in some respects.

00:45:51:02 - 00:46:15:18

Unknown

But I think gradually we lose control. In terms of some campaign types now heavily automated. And I think common mistake is oftentimes trusting them a little bit too much. You know, performance, Max is a good example. If you don't have the right controls and you don't have the right, you know, settings and then an exclusions, it can be a little bit aggressive with spend.

00:46:15:20 - 00:46:40:03

Unknown

So, I see that an overreliance also on on broad match which results in high volume high spend and oftentimes not great quality. So I think using you I think using automation is important. But I think unfiltered, unfettered AI and automation is is a common issue. You know, we see that a lot. I would assume these automations work better the more data you have, right?

00:46:40:03 - 00:47:00:11

Unknown

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So even for big for big advertisers with with huge budgets, it's fantastic. Once you get over the initial pain of gathering the data, the success you get from the other side is awesome. For for small to medium sized businesses, often that the hell is too high. You know the cost of acquiring all that data is too painful.

00:47:01:08 - 00:47:18:06

Unknown

So you need to think about it a little bit differently if that's the case. But you have to you have to base the strategy on on who the businesses, what the budget is, what the market's like. There's no cookie cutter approach. That's another common mistake actually going back to mistakes. Try to use the same strategies with different accounts.

00:47:19:07 - 00:47:38:21

Unknown

It's just not realistic. You need to understand the business. You need to understand the audience, that the competitors. You know what? What works for one client, even if it's the exact same business, might not work in a different country, might not work. And, you know, in a different language. Like there's so many variables, you have to make sure you tailor and everything for each client's that I would say amazing.

00:47:38:21 - 00:48:04:02

Unknown

Okay. So for a business owner that wants to start Google ads today, like are there some kind of steps they should take? Should they try themselves? Should they find some professional who can help out? Like what's the best course of action here? Start from scratch, right? Yeah. Literally nothing. They heard about Google ads and they want to like see what was that about?

00:48:04:04 - 00:48:27:10

Unknown

Okay. So I think we're looking at what those that there's there's a lot of good actually good quality content out there. I mean we do a little bit of it, but this does a lot of stuff on, on, YouTube. So some really good, creators on the I would start just learning, and I would experiment, yourself if you're, if you, if you're interested with a small budget, expect to fail.

00:48:27:16 - 00:48:45:18

Unknown

But I think even just that experiment knowing your way around Google the structure how it works, even if what you do fails what you're doing, eventually engage somebody, you will at least have a level of knowledge where you can understand what they're saying. You can perhaps have an opinion on what they're saying, and I think that stops you from potentially being misled.

00:48:46:09 - 00:49:06:12

Unknown

If you do engage with a freelancer or an agency. So I wouldn't be I wouldn't be afraid to experiment a little bit, absorb as much information as possible, control your budget so that you don't spend too much, experimenting and hopefully, if you see a little bit of initial success, you might think about engaging a freelancer or an agency, depending on your size.

00:49:06:14 - 00:49:27:21

Unknown

But yeah, don't be afraid to test it a little bit. Nice. And before we we wrap up here, like I know you mentioned to me how important your routine is and the deep work there is for you. How does your day actually look like, and what are some of these habits that you make sure to stay focused at the task at hand and not going all over the place.

00:49:27:23 - 00:49:51:20

Unknown

Cool. Yeah. So, well, live in, in Thailand actually is as part of this or living with a different time zone. So a lot of our clients are in Europe and the US. So for me personally, when I get like six, seven hours in the morning, before most of my clients wake up, before my most, a lot of my team wake up the the precious hours to me.

00:49:51:20 - 00:50:08:13

Unknown

So I like to it's a it's an absolute luxury to never have to set an alarm clock like that's that's wonderful. I love the mornings for a deep work. So I wake up in the morning, pound some coffee, and then I'm on the computer pretty much straight away. I normally have a I know where I'm going to do.

00:50:08:13 - 00:50:29:17

Unknown

I've got tasks set and there's no slack. There's no interruptions, there's no phone calls. I get three, four hours of solid, like deep work. That's been a game changer. I've only really prioritized that over the last probably 8 to 12 months. And consistency is key. You know, it's good for a day or two if you do it for three months.

00:50:29:17 - 00:50:48:12

Unknown

Six months. For me, it's been like a total game changer. So I really love that. And then I like working out, you know, I can go and hit the gym. I can come back and have a bite to eat, and I can relax a little bit as after doing four hours of work before, you know, my European signal online.

00:50:48:13 - 00:51:03:08

Unknown

Yeah. So I'm ahead of the game, you know, by the time, by the time you guys are waking up and having your first coffee, I'm well ahead. So that's a that's a great advantage. And it's one of the luxuries I've been able to live in a different time zone. But the downside that of course, is the occasional late night spot.

00:51:03:12 - 00:51:24:15

Unknown

To me, it's, it's a small price to pay. I agree. And this is like, this is really interesting to me because for the past, like a month or so, even to I really started to doing something similar to you. Like, I wake up around six and up until then, like, no one can slack me. No one can call me like it's I'm blacked out, like, don't touch me.

00:51:24:18 - 00:51:45:07

Unknown

And especially clients are waking up later. So it's a bit hard because a lot of my team is in the same time zone. But still, if it's really something urgent, they can get me on my phone. But I shut down everything because it's impossible. Like there is a you're working, working, working, doing great progress. And then there is a message here, message there, a phone call here.

00:51:45:09 - 00:52:03:00

Unknown

It all just pulls away from what you're doing, serving poorly on both sides. Instead of focusing with one task at hand like are there any tips you have for me? Like what do you like? Okay, you, your your team is asleep, but is there is there anything in particular you you do it as well. I mean, some of this is cliche.

00:52:03:00 - 00:52:24:22

Unknown

I mean some of this is, but but it works for me. So I plan tomorrow, today. So this whatever, whatever, whatever time this evening I end up closing the laptop or wrapping up, writing what my tasks are for my four hour session tomorrow morning. So when I open the laptop, I know what I'm doing. The reason I do that is when I don't know what I'm doing, I want my email.

00:52:24:22 - 00:52:46:15

Unknown

I'll check the news, you know, and hours gone by and nothing's happened. So setting today, what the priorities are for tomorrow morning for me is, is a is a big, a big benefit of like that helps a lot. I try not to check email pretty much ever. I mean, I'm lucky. I'm looking to have an assistant to handles my email box and just tells me about things I need to know.

00:52:46:15 - 00:53:07:10

Unknown

That's been a big change for me as well. Not not being reactive. I read somewhere that, an inboxes a to do list that everybody else writes, a for an hour. That's good. So yeah, I try it, I try not that managed. So I only see what's important and I don't have to react to things, which is, I've been helpful.

00:53:10:02 - 00:53:30:13

Unknown

I could sleep, like I'm getting old now. And you know what? I don't have a good night's sleep. I feel like mentally, my energy, my my concentration is not there. So. Good sleep plan the day before. No distractions, no email. Just get it done. And and consistency. You got to do it for a while for it to really pay off.

00:53:30:15 - 00:53:52:21

Unknown

This is amazing. Thanks. Thanks, John. You're doing all right. I mean, I'm sure I'm sure you can give me some tips. You don't need tips from, you know, like, this is perfect because, just recently, like, I don't know, a week ago, I started, like, writing tasks for my cell self as well, and that's that's what I do at the end of my day for tomorrow, I write down, okay, this is what I need to do.

00:53:52:23 - 00:54:14:07

Unknown

And it's really be helpful. So that you just mentioned that it's, I'm on a good track, I guess. One more, one more thing. I know you want to move on, but my to do list is pen and paper. Okay? I'm a I'm a digital person, but pen and paper. And that's intentional as well. Because if I yeah I previously I would use notes on my phone or something.

00:54:14:13 - 00:54:33:15

Unknown

But as soon as you pick up your phone something else is going on. Before you know it, you're in slack or. Yeah. So pen and paper. I don't even pick up my phone until, you know, early afternoon. So that's another little John. Yeah. My notes from our conversation are all so like pen and paper, I think always, always.

00:54:33:15 - 00:54:57:11

Unknown

Yeah. Even though I'm on my laptop 24 seven. Almost. Like, if we have like, five more minutes, can I prolong this is the fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Course I have one more. A good question. Like I just said, like we are on our laptops all day and, working remotely. How do you make boundaries, right? When you are running a full, remote, complete company, as I am.

00:54:57:12 - 00:55:18:13

Unknown

And you could definitely work all day, every day. So how do you create these boundaries for to say, okay, this is now family time or this is now I need to go to gym. I need to eat because these things just get pushed along because work is a priority. While I think for me personally, I am a creature of habit, like, I, I have a routine.

00:55:20:10 - 00:55:37:04

Unknown

You know, I don't I don't really like not having a routine, so I make sure that everything's built in, and I think, it might not be the sort of PC answer or whatever, but I think sometimes you have to work long hours. I think you have to work hard. I don't think it's a bad thing.

00:55:37:05 - 00:55:57:11

Unknown

I mean, you shouldn't do it to the point where it's messing up your life or your health, but I think it's part of the part of the deal. So I like to look at things and, and seasons. So, you know, there might be 30 days, six days, 90 days where I'm full on, you know, working a lot of hours and I'm focused on a particular outcome.

00:55:57:13 - 00:56:14:18

Unknown

And then there's other times where, you know, I'm not and are not purposely, you know, the team know that I'm, you know, I'm not available or whatever it might be. And I take some time to rest. So, yeah, I think working that's part of the deal. You know, you you can't expect it all and not work for it.

00:56:14:18 - 00:56:33:10

Unknown

And the best, the best way to get what you deserve is the best way to get what you want is to deserve it, right. Or something like that. So yeah, for me, making sure I have a good routine, positive, structure and working and seasons, you know, sometimes it's 100% grind and sometimes it's not. And that's okay, I like that.

00:56:33:10 - 00:56:59:15

Unknown

That's cool. Yeah. There are periods where you need to just push through and it is what it is. Right. But also if you enjoy it, it's not like for me, I love it. I love to do that. I love to work a lot. And it's not not that big of a deal. So, that's that's nice. And for the end, like, if, if you had to name your biggest gambit since we are the founders gambit, like, what's the riskiest decision or a biggest sacrifice that you did and did it?

00:56:59:15 - 00:57:18:18

Unknown

Did it pay off? Was it worked for you? Oh good question. I mean, I can think of plenty, plenty of risks I've taken that didn't pay off. One thing. I mean, I don't know if this is a good answer to the specific question that you've asked, but, a lot of gambles that I've. I don't know if it's Gambit, but a lot of things that I've tried in the past haven't worked right.

00:57:18:20 - 00:57:54:06

Unknown

And I've realized over time, I think maybe it's old age and a bit of experience, but I've realized that it's a tendency sometimes to avoid work. So a bit of a bit of a personal insight. But I think sometimes if there's a particular challenge with the business, like if we're trying to, you know, create a new marketing channel or we're trying to achieve a certain growth goal, I think in the past I would hire somebody or you know, push resources towards the problem as a way of subconsciously a way of avoiding actually doing it myself.

00:57:54:10 - 00:58:14:03

Unknown

Now, it doesn't mean you should be doing everything yourself. You know, having a good team is important. But I think I've I've understood that a lot of the gambits that I have taken that haven't paid off or for the wrong reason, so I think I'm a bit more careful now with that type of thing. But when it comes to hiring, when it comes to investing in different systems, I'm definitely a bit more careful in that.

00:58:14:03 - 00:58:38:11

Unknown

I think I've been a bit ruthless in the past and definitely hasn't paid off. Some of the things that have paid off, I think back in yourself, I mean, you know. In general, you know, like I've, I've got a bit of confidence in yourself that you can you can make things happen, you know, like an uneven if something fails, you know, a business might fail or an idea might fail.

00:58:38:12 - 00:59:01:04

Unknown

But but you want the next one. You'll do the next one. You the next one. You know, businesses fail. But you know, I think people when. So I want a bit of self-confidence. I think not, not always easy, but that's probably the biggest, biggest thing that's paid off. This is amazing. Yeah. And I love what you mentioned here because I, I catch myself doing it also here.

00:59:01:18 - 00:59:21:00

Unknown

Like, there is a new task at hand. I have no clue about it. And then I feel like it's the best decision to find someone who knows better than me instead of, okay, that that might be the best decision. But first, let's be try it yourself. Let's understand it better, let's research it better, and then try to lay it off if needed.

00:59:21:00 - 00:59:35:16

Unknown

If not, maybe you just figure it out and do it better than anyone would ever do because you know, your company. So this is something I have to work on, and this is just a good reminder. Thanks. I think it's a balance. I think it's a balance to. Right. Like you shouldn't be solving all the problems yourself.

00:59:35:16 - 00:59:54:00

Unknown

You know that. That's a mistake, too. But, yeah, somewhere in the middle is a balance. I'll let you know if I figure out I'm still working on it. Cool. Perfect. This was amazing. John. Yeah. Thank you so much for sitting down with me, giving us your time. And where can people follow you? Where can they connect with you?

00:59:54:00 - 01:00:13:07

Unknown

Are there any, anything things you want to plug? Yeah. I mean, if you can find me on LinkedIn, John Martin paid ads. I'm also pretty active on X. So. Yeah, you can find me on there. We feel free to reach out if anyone wants any advice or any questions. Happy to help. Amazing. Thank you John.

01:00:13:09 - 01:00:15:06

Unknown

Thank you Gabriel. Always a pleasure guys.