Justin Golden was nominated for a PPC Spotlight Profile in July 2023.
How long have you been working in PPC?
I launched my first Google Ads campaign in 2010.
How did you get started in PPC?
I owned an automotive detail shop and ran Google Ads for my business.
If you went to college or university, what did you study? If not college, do you have any other degrees or certifications?
I studied political science and have a Bachelor of Arts in nothing. Funny story behind that, my diploma is just blank. I left school early for a job in NYC and wrote a paper (and paid for a few credit hours) to meet graduation requirements for the school of arts and sciences. I always joke they just wanted me out of there so they printed the diploma!
What was your first job that involved PPC?
After running Google Ads for my own business I was hired as the digital marketing manager for a large automotive group in Houston, TX. I managed $2.5M in ad spend and served as the gatekeeper for all things digital. After that I became the Paid Search Manager for a digital marketing agency.
What is your current position and how long have you been in it?
I started That PPC Guy as a side gig back in 2017 and have been doing it full time since 2019.
What kinds of things do you currently handle or manage in PPC?
I manage search, display, video and shopping ads for almost every industry. Most of my clients are in the automotive space but I have home services, Ecom, B2B, lawyers, doctors, etc.
I pivoted to white labeling a couple years ago and manage ads for a handful of agencies around the country now.
Has your career path had any hiccups or nontraditional aspects that you’d like to share?
Of course! Early on I didn’t charge enough and spread myself thin by offering SEO and landing pages. When I first went all in solo I was also disorganized. I went to work for the agency and learned the value of SOPs, and project management. I’m an enneagram 7, big picture thinker, so details aren’t always in focus. It’s a discipline now, but didn’t come naturally.
What are you most proud of in your PPC career?
I built That PPC Guy as a lifestyle business. PPC is a skill I’ve learned and earned a tremendous amount of experience in. It provides freedom, both financially and time. I enjoy traveling and in our motorhome have taken my kids to 31 states and counting. We are full time RVers as of July 15th.
I’m also proud that I spend very little on advertising. $500/mo on Clutch and $500/mo in Google Ads (of course) for retargeting. Almost all of my new business comes from referrals.
What, if anything, do you wish you could “do over” in your PPC career?
Understood the value in SOPs and project management. Even as a solopreneur having some organization early on would have really helped my business. I would not have scaled my business to where it is without the organization in place.
I also would have worked less with businesses that have never run PPC campaigns before. The learning curve and time commitment to optimize these accounts is significant compared to a business who already has a campaign. My wheelhouse is a business who has been running ads for awhile and is disappointed in the performance.
If you could give advice to someone either considering or just starting out in PPC, what would that be?
Get one client. That’s all you need, especially if you start out as a side business. I get a lot of questions about scaling and filling my pipeline from beginners. You need to focus on one client and do everything right. Use that success to advertise to others and ask for referrals.
Don’t be afraid to have a niche. My business focused on car dealerships early on b/c I knew the business and had a roledex of people to call.
Are you interested in speaking opportunities? If so, what topics are your jam?
Yes! I have been invited to speak at Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram meetings twice and really enjoyed it. I did far better this year when I changed my topic. There’s always a lot of noise about the “future of PPC” and proprietary algorithms, etc. I found that burnishes owners don’t really care too much about that. They want to know what they don’t know.
How can they monitor vendors using google analytics? What’s a search term report? What’s an auction insight report? Business owners are always thrilled with this because there vendors often don’t share it.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Building custom audience segments is becoming increasingly important, and not just for PMax campaigns. Audiences are just as important as keywords today.
Where can people find you to connect (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)?
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thatppcguy?mibextid=LQQJ4d