You don’t have to keep everyone happy, do what feels right and surrender the outcomes. Be more patient to identify better prospective clients and employees before pulling the trigger.
After growing one of his first PPC clients from 25 to 250 employees, Jake realized he had a gift for using pay-per-click marketing to drive dramatic business results. To help more companies succeed online, Jake founded Disruptive Advertising, a PPC, and CRO management agency that has helped hundreds of companies realize unprecedented growth and profitability from online advertising.
In the six years since its founding, Disruptive Advertising has grown from two employees working in Jake’ s basement to a flourishing agency with more than 120 employees and a run rate of over $18 million- putting it at #145 on the 2017 Inc 500 list and listed as one of USA Today’s Best Places to Work in Salt Lake City in 2019.
As an active member of the marketing community, Jacob is passionate about extending his knowledge beyond his agency and is a regular contributor on a variety of blogs including notable publications like Entrepreneur, Forbes and SearchEngine Land where his wit and ability to make even tedious topics engaging elicits rave reviews from his readers. He has spoken at numerous events and webinars including SMX, Kissmetrics, Create Nation, Unbounce, PRSA, Starfest, VWO and many others— each time entertaining and educating his audience.
Beyond running a successful digital marketing agency, Jake’s professional goal is to create 50 millionaires. To help him achieve that goal, Jake has invested over $350,000 into professional development and runs an ongoing series of personal development courses, covering topics like developing healthy habits and vision mapping, to help his employees cultivate a strong sense of self-awareness and unlock their full potential.
As a business owner, author, motivational speaker, Jacob Baadsgaard ’s witty, thoughtful and genuine approach to pay-per-click advertising and leadership makes him a compelling leader in the digital marketing arena!
Where did the idea for Disruptive Advertising come from?
While consulting enterprise companies at Adobe for 5 years, I learned how to use web analytics to make smart marketing decisions to boost revenue and maximize returns.
It became apparent to me that most businesses lacked the bandwidth or expertise to do so themselves which is why I started Disruptive Advertising.
After branching out on my own, I helped my first client 15X lead volume and 2.5X profitability on each lead; these results enabled them to raise several large rounds of capital that fueled their growth from 25 to over 300 employees.
At this point, I was hooked and knew I could do this for the rest of my life and decided to start Disruptive.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I am a firm believer in making your mornings different than the rest of your day, so I am strict with my morning routine.
My morning routine includes meditation, reading, exercise and planning my day out. Start with a morning huddle with my team where we all review the priority items we are working on and any help we may need from each other. The rest of the day is working to ensure leaders are set up for success through training.
How do you bring ideas to life?
My style has always been more to act on things quickly and see what sticks.
It can often get me into trouble as well but it’s who I am and how I operate.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The fly by night business models aren’t working anymore which is good for everyone. Building a brand that represents something and differentiates in the market still allows for any company with the proper marketing strategy to succeed.
Automation is freeing up time to focus more on strategy and ideal customers with our marketing plans which is proving to be a winning combination and more fun that way!
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Hands down my morning routine. I truly believe that starting your day right truly helps you become more productive.
What advice would you give your younger self?
You don’t have to keep everyone happy, do what feels right and surrender the outcomes. Be more patient to identify better prospective clients and employees before pulling the trigger.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
It is 100% possible to scale quickly without debt or investors.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Creating morning rituals and routines will give you a boost toward success!
Developing the perfect morning routine that maximizes your lifestyle and priorities while squeezing the most productivity out of your days is a trial-and-error process. Give yourself time to explore different tasks, techniques and processes. At the simplest level, it will help you to overcome procrastination, be a more positive, healthier person, and set you up for success each day.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Ratio based budgeting that allows for real-time growth and decisions. Everyone has a growth and efficiency metric that they are responsible for that allows for fast growth, innovation and profitability along the way.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Too many to count or remember at this point- ha!
I would not have had partners early on in the business which led to me writing unnecessary and painful checks to buy them out at the time.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
(Pass – contractual obligations to our customer base that prevent me from doing this with insider info)
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Running shoes and a new pair of AirPods.
Both of these objects have greatly helped me improve my health lifestyle.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
Team Work for project management and overall company alignment.
G-suite is a must!
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
“Leadership and Self-Deception” by the Arbinger Institute.
The main takeaway I had from this book was that you can “change the world by changing yourself.”
As you can only control your own actions, this thought changed my life and how I see not only myself but my relationship with others.
What is your favorite quote?
“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”
-Mother Teresa
Key Learnings:
- Developing the perfect morning routine maximizes your productivity
- You are the “active agent” in your business and persona success
- It is 100% possible to scale quickly without debt or investors.
Connect:
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.