How Justin Hoffman Built a Marketing Agency From $8,000 | Blackbird Digital

Justin Hoffman started Blackbird Digital in 2020 with about $8,000 in savings, no PPP money, and initially just himself doing the work. Six years later, Blackbird Digital has grown into a full service marketing agency with a five person team and a carefully limited roster of clients. In this episode of At the Redline Podcast, Justin talks about growing up in North Idaho, watching his parents build a successful business, studying marketing, art and design, and eventually launching Blackbird Digital. We get into what makes Blackbird different, why Justin believes marketing should start with strategy rather than simply selling a client another website or advertising campaign, and how his team works with businesses that are spending money on marketing but are not sure what is actually producing results. Justin also talks about: • Starting a business during COVID • Finding his first clients by walking into businesses with bad signs and bad marketing • Why education has become a major part of his sales process • How Blackbird uses AI internally while protecting the human creative process • Why he would rather have a small group of great clients than grow at the expense of quality • The type of business Blackbird Digital is looking to work with next If you are a business owner wondering whether your marketing dollars are actually working, or you are interested in entrepreneurship, sales, branding and building an agency, this is a great conversation. Hosted by Alec Gonzales with Coaching the Redline.