The following are the business principles I use to guide my company and my work. 

1. Value Creation

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

-Warren Buffett

I have one job, and that is to create value for clients.  If I am not confident in my ability to grow a client’s business and make them money, then I decline the work and don’t take on the project. In the short term this may reduce revenues, but this focus on value for clients ensures long term profits.  It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.  I never forget that maxim, and I never take on work in which I don’t think I can create value for a client.

2. Compound Learning

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.”

-Albert Einstein

Intelligent investors know the value of compound interest, and intelligent people know the value of compound learning. I believe in lifelong learning, and I believe that learning compounds over a lifetime. I study AdWords and all of the related fields each and every week.  And I apply the concepts that I learn in non-AdWords fields back to AdWords and see what can be learned and improved. This lifelong effort to study and improve my AdWords management skills combined with this Charlie Munger-inspired latticework approach to learning ensure that my AdWords skills will remain at an expert level and that I will continue to be able to create value for clients over the long-term.

3. Long-term Orientation

Whether it’s investing, business, love, health, or AdWords, my natural inclination is to focus on the long-term.  It’s just the way I’m wired.  I believe that this long-term orientation helps 412 Digital continue to be a thriving operation, and I believe that this long-term orientation helps me create the most value possible for my clients.  I’ve found that long-term focus and thinking is rare in just about every industry, and AdWords is no different.  My long-term orientation differentiates me from other PPC consultants and agencies, and my long-term approach is a competitive advantage for both myself and my clients.

4. Google Partnership

A lot of digital marketers have a love-hate relationship with Google. They love that Google exists and the services it provides.  But they hate the standards that Google holds itself to and the consequences that are a result of those standards.  But not me.  I have a love-love relationship with Google.  I love that Google exists and the services it provides, and I also love the high standards that Google holds itself to.  I look at Google as a wonderful partner, while other digital marketers look at Google as an adversary.  Google is my partner, not my opponent.  And Google is a wonderful partner, indeed.  My partner-oriented relationship with Google and my ability to put myself in Google’s shoes and to think like Google is a competitive advantage for both myself and my clients.

5. Tell The Truth

Call me old fashioned, but I always tell my clients the truth.

6. Communication

I pride myself on my ability to effectively communicate digital marketing work and strategies to clients.  I set proper expectations, and my monthly reporting is unparalleled.  I believe that effective communication is a requirement for creating value and doing a good job for clients.  I am constantly examining and improving my digital marketing communication skills, and I believe these communication skills, both written and verbal, are a competitive advantage for both myself and my clients.

7. Simple, Effective Reporting

I model my reporting after Warren Buffett’s clear, concise, and effective annual letters to investors. I believe in simple and effective monthly reporting to my clients. Just like Warren Buffett does with his investor letters, I ask myself, if I was a client, what would I want to know? And I create my reports based on the answer to that simple and important question.  My reports vary from client to client, but simplicity remains consistent across all client reports.  My clients and I are all busy business people, and as a result I don’t have time to waste on fluff or design, and clients don’t have time to worry about fluff or design. My reports are simple, design and fluff free, but also clear, effective, and communicate to you exactly what you need to know about your campaign.  Quality reporting matters, and most digital marketing agencies provide confusing and superfluous data, while others focus on design and prettiness and forget to provide the information that matters to the clients.  I don’t make either of those mistakes.  My monthly reporting is unparalleled. And my simple and effective reporting is a competitive advantage to both myself and my clients.