PPC & Personality...really?

The vast majority of my workshops tend to gravitate to one key theme - personality. Social media can be such a vaccuous space when it comes to posts and profiles with some humour, controversy, outrage or empathy conspicuous by its absence.

Then every once in a while you come across a profile that oozes character and an extra dimension that makes that person and business stand out an absolute mile.

John Roche is the founder of Notorious PPC (Pay Per Click) and every single LinkedIn post of his literally makes me lol (apart from the posts about his Dad's support group - more of which later). He is proof that you can take any subject or business activity and give it a real edge.

John's 'going back to school' post

John set up Notorious just over a couple of years ago without ever having the intention of owning his own business,

"A few things happened at my previous company and I started looking for roles in other marketing agencies. I kept getting feedback like 'great skillset but we don’t feel you’re enthusiastic enough about our company!' It’s because I wasn’t, I didn’t care about beers or pizzas on a Friday, I wanted to know I’d be valued and I can be left to provide a great service to the end client. That set in motion thoughts around starting my own thing."

Along with his business partner he looks after a broad range of clients from home improvements to big insurance companies. If he thinks PPC fits or he can improve the results people are currently seeing he’ll let them know.

But it can be frustrating,

"You have to wear so many hats. Looking back I set things up so quickly without talking to people or fully understanding how to manage a business. That said, if I did I may not have done it!"

But for me it is the humour that sets John apart from so many other businesses doing exactly the same or something very similar,

"I only post on LinkedIn and for me the posts on the platform are a little generic. Choosing a name like Notorious I believe allows me to be more bold with the content I put out. I don’t want to be vanilla, I would rather people love us or hate us."

Such an approach is incredibly refreshing in an industry riddled with myths and misconceptions,

"When it comes to myths - how long have you got! Things like - it works for everyone, results will be instant, you just set your budget and watch the leads fly in. This tends to be how the service is sold to people and why so many businesses have tried and failed or hate it now."

That honesty when I chat to John is like a breath of fresh air. He doesn't just take the money and run but goes to great lengths to establish whether Notorious is a fit for the people he meets either through networking or LinkedIn. This is one of the key factors in the success he has and his love for all things PPC,

"PPC should return profit so seeing the results and money come in for clients is what I love. Seeing our work generate profit for clients is the drive behind what we do."

I'm a huge fan of giving away good information as I believe that when someone really needs some expert advice they will remember when you helped them either through a chat at an event or through a blog or social media post. And John believes that there are things businesses can do before they hire him,

"There’s a lot of research businesses can do before speaking to an Ad business. Take a step back, look at your product/service, see how you compare to rivals with pricing etc. Learn how people find you or steps they take to buy from you, do they use Google or social platforms? The big one is reviewing your website/landing page. Most business owners love their websites but it shouldn’t be built for them, it should be built with their customers in mind."

Outside Notorious, he loves spending time with his wife and 2 very active and adventurous boys, running and golf and then there is his work with SEND, a local Dad's group which is inspiring and supportive in equal measure,

At the top of Snowdon

"Just over a year ago, a good friend asked if I would help get a SEND Dads group going. Most support networks aren’t particularly aimed at Mums but he found it’s mainly Mums who attend or a Dad would visit then not go back. We wanted to create an environment where Dads feel comfortable talking about the many challenges they face as parents of a child with additional needs. We also wanted to have a purpose so we arrange fundraising events. The money raised is used to purchase specialist SEND equipment for under funded primary schools. We completed one last year and the results have been amazing. The Headteacher couldn’t believe how much the pupils have thrived since having the right resources and space to use."

And the future of Notorious?

"We are sticking to our guns on just providing Paid Ad services. We’ve recently taken on a brilliant Google Ad specialist, part time at the minute but hoping that will become more permanent. We don’t want to be an agency, we know that much, we're just excited to see how far we can take this."

If you don't follow John on LinkedIn, you really should. On a platform that can often feel stifling, insincere and egocentric, reading his posts are guaranteed to raise a smile and also make him very memorable. His honesty (his company profile states - Try not to be offended if we don’t believe we can help, but if we do, wow you’re in for a treat working with us!) coupled with the humour, are what the platform should be about. Whilst we can't all be funny online, we can add some of that much needed personality into what we do!

If you want to chat about bringing personality to your profiles - give me a shout!