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About Us

DISCOVER OUR STORY AND VALUES

Your Trusted Partner in Marketing Success

True North Direct was founded in 2023 by the father and son team of John and Justin Phillips.

That’s not a long time ago. But... you should NOT take that as any kind of evidence that we lack experience.

Oh, to the contrary.

John worked in the trades for 27 years. He’s also an award winning software developer, a skilled direct response copywriter and marketing strategist.

You will not find another agency with our combination of experience in the trades along with John’s level of marketing expertise and tech background.

Here’s John’s background in as few words as possible:

John Starts A Landscaping Business (1987)

In 1987 as a senior in high school, John started a landscaping business. He ran that business successfully for seven years. His core business values (which he still holds today) were to always put the customer first. To get the job done as promised and to always treat the customers with respect and kindness.

When customers would call, sometimes his Mom would answer the phone. And customers would regularly praise her for the job she did raising him.

John Moves On To The Corporate World (1994)

In 1994, John closed the landscaping business and entered the corporate world.

He taught himself how to code long before “learn to code” became a buzz phrase. He quickly climbed the ranks of programmers and became an award winning software developer working for Dot Com software companies. He wrote some of the code that was the forerunner to today’s artificial intelligence (AI).

As the 1990s drew to a close, it became clear that there was no secure future for American software developers. The reason why was because tech companies started to really offshore the jobs with the H1-B visa program (which we’re again hearing a lot about with the recent dustup between Elon Musk and the MAGA base).

During this time, John began studying direct marketing in earnest. He had seen how the inability to market and sell had destroyed some of the small startups he had worked for.

John Works With Verizon Wireless (2001)

By 2001, John was consulting and collaborating with Verizon Wireless and some of their top marketing vice presidents. He was showing them how to leverage their customer and prospect data to create data driven direct mail and television marketing campaigns.

John Re-Enters The Trades (2002)

During his time working with Verizon, John joined a friend as co-owner of a general contracting business specializing in home additions and remodels. John then spent 20 years in that business.

John Starts A Marketing Agency (2010)

In 2010, while still heavily involved in the trades, John started a local marketing company on the side. Having been bitten years earlier by the marketing bug, he wanted to share his expertise by helping other businesses get more customers and become more prosperous.

As a marketing strategist, John has the ability to see marketing assets hidden within a business that the business owner hasn’t been trained to see.

Take Jim for example. He owns a property and casualty insurance agency in Connecticut. It’s a multi- generational family business that was founded 76 years ago.

John created a strategic marketing plan for the business and said to Jim “Here’s how you can 10x your sales in the next 18 months or less. The amount of time it takes depends upon how hard you want to work the plan.”

When Jim saw the plan, he was incredibly excited. Because even though he had never thought to do any of it, he knew it would work. It all made logical sense to him. And he said to John “I’m so happy I finally found a marketing person who actually knows what the hell they’re doing.”

Because most don’t.

And by the way, most of that plan had nothing to do with paid ads. In fact, Jim had a Google Ads agency working for him and they weren’t getting results. John recommended firing them.

John Is Featured In One Of The Top Marketing Newsletters In The World (2021)

In 2021, John had an idea how to massively increase the subscription base of one of the best direct marketing newsletters in existence. It’s called The Doberman Dan Letter.

The author and publisher (Doberman Dan) is one of the top marketers and copywriters alive today. And he was personally mentored by a marketing legend named Gary Halbert.

Many of the who’s who of marketing read The Doberman Dan Letter. Names like Dan Kennedy, Mark Ford (co-founder of the two billion dollar per year company Agora, Ken McCarthy (known as the father of internet marketing), Todd Brown (owner of MFA – Marketing Funnel Automation), Erin and Alen Baler (owners of 4Patriots – the prepping supply company), and many more.

John turned his idea into a strategic marketing system and shared it with Doberman Dan. Dan was so excited about John’s system that he asked if could share it with his readers. John agreed. And here’s what Dan had to say (red underlining added for emphasis):

John Is Featured In One Of The Top Marketing Newsletters In The World (2021)

In 2021, John had an idea how to massively increase the subscription base of one of the best direct marketing newsletters in existence. It’s called The Doberman Dan Letter.

The author and publisher (Doberman Dan) is one of the top marketers and copywriters alive today. And he was personally mentored by a marketing legend named Gary Halbert.

Again, keep in mind, this newsletter is read (and written) by the who’s who of marketing. Including many mega-millionaire and even a few billionaire business owners.

Not long after this issue was released, John got a call from a guy named Seth who had read about him in the newsletter. It turns out Seth handles marketing for Kevin Harrington. Kevin Harrington invented the infomercial and is one of the original Shark Tank Sharks. The reason for Seth’s call was to inquire about the possibility of hiring John to create marketing plans like this for their clients.

Also in 2021, John was hired to write sales and marketing copy by Carline Anglade Cole. Carline is one of the most elite copywriters in the world. And John is the only copywriter she has ever hired. When Oprah Winfrey wanted to launch her O magazine, she turned to Carline for help in launching it.

John Attends Dinner With Marketing Legend Dan Kennedy (2022)

In 2022, a private, invitation only dinner was held to honor living marketing legend (and author of over 40 books) Dan Kennedy in Orlando, FL. John was honored to be on that invitation list and attended the event. Dan is the founder of Magnetic Marketing.

You’ve probably seen his ads on Facebook or read one of his books.

John Phillips (left) & Doberman Dan (right) at Dan Kennedy (in background) Dinner

John Starts True North Direct With Son Justin (2023)

In 2023, John and Justin decide to start a new marketing agency together.

Early last year in 2024, we were contacted by the number one gutter franchise company in America (according to Entrepreneur magazine). Because they were struggling with their marketing.

And even though they were successfully selling new franchises, they were losing franchisees left and right because their business model didn’t work. They were not profitable.

This is a company with over 115 franchise locations across America.

Relying on John’s extensive marketing background, True North Direct did an extensive strategic analysis of their marketing processes. And we found that they were doing almost everything wrong.

We put a massive action plan together that would have fixed their profitability problems within 6-9 months. That’s actually pretty fast to fix 115 franchises.

Part of the plan was that we agreed to mentor their marketing manager who was in charge of paid advertising for all their franchises. He asked us to do that.

Ultimately, his higher ups decided not to work with us. After consulting with them for 3 months, they took all of the intellectual property we created and ran off with it.

That was just the latest in a series of mistakes they had been making. This company has been selling a franchise system that is not profitable and essentially doesn’t work.

How do you get people to pay a 6 figure franchise fee for a system that isn’t profitable? You have to bend the truth. So what they’re doing is not ethical and the legality is questionable. This is why we won’t mention their name here on this page.

We could have fixed all of this for them. But in the end, it’s for the best. They’re owned by a global holding company that is woke and full of DEI initiatives. Definitely not our cup of tea.

Why You Might Want To Consider True North Direct For Your Marketing Needs:

We prefer to work with and help honest, hard working, down to earth, regular Americans who own local businesses and care about their communities.

If you’ve dealt with other agencies and been dissatisfied with the results, it’s probably because they don’t really understand marketing.

The majority of so-called digital marketing agencies out there have owners who have never read a single marketing book.

They watched a YouTube video or two on how to run Facebook or Google Ads and then they started an agency. They think this makes them a marketing expert. It doesn’t.

Being able to “push buttons and pull levers” inside a FB or Google ad account is just one piece of the puzzle.

You also need to understand:

• How to do market research

• The psychology of the prospect

• How to develop a strategy that drives sales and profitability

• How to write copy

• How to create winning offers

• How to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the competition

• And much more

Most of these agencies don’t know how to do ANY of this.

Is that who you want handling your marketing?

Some fly by night operator who might possibly take your money and run? Or someone with a reputation and visibility within the marketing industry?

You’re not going to find a local agency with a deeper understanding of marketing and how to use it to grow your revenue and customer base than True North Direct.

So if that’s what you’re looking for... you’re in the right place.

When you’re ready, click the button below to get in touch. We look forward to helping you reach all of your business and profitability goals.

Warm Regards,

John & Justin

True North Direct

Schedule Your Free Consultation

ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS WITH A PROVEN PROCESS

Plan. Profit. Grow.

Step 1

Free Consultation

Share your business goals and challenges, and we’ll discuss how our expertise can help you grow.

Step 2

Audit & Strategy

We analyze your current marketing efforts and craft a tailored strategy to optimize performance.

Step 3

Dominate Your Market

Launch highly effective campaigns that drive consistent results and outperform competitors.

Step 1

Free Consultation

Share your business goals and challenges, and we’ll discuss how our expertise can help you grow.

Step 2

Audit & Strategy

We analyze your current marketing efforts and craft a tailored strategy to optimize performance.

Step 3

Dominate Your Market

Launch highly effective campaigns that drive consistent results and outperform competitors.

STILL NOT SURE?

Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers to the most common questions about our services and how we help hardscaping businesses grow.

Question 1: How long does it take to get my first lead?

Our onboarding process typically takes 3-4 business days to set up your campaigns and ensure everything is optimized for success. Once the ads are launched, you can expect to see your first lead within 2-3 days. In total, you can start seeing results within a week of getting started.

Question 2: Is there any work that needs to be done on my end?

We take care of everything for you, including creating compelling offers, setting up backend systems, designing visually appealing ads, and managing your campaigns. We also implement an AI-powered conversation starter, so all you need to do is respond to leads and schedule estimates. Beyond following up, your main role is to close the deals and deliver exceptional hardscaping services.

Question 3: Why do you only serve one client per area?

With platforms like Google and Facebook, advertising targets specific locations to reach potential customers. If we worked with multiple hardscaping companies in the same area, you’d essentially be competing against each other for the same audience. To ensure fairness and maximize your results, we only partner with one client per city.

Question 4: How much does your service cost?

We don’t have a one-size-fits-all pricing model. Our services are customized to fit your business goals and budget. To see if this service is the right investment for you, book a call with us!

Question 5: Do I have to sign a long-term contract?

No, we don’t lock clients into long-term contracts. We believe in earning your trust through results. Our services are offered on a month-to-month basis, giving you the flexibility to continue working with us only if you're satisfied with the outcomes.

Question 6: What makes your marketing agency different?

Not only do we specialize in working with hardscaping companies, but our owner has over 20 years of experience in the trades (learn more about our company). This firsthand knowledge allows us to create marketing strategies that truly resonate with your target audience and address the challenges you face in the field. We’re not just another agency—we understand your business from the ground up.

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