After being fired from his first PPC job, Jack Hepp shares how that became the foundation for his growth into a transparent, trusted PPC expert.

Identify traffic-stealing competitors Find untapped keyword opportunities Create content that ranks higher sel logo search icon PPC » Article Share On episode 329 of PPC Live The Podcast I speak to Jack Hepp, founder of industrious Marketing LLC, discussing the fallout and what it took to bring him back to feet after he got fired from his first PPC job. Jack’s defining career moment came just a year and a half into his first agency role. Despite being eager to learn, he was still new to digital marketing when a major mistake occurred.

“We dramatically underspent a client’s ad budget for the month — by almost 50%,” Jack recalls. That underspend had serious consequences. The client relied heavily on Google Ads for online sales, and the missed spend translated directly into lost revenue. As the main point of contact, the blame fell on Jack.

This development reflects ongoing changes in how search engines evaluate and rank content, with implications for organic visibility strategies.

“I was fired,” he says plainly. “It was my first job ever, and it crushed me.” Looking back, Jack believes the root issue wasn’t just the budget underspend — it was poor communication.

“There were other agencies, account reps, and multiple layers of management involved,” he explains. “But I didn’t communicate clearly enough. I was afraid to admit that something was going wrong.” That fear of being honest about mistakes is common in early careers. I note, “If people hear that one mistake could get them fired, they’ll stop taking risks.

Key points

  • Unless otherwise noted, this page’s content was written by either an employee or a paid contractor of Semrush Inc.
  • The client relied heavily on Google Ads for online sales, and the missed spend translated directly into lost revenue.
  • And yes — he’s made other mistakes, including the classic daily budget typo (“$1,000 instead of $100”).
  • “There were other agencies, account reps, and multiple layers of management involved,” he explains.
  • Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events, including SMX.

Why it matters: Could influence rankings, visibility, or content strategy decisions.

Source: Search Engine Land

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