About Giant Steps Marketing
A Jazz Musician’s Approach to Marketing
I’m Justin Perdue — web designer, search marketer and longtime jazz guitarist. Giant Steps Marketing is my Vermont studio, built on more than 25 years of designing, building and marketing websites.
The Name
Why “Giant Steps”?
The studio takes its name from one of jazz’s most famous tunes — a piece known for fast, bold moves through difficult changes. That’s a good description of digital marketing too: the landscape shifts constantly, and success comes from knowing the fundamentals so well that you can adapt in real time.
I studied jazz performance and composition at Bennington College and have recorded and toured nationally as a guitarist. Improvisation, listening and disciplined practice turn out to be useful skills for marketing, too.
25+
Years designing and building websites
14
Years leading SEO & paid search for e-commerce brands
20+
Actively managed B2C & B2B client accounts
9x+
Return on ad spend on top-performing accounts
The Career
A track record, track by track
2001–Present
Independent studio
Began designing and developing WordPress and e-commerce sites for Vermont and national clients — work that continues today.
2011
Director of Digital Marketing
Led SEO, paid search and email strategy for 20+ B2C and B2B brands at an e-commerce platform company, managing remote teams and platform integrations.
2011–13
Conference speaker
Presented on social media, email marketing, UX audits, analytics and search at national e-commerce conferences.
2004
E-commerce brand marketing
Grew a Vermont retailer’s web role into email, social, SEO and paid search, led a store replatform and launched a sister brand site.
1999
Web design, SEO & teaching
Designed and launched client websites, handled SEO and email marketing, and taught Photoshop and Dreamweaver classes.
1997
Magazine production & first website
Took over layout production for a monthly design magazine and coded and launched its first website.
The Band
A bandleader, with a band when you need one
Every Giant Steps project is led by me from start to finish: strategy, design, campaign management and the reporting you actually read. When a job calls for more — custom development, photography, video, hosting infrastructure or extra hands on a big launch — I bring in trusted partners and specialists, and I stay your single point of contact.
It’s how a good jazz combo works: a clear leader, players chosen for the tune and nobody stepping on the melody.
The Toolkit
Instruments I play
Platforms
WordPress & WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, CommerceV3, Miva, ExpressionEngine, Volusion, Drupal
Advertising & Analytics
Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta, LinkedIn, GA4, Tag Manager, Search Console
Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Emma, iContact, Bronto
Design & Code
Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, Figma, AI tools (Claude & ChatGPT), HTML/CSS, PHP, JavaScript, JSON and XML
Selected Work
A few recent sides
Top Tier Admissions
WordPress website design and updates for a college admissions counseling firm, plus ongoing search marketing.
MarketPlace India
E-commerce marketing for marketplaceindia.com, managing the paid search and SEO channels.
MacIntyre Services
Local business website for a family-owned Middlebury, Vermont heating fuel and service company.
E-commerce Platform Clients
Fourteen years of SEO, paid search and email strategy for 20+ online retailers and B2B brands.
Community
Vermont, through and through
Beyond client work, I teach guitar and jazz at a community music center and served six years on a local elementary school board.
Next Track
Let’s make something great together.
Tell me where your marketing stands today and where you want it to go, and I’ll map out the moves to get you there.