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Computers were a backup plan for Giovanni Humphrey, whose first love was football. When he got sidelined with an injury playing college football his senior year, he says he got more serious about staying current with technology.
Growing up in Sarasota’s Newtown community, Humphrey says, he had a Compaq Presario his mother bought him. When it got a virus, they went to Best Buy and got it fixed, but after that, he recalls, he had to figure out how to make repairs on his own.
“That’s kind of what brought me into the computer world,” says Humphrey, who notes he has been building apps since high school and has about four computers now.
Once he saw the demand for websites and apps after college while developing them for friends and family, he registered his business, Guerilla Apps, with the state in 2017.
“I mix guerilla marketing with apps,” says Humphrey, who describes his apps as “out of the ordinary.”
HIs digital marketing business has grown organically through Facebook, Google, word of mouth and Instagram, and Humphrey says he has had to hire five people to help him since February due to a deluge of clients. He also uses artificial intelligence for things like onboarding customers, monthly emails, marketing, text messages, calendars and bookings.
His clients range from health care groups to real estate agencies to nonprofit organizations.
“I do apps, websites, custom CRMs, social media marketing, email marketing — you name it,” says Humphrey, who also works full-time as a webmaster for Sarasota Memorial Health Care System.
One of his Guerilla Apps clients is his mentor, Jeanine Johnson, owner of SailorGirl Companies.
“She knows business. I know tech,” says Humphrey, who credits Johnson with helping him to learn about things like networking and client acquisition. “She was always there to answer the phone and give me advice.” One of the best pieces of advice she has given is this, he says: “Don’t chase the market. Create your own lane where you're the solution they’ve been looking for.”
