From freelance to full-service agency

Magnus Dahlquist is one of the co-founders of Bluebird Media, the agency that has continued to grow since its creation in 2018. But things could have been entirely different.

Let us rewind to 2013 when Magnus and his girlfriend were living in Sydney, Australia. They were happy there but had begun thinking more and more about the future.

– We reached a point in life where we felt that we could either live in Sydney for 10-20 years onwards, or we could choose to nurture the relationships we have with friends and family in Sweden. So, we decided to move back, Magnus says.

At this point Magnus had already run websites and worked in many roles within digital marketing. A couple of years after Magnus moved back to Sweden from Sydney, he quit his fulltime job and began freelancing.

– At that time the timing was perfect, I was basically full-booked from day one.

During his time as a freelancer Magnus met the other founders of what was going to become Bluebird Media. Together they decided to build Sweden’s number one performance marketing agency.

– Initially the ambition was to have a small “lifestyle”, “boutique” agency. But now we have 23 employees with offices in two countries. One of the reasons is that it is unpractical to have a small agency. If two out of ten people at the company are away from work, the workforce decreases by 20 percent. You become very vulnerable, especially as many of us at Bluebird are in a phase of life when you might be on parental leave and so on. And also, it is difficult for the small agencies to get the most fun projects, which in turn makes it hard to attract the best co-workers.

As Bluebird media grew, their workspace became a challenge.

– To start off we rented a small room from one of our clients. We grew rapidly and it soon became so crowded that we were eventually sitting on top of each other. At this point we knew that we needed to find a space but did not know how big we were going to become. And as a growth company we did not have a very big budget, as everything was invested back into the company.

Magnus had worked at business centres in the past and did not think this was an option for the new agency but decided to give CONVENDUM a chance.

– We quickly realised that this was clearly the best solution for us. There was flexibility to quickly move in and increase our office space when needed. And at CONVENDUM we had the opportunity to deliver the right feeling to our clients. It is also great that they arrange after works and breakfast, because who has time to fix that at a growth company?

The importance of prioritising his use of time was something Magnus learned early on in his career, long before Bluebird Media was started.

– My first years in digital marketing, I spent a lot of time on side projects. I often sat and worked late at night multiple days a week, which was a great learning experience. But it was at the expense of my private and family life. In hindsight I can see that many of the side projects had very little potential. It is important to learn to limit yourself and determine what to spend time on.

Today Bluebird Media is a full-service agency with expertise in e-commerce. That is where the most fun projects are found, according to Magnus.

– E-commerce becomes so concrete and measurable, as there is always a monetary value to follow.

When Magnus reflects on his dream client for Bluebird Media he thinks about the values of the company.

– We are a business driven by our values, so it would probably be a company with the same values as us. We focus a lot on the environment and engage in carbon offsetting. Right now, a company like Matsmart comes to mind.

If you are not familiar, Matsmart is a Swedish business that delivers sustainable online groceries.

Would you like to learn more about the flexible solution that Magnus and Bluebird Media chose for their workspace? Find out more about our private offices.

CONVENDUM establishes modern and sought-after Coworking spaces and Living in central business districts. We offer premium offices combined with activity based coworking, lounges, conference centres, restaurants, cafés, health clubs, music studios and showrooms. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.