Trueline: Portland, Maine Marketing At Its Finest

Full Service Marketing With A Human Touch

Located in Portland, Maine, Trueline is a digital marketing firm specializing in content, design and business-development strategy. Founded by CEO Haj Carr, the company serves individuals, companies, nonprofits and other organizations—in Maine, throughout the U.S. and around the world.

The company’s publishing arm, Trueline Publishing, features trade journals covering professionals in the building trades (Blueprint), IT (Toggle) executive strategy (Vision) and law (Vanguard). Companies featured in Trueline’s publications include Ford, Lenovo, Samsung, Dell and GE, among others.

Similarly, Trueline’s growing marketing division services clients from a myriad of industries and sectors: large companies, nonprofit organizations and small businesses right here in Maine. With offerings that include business-development, graphic and web design, content, social-media strategy and SEO, Trueline has emerged as one of Maine’s most dynamic marketing consultancies.

In addition to its dynamic array of services, the company prides itself on a uniquely collaborative approach to project management—one that involves employees from every department.

What Makes Trueline’s Marketing Stand Out?

In 2007, the year Trueline first opened its doors, the U.S. was well on its way to a recession. Making things even more complicated, the company’s first publication, US Builders Review, was focused on an industry that was being devastated by the market turmoil.

How did Trueline make it work? By convincing the people it was writing about that, in an economic downtown, the last thing you want to do is abandon your marketing and branding strategy. Rather, you need to tout what it is that made you successful in the first place—to set yourself apart from the pack.

The strategy worked. In time, the journal took off—and more soon followed.

Thirteen years later, Trueline has emerged as one of Portland’s go-to consultancies. Its marketing business touts dozens of clients, while its publishing content has garnered more than 1 million pageviews.

Last year, the company moved its headquarters to the onetime home of the SALT Institute for Documentary Studie (561 Congress Street in Portland). To honor the space’s past, Trueline began hosting monthly art shows, highlighting the work of Maine-based artists and becoming an essential stop on the city’s First Friday art walks.

Each summer, company staff embark on a weekend rafting trip in Northern Maine. It also hosts an annual Holiday party in downtown Portland.

Trueline has made the list of “Best Places to Work in Maine” four years running. Office amenities include on-site parking; happy hours; trivia nights; and ping-pong.