It’s not uncommon to hear this question from potential clients and aspiring consultants.

Even my parents, family, and close friends ask it sometimes, too – with an evident embarrassment on their faces (although they shouldn’t have to feel embarrassed at all). Maybe this article will help them understand what I’m getting paid for then. Or if you’re already working in the internet industry, then this article should provide you with a more detailed overview of how’s the work-life like for a Marketing Consultant.

I’ll break down my explanation into three parts:

1. Scope and Jobs to be done
2. What does success look like
3. Daily routines

#1: The Scope and Jobs to be Done

I’ve seen a bit of everything when it comes to project scopes. Now that I think about it, there are at least two big categories a consulting gig can fall into:

As you can see, the scope itself highly depends on what the challenge is.

If you’re on a fixed scope, it can be as straightforward as being best-in-class on Performance Marketing as you need to build the department for our client.

You need to embrace chaos if you’re on an open-scope project. You have to play both the diagnostician and lead surgeon roles to succeed.

But let’s go deeper and discuss the different Jobs to be Done this consultant might have to deal with. I believe that will give you a better general idea of what types of activities are executed daily.

I picked five that are the most common to me, but I’m sure there might be others:

1. Diagnose Growth and Marketing problems;
2. Lead high-profile projects;
3. Exploring a new channel;
4. Build and coach teams;
5. Play an interim role.

And this is how things usually unfold:

Open-Scope Projects

Fixed-Scope Projects

→ Client comes to me because their growth has stalled and they believe I can help; → I run a quick diagnostic to understand why we’re in trouble and our options moving forward. This can be as short as one week or as deep as a three-month project with dedicated data scientists; → Project is broken down into multiple fronts. It’s not uncommon for me to step in as an interim until everything is in place.

→ Client needs to create a Lifecycle Marketing team from scratch; → I lead the hiring, lead the tooling setup, and set processes; → Project is delivered; → *Optional: a new closed-scope project starts – or it becomes an open-ended project if a broader challenge appears.

Personally, I only take projects that are either Open or can become one after a few weeks or months. My approach is to always start with a deep investigation, which inevitably leads to a backlog of initiatives and experiments we can do to reverse my client’s situation. So, in reality, I simultaneously work on at least three of the five Jobs to be Done I listed before. It’s usually a combination of leading key projects, coaching the team, and implementing best practices.

 

Understanding what success looks like

I understand that you might feel like it’s still unclear what we actually do on open-ended projects. This means there can be many solutions or no solutions for the problem. Therefore, knowing exactly what’s necessary to be done during the project is not possible because of the nature of the work itself. You have to be comfortable not knowing what will happen or if you’ll succeed. Obviously, such a job is not for everyone. Putting it shortly: the job is to figure out what needs to be done and then oversee the execution – which is very different from knowing how things should be executed. It’s also common for these projects to not have a fixed end date, as in the beginning, you’re not even sure what’s the thing you need to do.

💡 If you’re committed to the idea of becoming a consultant or advisor yourself, I recommend looking into Open-Ended Problems and Game Theory.

 

But not all hope is lost.

I already mentioned that one of the traits of great marketers is knowing what outcome they need to deliver. So, despite such projects’ natural chaos, one can ask a simple question to get a north star: “What does success look like to you for this project?”. While she or he might not know the root causes of their problems and how to solve them, they’ll know what transformation they’d like to see.

Here’s how to get to the bottom of the question.

✔️ Always translate that definition of success to numbers. If they say, “I want my Marketing team to become best-in-class.” you can ask back, “Sounds good. And what best-in-class look like to you?” and then “What kind of results would this team be able to bring that the current team can’t?”. Just be curious and keep digging deeper until you have a figure – or a range – clear.

✔️ Once your get an answer, say it back to your client. That’ll allow them to digest what was said and maybe adjust it. Don’t worry. It’s not weird to do that. You can say something like, “Ok, thank you, that’s perfect. And just to confirm I understand what you just said; the goal is to grow from 2 million to 4 million in monthly recurring revenue until the end of the year. Did I get that right?”.

✔️ Make it clear that you’re taking notes. Repeat the goal out loud once it’s confirmed – and maybe spell one of the keywords while you do that. That’s important because now the client will understand that that’s the thing you’ll be aiming at. It’s not uncommon that they change their mind at this point, make your goal more specific, or add a constraint. That’s a sign they’re engaged in the conversation. Try not to take it too harshly if this exercise makes your client re-think the whole thing. That’s the goal of the conversation you’re having. I’ll repeat: it’s a good thing if they change their minds at this point. It means you just potentially saved yourself from misalignment and friction. They’re not changing their minds. They’re refining their goals – which is what great consultants help their clients do.

The Daily Routines

Okay, now we know our target and have a rough idea of our first steps; it’s game on.

Like the regular 9-5 Marketing job, two days are never the same when you’re a consultant. Still, I want to provide you with a glimpse of what a daily schedule may look like when you have such a career.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rômulo Gomes Nunes (@romuloggomes)

Here’s an example for a part-time project (12h-16h/week) where there’s more focus on one client and the rest of the time is split between secondary clients, side-projects, and self-improvement slots:

Monday

• 09.00 – 09.45: Project Status Meeting
• 09:45 – 10:00: Share status with main stakeholders
• 10.00 – 11.30: Data crunching and Reporting
• 11:30 – 12:00: 1:1 with Debra
• 12:00 – 14:00: Personal trainer, shower, and lunch
• 14:00 – 17:30: Work for Client 2 + 15 min walk + pick up the kids
• 20:00 – 21:00: Psychoanalysis Session

Tuesday

• 09:00 – 09:15: Look at our main KPIs. Share findings with colleagues (if any)
• 09:30 – 12:00: Customer Journey Workshop
• 12:00 – 14:00: Cycling*, shower, and lunch*
• 15:00 – 18:00: Writing posts and scripts for Social Media + 15 min walk
• 20:00 – 21:00: Weekly call w/ side-project partner

Wednesday

• 09:00 – 09:15: Look at our main KPIs. Share findings with colleagues (if any)
• Free morning: work on side-project + swimming class
• 14:00 – 15:00: Management Team Weekly Meeting
• 15:00 – 16:30: 2023 Plans and Strategy kick-off
• 17:00 – Pick up kids at school
• 21:00 – 22:00: Weekly Mastermind Session

Thursday

• 09:00 – 09:15: Look at our main KPIs. Share findings with colleagues (if any)
• 09:15 – 09:45: Troubleshoot Intercom integration with Marcus from Engineering
• 10:00 – 12:00: 1:1s with Growth Marketing team members
• 12:00 – 12:30: Wrap-up week
• 12:00 – 14:00: Cycling, shower, and lunch
• 15:00 – 16:00: Advising session with Client 3
• 16:00 – 17:30: Weekly me meeting (review results + adjust plans and schedule)
• 21:00 – 22:00: Weekly Peer coaching session with a friend

Friday – Client-free day

• 08:00 – 12:00: Coding or Writing
• 12:00 – 14:00: Bike ride with the wife + lunch
• 14:00 – 17:00: Meetings (accountant, new clients, partners, networking) or studying
  

Here are a couple of rules I set for myself to make this work:

• Me time: I found that putting aside 15%-30% to work on my own business is essential to keep my finances, body, and mind healthy. The exact time allocation depends on the circumstances, but there must be some. It’s always on my calendar, and I’m strict with it;
• Daily structure: Although meeting times change, my daily structure doesn’t change much. That’s key to reducing the costs of context shifting and preventing burnout. Most of the time, my structure is mornings for my main client; physical activities at noon; afternoons for smaller clients; evenings to decompress and talk to friends; Fridays to work on side projects and housekeeping.

That’s all, folks

I hope I managed to give you an idea of what a Marketing Consultant actually does and what a weekly routine can look like.

Also, maybe I opened your eyes to things we don’t usually think about when considering this career – such as housekeeping, improving your networking, working on yourself, etc.

By the way: I’ve started to get more questions about the solopreneur life and less about the hard skills necessary to do the job, which is super interesting. I’m open to creating more of these, but I don’t really have a backlog of sub-themes to cover just yet. If you have anything, you’d like to know about becoming a consultant or how to become a better one, just leave your questions on this link.