A Day in the Life of a Remote Digital Marketing Consultant
#digitalmarketingconsultant #digitalmarketinglife #dominicbanguis
I've been asked so many times about my "daily routine" as an online / remote digital marketer, whether from people that I know, or head hunters, so once and for all, I have decided to share a snippet of what really goes on in my day. So here we go..
First off, I personally know that a lot of people think that working remote or as a digital nomad is usually in a coffeeshop somewhere or on a tropical beach with just a laptop. It does happen to me a few times. However, this digital nomad lifestyle has been romanticized so much, especially in the last two to three years that it's become unrealistic. It's not like that at all. Maybe for Vloggers, but not for a marketing consultant. Since most of my work require constant communication with clients and multiple applications for productivity, working outside will be unproductive for me.
Most of the time, I work in my home office or in a private office rented for the day,
4:00AM
So my alarm goes off at 4:00AM.
I spend a few minutes to read the Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday, and a chapter from Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.
After that, I get ready for my daily run.
5:00AM
I usually do an early walk run of around 5 kilometers, or more everyday. I just started this routine early this year, but it's been quite refreshing, plus I do feel more alert and energized everyday. I do believe in a Fit Body, Fit Mind.
While I run, I have Spotify on a loop on Dream Theater's latest album, Distance over Time. It's been on a non-stop loop for months now.
However, on some occasions I listen to the YouTube audio track of the Marcus Aurelius lecture by Prof. Michael Sugrue to remind me of the Principles of Stoicism and the Dichotomy of Control each and everyday.
6:00-8:30AM
Usually personal stuff, family, etc. Also use this time to catch up on any new trends from Google, Search Engine Journal, Social Media Examiner, Neil Patel, Hubspot, SEMRush, and HootSuite. With so much happening in Digital Marketing and Marketing Technology, I need to know anything new that comes up.
By the way, this is where the magic ($$$) happens. I work with a very minimal setup. Macbook Pro, Extra Monitor, Mechanical Keyboard, Headphones. That's it.
8:30AM - 9:00AM
Check my email inbox, calendar respond to emails. review consultation requests on LinkedIn and Calendly. I regularly receive emails from people all over, so I have my WorldTimeBuddy setup on my tab screen to check timezones for the upcoming calls and video meetings.
I also check my "dashboard" for the sites (owned, and competitors) for traffic updates, new keywords. Usually SEMRush, Google Analytics and KlipFolio for my own set of KPIs and Metrics. In a future post, I will share the metrics and KPIs I use for my dashboard.
By the way, I love using charts and dashboards for better visual information assimilation.
9:00AM -12:00PM
The real work begins...depending on the projects that I am working. However, around this time. I'm off to do my current project, I focus on GrowthBoxx projects. Usually I manage a team of other remote workers on larger scale digital marketing projects.
More recently, I've been providing Hubspot Content Marketing Services specifically in SEO and Content Optimization for a B2B marketing agency in Toronto, Canada. It's been an on-going project since the start of the year, the job is really fun and Hubspot makes my job a whole lot easier with all the integrations on topic clusters and such.
Mornings are reserved for high quality creative outputs such as articles, blog posts, videos, etc. I'll have an upcoming separate blog post for the Content Marketing process that I use.
12:00PM - 1:00PM Lunch
1:00PM -3:30PM - Video Conferences
On any given work day, usually sequence of Skype and Zoom Meetings with startup founders and CEOs in Asia, Europe and Australia.
Apparently, this the most common time for meetings in the region. Most of the calls I get revolve around startup marketing, securing seed funding and growth questions. And since I'm connected with FasterCapital, a virtual incubator based in Dubai, my schedule is usually packed.
Since I can't really share my video calls, Instead, here's a video that pretty much sums up what happens.
3:30PM - 5:00pm
Anything that needs to be done ASAP is accomplished before the end of the day.
5:00PM -Sign Off.
I check WorldTimeBuddy, and it is the end of the day in other countries too.
There is actually no fixed schedule as a remote digital marketer. It simply varies depending the tasks required per client.
After work, I try to read a new book every week or month, depending on length of the book and the availability of my schedule. Right now, I'm reading "Neuro Design" by Darren Bridger. A must read for every marketer. It is basically practical guide to designing for your customer's brain.
