Whether you office in a cubicle or at home, it doesn’t matter. If you’re a professional marketer, many of your daily duties are the same.
I’ve outlined a day in my freelance office and a day in my corporate job below. I think you’ll see what I mean.
A day in the life of a freelance marketer
7:30 a.m. Wake up and get dressed for the day. Make a pot of hot tea to get me going. (Most of my friends are java fans. Your morning jolt is up to you.)
8:00 a.m. Check into the office and review email and social media sites. Catch up on communications.
9:00 a.m. Work on a client project. Staying on task requires discipline. Some people use an egg timer: 30 minutes working, 10 minutes break. My challenge isn’t staying with a task; it’s getting started. Once I’m started, I tend to stay with it until I’m at a natural stopping point. Each of us has to figure out the thing that keeps us from being productive and find a solution that works for us.
11:30 a.m. Phone conversation with potential client. I don’t talk with clients every day, but it’s an important part of my schedule. My goal is to get to know my client’s needs and figure out how I can help them achieve their goals. That keeps them coming back for more.
12:00 p.m. Gather information requested by potential client. Send it out. Always deliver on your promises quickly.
12:30 p.m. Fix lunch and brew another pot of tea. Either continue working on the client project or read some blogs.
1:00 p.m. Plan a new marketing campaign. Make notes about campaign contents and messaging.
2:00 p.m. Write a new web page or blog post. Upload and publish it. Do you have a business blog? It can help you showcase your ideas and skills.
4:00 p.m. Chat with my son. He asks what I’m planning for dinner, and I confess that I hadn’t thought about it yet. It’s a gentle reminder to start winding down for the day.
4:15 p.m. Work on this month’s newsletter.
5:00 p.m. Check email and social media sites. Plan tomorrow’s projects. This is how I overcome my resistance to getting started each day. If I know what I need to do, I don’t waste time thinking about it in the morning.
A day in my life as a corporate copywriter
5:30 a.m. Wake up and get dressed for the day.
6:00 a.m. Leave for work. Rush hour is a bear. As usual.
6:30 a.m. Check into the office. (I know it’s ridiculously early, but flex time allows me to miss the worst rush hour, which saves an hour of personal time a day.) Make hot tea. Check email and review my schedule for the day. Catch up on communications and gather materials for any meetings.
7:00 a.m. Research and write a newsletter article. Send it off for review.
9:00 a.m. Staff meeting.
10:00 a.m. Help a team member with CMS issues.
10:30 a.m. Write a sales letter and follow-up email. Or work on the Fall Marketing Campaign, or whatever crisis comes my way.
12:00 p.m. Make more hot tea and get lunch. Catch up on my reading.
12:45 p.m. Make edits to newsletter article.
1:00 p.m. Meeting with stakeholder for new project.
1:30 p.m. Prepare paperwork to start the new project. Get approvals and submit to the appropriate stakeholders.
2.00 p.m. Research new project and begin writing.
4:00 p.m. Close up for the day. Make a list of the things I need to do tomorrow. (This is my tactic no matter where I work.)
4:15 p.m. 30-minute commute home.
Quick question: Which day would you enjoy more?
But notice, aside from the added freedom of scheduling my own day, I do many of the same activities…
As a corporate copywriter, I wrote many of our division’s marketing pieces, including web copy. I headed up most of the content marketing for our team and wrote many of the sales pieces requested by the sales team.
As the owner of a marketing business, my day doesn’t look all that different. The only difference is that I’m CEO, CFO and CMO, as well as Director of Sales. What I do for my clients, I also do for myself: plan and write marketing pieces, web copy, content marketing and sales content and collateral.
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I know there’s no such thing as a “typical” day in marketing since our activities are so project-driven. But how do you spend your days? Which activities take up most of your day? Share your comments in the box below.
By carunan