PPCChat | Dream Jobs - In PPC & Out of PPC

Posted July 30th, 2025 by Amita & filed under PPCChat.

Here is the screencap of this week’s PPCChat session where host Julie F Bacchini sought PPCers views on their dream jobs in PPC and out of PPC.

Q1: What is your dream job in PPC? And are you in it right now? If not, do you have plans on how to get into it in the future?

Ok, not to sound too corny, but I do! And a big part of that for me is right here. @NeptuneMoon

My dream job in PPC would be some kind of consulting at a slower pace than the agency life I’m living now. I love the work, but not the rat race. @beyondthepaid

I was lucky enough to recruited into my dream job, working inhouse for a brand that I supported and was on a meteoric rise was a phenomenal experience (and helped me buy my house) but that was 10+ years ago, and now I am happy to have my own brand and clients but finding new work has been very difficult as I struggle to keep up payments on that house I got. @Chriskostecki

Head of Growth / Director/VP of Growth / Chief Growth Marketing Officer. Not seeking it, but I would be very tempted to join such a position for the right company if there is an irresistible offer. @alimehdimukadam

In some ways yes. I have very cool clients and I work with some of the best people in the industry. But there are drawbacks to holdco life. @JuliaVyse

I’m currently trying to exit. I have been Vibe Coding my heart out the past few months. I am still building my Marketing SaaS and making progress, but I need to pay bills now. Would love to find that team that is looking for someone to pimp out their MarTech stack, soup it up with AI. @Davidpedersen

@Chriskostecki Things are generally tight right now. @NeptuneMoon

@JuliaVyse I learned those drawbacks firsthand. @beyondthepaid

My dream job is hard to define. @JuliaVyse

I mean, we probably all dream of having the money to just do whatever (which is a question coming up, so save those answers for that one!) While it is not always perfect, I do really love working for myself. I have been doing so for 26 years and it has looked different over the years, but I am truly thankful for the flexibility having my own business has afforded me as life threw things at me and my family. @NeptuneMoon

There is no better job than to work for myself, but I am not a good boss. I wish I had a trusted business partner to help keep the focus and drive. (not a solicitation) @Chriskostecki

And I will put on my PPC Mom hat for a moment to say here: @NeptuneMoon

There is no one right path in PPC – only your right path
Your right path might change over the years and that is ok
Trust your gut when it comes to jobs and opportunities

I have been working for myself for 10 years, but as I started to build my SaaS 2 years, I cut back on clients to make time and kept 1 primary, but they managed to scare off half their clients, so I need to look for more work. @Davidpedersen

Consulting for local clients where I can actually see the impact of my work. Building out performance dashboards. I would love to get more into CRO as well as behavioral testing. I’ve been in lead gen my entire career, but would love to dabble in e-commerce too. @Brendannemeth

I am living the PPC dream right now – getting to help the amount of people I’m able to help and ensure at least one of the platforms stays grounded in goodness as we embark on the AI journey. @navahhopkins

Whatever it is that I do now, is pretty darn close to my dream job. Is it hard at times? Yes. Do clients, ad networks, and sometimes my own crew know how to drive me up the wall? Sure. But I can’t think of anything else I’d trade it for. @AlexMakarski

@NeptuneMoon this is where we differ! I have no interest in administrating my own business. The freelance I’ve done occasionally over the years has been very rewarding, but the invoice chasing, and insurance/admin stuff makes me deeply unhappy. @JuliaVyse

I do love what I’m doing, but sometimes it’s fun to think about what it would be like to have a leadership role at one of the big agencies or a platform like Google versus running my own shop like I do now. @revaminkoff

I’m with you @JuliaVyse – I’d love the flexibility of my own business but do not want to deal with the “business” side of it, ie admin and sales. @beyondthepaid

Ok, so for those who hate sales (I do not love it), you can be a consultant or freelancer and do work for other agencies and skip all the sales stuff. It is one way to kind of have the best of both worlds? You still have to invoice and such, but there are platforms that make that super easy. @NeptuneMoon

@NeptuneMoon good point; we still use some freelancers and that would be a good gig. @beyondthepaid

I do miss the energy and team dynamics of a company/startup in a high growth role. Entrepreneurship gets lonely at times. @alimehdimukadam

@NeptuneMoon I would love to do that! @Brendannemeth

Everyone who hates sales needs to convert that into business development. Sales is talking at someone. Business development is ensuring mutual profit and helping people @navahhopkins

One of my best investments has been in a bookkeeper. @Chriskostecki

@NeptuneMoon Definitely, white-labeling has been a major contributor of my revenue source.@alimehdimukadam

So maybe I will put together something for people who want to freelance with agencies here – like a listing or something? @NeptuneMoon

@NeptuneMoon no comment on holdco payment terms. actually easier to get paid from a small business. not kidding. @JuliaVyse

I too like to support agencies, get the assignments done and they keep the client happy! @Chriskostecki

@JuliaVyse You definitely need to make sure you understand your clients paying terms. Cause bigger ones definitely tend to take longer. @NeptuneMoon

Bigger ones are more pain when it comes to payment. Smaller ones are billing automatically via Stripe monthly. @alimehdimukadam

BTW: as someone who spent a lot of time working in software – there are workflows that truly help unlock productivity when you get out of the habit of doing everything manually. Just like everyone needs to work in hospitality/retail at least once to ensure they’re a decent human being, I think everyone should have at least one software job (if possible) to get comfortable with productivity hacks and stack ranking priorities. @navahhopkins

How does one get a software job as a not-software person? @JuliaVyse

Partnership roles, customer success roles, marketing for said software companies…interfacing with software companies requires such a different way of thinking than other types. @navahhopkins

My current role is pretty close to my ideal. I’m independent and can pick my clients for the most part. I love helping small businesses, but it’s fun to learn fast and have the velocity of bigger spending clients too. Fewer meetings would make me happier. @robert_brady

I enjoy my current job in PPC and have been in the PPC space for the past 5 years, 1.5 in affiliate, but wouldn’t mind expanding my horizons to other platforms and marketing strategies such as social media, SEO, and UI/UX design. I feel like if given the opportunity to freelance or at least assist others with these skills, I’d be better able to coordinate a more unified marketing strategy for clients. @Melody

My dream job would be having my own team of PPC Experts, enabling work from anywhere in the world and running consulting and training alongside. @Kainatrashidshamsi

I want to get my own agency off the ground! I love PPC but it’s just a small part of what makes marketing fun for me. I’m working on hiring a commission salesperson so I can grow! @williamhboggs

My dream is to be the CMO of a Fortune 500 company. @BalogunAbdulqudus

I would love to be an evangelist. @jimbanks

Q2: What is the best piece of PPC career advice you’ve ever gotten?

Stay curious – the moment one stops chasing knowledge is the moment one needs to retire. @navahhopkins

Stay curious. People and numbers are like seasons – don’t take it personally. @alimehdimukadam

Stay close to the money. If you are driving sales and not leads, your reward will grow with your growth. @Davidpedersen

If you want to do your own thing, you have to be comfortable with always being 6 weeks away from having no work. Which sounds extreme, but the sentiment is true. If you can’t live with the uncertainty of having clients for your revenue, it might not be for you. Of course, having a full-time job some place in no way guarantees that you will not be let go at some point. @NeptuneMoon

We don’t know what we don’t know. Test and you’ll be surprised. @Brendannemeth

“You’re either working or you’re not working.” Really helps me turn on and off appropriately. @revaminkoff

Test, test, test – and don’t take test results personally! We’ve all run tests we were sure were hits that failed. @beyondthepaid

@revaminkoff fully agree with this one – it’s been really hard for me to shut off (12-16 hour days have been naturally happening simply because the work is important or interesting and the reminder to shut off is critical) @navahhopkins

Look at the whole pipeline, not just the ppc element. Media can’t solve a bad product or broken sales funnel. @JuliaVyse

@alimehdimukadam Totally concur on the not taking things personally! And, do not assume that a lack of communication necessarily has anything to do with you. In my experience, 7 out of 10 times it is not you, but them and some circumstance at the client or with your contact. @NeptuneMoon

You work better when you are content. Take breaks equal to the output to avoid burnout. @Chriskostecki

If you’re running your own thing, it’s important to always keep the right balance between client work and selling. If the balance goes too far to one side, the other side will suffer. @revaminkoff

You will lose clients. It is just part of the cycle of business. Sometimes it is hard and sometimes it is welcome. @NeptuneMoon

I was soooo afraid of churn when I started. @revaminkoff

I had several really abusive managers in my formative years and it wasn’t till I had a good manager/leader that I embraced a central truth: our worth isn’t tied to our work outputs. @navahhopkins

You are not your job. @revaminkoff

And we do better work when we don’t tie our self-worth to our work outcomes. @navahhopkins

Learn to say no. Not everything is a fit for you, and learning where those boundaries are is so important! Every time I have talked myself into taking a project, my gut was telling me not to I have regretted it. @NeptuneMoon

Ask for what you want. You might actually get it. @JuliaVyse

Build buffer into your promised delivery schedules! Always better to deliver early. @NeptuneMoon

3X my estimate would usually work to over deliver. 2x would get me to deliver on time. @Davidpedersen

@NeptuneMoon Agreed – it’s part of under-promise, over-deliver. @revaminkoff

@revaminkoff Your worth is your business’s worth – that critical voice is hard to silence & get over at times….went through the ebbs and flows and it was performance based identity. A quote I come back to often is your worth is simply in your being/existing. @alimehdimukadam

@NeptuneMoon yep, the Scotty principle: always pad your estimates on when you can deliver. @beyondthepaid

It is also ok to want to do something different. As PPC evolves, you might not like what your job or client projects become. That is ok. And you can figure out where you want to go that is not where you are right now! @NeptuneMoon

Joe Hudson has been a revelation for me lately. He is a famous high performance coach, some of his coaching sessions on YouTube are gold. This was the latest pod of him I loved https://youtu.be/RLtGLVec2DY?si=DTKai1bpIWdH3EIJ @alimehdimukadam

Obviously everyone who is here is already doing this, but build relationships with other PPCers. This job can be lonely and you can also feel like you’re losing your mind at times so having people you know and trust to reach out to is huge! To that end, my DMs are always open! @NeptuneMoon

From the west coast: practice gratitude. This community is so supportive and educational, filled with energetic smarties who help each other. Contribute and enjoy. @JuliaVyse

Not everyone here knows me personally, but I am sincere when I say that I am always here for community members. I hope if you need help or moral support or even just a second opinion that you’re not losing your mind, you feel comfortable reaching out! @NeptuneMoon

You can guarantee effort, not results. @robert_brady

PPCChat Participants