After 9 Failed Attempts - I finally passed the MC Consultant cert!!!
Yes - You heard that right.
On my 10th try, I finally passed the MC Consultant cert on Friday June 23rd, 2023 🙌🏽
It wasn't easy getting to this point.
I've learned a lot along the way.
Countless hours of studying, focus, and dedication have gotten me here.
In this letter to you, I'll summarize every lesson I've learned along the way.
Hopefully you can take those lessons and use them to pass the MC Consultant cert too!
First Things First...
Before I show you the roadmap to success, let's set the scene.
PS - If you want to get the "Roadmap to MC Consultant Success" (you can skip straight to the bottom).
All the good stuff between here and the roadmap is for the Kaelan Moss MinuteAdmin go-getters, movers, and shakers!
YEE YEE! MOTIVATION!!!
With that said, let's get to it!
What's So Special About The MC Consultant Cert Anyway?
If you're a member of the Marketing Cloud Community.
You know one thing...
The Marketing Cloud Consultant cert is the gold medal of Marketing Cloud Certs.
The MC Developer cert is a beast.
But there's something different about the MC Consultant cert.
What Does The MC Consultant Cert Mean For Your Career?
The Marketing Cloud Consultant Cert says a few things about you:
You know how to talk with Clients to get the right information.
You know fundamental and advanced Marketing Cloud concepts.
You can solve virtually anything that pops up in Marketing Cloud.
You can lead clients to the correct MC solution based on their needs.
You can configure and troubleshoot Marketing Cloud.
A Marketing Cloud Consultant's value in the job marketplace is insanely high.
There's a reason the MC Consultant cert is the most difficult Marketing Cloud cert.
If you're able to pass the MC Consultant cert, companies look at you like this 👇🏽
A Trusted Marketing Cloud Consultant, Advisor, and Partner in any situation.
I don't make the rules.
I'm telling you the stuff that I've seen from years of experience.
Consulting companies will:
Offer you more money
And put you on more projects
If you have the MC Consultant Cert.
It's just the way the consulting world works.
Companies can put you on more projects and charge their clients more.
This means a higher salary for you (If you negotiate the right way).
The simple formula for making more at a consulting firm...
Multiple Certs = (More Projects)
More Projects = (More Money)
MC Consultant Cert = (Bigger Projects)
Bigger Projects = (Bigger Money)
Welcome to Economics 101
Only in my Econ class, the learning process is simple lol
There's the economics behind why the MC Consultant Cert is so special.
But what about the psychology behind it?
Why This Simple Formula Works...
The Human Element.
Reason # 1
Managers at consulting firms like to see certs.
And they LOVE to see Consultant certs.
When a consulting company goes to a client to get new work...
They have to convince the client they're the best company for the job...
The job is to build or maintain Marketing Cloud for that client.
The client needs help.
But the client wants the best people to do the job.
Who is the client going to hire?
The consulting company with Zero Certified Marketing Cloud Consultants?
Or the consulting company with 10 Certified Marketing Cloud Consultants?
I'll let you decide.
Don't hate on human nature, that's just the way we're wired.
Okay - We got that covered.
Now you see how special the MC Consultant cert is...
But I have a question for you.
Are you ready to take the MC Consultant Cert?
Is something holding you back from taking it?
Do you feel this way?
Not qualified.
Don’t have time to study.
You've already failed it before - and don’t know what it takes to pass it.
It’s the hardest cert in the Salesforce ecosystem.
You don't need it for your job.
You won’t get paid anything extra for getting it.
It takes too long to study for it anyway.
You don’t know where to begin.
There’s no material out there to study.
It wont make you a better MC Consultant.
I felt the same way.
But before you let those stories dictate your life...
I have one more question for you.
Are looking for someone who already passed the MC Consultant cert to show you how to pass it too?
If you even slightly said yes to that question then I've got something that can help you.
My Story Can Help You Pass The MC Consultant Cert!
The Marketing Cloud Consultant cert has been my Goliath since 2019!
PS - If you don't know the story of David & Goliath (Read Here)
And I finally slayed my Goliath on the 10th try!!
That's why I HAVE to write this letter for you.
You NEED to know what it takes to pass this cert.
It's my moral obligation to show you what it takes to pass the Marketing Cloud Consultant cert.
Here's the number of times I took the MC Consultant cert.
3 times in 2019
2 times in 2020
4 times in 2021
One time in 2023 (PASS!!)
Each time in the past - I failed by 10 questions or less.
On one attempt I failed by 1 question.
There was a point where I walked out of the test facility in San Diego and was at a complete loss for words.
I was so frustrated that I basically went numb.
I didn't want to talk about the MC Consultant cert.
I didn't want to think about it.
There was a level of indifference that caused me to shrug it off and think:
"Do I even want this cert?"
But I didn't let it show.
I just went out for some delicious Mexican Food and enjoyed the weekend in San Diego with my buddy Taylor.
But Truth be Told...
I was burnt out.
I studied for this cert and felt like nothing was working for me.
So I didn't go back and try.
Even though I was only 1 question away from passing.
There comes a point where you start compromising with yourself...
You try to tell yourself
"It doesn't matter that much anyway."
It's alright, we all feel like that sometimes.
If someone has never felt like that before, there's only 2 reasons why.
They've never set big goals for themselves and fallen short.
Or they're lying to you.
Everyone has failed at something and felt like giving up before.
It's what makes us human.
And it's exactly how I felt after failing over and over again.
Then the craziest thing happened!
Salesforce changed the Marketing Cloud Consultant Exam!!!
At that point I was like...
"Alright bro, this is ridiculous."
People were saying that the new version of the exam was even harder.
The pass rate was extremely low.
I didn’t even want to try it.
I was tired of getting defeated.
But..... and it's a big but...
I was curious.
That curiosity kept me interested.
I wanted to crack the code to this exam.
I would message people that took the test and ask them how they did.
If someone passed the exam, I'd start a conversation with them.
I took notes and studied the most important things that they saw on the exam.
I filtered as much information as I could.
Then...
March 2021 comes around.
My manager asked me to take the MC Consultant exam.
Long story short...
I failed it again ahhahaha!
At this point it was comical!
No matter what I did...
I just couldn't crack the shell of this exam!
In that moment I told myself something profound.
I said to myself...
Kaelan, you need to be an all around expert in Marketing Cloud before you take the MC Consultant exam again.
So I told myself that I needed to study for the MC Developer cert in order to pass the Marketing Cloud Consultant cert.
There were coding concepts that I didn't understand.
AMPscript
SQL
API’s
A big reason this was important is because:
When you learn a concept like AMPscript - you automatically learn something else - like database relationships.
It's a part of the territory to being a developer.
It's the reason why developers know so much about the system.
If you want to automate things - You have to know how everything works.
And I knew that I was missing a piece to the overall Marketing Cloud puzzle if I kept ignoring coding.
But I was scared to learn development fundamentals.
I told myself all types of lies.
I thought I wasn't smart enough to be a developer.
You can read more about my fears in this blog post.
So I procrastinated for 2 years (2021 - 2023)
Then I decided to take the MC Developer cert in early 2023.
AMPscript was the first domino I had to push over.
Once AMPscript was understandable, everything else became easier.
API's, SSJS, and SQL were all unique but similar in their own way.
Once I understood those missing pieces, I felt like I was ready.
I learned so freaking much while prepping for the MC Developer cert.
After I studied for the Marketing Cloud Developer cert, I knew I cracked the code.
And it's only been 3 weeks since I passed the Marketing Cloud Developer cert.
I passed the MC Developer cert on June 1st, 2023.
Then went to Salesforce Connections (Didn't study at all).
And I spent a week studying 45 minutes every day.
Here's what June has looked like so far.
As you can see - I didn't take much time to prepare for the MC Consultant cert.
Especially with an entire week off during Salesforce Connections.
So what did I do differently this time?
I'll tell you in the step by step roadmap below.
5-Step Marketing Cloud
Consultant Roadmap
This roadmap was designed for you to pass the Marketing Cloud Consultant cert.
Without wasting your years of your time and energy.
With that said - Here are the steps in the roadmap.
Step 1 - Know Thy Framework.
Understand the Marketing Cloud 5 Step Framework.
You need to know everything within this 5 Step framework to pass the exam.
Setup and Admin
Data Management
Content Creation and Delivery
Automation
Reporting
Each time this framework has been shared - People's minds have been blown.
Hit "Reply" and let me know if you want to see a YouTube video on this framework.
Step 2 - Teach Others
Teach Marketing Cloud to somebody else.
The best way to teach is to write an article on LinkedIn or Medium.
You can even be a guest contributor on the MinuteAdmin blog!
The concepts to teach to other people are:
Email Deliverability (SAP, RMM, IP Warming, DMARC, etc...)
Marketing Cloud Connect
API's, AMPscript, SQL, SSJS
Data Management
Automation Studio & Journey Builder features & Use cases
If you want a simple framework to teach Marketing Cloud to other people - hit "Reply" and let me know.
Step 3 - Pass all the other certs first.
Pass the Marketing Cloud Email Specialist Cert
Pass the Marketing Cloud Administrator Cert
Pass the Marketing Cloud Developer Cert
Personally, I would get all 3 Marketing Cloud certs before the Marketing Cloud Consultant cert.
That's the way I did it.
And I believe in it because going down that road taught me everything I needed to know about the system.
This isn't the only way - But it's the best way to do it.
Otherwise, you'll keep failing if you don't have the big picture overview.
Step 4 - Be Open Minded
When you take the exam, do this:
Go in with an open mind.
If you show up needing to pass, then you probably wont.
Show up without caring about if you pass or fail.
If you pass... GREAT! - Write down every concept you can remember and share your advice with other people.
If you fail... GREAT! - Write down every concept you can remember and share your advice with other people.
Either way - You need to write down the concepts you remember from the exam so you can study them or so other people can.
The beauty of this life is that it's all about sharing, teaching, and giving back.
PS - This is the most under-rated step that can make the biggest difference.
When you study the concepts from the test and teach it to other people, it unlocks new areas of your brain.
Which leads perfectly into step 5.
Step 5 - Use Proven Study Material
Speaking of teaching and giving back...
I'm designing a MC Consultant course to help you pass the exam on the 1st try.
It hasn't been created yet.
But if you want early access to the course.
Sign up for the waiting list and I'll email you when it's ready.
And That's How I Passed The MC Consultant Cert.
The 5 steps work when you put in the work.
This roadmap is based on trial and error - So I know it works.
This isn't just some pie in the sky theory.
This is legit real life advice.
Take it and use it while you study for the cert.
If you do this, you'll pass (Without taking it 10 times like I did lol)
Hope this letter helps!
Kaelan Moss MinuteAdmin Out ✌🏽
