How I compare to agencies, and why it matters

Me:

Every engagement follows the same path: work out what to fix, build it inside your business with your team, then step back as they take over. Depending on what you need, that's a Marketing Diagnostic, a Fractional Marketing Director, a HubSpot build, or Endless Customers Coaching through IMPACT.

AI now does much of the everyday work of marketing, so what you pay me for is judgement, system design and training. Every engagement is built to step down. When we finish, your team runs it. I don't.

Traditional marketing agencies:

Agencies handle your marketing so you don't have to. You pay a monthly retainer, receive a set of deliverables, and check in with an account manager who coordinates the work.

The model is built on staying. The know-how stays with the agency, and when the retainer stops, so does everything else.

Me:

You get direct access to one person who understands your business and is accountable for the outcome. There are no account managers, no hand-offs and no strangers writing content about your company.

We build the system together, in your accounts. Your team learns it as we go, and everything is written down as it's built, so they can run it when I step back.

Traditional marketing agencies:

Your account manager coordinates a team you rarely speak to directly. Discovery takes 30 to 90 days before meaningful work begins. The people doing the work learn your business, but that knowledge belongs to them.

When the relationship ends, your marketing know-how leaves with it.

Me:

Sales is the starting point, not an afterthought. Content is built around the questions your buyers ask your sales team, and I train your salespeople to use it before, during and after every conversation, so buyers trust you before the call.

Marketing and sales work from one plan and one set of numbers, as a single team.

Traditional marketing agencies:

Agencies produce content designed to bring in traffic and leads. Working directly with your sales team is rarely part of the brief.

The result is content that sits unused while your salespeople carry on as before. Activity is measured. Revenue impact rarely is.

Me:

• Marketing Diagnostic & Priorities: £1,500 ($2,000), one-off
• Fractional Marketing Director: from £1,800 ($2,400) a month
• HubSpot Strategy & Implementation: £3,000 ($4,000) to £10,000 ($13,500), fixed fee
• Endless Customers Coaching: from £2,800 ($3,750) a month, through IMPACT

Every price is published, and fixed fees are agreed in writing before work starts. A Fractional Marketing Director engagement has a six-month minimum, then runs month to month, and the days step down as your team takes over.

Traditional marketing agencies:

Typical retainers run from £3,000 to £15,000 or more a month, usually on 12-month contracts with no defined exit. Work outside the retainer is billed separately.

There's no end point. The work carries on for as long as you pay.

Me:

The diagnostic gives you clear priorities within weeks. A fractional engagement or HubSpot build puts a working system in your accounts, and your costs fall as your team takes over.

The lasting return isn't just revenue. It's marketing your team owns and can run without me.

Traditional marketing agencies:

Agencies can get results, but the return depends on you carrying on paying, keeping access and relying on their team's know-how.

The moment you stop paying, the results stop with it.