Work out what you actually need first, then choose the smallest arrangement that delivers it. Before you sign anything, ask four questions: how long is the contract, who is doing the day-to-day work, how will you be reported to, and what happens if you leave. Avoid lock-in terms and fees priced as a percentage of your ad spend, because both point the incentives away from you.
I am one of the people you might hire, so read this with that in mind. I have tried to write the version I would want to read if I were on your side of the table, including the part where the answer is that you do not need anyone yet.
Work Out What You Actually Need First
Most bad marketing relationships start with a vague brief. “We need more customers” invites a proposal for everything, and everything is expensive.
Get specific before you talk to anyone. Which of these is actually true for you?
You know what needs doing but have no time. You need execution. That is the cheapest and clearest kind of engagement, and the easiest to judge.
You do not know what needs doing. You need advice first, ideally as a one-off piece of work rather than an ongoing retainer. Paying a monthly fee to work out what to do is an expensive way to buy thinking.
Something specific is broken. You need a defined project with an end date, not a subscription.
You want to keep it in-house but stop guessing. You need training, not a provider.
Being able to say which one you are turns a sales conversation into a scoping conversation, and it makes proposals comparable.
Agency, Freelancer, Consultant or Nobody?
| Agency | Freelancer | Consultant | Nobody yet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | Highest | Lowest | Mid | Free |
| Who does the work | Often a junior | The person you hired | The person you hired | You |
| Breadth | Multiple channels | Usually one speciality | Advice plus some execution | Whatever you learn |
| Best for | Complex, multi-channel, bigger budgets | One clear job done well | Deciding what to do, then doing it | Basics not yet done |
| Main risk | Paying for overheads and account management | Capacity and availability | Depends entirely on the individual | It never actually happens |
The column people skip is the last one. If your Google Business Profile is half-finished and you have six reviews, hiring anyone is premature, because the highest-return work available to you is free and nobody needs to be paid to do it. Any provider who takes your money without mentioning that is telling you something about how they operate.
What to Keep In-House Even If You Outsource
Some things should not leave the building, regardless of who you hire.
Your Google Business Profile ownership. Someone can manage it, but the account should be yours. Losing access to your own listing is a genuinely painful problem to unwind.
Review requests. These work best coming from the person who did the work. Automating them into a stranger’s system strips out the thing that makes people say yes.
Knowing your numbers. How many enquiries you get, what a customer is worth, what you can handle. If you outsource understanding your own business, you cannot evaluate anyone’s performance, and you are entirely dependent on their version of events.
The final say on how you sound. Nobody knows your customers like you do. Approve the words.
What Should You Ask Before You Sign?
Ask all of these. The answers matter, and so does whether the person gets uncomfortable.
- 1
How long is the contract, and what is the notice period?
Month to month, or a short initial term, keeps everyone honest. Thirty days notice is standard and reasonable. Twelve month lock-ins with ninety day exits mostly protect the provider.
- 2
Who will actually do the work day to day?
Ask to meet them, not just the person selling. Being sold by a director and serviced by a junior or an offshore team is common, and the gap between the pitch and the delivery is where most disappointment lives.
- 3
What will you report, how often, and in what terms?
You want enquiries and what they cost, not impressions and rankings on terms nobody searches. Ask to see a real example report from another client with the names removed.
- 4
Who owns the accounts, the data and the website?
You should. Your Google Ads account, your analytics, your domain, your site and your content. Get it in writing. This never matters until the day you leave, at which point it matters enormously.
- 5
What happens if I want to stop?
What do you keep, what gets handed over, how long does it take? A provider confident in their work has an easy answer. Hesitation here is the most useful signal in the whole conversation.
- 6
What are you not good at?
The best question on the list. Anyone honest has an answer. "We do everything well" means either they have not thought about it or they are not being straight with you.
What Are the Red Flags?
Some of these come from Google directly. In its own guidance on hiring an SEO, Google states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and warns about providers who send unsolicited emails offering to improve your search listing, promote link schemes or mass search-engine submissions, or are secretive about their methods. Google also notes you are responsible for the actions of anyone you hire, and that sites can be removed from search results over what a provider does on your behalf.
That is the platform itself telling you what to avoid, which is about as authoritative as this gets.
The rest, from watching it happen:
Lock-in contracts of twelve months or more. Sometimes defensible for genuinely long-horizon work, but usually it protects revenue rather than results. A provider who is confident does not need to trap you.
Percentage-of-spend pricing. If your provider earns more when your ad budget goes up, they have a financial reason to recommend spending more. A flat fee removes that entirely.
Vague reporting. Impressions, reach and “brand awareness” in place of enquiries and what they cost. If a report cannot tell you whether you made money, it is decoration.
Account manager runaround. You explain your business to a new contact every six months and nothing quite gets done.
Guaranteed rankings or guaranteed leads. Covered above. Walk.
Nobody asks about your capacity. Anyone competent should ask early how many customers you can actually handle. A provider who never asks is planning to report on volume rather than outcomes.
Pressure to decide quickly. Discounts that expire on Friday, a slot that is about to go to someone else. Marketing is a months-long commitment and there is no version of it that becomes worse for being considered over a weekend. Urgency in the sales process usually predicts what the relationship will feel like.
They will not name a client you can ring. Case studies on a website are marketing. A phone number for an actual customer is evidence. Ask for one, and when you get it, ask that person two things: what is your provider not good at, and would you hire them again.
How I Work, For Comparison
Since this is my site, here is my own arrangement so you can measure it against the questions above rather than take my word for anything.
No lock-in contracts, month to month. One person, me, doing the work you discussed with me, so there is no gap between who sold it and who delivers it. Flat fees rather than a percentage of your spend. You own your accounts, your data and your website. Reporting in plain English about enquiries, not impressions. And I am genuinely selective, because I would rather tell you the free work comes first than take money for something you do not need yet.
That last one is not a sales line. A decent chunk of my first conversations end with me suggesting someone go and finish their Google Business Profile and come back in three months if it has not moved.
When You Need Nobody at All
Worth stating plainly. Do not hire anyone if:
Your Google Business Profile is incomplete or you have very few reviews. That work is free and outperforms most paid work.
You are at capacity. More enquiries you cannot service is not growth. Raise your prices instead.
You cannot afford it consistently for at least three to six months. Marketing stopped after eight weeks is money spent for nothing, because most of it had not started working yet.
You have not tried the basics. Read the DIY marketing guide and give it a season first.
When It Is Worth Getting Help
When the free work is genuinely done and you have plateaued. When you are spending on advertising and cannot tell what is producing enquiries. Or when the work is worth doing, you know what it is, and you have no hours left, which is the most common and most legitimate reason of all.
Not sure whether you have reached that point? Ask me. Fifteen minutes, free, and a fair share of those conversations end with me saying not yet and explaining why. You can read more about how I work on the about page or see what ongoing management actually covers.
Questions Owners Ask Me About Hiring
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I hire an agency, a freelancer, or a consultant?
An agency suits complex multi-channel work with a bigger budget. A freelancer suits one clear job done well, at the lowest cost. A consultant suits deciding what to do and then doing it. If your free basics are undone, the honest answer is often none of them yet.
How much should I pay to have my marketing managed?
It depends on scope, but the more useful question is what the fee is made of. Insist that ad spend, management fees and one-off project work are itemised separately, and avoid pricing set as a percentage of your ad spend.
What should be in the contract?
The specific work being done, the reporting you will receive and how often, who owns the accounts, data and website, the notice period, and what gets handed over if you leave. Month to month with thirty days notice is a reasonable default.
Can I leave whenever I want?
You should be able to, with reasonable notice. Twelve month lock-ins with long exit periods mostly protect the provider. Ask what you keep on the way out and get the answer in writing before you sign, not when you are already trying to leave.
What are the red flags to avoid?
Guaranteed rankings, which Google itself says nobody can promise. Unsolicited emails offering to improve your search listing. Secretive methods. Percentage-of-spend pricing. Reporting built on impressions rather than enquiries. And anyone who never asks how many customers you can actually handle.
