Count the whole cost of a hire
Salary is the visible part. The full cost also includes:
- Payroll taxes and benefits
- Equipment and software. Design tools, email platform, analytics, scheduling — each a subscription.
- Recruitment. Time and possibly a fee.
- Management. Somebody has to direct them, and in a small business that is the owner. This is the cost most often ignored and often the largest.
- Downtime. A salaried person is paid in quiet months as well as busy ones.
Work out your own loaded figure before comparing anything. The gap between salary and true cost surprises most owners.
The skills problem
Marketing is not one job. A competent generalist marketer will be genuinely good at two or three of: writing, SEO, paid ads, design, email, analytics, automation.
Which means a single hire covers part of what you need, and the rest gets outsourced anyway — or gets done badly by someone learning on your budget.
That is not a criticism of in-house marketers. It is a description of the breadth involved.
Where in-house genuinely wins
Product and process knowledge. Someone in the building learns your trade properly, hears the calls, knows which technician customers ask for.
Responsiveness. Same-day changes without a ticket.
Volume. Past a certain level of activity, an employee is cheaper per unit of work.
Culture and content. Photos, stories, video from inside the business — genuinely hard to outsource.
Where an agency wins
Breadth. Several skills, one arrangement.
No management overhead. Nobody to direct, review or develop.
Flexibility. Scale up before a season, down after, without an employment decision.
Speed to start. No hiring cycle.
The hybrid most small businesses land on
Someone internal who owns the parts that need proximity — photos, reviews, answering enquiries, knowing the customers — and an external provider for the technical and strategic work.
That internal role is often part of an existing job rather than a hire, and it is frequently the highest-return arrangement for a business of this size.
The BayouEdge comparison
| Package | Monthly | Setup |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Presence | $750 | $2,500 |
| Growth Engine | $1,500 | $5,500 |
| AI Marketing System | $2,500 | $8,500 |
| Authority Builder | $3,500 | $12,500 |
Month to month, no employment commitment, and James does the work.
Deciding
Work out your loaded hire cost and set it against the plan that covers what you need. The comparison usually answers itself.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare a hire to a retainer fairly?
Use loaded cost, not salary: payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, software, recruitment, downtime, and the management time somebody has to spend directing them. In a small business that is usually the owner.
Can one marketer do everything?
No. A good generalist is genuinely strong at two or three of writing, SEO, paid ads, design, email, analytics and automation. The rest gets outsourced anyway or learned on your budget.
Where does in-house genuinely win?
Proximity — someone who hears the calls, knows the technicians and can produce photos and stories from inside the business. That is hard to outsource well.
What arrangement works best for a small business?
Usually a hybrid: someone internal owning photos, reviews and enquiry handling, with an external provider for the technical and strategic work. The internal part is often a share of an existing job.