How I work, compared
This is my read of how each option is usually set up, not a survey of the market. There are no vendor prices to quote here, so there is nothing to date. Agencies and freelancers vary, so the cells for them tell you what to ask.
| Row | Working with me | An agency | A freelancer | Doing it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Me, in every session. One person from the first call to the handoff. | A team. Ask who you will talk to and who does the work, because they can be different people. | One person, often strong in one skill such as building or design. | You, or someone on your team in the hours they can spare. |
| Where it starts | Your week. I time the tasks and rank what AI should take first. | Usually a scoped project. Ask what is scoped and who chose it. | Usually the brief you write. A good one asks you questions first. | Usually a tool you have heard about. |
| How they charge | Builds are fixed price, quoted from the plan. The first call is free. | Ask: fixed price, hourly or an ongoing monthly fee, and what each includes. | Ask: fixed price or hourly, and what happens if the job runs over. | Subscriptions, plus your own time, which is the cost people forget. |
| What you leave with | A written, ranked plan, then a build your team can run without me, and a handoff. | Whatever the contract lists. Ask who owns the work and the accounts. | Whatever the brief lists. Ask for documentation of how it works. | Whatever you finish. It is yours, and it may stop when you get busy. |
| If it does not work | Paid work hits a target we agree in writing, or you get 100% of your money back. | Ask for the target and the remedy in writing before you sign. | Ask for the target and the remedy in writing before you start. | You lose the hours, not a fee. |
| You want to try a chatbot for emails this weekWhere I say no | Not me. A free plan and an afternoon will tell you more than a call with me. | Not an agency either. It is more help than the job needs. | Not needed. | Yes. Start here, on one real task. |
| You want someone in-house every dayWhere I say no | Not me. I work in sessions and hand over, I do not sit on your team. | Some will embed a person. Ask. | Some will work part-time on your site. Ask. | Or hire an employee. That is a different decision from all four. |
| A large rollout across many locations or a regulated IT setupWhere I say no | Not me. I work with small businesses, and a rollout that size needs a team and your IT lead. | Closer to the right fit. Check their experience with your kind of rules. | Rarely, on their own. | No. |
| You are outside the Austin areaWhere I say no | I focus on small businesses in and around Austin. Ask me, and I will say if I can help. | Depends on the agency. | Depends on the freelancer. | Location does not matter. |
The shaded rows are cases where I tell you not to hire me, and often not to hire anyone.
Who should pick which
Do it yourself if
You have a few hours, one task in mind and the patience to try. Use a free plan first. If it works, you saved the cost of any of the other three.
Hire a freelancer if
You know exactly what you want built, such as one automation or one site change, and you can write it down clearly.
Hire an agency if
The job is big, spans several skills or locations, or you need a firm that will still be there to run it next year.
Hire me if
You have tried AI, it is not saving you hours yet, and you do not know which task to hand over first. I start from your week, and the plan is yours to keep either way.
Questions to ask any of the four
Use these on me too. A good answer is specific, and a vague one tells you something.
- Who will do the work, by name? Will I talk to that person?
- What do I own at the end: the files, the accounts and the know-how?
- Is it a fixed price, hourly or an ongoing monthly fee, and what is in it?
- What target will we agree in writing, and what happens if it is missed?
- Where does my customer and business data go, and who can see it?
- What happens after the handoff? Can my team run it without you?