Your agency sends your work to a guy like me.
Skip the account managers, the markup, and the "management fee." Work directly with the person who writes your content, builds your ads, and reports the results. You only pay for the hours spent producing.
Where a $4,000 agency retainer actually goes.
Most of it pays for people who never touch your marketing. The work itself is the smallest slice.
Typical agency
$4,000 / monthModern Marketing
$1,875 / monthBlogs, ads, social, and SEO. Meetings and calls: $0.
The second bar is drawn to scale: less than half the price, all of it work. The agency split is illustrative, based on how retainers are commonly structured.
The agency model was built for a slower world.
Content used to be slow and expensive.
So agencies stacked layers on top of it: strategists, account managers, project managers. You paid for all of them.
AI made production fast.
With the right tools and 16 years of judgment, one experienced marketer now produces what used to take a team. The layers are just overhead.
A fractional marketer.
One person, on retainer, who plans it, makes it, posts it, and tells you what worked. Reachable like an employee. Priced like a contractor.
What your first months look like.
Every business is different, but this is the order that works for most service businesses.
SEO blogs
Optimized articles that answer what your customers search for. This is where organic traffic starts to climb.
Google Ads
A tight, well-built campaign for the services that make you money. Google is still where buyers go first.
Facebook ads, when they fit
For businesses where local awareness and retargeting pay off.
Daily social posting
Facebook, LinkedIn, and your Google Business Profile, once a day, written for your brand.
Then: fix what's costing you money.
Invoicing, follow-ups, client intake. Once marketing is running, we build workflows and tools so you can serve the customers it brings in.
We work a quarter ahead. Most agencies won't.
Agencies drip your content out month by month, partly so you never have a reason to leave. We produce a full quarter of social posts up front, schedule them, and move your hours to the work that grows the business.
Same idea for ads: creative is produced in batches ahead of time, so campaigns never wait on us.
Agency vs. working with Alex.
| Typical agency | Modern Marketing | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $4,000 and up | From $1,875 |
| Who you talk to | An account manager who relays messages | The person doing the work |
| Meetings and calls | Billed to your retainer | Free, weekly or monthly |
| Blogs per month | 3 or 4 | 10 or more, depending on your hours |
| Social content | Produced month by month | A full quarter, produced up front |
| Turnaround | Weeks, through a queue | Days |
| Contract | 6 to 12 months | Month-to-month |
| Setup fee | Common | None |
| Who owns the accounts | Often the agency | You. Always. |
I've been the guy in the back for 16 years.
I started in radio, built a digital department from scratch, ran my own agency, and spent years inside St. Louis agencies doing the work account managers sold.
I've managed every kind of account and seen every problem this industry creates. Now I work for business owners directly. No layers, no handoffs, no telephone game.
Fair questions.
Isn't AI content just generic slop?
Lazy AI content is. Quality comes from the tools, a layered prompting process, and someone with 16 years of knowing what good marketing sounds like. Ask for a sample on our call.
What if you get sick or disappear?
Every account, ad, and file lives in your name, so nothing is ever stuck with me. I also have trusted people who can step in. And you're getting in at the ground floor of a growing brand.
I've been burned by marketers before.
Most owners have. I know this industry from the inside and can tell you how to spot the people who can actually deliver. And you don't have to take my word for it. Tell me about your project and I'll connect you with a business owner I did similar work for, so you can ask them anything.
How do I know the hours are real?
Every hour is tracked, and you see the work: the posts, the blogs, the campaigns, the results. You only pay for production hours, never for meetings. Most clients are surprised by how much gets done.
Talk to someone like you.
I don't post generic testimonials. Instead, I'll match you with a reference based on your project: a business owner I did similar work for. Ask on our call.
Let's talk about your brand.
30 minutes. Bring your ideas, your frustrations, and your current marketing. You'll leave with a plan either way.
Book a 30-minute call