Back in 2022, I moved from a condo in Brooklyn to a house in the suburbs. I didn't know how to maintain anything, so I called someone for everything.
Every call meant finding the right person, waiting for an opening, and paying for their time, even for the small stuff.
So I started learning. Small things first. These tasks became part of my weekly routine. Then I started watching YouTube videos to learn more complex tasks. I came to enjoy it.
Now, before I call anyone, I run through three questions:
Three yeses, I do it myself. Any no, I call a pro without hesitation.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the big picture: which kinds of marketing work belong in-house and which belong with partners. But most of these decisions don't happen at the big-picture level. They happen one request at a time.
And every request you send to an agency likely carries a cost. On a big campaign, that cost disappears into the budget. On a retainer, you don't see a separate bill. It comes out of the hours, and out of senior time that could go to bigger work.
So before the next brief goes out, run the three questions.
If the work repeats, your team can learn it and has the time, and a mistake is cheap to fix, bring it in. Your team gets faster, and the work gets more consistent. That usually includes:
If the work is high-stakes, needs a specialist, or needs fresh eyes, send it out, and let your partner focus there. That's where their fee is worth every dollar:
The best partners help clients make this call. Be honest about which small jobs your client could handle in-house. Give their team the toolkits and templates to do it well. Then put your time where your fee is worth the most. Clients remember the partner who saved them money on the small stuff, and they bring that partner the big work.
Ask the questions every time. The answers will change as your team's skills grow.
Ask three questions about each piece of work: Does it come up again and again? Can your team learn to do it well, and do they have the time? If it goes wrong, is it easy and cheap to fix? If the answer to all three is yes, do it in-house. If any answer is no, use a partner.
Work tied to owning the brand and knowing the customer: brand standards and final approval, strategic decisions and approvals, and repeatable weekly work such as always-on social, versioning and updates.
Work that is high-stakes, needs a specialist or benefits from fresh eyes: big creative ideas, specialized craft such as directors and production companies, and launch or seasonal peaks that would leave a full-time team idle.
By being honest about which small jobs a client could handle internally, giving the client's team toolkits and templates, and focusing agency time on the work where its expertise adds the most value.