You know email should be making you money, but the newsletter keeps slipping and the welcome sequence was written two years ago. So you wonder whether to hire someone. Here we compare doing it yourself, a freelancer, an agency and a done-for-you studio, with typical costs, what to keep, how to vet people, and who should wait.
Outsource your email marketing when emails go out late or not at all, your list grows without sales, or deliverability is slipping. A freelancer commonly costs $2,000 to $5,000 a month for regular campaigns; agencies usually cost more. Under a few hundred subscribers or without a clear offer, do it yourself with templates first.
Who this is for: Coaches, consultants and founders deciding whether to hire help with their email list.
Most people don't decide to outsource. They notice email quietly stopped happening. The weekly newsletter became monthly, then occasional, and the list went cold in between.
These are the signs we see most often:
One of these on its own might just mean a busy month. Two or three together, for more than a quarter, usually means the job has outgrown the time you can give it. That's the moment hiring help starts to pay for itself, as long as you have something to sell.
There's no single best option. It depends on your list size, your budget and how much of your own time you can give. Here's how the four common routes compare. Prices are typical ranges at the time of writing, and they vary a lot by scope.
| Option | What you get | Typical cost | Time from you | Best for | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself with templates | An email tool, ready-made templates and your own writing | Tools around $9 to $400 a month depending on list size | High: a few hours a week | Small lists and early offers | It slips when you get busy |
| Freelancer | One person writing and sending campaigns, sometimes sequences | Commonly $2,000 to $5,000 a month for regular campaigns | Medium: briefing and reviewing | Steady newsletters with a clear voice | One person, so holidays and illness stop the sends |
| Specialist email agency | A team for strategy, copy, design, segmentation and reporting | Usually more than a freelancer, often thousands a month on retainer | Medium: monthly calls and approvals | Larger lists and frequent sends | Generic copy that doesn't sound like you |
| Done-for-you studio | Email plus the funnels, automations, offer and follow-up around it, run week to week | Priced on scope after an audit | Low to medium: voice and offer input | Coaches and founders whose leaks sit outside email too | Overkill if you only need a newsletter written |
If you want the full breakdown of tool and service prices, we cover it in how much email marketing costs.
The mistake we see most is handing off everything, including the bits only you can do. Then the emails go out on time but sound like nobody in particular, and readers stop opening them.
Keep these:
Hand off these:
A simple way to split it is 20 minutes a week from you. Send a voice note with a story, an opinion or a client result, and let the person you hire turn it into the week's emails. You stay the voice, and they do the heavy lifting around it.
Start with a short brief. Say who your readers are, what you sell, how big your list is, what you send now and what you want email to do. One page is plenty. Then ask every candidate the same questions:
Watch for these red flags:
Ask for two or three past examples and one client you can speak to.
Honestly, some people shouldn't hire anyone yet. Wait if:
A done-for-you studio like Unbury fits a different situation. You have an offer that sells, a list that should be earning more, and the problem isn't only email. Maybe the opt-in barely converts, the sales call follow-up is missing, or leads go cold between the funnel and the inbox. Hiring a writer won't fix those.
We find where your marketing is losing customers, build the fix across email, funnels, automations and follow-up, and run it week to week. You keep your voice and your offers. We handle the rest. If that sounds like where you are, start with a free marketing audit and we'll tell you honestly whether you need us, a freelancer or neither.
Freelancers commonly charge around $2,000 to $5,000 a month for regular campaigns, and agencies usually charge more. One-off projects like a welcome sequence are often quoted separately. You'll also pay for your email tool, typically $9 to $400 a month depending on list size.
Not always. A freelancer is often better for a small business with one clear voice and a steady newsletter. An agency suits larger lists that need strategy, design, segmentation and reporting together, and gives you cover when one person is away.
No. Set up the email platform in your own name and give them a user login. If you part ways, you keep the list, the automations and the history, and you can simply remove their access.
It varies with your list, offer and starting point, so be wary of anyone who promises a fixed date. Fixing a missing welcome sequence or a deliverability problem can show up within weeks. Building a regular sending habit that drives sales usually takes a few months to judge fairly.
Send us your setup and we will tell you honestly where it is leaking customers and what to fix first. Free, no pitch.