Why marketing fees go up at $200k months (it’s risk, not busywork)
When home service companies hit high six-figure months, marketing fees rise because ad spend risk rises — not because someone sent more emails. How Orbit pricing works.
When a home service company crosses into high six-figure months, marketing fees should go up — not because the agency invented more busywork, but because a bad week of ads now threatens trucks and payroll. Our Orbit stage is about ~$1.5k/mo + 20% of ad spend: risk cover as Search budgets scale. Rewired’s path from roughly $60k to $220k+ months is what that pressure looks like in real life.
What are you actually buying at Orbit?
Pre-flight is cheap proof — often ~$500/mo territory, LSA setup around $500, pay per booked call we QA. Liftoff is ~$1.5k/mo for SEO and ad management together once the foundation converts. Orbit is the stage where spend is large enough that “set and forget” is negligence.
~$1.5k/mo + ~20% of ad spend. Hiring sprints ~$500 setup and ~$500/mo while live, Meta often ~$30–50/day for about ten days. Month to month — see get started and the Flight Plan.
The percentage is not a vanity metric tax. It’s so someone accountable is watching the account when a bid strategy drift or a landing-page miss would idle a twelve-person crew.
What did Rewired teach us about the plateau?
Rewired didn’t need another pitch deck at $220k months. It needed ads that kept working, a site that converted, and hiring so demand didn’t just stress John. Crew went 5 → 12. Booked calls roughly 1.5 → 6 a day. That’s Orbit work: scale carefully, hire into demand, don’t blow up a working system for a rebrand.
You’re not paying for more reports. You’re paying so the ads don’t collapse under trucks and payroll.
When is percentage-of-spend the wrong fee?
- You’re still proving LSA and profile basics — stay on Pre-flight economics.
- The agency can’t explain what risk they’re managing at your spend level.
- Fees rise while booked jobs and revenue flatline — that’s headcount, not Orbit.
- You’re being sold Orbit on day one with a $10k setup. That’s the pattern in bad vs good agencies, not staged growth like Honest Hank’s.
How to talk about fees with any partner
Ask what stage you’re in, what one outcome you should see in sixty days, and how fees change when spend doubles. Honest answers sound like the Flight Plan. Vague answers sound like a retainer that only goes up.
Marketing that gets you to $200k months has to change shape when you arrive. If the fee model doesn’t, something else is paying for the risk — usually you, quietly, when the calendar dips.
What to Ask Before You Hire Help
At high ad spend the downside of a bad week is trucks, payroll, and a full crew sitting. Orbit pricing (~$1.5k/mo + about 20% of ad spend) is risk management as budgets rise — not a reward for the agency’s headcount. Rewired’s climb past $200k months is where that stress shows up.
Roughly $1.5k per month plus about 20% of ad spend, with hiring sprints around $500 setup and $500/mo while live. Liftoff before that is about $1.5k/mo for SEO and ad management together. Full bands are published on the get-started page.
It can be, if nothing about the work changes. In our model the percentage shows up when Search budgets are large enough that a misfire hurts the business — someone accountable has to watch risk, not only report clicks. If you’re still on Pre-flight LSA economics, you should not be on Orbit fees.
When Google is producing, revenue is climbing toward six figures monthly, and the constraint is scaling Search carefully plus hiring — not proving the first booked jobs. The Flight Plan page maps Pre-flight → Liftoff → Orbit with Honest Hank’s and Rewired as examples.
No. We work month to month. Fees should track results close enough that leaving hurts you because the work is good — not because a contract says so.
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