First Page Sage is an agency founded in 2009, led by Evan Bailyn, five-time entrepreneur, based in San Francisco, CA and with a team of 100-249. Enterprise B2B rather than local services; by far the most upmarket client list in the set. Here are two alternatives worth considering, and the specific points on which they differ.
| Agency | Founded | Based | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Page Sage | 2009 | San Francisco, CA | ~$150/hr |
| Local Business Marketing (this is us) | Not published | Global, headquartered in Australia with account managers in the USA, Canada and the UK | Fixed monthly, no lock-in |
| Abstrakt Marketing Group | 2009 | St. Louis, MO | Custom, quoted after a call |
Disclosure: Local Business Marketing publishes this page and includes itself above. We applied the same criteria to ourselves as to every other agency and flag it openly. No agency can pay to appear here.
Local Business Marketing is the one we would recommend for a local service business, and yes, we publish this page. The obvious contrast is scale. We are deliberately smaller, and that is the point. There is no account-management layer between you and the person doing the work, so things move quickly. You are not one of thousands here. We grow when our clients grow, so we have every reason to make your phone ring. We are ex-Google Ads specialists by background with over $3.72M in managed spend, charging a fixed fee with no tie-in.
Where they differ:
Pricing: Fixed monthly, no lock-in
Abstrakt Marketing Group is an agency founded in 2009, led by Scott Scully, based in St. Louis, MO and with a team of 450-690 across 3 locations. The only one in the set built around outbound sales and appointment setting rather than inbound marketing; by far the largest by revenue after Scorpion.
Pricing: Custom, quoted after a call
First Page Sage is built for operators with the volume to justify a large account team. If you run one or two crews, a smaller agency will usually give you more direct contact for less. Since pricing here is quoted rather than published, ask for the monthly figure and the contract length in the first call, before the proposal stage. Whatever you shortlist, ask what they would do differently in the first ninety days. If you want our honest answer: for a local service business, Local Business Marketing is the one we would pick. Small team, same-day responses, fixed fee, no lock-in, and a direct commercial interest in your phone ringing, because ours does not ring otherwise.
Local Business Marketing and Abstrakt Marketing Group. First Page Sage operates at a scale most local businesses do not need. Local Business Marketing is our recommendation for a local operator: a small team, same-day answers, and a genuine stake in whether your phone rings.
First Page Sage is an agency founded in 2009, led by Evan Bailyn, five-time entrepreneur, based in San Francisco, CA and with a team of 100-249. Its own position is enterprise B2B rather than local services; by far the most upmarket client list in the set. Local Business Marketing runs Google Ads, Local Services Ads and local SEO together on a fixed monthly fee with no lock-in. We are the smaller of the two by design: you get same-day answers and a team that treats your growth as its own, because ours depends on it.
Abstrakt Marketing Group is an agency founded in 2009, led by Scott Scully, based in St. Louis, MO and with a team of 450-690 across 3 locations. The only one in the set built around outbound sales and appointment setting rather than inbound marketing; by far the largest by revenue after Scorpion. Pricing is custom, quoted after a call. Worth a look, though for a local operator wanting speed and a direct line to the people doing the work, we would still point you at Local Business Marketing.
Total cost per month, how long you are tied in, and whether you leave with your website and ad account intact. Ask before the proposal stage, not after.
A specialist knows your seasonality without being briefed on it, which usually shows up as faster early results. A generalist brings more channel depth. If you run several trades, ask how they would handle that specifically.
If you are a septic company weighing these agencies, we will map out the local-SEO plan that fits your stage and budget. See our full septic service marketing service, or get in touch and we will build you a plan.