Scorpion is an agency founded in 2001, led by Rustin Kretz, based in Lehi, UT (originally Valencia, CA) and with a team of 1,000+. Enterprise scale and single-vendor platform; the largest agency in this comparison set. Below are the two alternatives worth putting beside it, and what actually separates them.
| Agency | Founded | Based | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scorpion | 2001 | Lehi, UT (originally Valencia, CA) | Custom (12-month typical for SEO/marketing tech; ads often month-to-month (per own site)) |
| 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 |
| Comrade Digital Marketing Agency | 2008 | Chicago, IL | $10,000+ |
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. When you call, you get an answer the same day, not a ticket number. We are a small team and every client matters to us commercially. Our business only grows if yours does, so we work like it. The team includes ex-Google Ads specialists with over $3.72M in managed ad spend, on a fixed monthly fee with no lock-in.
Where they differ:
Pricing: Fixed monthly, no lock-in
Comrade Digital Marketing Agency is an agency founded in 2008, based in Chicago, IL and with a team of ~31-34. Claims 130+ contractor clients since 2008; project-based option unusual among home-services agencies.
Where they differ:
Pricing: $10,000+
Scorpion 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 Comrade Digital Marketing Agency. Scorpion 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.
Scorpion is an agency founded in 2001, led by Rustin Kretz, based in Lehi, UT (originally Valencia, CA) and with a team of 1,000+. Its own position is enterprise scale and single-vendor platform; the largest agency in this comparison 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.
Comrade Digital Marketing Agency is an agency founded in 2008, based in Chicago, IL and with a team of ~31-34. Claims 130+ contractor clients since 2008; project-based option unusual among home-services agencies. Pricing is $10,000+. 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.
Ask for the monthly total including setup, the length of the commitment, and who keeps the website and ad account if the relationship ends. That third answer is where lock-in actually lives.
If you run one trade, a specialist normally gets moving quicker. If you run several, or expect to, breadth matters more than familiarity. Ask each how many clients they have in your exact trade.
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.