Although the brief specified a freelancer, it was for one with specialist knowledge of everything, from travel and technology to business, design, and gaming. And a fair few other categories for good measure.

I’m not exactly a one-trick pony, but this had AGENCY stamped all over it. I recommended a favourite and waved bye-bye to it. I’m as good as my last job, and I didn’t see how I could shine in that one. Besides, what’s the point of spending 100 hours bringing in results I quoted I could do in ten?

Deciding if a freelancer or an agency best: Five things to consider

1) Budget

The first factor most people consider. Freelancers should be charging about half their agency rate. “Bargain!” I hear you cry. But it’s not that simple. Say you hire a senior freelancer at account director level or above. Bear in mind that the day rate is fixed, no matter the task. So yes, fantastic value for money regarding strategy and guidance and good value for media outreach and creating content.

However, there is not so much when it comes to sourcing coverage, building media lists, feature research, reporting tools, etc. In an agency, a junior or intern would be tasked with mundane and time-consuming activities and could charge accordingly. You might be better with an agency if you have an admin-heavy/consultancy-light brief. News-heavy accounts (e.g. a release a week) also qualify for this model as they fit better into an agency ‘machine’.

2) Expertise

So if you need lots of different sectors covered off as described above, 100s of media outlets, it’s agency all the way, if you need integrated services, again an agency is often a smart choice although most freelancers have a trusted network they partner up with. But if you want access to senior level support or a fair amount of hand holding again a freelancer might be a better fit as account directors can be pretty thinly spread in a busy agency across six accounts or more. So your monthly retainer may only allows for a day – to half a day of precious ‘AD’ time.

3) Capacity

Everyone knows it’s a feast or famine for freelancers, but a feast for a freelancer might not be a banquet for you, the client. Be sure to understand your chosen freelancer’s workload and exactly how many concurrent clients they have. It may be their eyes are bigger than their hands-on abilities. This is less of a problem for agencies who have a bigger pool of staff and, of course, can hire should work levels remain consistently high.

4) Best practice

A good agency continues to hone and develop best practices. The opportunity to learn in an agency is one of the most compelling reasons to work there. A freelancer from ‘birth’ will not have had the same exposure and will have had a different learning experience. They may have developed some shabby habits, and I’m not just talking about dress code. If you are going to work with a freelancer, check their pedigree and make sure they have a good few years of agency or established in-house experience that they can bring to the table with them. Ask some journalists what they think.

5) Payment terms

And finally, if you know your company is somewhat backward at coming forward when settling its bills, again, go to an agency where the two account departments can fight it out between themselves, leaving your client relationship cosy. Working directly with a near-hysterical, half-starved freelancer who hasn’t been paid for 100 days will not necessarily get you the kind of exposure you had in mind. Think Sideshow Bob on Twitter.

Whoever you choose to partner with for your comms, go in with a glad heart and some real commitment so that 2012 is a great year for you both.