You asked what this costs part time and full time, and you asked for detail so you know exactly what you're buying. Here is all of it, starting with what I already quoted you and ending with the smallest version of this we could do.
01
So we're working from the same numbers, here is the rate card you already have.
| Fractional Marketing DirectionStrategy, oversight, weekly call, weekly written update, monthly reporting | $2,500 / mo |
| Meta ads managementUp to 3 active campaigns | $1,500 / mo |
| Email marketingCampaigns, automated flows, list growth | $1,250 / mo |
| All three | $5,250 / mo |
| Funnel and tracking foundationPixel events, Shopify to Mailchimp sync, core recovery flows | $1,500 |
| Affiliate program buildStructure, commissions, recruiting kit, onboarding | $2,500 |
| Drift Across AmericaStop one launch plus playbook build | $2,500 |
| Per-lake launch kitAfter the playbook is built | $750 / market |
A marketing director. I set the strategy, I run your ads and your email myself, and I report on it. One weekly call, one weekly written update, monthly numbers.
Those five things are what the SOW asks for. That's the whole difference between the two numbers in this document, and I'd rather show you that than have it look like a rate increase.
02
Taken straight from your Statement of Work and your org chart, broken into every piece so there's nothing vague about it.
This lane and the next one aren't in the SOW you sent. I've kept them in, because your org chart has me on performance, and because these two are where the funnel broke.
Your own Drift Across America plan calls for the geo-targeted launch to run 30 to 45 days before an event. Halloween is October 31, and the pilot starts October 1. That means the ad runway and the pilot start on the same day, with no lead time.
We can still run it and I think we should. I just want it on the record before the debrief. Week one goes to ramp up: content creation, ad and email builds, approvals and sign-off. That leaves three weeks of live promotion against a plan designed for six, and the results should be read that way.
03
This is the version priced against what you actually asked for in the SOW.
Before the number, here's the honest math. Three of the October deliverables are already priced on the rate card you have: the affiliate architecture is the affiliate program build, the event registration and tracking is the funnel and tracking foundation, and Halloween is explicitly a Drift Across America proof of concept, which is stop one plus playbook.
| Marketing direction, one month | $2,500 |
| Meta ads, one month | $1,500 |
| Email, one month | $1,250 |
| Funnel and tracking foundation | $1,500 |
| Affiliate program build | $2,500 |
| Drift Across America, stop one plus playbook | $2,500 |
| What October already totals | $11,750 |
And that's at the old direction fee, before any of the scoreboard, contractor integration or growth architecture the SOW adds. Priced properly, October is $14,250.
Everything in section two. Roughly 100 hours across the month, because October carries the build, the event and the team standing up all at once.
Because October includes six things that only happen once. From November you're paying me to run this machinery. In October you're paying me to build it.
Three of those six were separate project fees on the rate card you already have, totalling $6,500. October absorbs them into one number. November carries no project fees at all, which is why it settles lower.
The $9,500 covers building and running everything behind the event. It does not cover me being there in person. Halloween weekend on site is roughly three more days once travel, setup and the event itself are counted, so I've priced it separately rather than quietly folding it in.
| October pilot, plus the eventEverything above, plus on-site for setup, the event itself, live capture and same-day content direction | $11,000 flat |
| Revenue integration and leadershipScoreboard, operating plan, contractor integration, growth architecture, weekly cadence | $5,000 / mo |
| Meta ads managementUnchanged from my original quote | $1,500 / mo |
| Email and SMSUnchanged from my original quote | $1,250 / mo |
| Build Phase, all three | $7,750 / mo |
Roughly 70 hours a month. Two of those three lines are exactly what I quoted you the first time. The direction line doubled, because that's the line where the job changed.
04
Roughly 160 hours a month. Everything in section two, plus the capacity to run the tour calendar, carry B2B directly until a rep is hired, and be on site at stops.
As we've already discussed, full time is the right answer once AEL's revenue can carry it, or once your partnerships decide to come on board and use the Dream Team. I'm putting the number here so it's ready the moment either of those happens.
05
If the integrator seat is more than you want to commit to this month, this is the alternative, and it's priced exactly as I first quoted it.
| Meta ads managementCampaign strategy, builds, geo-targeted event sequence, audiences, copy, creative briefs, daily monitoring, weekly optimization, pixel and CAPI integrity, post-event retargeting | $1,500 / mo |
| Email and SMSPlatform hygiene, segmentation, event registration flow, reminders and day-of sends, recovery flows, welcome sequence, campaign calendar, capture points, deliverability | $1,250 / mo |
| Both | $2,750 / mo |
I want to be straight with you about this option. It gets Halloween promoted and it gets your email working, and those are real things. It does not answer the question the pilot exists to answer, which is whether this team and this operating model can be repeated across twelve markets in 2027. Nobody would be holding that question in October.
Invoicing. Paid in advance of the service month. October due on start.
Ad spend. Billed separately and paid directly to Meta. Not included in any number above.
Travel. If needed, travel to Lake Travis for Halloween weekend and to any future stop is billed at cost, with your approval in advance.
Per-lake launch kit. Stays at $750 per market for 2027, after the playbook is built. It's the one line I'd keep separate rather than fold into a monthly fee.
Term. October stands on its own. If it isn't working at the end of the month, we part ways, no hard feelings and no questions asked. When it does work, we move into the Build Phase, November 9 through May 8, and that six months is the contract minimum.
Exclusivity. My first proposal offered you the only fractional direction seat I'd hold. Your SOW makes me non-exclusive, so that's your call. The offer stands if you want it.
Participation pool. I'm in on the 4.50% of contribution profit and the value creation bonus.
Expenses. Anything reimbursable gets your approval in advance, as your SOW specifies.
Take the October pilot at $9,500. It gives you the full team standing up around a real event, a scoreboard you can actually run the company from, and a documented answer on November 2 about whether this works. It costs you less than the rate card you already have, and it puts the whole model on trial instead of just the marketing.
On the event itself, I'd put the money toward people on the ground rather than toward me. I'll make sure everything is built, tested and ready to run before the weekend. You make sure Jamie, Maggie, you and hopefully your wife are all at the lake. That's the version where the pilot proves something about the team instead of something about me.
Whatever you choose, I'm ready to help AEL become the brand it was always meant to be.
LET'S GO!