What is insourcing, and why do we use the word differently?
Feel stuck between two bad choices? Hourly help that flakes, or an in-house hire you can't carry yet. There's a third option, and it's called insourcing.
So what is insourcing? The dictionary gives one answer. We give a slightly different one. I'll walk you through both, because the gap between them is the whole point of this post.
Our meaning fits in one line. The Office-Based Insourcing Model is how DeskTeam360 works: dedicated teams in physical offices, North American account managers, a flat monthly rate, unlimited tasks, and no contracts.
What most people mean by insourcing
In the everyday business sense, insourcing means a company's own people do the work, instead of an outside company. That's how the Cambridge Dictionary entry for insourcing puts it.
Merriam-Webster's definition of insource says about the same thing. A business gets the goods or services it needs from in-house or domestic sources, not from outside or foreign suppliers.
So it's the flip side of outsourcing. With outsourcing, you pay someone outside your company to do the work. With insourcing, you keep the work inside, or you bring it back inside.
Take a made-up example. Say you run a 3-person agency, and you've been sending your website builds to an outside shop. Then you hire a developer and bring those builds back under your roof. That's insourcing the way most people mean it.
That's why most people hear the word and think "hire employees." It's a fair read. It's also not what we mean.
What we mean by it: a dedicated team that works like staff
We flipped the word around. You don't bring the work into your building. We brought the team into ours.
Here's my own number. Over a million dollars spent outsourcing across 13 years with 200-plus freelancers. Work not getting done well or on time became a recurring issue. That's why I created our insourcing model. I dealt with the same frustrations.
So we brought our team in-house, into one office, under one roof. Every team member comes into our office to work.
It's an actual office with new computers, three different internet providers, and two backup power sources. A team leader works there with the team and holds them accountable.
Now the part that matters to you. DeskTeam360 is different than outsourcing overseas. With our insourcing model, you work with the same developers, designers, and technical Virtual Assistants getting to know you and how you like things done.
Every plan comes with a North American account manager, a team leader, 2 developers, 2 technical Virtual Assistants, and 2 designers. I'm on 2 weekly group calls too. You pay one flat monthly rate for unlimited tasks, with no contracts.
It's like the difference between calling a new plumber every time something leaks, and having one who already knows your house. He knows where the shutoff valve is, and he remembers what he fixed last time. That's what the same people every month does for your work.
And it's not one kind of work. The team does websites, development, automation, AI workflows, video, tech support, and design. You can see everything the team does on our Services page.
The full name for all of this is the Office-Based Insourcing Model, and our How It Works page walks through it step by step.
Insourcing vs outsourcing vs hiring
There are four common ways to get production work done when you can't do it all yourself. The quickest way to tell them apart is to ask three questions. Who does the work? Who manages it? How do you pay?
- Hiring in-house: your employee does the work, you manage it, and you pay a salary.
- Outsourcing: an outside company's people do the work, their manager runs it, and you usually pay by the project, by the hour, or on a retainer.
- Freelancers: one independent person does the work, you manage it, and you usually pay by the hour or by the job.
- Insourcing, the way we do it: the same team does the work from our office, a team leader and your account manager run it, and you pay one flat monthly rate.
None of the first three is wrong. They solve different problems.
If your choice is between an agency and a hire, there's a separate post on a marketing agency vs an in-house team
If you're still sorting out the basics, start with what an outsourced marketing team is
If you've seen the phrase marketing team as a service, there's a post that explains it.
Pros and cons of each
Start with hiring in-house. The good part is focus. That person works only for you, sits in on your meetings, and learns your business from the inside. The hard part is the weight. You carry a salary in slow months too. Finding and training someone takes time. One person usually brings one main skill. And when they're out, or they leave, the work stops.
Next is outsourcing. The good part is speed. You skip the hiring, and you can buy a skill you don't have. The hard part is the distance. The people on your work can change from job to job, and they have other clients. When you pay by the hour or by the project, the bill can change from month to month. If the money side is your main question, there's a post on what it costs to outsource marketing
Then there are freelancers. The good part is how easy it is to start. For a one-time job, like a single landing page, a good freelancer can be a great fit. The hard part is that you become the manager. A freelancer usually has one main skill, has other clients, and sets their own hours. If the job calls for a developer, a video editor, and a designer, that's three people to find, brief, and follow up with.
Last is insourcing, the way we do it. The good part is the same people. They work together in one office, and they learn your brand, your preferences, and your standards. Your account manager speaks fluent English and bridges any language gaps with the production team. When someone's out sick or on vacation, the team keeps moving.
On the money side, it's a flat monthly rate with no contracts, so you can cancel any time. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee. That's a full refund within the first 30 days, with no conditions. The three plans and their prices are on our home page.
Now the hard part, because there is one. Your tasks run one, two, or three at a time, depending on your plan, so a long list moves through a line. DeskTeam360 is not a replacement for your marketing strategist, business coach, or ads manager. The words for a sales page or an ad come from you or your copywriter. And the team works in our office, not yours.
Gaynor is the owner of Charisma Ink. When she told her story, her agency did PR, digital marketing, ghostwriting, book publishing, and influencer marketing for accounting and fintech. Before us, she had a series of contractors. She put it this way: "DeskTeam360 has saved me the stress of hiring or contracting; with them, I have saved at least 20 grand a month."
Can you give me an example of insourcing?
You already have the textbook one. It's the agency that hires a developer and brings its builds back inside.
Now a real one from our side of the word. Michael Quinn is an SEO expert in North Dakota and the founder of My Site Ranked. When he told his story, he'd run a digital marketing agency for seven years. The Duct Tape Marketing Network recommended us to him.
His story runs under the title "I Was Able To Eliminate Frustrations From Working With People Overseas To Being Able To Do More Quality Work", and that says it better than I can.
So what changed for him? He said having two points of contact made the communication a lot clearer and easier. He also said we set the expectations up front and then met them. And he summed it up this way: “I Am More Than Confident That I’m Getting My Money’s Worth And More Bang For My Buck.”
The rest is in Michael Quinn's case study
There are more stories like his on our case studies page
Is it right for a small agency?
We built this for the owner of a small digital or marketing agency, about 1 to 5 people, who still does the client work, already pays for outside help, and is turning work away. The service is online. We serve any US state, plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Been burned by outside help before? I get it. That's the reason there's an actual office, with managers, and the same people on your work every month.
It's not for everyone, and I'd rather say so now.
- If you only want design, we're not the right fit.
- If your main problem is strategy, we're not it either. We're here to execute, not consult.
- If you want per-project pricing, this isn't that. It's one flat monthly rate.
- If you're a big enterprise, this wasn't built for you.
Running a bigger agency? The Marketer and Agency plans are the step up for agencies with 5 to 25 staff, with 2 or 3 tasks running at once.
If you're comparing teams, there's a guide on how to choose a done-for-you production team .
Still not sure what you'd even hand off? That's a fair worry. The next read is the big list of tasks a team can take off your plate .
Questions people ask about insourcing
What is insourcing in simple terms?
In the usual sense, insourcing means a company's own people do the work, instead of an outside company. At DeskTeam360 we use the word for our model. We brought our team in-house, into one office, and you work with the same people every month for one flat monthly rate.
What is the difference between insourcing and outsourcing?
With outsourcing, you pay someone outside your company to do the work. With insourcing in the usual sense, your own employees do it. Our model is its own thing. The team works in our office, not on your payroll, and you get the same people every month, a team leader, and a North American account manager.
Does insourcing mean I have to hire employees?
In the dictionary sense, usually yes. With our model, no. You don't hire anyone. You join a team that's already built, on one flat monthly rate, with no contracts.
What does DeskTeam360's insourcing model cost?
There are three plans. Entrepreneur is $1,497 a month, 1 task at a time. Marketer is $2,994 a month, 2 tasks at a time. Agency is $4,491 a month, 3 tasks at a time. Every plan covers every service. The only difference is how many tasks run at once.
Where does the DeskTeam360 team work?
Every team member comes into our office to work. It has new computers, three different internet providers, and two backup power sources. A team leader works in the office with the team.
Call it whatever you want. The word matters less than what's behind it. When you hand off a task, it helps to know who's doing it, where they sit, and who answers when it comes back wrong. That's what the office is for.
