oh no, i disagree with you all oh no
when i hire someone to do work for me (not just SEO, anything), i expect them to be an expert in their field, i do not want to pay for someone who is doing research, trial and error, and learning.
if i have any budget at all, the biggest bang for the buck is always the expert
of course, in the field of SEO, its hard to tell who the exper may be.