You know who I am and how I work - I don't like to beat around the bush.
I've been in this industry for 17 years. I've seen it all: from websites thrown together on a train, to huge platforms that businesses tie their whole future to. And you know what I've noticed in that time? People still don't know how to buy online services wisely.
Today we're looking at subscriptions. Many agencies push clients into ongoing contracts at all costs, and on the other side clients are often afraid it's just protection money in disguise. The truth is, it depends on what you really need.
Most of my long-term clients work with me on a subscription - some pay monthly, others a flat fee for the year upfront. But before we get to why, let's put our cards on the table.
01When is a subscription simply burning your money?
Picture this: you run a small craft workshop, you're a solicitor, or you have a local garage. You need a simple, elegant business card website. Customers should come in, read who you are, check your opening hours and tap your phone number. That's it.
If you know that over the next three years the only thing you'll change on that website is maybe the profile photo on the “About us” page - run away from subscriptions.
The website just needs to be there and look good? Pay once. Don't buy care you won't use.
If someone like that came to me and asked for ongoing care for a monthly fee, I'd tell them straight: “Mate, don't do it, you're throwing money down the drain. I'll make you a great website, you'll pay once, and if in a year you want to change your price list, you'll call me and I'll sort it in five minutes for a fraction of that cost”.
A subscription makes no sense if your website just needs to “be there” and look nice. Then a one-off job - “let's do it and forget about it” - is the most honest solution.
02But what if your money and your reputation are at stake online?
For me a subscription isn't just “a technical website update once a month”. If a client pays me and starts working with me, they get the full relationship. Everything to do with their business online is included.
They stop being “a client” and become my partner, whose interests I look after as if they were my own.
- 01A fake review
A competitor leaves you a negative Google review. You don't look for a PR agency - you call me, and I help get it removed and put the fire out.
- 02Spam and attacks
Your inbox is overflowing with junk, or the form sends hundreds of strange messages. I go in, block it and lock it down. You get back to your work.
- 03Domain and outages
Someone forgot to renew the domain and the website disappears. I keep an eye on it - before you notice something is wrong, it's already sorted.
- 04A promotion on Friday at 7pm
The server can't cope with the traffic or the system falls over. You don't go looking for help in online groups. You calmly drink your tea, because I have my finger on the pulse.
03What I really give people with a subscription is peace of mind.
My business partners don't need to look for new people for copywriting, SEO, email problems or website changes. They have me. They have a person and a company that knows their business inside out.
They don't have to explain to someone new, over and over, what they want. With a subscription I become your own web team, within arm's reach. It's a living, long-term relationship with a person, not a ticket dropped into a faceless corporate system.
04My take? Find the deal that suits you.
You know who I am. You know how I work. If you need a simple business card website, I'll make it for you once, and make it well. I won't push costs on you that you don't need.
But if you want to grow your business, fight for your market and simply sleep well, knowing that your whole online image and all the technical stuff are my problem, not yours - then we'll sit down, talk and agree on a model that takes it all off your plate.
And how is it for you? Do you prefer to work as and when, paying only for work done, or do you value peace of mind and one contact for everything? Let me know.
