Never Sell a Site without a Maintenance Agreement

Presented by: Mike McDermott@bashfoo#bashfoo

#WCDayton

2Introduction

“So where did you come up with the name: Bash Foo?”

What I tell “clients”: It’s fun.. It’s whimsical.. It makes me TELL YOU what I do..

What I tell “nerds”:

In computer science, programmers use metasyntactic variables to describe a placeholder name or an alias term commonly used to denote the subject matter under discussion or an arbitrary member of a class of things under discussion. The use of a metasyntactic variable is helpful in freeing a programmer from creating a logically named variable, which is often useful when creating or teaching examples of an algorithm. The word foo is the principal example.

Any symbol or word which does not violate the rules of the language can be used as a metasyntactic variable, but nonsense words are commonly used.

By mathematical analogy: A metasyntactic variable is a word that is a variable for other words, just as in algebra letters are used as variables for numbers.

3First a Factoid, and then a Quote

In an analysis of 40,000+ WordPress websites that ranked in Alexa’s Top 1 Million websites, more than 70% of WordPress installations are vulnerable to hacker attacks.

US Federal Bureau of Investigation (Nov. 2015)“Continuous Web site defacements are being perpetrated by individuals sympathetic to the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL) a.k.a. Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS). Although the defacements demonstrate low-level hacking sophistication, they are disruptive and often costly in terms of lost business revenue and expenditures on technical services to repair infected computer systems.”

4Why is Maintenance Important?

Security

Functionality

Compatibility

5Why Provide Maintenance?

FreelancersFreelance website design work is feast or famine, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

• Struggling designers tied to project based income MUST develop other forms of income to stay in business for more than a couple of years.

• A freelancer with a recurring service model has a tie to the client for updates and new offerings.

• You are exchanging income for peace of mind.

Agencies

Agencies should include as much technical as creative into their game.

• Reduces business risk.

• Improves contract performance.

• Provides multiple opportunities for upsell.

• Once the threshold of cost is met, agencies can use this revenue stream to enhance their hosting capabilities.

6

What is included in a WordPress Maintenance Package?

More than you think.

• Offsite backups.

• Site and Server monitoring.

• Minor site updates.

• Server maintenance.

7What Should You Charge?

Costs of Providing Maintenance Per Year

Tools Cost (backups, centralized management) $600

Security Remediation (outside remediation) $400

Helpdesk Ticketing for Requests $720

Recurring Billing Software $348

Enhanced SPAM filtering $960

Web Hosting and Server Maintenance* $7,600

Total Cost of Providing this Service $10,628

* Some freelancers / agencies won’t do hosting…

8What Can You Make?

Scenario: 50 websites/clients with 15% of them having an enhanced maintenance agreement, and 10% of them having enhanced SPAM protection.

Source of Income Per Year

Web Hosting (50@$149/year) $7,450

Enhanced Maintenance (8@$129/mos.) $12,384

Enhanced SPAM protection (5@$20/mos.) $1,200

Total Revenue from this Service $21,034

If you make more $$ by NOT hosting the sites you design.. Why host?

That’s a 50% recurring revenue situation when you handle web hosting

And if you don’t handle web hosting, it’s an 80% return.

9Should You Do Web Hosting?

Provides a direct line of sight to possible problems

Client response to problems is equal to their investment

If you seriously do SEO, you really should understand hosting

If your chances of appearing inept in front of the client are high

Your growth rate doesn’t require it (1-2 sites a year)

If you are graphic designer first, web designer third

10Who could you sell WordPress Maintenance plans to?

Open season on the competition. Why not start calling site owners and asking them if they have ever received a security scan of their website, or ask them if they know for sure that their site is getting backed up weekly/monthly.

Your Current Clients

Your Past Clients

Those Not Even Your Client

They already know and trust you for your web design services. Consider this as a way to cement your relationship, offering them hosting, monitoring, SPAM filtering and security patching for a discounted rate.

You developed a site for them last year, but now you are coming back around to offer site hosting and maintenance. Great service, from a provider they trust. You are looking out for them and their continued peace of mind.

11Two Tips to Getting in the Door

Google Search Engine Results

• Google relies on site load speed as an important part of its algorithm that determines which sites show up in search on page one, and which ones do not. Are you aware of your site load speed?

• Run a quick test of their site first and let them know

• Provide them with insight on what makes their site run faster

• Let them know that a tuned web server and optimized code can help out

• Give them a way to contact you or follow up for a consult

12

Security Audit A WordPress site that is unpatched is a pretty easy target for site defacement.• We have seen defacements take less than

30 seconds from start to finish.

• Ask them if it would be OK to log into your WP site and run a scan

• Share the results of the scan (and knowledge of when the last time the WP install was patched) let them know their vulnerability

• Within hours you restore it to your fast and secure server and install patch software to keep it up to date

Two Tips to Getting in the Door

13What We Have Learned

• The MAJORITY of WordPress websites are incredibly easy to hack. (so LOTS of targets)• Site Maintenance includes monitoring, updates, patching, and sometimes hosting.• WordPress maintenance packages are integral to a strong business plan.• Web Hosting + Maintenance = double whammy value for your clients.• You can sell maintenance packages to literally every WordPress site owner.• Two ways to “get your foot in the door” with your site maintenance offer.

• Something entirely random… what a metasyntactic variable is.

14

15Take-Aways

1. Our Website Maintenance Agreement Template for you to download and use as you wish. Because it is an Agreement, and legally binding, please be sure to have your attorney help you customize it for you and your organization.

2. This slide deck in PDF format to download and share with your team or keep as a reference.

Visit: https://bashfoo.com/wcdayton to download materials.

Thank you for your time and participation!

Bash Foo140 E. Broadway Ave.Tipp City, OH 45371(888) 345-5847Bashfoo.com#WCDayton / #bashfoo / @bashfoo