Last month I thought my WordPress plan was set to renew but that is only done when you have a card on file. My plan wasn’t due to expire until the 30th of May and while I had the money to renew last month, I decided not too for a few reasons.
- I am unsure of which plan will best suit my needs for the next twelve months
- I have not decided on my set plan of attack for selling my memory keeping journals and journaling packets
- I haven’t weighed my options about the benefits of having a paid for plan verses a free site considering I do not have a plan mapped out for selling things online
- I have missed too much work to invest in something without seeing a return immediately
- My only fret is that my design layout will be affected and I am not so certain I will invest the time to get it how I want it due to when I do decide having to invest the time on the new site
- I have stepped back from blogging and reading blogs daily to avoid burnout
- My personal life needs attention
- The domain remains mine because it was purchased separately and at a later date from the plan so I do not fear the loss of it
- I want to be more intentional with all I do from here on out
- Direction, routine, and scheduling are things high on my short list of priorities and sticking to them is my biggest priority
- A free site is suitable for the time being and forces me to establish an action plan in regards to my desires to work from home
- I am unsure if I want to air my personal life in the same space I want to develop a professional relationship with customers
- I may use a free site for personal and launch a professional site using a paid for site…the problem there lies not being able to transfer my following to my business site but having my followers on my free site allows them the choice to follow if my business is targeted at their individual interests
- I’ve attempted operating two sites before and one suffered and the other never quite took off but in comparison to beginning my first site, it did well
- I do not want to abandon my R.O.E. as my web persona but I also want to be respected professionaly
- I have no clue what direction I want to go in professionally speaking
- I am working on a few projects so my time is limited
Did I say a few reasons? Lol… It’s more than a few and I need more time to sort things out. The purpose of this post was to a. receive feedback and suggestions from my loyal followers b. to have my thoughts/questions/concerns listed out for reference c. to inform y’all that the overall design of R.O.E. is soon to change due to the fact that final decisions have not been made. Free themes are limited to chose from and if I am honest, I’m not pressuring myself to invest the time it takes to design a website without knowing my next move. If you have any insight into the operations of the WordPress business plan, Etsy, or Shopify please let me know your experience in the comments. Or do you use a self-hosted platform? If so, how much behind the scenes work is required? It is difficult and much more time consuming? Any feedback is great feedback!!
Revenge of Eve 
Mines the 77 a year one with domain. I didn’t enjoy renewing it either.
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I will stick to the free plan until I have a monetization plan in place.
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Good thinking. I kept with what I had because I’m not saving enough to adapt. 🙃
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I have started saving again with only 5 dollars at a time but hey, I’m up to 20 dollars 🤓
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I think it makes a lot of sense to go free until you decide what you want to do. Chances are a good chunk of your readers are reading through the WordPress reader (like me) and not even seeing your theme anyway. Probably better to have a well thought out plan and go with it rather than trying something and then deciding to change and having all the logistical hassles that go along with that.
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True, true, and true!!
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I hate the notion that knowing someone’s personal issues means you can’t interact with them professionally, e.g., by buying their product. i’d like to see an era in which we can be BOTH people–the person with the problems, and the salesperson–without having to hide one from the other. But I’m probably the odd one out there, and trust me; I know diddly about business. But it looks like you’re putting a lot of thought into it, which is great!! Keep us posted!
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Ikr. I agree with you and it doesn’t matter to a degree but both my parents owned businesses and I can see the reasons behind the boundaries between the two. You’d be surprised the lengths people go to to take advantage of other people. And that isn’t so much my concern as it would be if I had a brick and mortar store. I do know that you do not mix business with friends or family.
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Depending on how blogging continues for me, I may also do the same. I am unsure if it was a wise decision for me to go ahead and get a paid plan, especially as my blog is still a baby. Next year, depending on growth and funds, I may just go back to the free plan.
– Nyxie
http://www.nyxiesnook.com
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I’m sorry for the delayed reply. Your comment went to spam because you included a link with your comment. I enjoyed having a premium plan but due to lack of funds and an uncertain future, I will let it expire. Thanks for commenting. Many of your comments may go unseen because of including a link. Just a head’s up.
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You have a lot to decide on because you have so many particulars going on.
If I could, I wish I went with the free plan, only because I have had so many issues since changing my premium plan to personal. Then the sneak attack of a domain charge. That should have all been included with what we already pay. (Simply my opinion).
I’m sure you will make the correct choice… You definitely are weighing the pros/cons list pretty well!
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I guess I can consider it a leason learned. I jumped on the premium plan last year without a plan and all I received was a cute theme and some support. Not sure if that was worth the $100 but at least I learned, right. Lol.
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My SSDI doesn’t allow the finer things. Heck, even with insurance, I can only afford to see one doctor or my therapist once a month.
I am so overly frustrated with WP and that surpirse domain charge. That one pushed me ofer the edge.
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Did they offer a refund? I would imagine them having a policy to where if you weren’t satisfied, you could get a refund. I am not sure if such is offered but hell all other platforms offer a refund if you are not satisfied.
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Nope! I told themif they were going to charge a domain charge to change my service to a free service instead of paying for the personal plan that = $60. They wouldn’t do it. So, come next year, I’m changing to the free plan, and only pay the damn domain charge of $22 (That’s if they don’t become greedy between now and then and up the cost of the domain charge too).
We spend this money, and the service is getting worse daily. It’s not fair!
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🙁 I’m sorry you are having a rough go of it.
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Eh, nothing I can do about it now. Come next year, I’m changing the whole thing.
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I’m going to be a bit more pragmatic with how to come to your answers. I think it all stems backward from one question: How viable is your business? As a journalist, I covered the dot-com boom of the late 90s, and like every other journalist, predicted it’s implosion five years later. When I was the editor of a local magazine, we had a monthly “new business” feature and I was probably about 95% calling businesses that would fail or succeed.
I think it all comes down to honestly analyzing the answer to this question: “Despite people claiming to love my idea and wishing me the best, are there enough people who will part with their money — on an ongoing basis — to justify the investment of my time and resources?”
Ideas you’ve convinced yourself are good, potentially misplaced confidence, an earnest desire to succeed and the verbal support of others have led many small business owners astray from the very beginning.
I think once you figure out, objectively, what represents success, what it takes to get there, and if it’s worth it, you’ll have a lot of your other questions answered.
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I appreciate this way more than you can imagine and because of the exact reasons I have not launched, so to speak. My idea is actually huge and would/could operate under an umbrella type system having multiple mini “businesses” that play off of one another. It’s crazy because today I was able to pull it all together, put words to my why, define my mission and many other things that I have been stumped on. I’ve known all along the idea I want to present but wasn’t sure how to tie them together. If any of that makes sense. And I use the term business loosely because I believe in order for me to achieve my goal of working from home, I may need to approach it from a campaign point of view and from there allow the mini segments to unfold naturally and over an extended period of time.
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It would be so nice to present it to a project manager and hear what they’d say as far as it’s longevity and low labor, low cost, investments. I wish I could afford one to help me define a guide so that I can scale.
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If you’re able to get something of a plan on paper, I’d be happy to take a look at it and see if you’ve got gaping holes, blinds spots and what really seems to work.
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Most definitely. I will draw it out like mind mapping if that is ok. I really appreciate it and any feedback you have. I would have to establish a separate domain because my target audience is quite different but I am prepared for that.
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Get the idea figured out on paper before you take any steps forward. The last thing you want to have to do is waste resources or time until you’ve got the plan mapped out. Just let me know when you’re ready.
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Of course. I am trying to be less impulsive. I was fortunate to have been able to watch my parents own and operate their own businesses as I grew up and separate of each other. I totally remember their mistakes as it impacted us as a family but for the most part I believe this to be an advantage. I will work on it over the next week. Would I email it to your contact here on WP?
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I really appreciate the offer. Your honesty and guidance/feedback can only add value to my ideas. I don’t want to become so immersed and invested without an outside opinion. You saved the day!!!!
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My email is on my contact page. Just send it there
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Kk.
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