Unless you have someone assigned the task of Auditor, you probably have unused services, apps, and tools you're paying for — and providers yielding no real ROI. Here's how to look at it.
Check your hosting and domain registrar
When onboarding new clients, I most often find they're paying for hosting services they don't need or never knew they had. Cheap hosts like GoDaddy are marketed at "non-techie" people and take advantage with confusing, unnecessary upsells — marketing packages, SSL, protection, SEO boosts. Look at the domains you've purchased too. Random or "similar-to-yours" domains hold no SEO or business-protection value. Delete them. And get better hosting. It'll save you time and money.
Look at your service providers
Especially in marketing. This is the most significant area to audit. Look at your ROI, your data, your analytics. Is it doing anything useful? If not, cut it.
This sector is hard to navigate because it's full of low-skilled providers who charge a lot and have excuses ready when results don't appear. (If they ask you, or your web developer, to do work on their behalf — that's a big red flag.) A high-value skillset is required to get real results. Expect a real price for real quality.
Run the numbers
Is your Google Ads provider, or other marketing effort, producing results after six months? If not, time's up. Same goes for any social or content service. They should be driving sales that exceed the investment. If they aren't, look for a more qualified provider before giving up — providers in this sector are often underqualified for what they sell. You might pay more for quality, but the results can be significantly better.
Look at your SaaS tools and apps
If you're paying $200 a month for a tool and it isn't converting at least $2,400 in sales to break even, re-strategize or get rid of it.
If you're offering a course on Thing A, your audience wants organized, accessible info on Thing A. You don't need a $200/month program to do that. Once you've proven your model, sure. Until your offer is flying off the shelf, focus on the most cost-effective way to deliver real value. A free email platform and Drive links might be plenty. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs send plain-text newsletters. No frills. Just value.
Don't speculate outside your expertise
If you pay for a SaaS or other online tool, you also need to pay for the expertise to use it. The real cost is the monthly price plus labor hours. Anyone worth their salt in the web space is charging $80+/hr these days.
If you think you'll quickly learn it yourself, you can probably reach an amateur level — but amateur is amateur and pro is pro. The results are different. In financially prudent times, stick to the basics of what works. Don't invest in speculative apps and services until you can afford the pros who know how to use them. AI tools are a current example — not plug-and-play for non-techies, despite the marketing.
Using a chatbot tool?
Look at the user interaction analytics in the app's dashboard. Are users actually engaging? Most find them annoying. We all know how to find Contact in the navigation. If the chat tool isn't converting clients from its engagement, it's probably a waste of money and annoying your users. Ditch it. If you've never looked at the analytics — for any paid tool — you're paying for something you don't even know is useful. Take this as your sign to look.
Paying for custom emails?
Consider a forwarding service instead. You send and receive from your custom email domain the same way, without paying $6 per user per month. It's effectively unlimited. We set this up for clients all the time, and they're happy to save the money.
Invest in fewer, better
Almost every online business goal lives under two pillars: traffic, and a professional website.
1. Traffic
If you need more exposure, Google Ads with a reputable provider is probably where your money should go. Cut the social media campaigns (those have notoriously bad ROI unless you're investing serious money long term), the fancy insight tools, the pro-tier email service — whatever isn't moving the needle right now.
2. A pro website
Your traffic efforts are a waste if you don't have a professional website to send that paid traffic to. Users will see your site and immediately judge whether it's an amateur or a professional business. If it's easy to navigate, polished, and well done, they'll think that about your business as a whole. They'll choose the more modern, upscale site because it conveys trustworthiness and authority. Simple user psychology, always at play.
Be an essentialist. Expand your paid services only as a response to growth need — not before.
Quality is expensive, one way or another
Whether it's your time wasted navigating things outside your expertise, paying underqualified providers, or finally realizing you need to pay more for real results — running an online business is a financial investment. After 12+ years of this, my suggestion is to skip to the end: invest in the fewer, better service providers. Pay for quality. Ditch the rest.