My Disneyland Annual Pass
I, along with my wife and kids, have a Disneyland Annual Pass. It's fantastic for several reasons.
Because we're only about an hour away it makes a great meeting place when out of town friends come to Southern California. They may not make it to our house, but they'll get to Disneyland.
I can also go as often as I like without worrying about costs. And that's perfect for my kids too. We can go for a few hours if they need rest, or hang all day if we have the time.
Sure there's a fee once a year but it pays for itself all year long. I wouldn't buy it to come 2-3 times a year. But when I come 10-20 times, it's fantastic.
A Recent Comment
I recently had a comment on the site tell me that they were never going to buy certain plugins again because of yearly fees. Immediately I thought of my Disney Pass. The guy who wrote it may have only used it once or twice, and if that's the case, I get it.
I don't mind Yearly Plugin Fees
Of course if he just had a problem with the notion of yearly licenses, on principle, then that's where we'd part ways. Because I don't mind yearly licenses for some plugins.
Here's why:
- Clients may not want to pay extra for something I think is critical. Having a license means I can roll it in without convincing them to buy the plugin.
- I can use as much or as little of a plugin's features as I need to on a site. It's only goal is to save me time and my time is money, so it's worth it.
- I can use it on as many sites as I like. But if it's just one or two, it isn't worth it. On ten or twenty, it totally is!
Do you see why the situations were so similar to me?
Plugins I Recommend
Now one trick I do when new plugins first come out is, assuming it looks good, to buy the initial developer's license. This often includes a lifetime license, making everything I've written a bit null. But it works for me.
So while I would buy these two plugins yearly, I don't have to because I bought them as they first came out.
But two I highly recommend are Gravity Forms and Types & Views (now Toolkit).
Do you value your time?
If you're getting ready to stop reading because I'm suggesting that you invest a few hundred dollars in your work each year, then I have a whole different challenge for you. When these plugins save you hours on each project, how much are you thinking you're worth?
So go now and check those plugins out!