In 2008, I was promoting a tool called Firepow that cost around a hundred and twenty dollars per month for building and managing niche WordPress blogs. I had negotiated a twenty-five dollar per month discount for my readers and was enthusiastic about the value proposition. The tool no longer exists, but the question it raised — how much should you spend on tools for your online business? — is one I still think about regularly.
The ROI Question Never Goes Away
My original post featured a conversation with the tool's creator about whether the subscription cost was justified. His answer was that it was all about return on investment — if the tool helps you make more than it costs, it is worth it. That logic is sound, but it misses an important nuance that took me years to learn: ROI depends entirely on whether you actually use the tool consistently.
I have watched countless entrepreneurs (including myself) buy tools, use them for two weeks, and then let the subscription quietly drain their bank account for months. The graveyard of unused SaaS subscriptions is vast and expensive.
What to Look For in a Landing Page Builder Today
If you need a landing page builder in 2026, the options are dramatically better and more affordable than anything available in 2008:
- For WordPress users: Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Spectra offer visual page building within WordPress. Elementor's free version is surprisingly capable. Pro starts at about fifty dollars per year — not per month.
- For dedicated landing pages: Leadpages and Unbounce specialize in conversion-optimized landing pages with built-in A/B testing. Leadpages starts around thirty-seven dollars per month. Unbounce is pricier but offers AI-powered smart traffic routing.
- For simplicity: Carrd lets you build clean single-page sites for as little as nineteen dollars per year. If you need a simple opt-in page or product landing page, this is hard to beat.
- For all-in-one needs: Systeme.io offers landing pages, email marketing, course hosting, and sales funnels with a free tier that includes up to 2,000 contacts. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) combines landing pages with email marketing starting free for up to 10,000 subscribers.
Before You Buy Any Tool
Here is the framework I use now before subscribing to any business tool:
- Can I accomplish this with what I already have? Most WordPress themes include basic landing page functionality. Do not buy a tool for a problem you do not actually have.
- Will I use this at least weekly? If not, a monthly subscription is probably not justified. Look for annual plans or lifetime deals instead.
- What is the actual cost per conversion? If a thirty-seven dollar per month tool helps you capture fifty email subscribers per month, that is about seventy-five cents per subscriber. That math usually works. If it captures two subscribers per month, it does not.
- Can I cancel easily? Tools that make it hard to leave are not confident in their value. Look for no-contract, cancel-anytime options.
Firepow is gone, but the lesson remains: invest in tools that genuinely increase your productivity and revenue, not in tools that make you feel productive while draining your budget.
Hey Mark – will be interesting to see what your results are with Firepow. I followed this launch from the get-go, and frankly, it seemed massively over-priced for what you’re getting – but I could be wrong. I’d like to see some real-life examples before I shelled out anything for it. Andrew’s example as I recall – I think it was on flowers – was, hmmm, not reflective of the price to be kind. Thanks!
Kent;
I think you are spot on. If you want to do one website on flowers, you don’t need FirePow. Most (but not all) of the things that you can do with FirePow can be accomplished without it. The notable exception is the “blog network” that can provide you content and backlinks by magic.
However, if you want to do one site a week or one site a day on a variety of topics that you do not know much about, then the power of FirePow really shines. If you build 10 or 20 sites with FirePow, it is easy to see how you could start to make some real money (really fast).
Still testing. More on this later this weekend. Stay tuned.
Regards,
Mark
P.S. — Andrew is AWESOME from a support standpoint (for the record).
Hey Guys,
Andrew here from Firepow 🙂
First thanks for the opportunity to reply here.
To answer some questions (even though Mark’s done such a great job)
1. The cost?
I’ve talked to many people about the cost of Firepow and the main thing I say is this.
Firepow is not a software, it’s a service. You’re not paying for one tool every month, you’re paying for a continually expanding SUITE of tools that grows every month – and yes it actually
does grow every month. We spend 20% of our revenue on improving the program and adding new features each month.
Not only that but most people spend more than the price of FP every month jumping from one method of trying to make money to the next. I say spend it in the one spot, focus your energy and stick with something that’s proven until you see results.
2. When you quit?
Yeah, Firepow sets you up wordpress blogs so after you quit, you still have a wordpress blog there. You can’t use any of the Firepow content creation features, promotion features, or plugins, but you’ll still have a blog that can be managed normally, manually, your blog won’t die or anything weird like that.
3. Value over time?
What the hell I’ll be honest again. The value of these tools isn’t going to be question. If we’re talking monetary value, the price you’re paying for this software is a freckle on the toe of the amount of money it would cost you to create these tools yourself, or even have access to all of them elsewhere. The value of this service to you will come down to what you put into it – same with every other product, ebook, software, dvd, audio, teleseminar, blog post, anything.
If you follow the material we provide and use the software as we suggest, you’ll make money, there’s no doubt. I see a new person start to make money in our forums every day and that’s no exaggeration. Our best member is doing $5k per month since 3.5 months ago when she joined, so that’s what’s possible if you’re willing to make it happen.
Hope that helps!
Andrew Hansen
Hey Mark, one more question I’ve developed:
The system does indeed appear impressive in terms of the functionality of it. Is there any concerns from your perspective from what might happen if you develop 30 sites, and – for whatever reason – you decided to drop Firepow, or Firepow goes away? My apologies if that system sounds stupid – but I’m a little fuzzy on the set-up and then hosting, and what degree of control Firepow may have over the final product. Thanks.
Sorry, that final sentence should say “question” rather than system – not sure how that came out. I guess it really gets back to — is there value in this product today at $100 or so a month? And, does that value persist over time? My general conclusion after more research is probably today – if you can monetize it fairly rapidly – and over time… who knows.
Kent;
Great questions. Let me break it down.
1. What happens if you quit firepow?
If you quit firepow, your blog keeps running (it is your blog). Nothing that Firepow offers requires daily life support as far as I know. The application is a “configuration and promotion tool” — so, once things are configured and promoted, you could switch back to traditional configuration and promotion stuff if you quit. There are a few things that “work better” or are “unique to” firepow, but nothing that would kill your blog.
If your blog is hosted on Firepows free hosting, you would need to move it off. Andrew says he will “work with you” to give you time to do so.
2. What is the value over time after your blogs are set up?
Obviously, the initial setup value is huge. I see that I can set up an initial blog in 10% of the time that it takes manually.
Ongoing, you’ll want to do promotion in the FirePow blog network, and your membership gives you access to that.
Also, you may want to build additional blogs. My recommendation (which will come out in next week) will be to sell the weak blogs you build on sitepoint marketplace and build new stronger ones. Keep the blogs that are generating cash and sell the ones that are not. Better to have 30 amazing blogs than 200 average ones I think.
You can sell blogs that you build with FirePow, so there is a whole additional option. I actually bought one from Andrew’s girlfriend just to see what that business model would look like.
I am still exploring all this, but I am really impressed so far.
Frankly, if I were getting into niche marketing for the first time, I would sign up for FirePow with the intention of canceling after a month or two. Then, after one month, I would decide to either keep my blogs and walk away or stay put.
Andrew tells me people are staying put at a percentage that make him really happy (and suggests ongoing value).
Stay tuned.
Thanks Andrew. That helps a lot.
Regards,
Mark
Wow – I go home to grab a sandwich and Mark and Andrew both respond! That’s one of the more impressive things I can recall. Shoot – I’m almost Joe the Plumber! (Dont’ worry Andrew if you have no idea who that is – Joe is enjoying his “15 minutes of fame” here in the U.S.).
Thanks again guys – you’ve cleared that up – and thanks, as always Mark for looking out for your readers, not just out for the dollar.
Hey Kent — that’ll teach you to pause to eat. Regarding looking out for my readers — Thanks. That probably costs me money in the long run, but it lets me sleep at night. 🙂
Seriously, one thing that Andrew mentioned I had thought of before. I cannot begin to imagine how much he as spent on development of this software platform. The “Wow” factor is amazing.
So, here is a realistic way to think about FirePow. Let’s say a person were to seriously try it for 60 days. I think in 60 Days you should be able to build 10 blogs. Entire investment would be about $350 including domain names.
I think a ready to roll blog is worth $100 or more on Sitepoint — but let’s call it $50. So, after 2 months your worst case senario is make $150.
A more realistic scenario is that each blog is generating 2 sales a month. Let’s say you are making $25 per sale. That’s $50 per blog per month. I think if you are good at keywords, or are creating lots of content, you might do much better. Anyway, that’s gets into a $350 per month profit after several months….so you can see where this is going.
Anyway, as Andrew says, you get out what you put in. Another scenario is that you pay for FirePow and only create 1 blog and never really finish it. At the end of 2 months, you will be out $250 — plain and simple.
So, you should only invest in IM products if you plan to take action. That is certain.
This is niche marketing at the genius level!!!
Do the people who read this really think, honest communication is taking place here without alterior motives? Of course, that motive being money, like affiliate marketing. I am looking for honest reviews and opinions and to find answers wrapped in hype is mindblowing, this is like the “tin men” of the 50’s but online.
Can I have a drink of water?
Thanks for the complement. 🙂
I’d love to hear which part you think is dishonest so I can deal with it directly.
Hope you’re having a great day!
Mark
Forgive me Mark, I am unable to find the page in which I used this to base my argument. Please if possible, remove my remarks as I am unable to justify them. I believe I got your site and one other site confused which led to my comment.
In one post, it discussed a conversation taking place with Andrew to reduce the $147 monthly fee by $25 which was granted. Then I saw this discount coupon which was $25 or $300 per year.
Again, please forgive me as I am unable to justify my remarks.
Hey, Tico — no problem. If you don’t mind I plan to leave your comments as many people have seen them already (I got some email). LOL However, all is forgiven. You say what you think and admit errors — I respect that.
If you find something on my blog that bothers you, I want to hear about it every time. Open discussions are the whole point of blogging, and I make my share of mistakes.
Pricing strategy is one of the trickier parts of business (not just internet business). It makes sense to allow certain customers to get a special discount, but I think it is very important not to be sleezy or deceptive.
In this case the retail price is $147 (I think) from the sales page. That’s the real price, and my understanding is that many people pay that.
One way that I can create unique value for my readers is to approach guys like Andrew and ask for discounts for them as a group. I did that in this case. When setting pricing, Andrew anticipates these requests and his pricing structure is set up to support it.
In fact, many of Andrew’s affiliates offer a similar discount. Often, all you have to do is ask. Same holds true for many retail products (like automobiles).
As an aside, two things have impressed me about Firepow — Andrew himself and the enormous investment that he has made in the Firepow platform.
So, fire away. I only recommend products that I really think are great, and this is certainly one of those.
Regards,
Mark
Greetings Mark,
I understand why you would want to keep it and that is fine, it will serve as a constant reminder for me not to put my foot in my mouth without having all of my ducks in order.
I have been considering about getting into the blogging business to help augment my skills for my other business which is online gaming. I am a consultant for many companies with whom I help with internet marketing, e-marketing, SEO, promotions, affiliate management, etc. I also believe that reading blogs such as yours will increase my ability to make better suggestions when it comes to blog networking and article marketing. I have a few people who are way ahead of me in the poker gaming biz but we are all friends for as big as it may seem, this is really a cottage industry.
I am grateful for sites such as yours and Garry’s, with whom I am hoping to better understand shortly. I understand the offering works both ways, so I will participate when I can.
This is a whole new world for me and I am hoping to take the affiliate business in online gaming,which is very secretive, to this very public forum. So I really need to understand what is possible, what are the pros and cons, ROI, and many other factors before I stick my neck out. And I mean that literally.
If what I think is possible from the limited exposure I have had with the type of social networking going on here, the sky is the limit for us and we can say goodbye to the sharks of our gaming affiliate and review syndicates.
So kudos for your blog and your networked friends.
Tico
So Mark, I just signed up with FirePow thru your link and I can,t see where I recieved any kind of discount. I’ll be paying $ 127.00 a month. What gives? Dave
David — This is a pretty old post. Looks like I need to update it. When Andrew introduced the free trial, things changed. Apparently, you can get the discount or the free 2 week trial, but not both. So, if you are wanting the discount, you will need to contact Andrew’s support desk. Sorry about the confusion.