As the end of 2025 draws precipitously close, I've been looking back over my notes at common themes that have cropped up in discussions I've had and projects I've worked on throughout the year (in the simplest terms, what "problem" caused somebody to contact me in the first place).
One of the most common problems/pain points that might lead somebody to contacting me is because they find themselves in a position where they are looking to change provider of digital ad services/management (e.g. they have an agency managing their Google Ads) and that provider doesn't want to "play ball".
For example, a business contacted me earlier in the year where their freelancer took great umbrage at the fact the client wished to go elsewhere, and then removed all access to that client's Google Ads account (which they had set up in the first place) and then proceeded to pause all the advertising, stopping that flow of potential customers to the business. It was a very acrimonious situation, and wasn't as easy to resolve as it should have been.
What made this situation worse - and the same goes for many others - is that the client (whomever is hiring the freelancer/agency) typically never started the relationship with a clear agreement (in writing, even just a basic email) about things like:
* Who "owns" the account
* What happens if there is a parting of ways
* Is anything in the account "IP" of the agency/freelancer that the client isn't entitled to
My old Y12 history teacher used to go on about "Mr O'Connor's 5Ps ' Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance' - this is a great example of such a scenario.
A bit of basic prep work (i.e. getting the agency/freelancer to outline their perspective on "ownership" in writing, and then having a formal agreement from there) can save a lot of hassle.
There can be serious headaches by not understanding how your ownership and access is structured, and what agreements are in place (if any). Message me if you have any concerns.