Does it make sense to share your tool with others?
A friend who's a freelancer asked me recently if I'd be willing to share access to SEMrush, which we use at my company, and offered to split the cost 50/50. Even though he's not a close friend, I trust him enough to share the password. On the other hand, I could use some cost reduction, especially that we don't use the full plan's capacity. (I know it's against the terms of use but I heard people do it anyway without consequences)
But I have some concerns about how we're gonna control the plan usage and also wondering if there are any other risks we don't realize. Has anyone of you shared this way any tools in the past? How did that work for you?
You mentioned that you don’t use all the features of SEMrush. Maybe he can. What’s the difference between three team members logging in with one password and two team members and a friend logging in with one password.
You’re paying your membership on time every month so I don’t think SEMrush would really mind.
It’s a way for someone who can’t afford their product to use it and, when their business grows, they can get their own account.
I did this for a while with Ahrefs until my needs outgrew what I could accomplish with a shared arrangement. At that point, I just upgraded to a new plan and took my friend along.
Ahrefs is now making double the money from me and has two separate advocates spreading the good word.
I, personally, don’t mind if two separate companies use my product. It’s more exposure for us and if we’re doing our job right, their business is growing and they’ll eventually need larger plan limits.
That's reassuring, thanks!
Just make sure you have something written in an agreement. A professional sounding email will do, such as, "We, ________ and _______ agree to split the costs amongst one account at _________.com and agree to pay 50/50 of the total costs on _____ 2018."
I love having things in writing and it can prevent bad beef amongst both of you in case things go sour.