Here are a couple of things to watch out for when signing up for a new company

1) A company should never, when doing Facebook ads or Google ads, ask you to give them your password or ask you to be their friend on Facebook to gain access to your page. If they are a legitimate company they should have Agency Access capabilities which means they should ask you for an ID number and then you approve their access. This let’s you have complete control over your account and allows you to revoke access at any time.

2) A company should NEVER create your Facebook Ad Account for you. If they do – they own it. That means if you leave they can keep your data and ad account. This also goes for a Facebook page.

3) If a company makes your Google AdWords account for you make sure that they add you as an administrator on the account and that they do not have administrative access after the account is created. Otherwise they can kick you off anytime they want and you are out of luck.

4) When picking a web company that only does a monthly fee, make sure that you are the owner of your website. Most companies that do monthly fee’s more often than not actually own your site – not you. Now your developer may charge a monthly “management” fee to make changes, update content and security etc. However these management fee’s do not give the developer ownership of the site.

These 4 quick tips can help you avoid companies that in the end will hold your digital assets hostage so you have to start all over.

If you find yourself using a company that does any of these things already – I would quietly start the process of gaining control of your assets and much as possible, even if they are doing a great job for you.

If you are looking for a company who does not hold your digital assets hostage – check us out by visiting www.25thwest.com/blueprint