Hi friends, and thanks for stopping by to read The Hard Truth About “Lifetime Access” Courses.
This article is also going to be a short history on how The Lifestyle Digs came to life!
It all began about 10 years ago. I don’t actually remember how I heard about a free online webinar on how to start a blog. It interested me enough to sign up and get free information.
Many free webinars have a product or service the presenters are selling to the participants. In this case, a husband and wife team work full time on their website called Just a Girl and Her Blog. Running the website is their full time income and they are very successful. They have multiple income streams: Amazon and other affiliates and selling online courses. And as you’ve figured out, one of the online courses is for people interested in becoming bloggers.
The online blogging course
There was a special offer to the webinar participants. I don’t recall the dollar amount. My original blog expenses were on my old laptop, and I don’t feel like hauling out my external hard drive to check an old spreadsheet. I want to say the course was $200 but the special for webinar participants was $100. And then, of course, there’s the sense of urgency. This special offer only lasted two or three days. After that, it meant paying the full price.
And yes, that was US dollars. Coming from a country where the US exchange sucks, it was even more expensive!
So that’s how it all began! I signed up for the course – called Building a Framework – on how to build a website and become a blogger. The site was abbylawson.com, run by Abby Lawson, who also runs Just a Girl and Her Blog.
The course offered videos to watch, articles to read, and a few downloadable tools like calendars and goal sheets. Most of the content, however, was only accessible on the website itself. There were some printables, but there was no way to download everything for offline use.
For the first couple of months I went through all the course material, registered my domain, found a web host, and learned how to create a website and blog posts. The course was informative and very step by step. Even a non-techy person like me was able to figure out how to get a website up and running.
This was a DIY course to work at your own pace. There were no actual webinars with other students, no feedback, no encouragement, no question and answer forums. I really do not recall if there was a way to contact Abby and her husband if we had questions not covered in their course material.
Sometime later…
From time to time during the first few months The Lifestyle Digs came to life, I’d log in to the course and get more information on something I was trying to figure out.
Fast forward: abbylawson.com no longer exists. Typing that URL redirects to Abby Organizes which focuses on home organization. I’ve tried logging in to access my blogging course, but I can’t. The course I paid for, my so-called lifetime access, is gone.
My experience with a “Lifetime” blogging course
Let’s do a fast recap.
Back in late 2016, I signed up for a course on how to build a website and start a blog.
- Website: abbylawson.com (now redirects to Abby Organizes)
- Focus: Blogging, building a website, online business
- Paid “lifetime” membership during a special sale
- Included: Videos, articles, and a few printables (calendars, goal sheets)
Problem: Most content was only accessible online. No way to download everything for offline use.
Fast forward: abbylawson.com no longer exists. I can’t log in to access my course. My “lifetime access” disappeared.
The last time I heard from Abby
On March 10, 2018 I received an email from Abby:
Hey, Framework friend! We recently changed a few things with the way that we do email, and as a result, links to access Building a Framework from previous emails may no longer work. We wanted to make sure you had access to the most current login information so that you could get to your materials with ease.
Click here to log in to Building a Framework. (Dead link)
Thank you so much for your patience with us as we make this transition! Have a great day!
XO, Abby
No further emails. Nothing that the course material had moved to a new URL or that the website was shutting down.
Thanks a lot. Your integrity is amazing.
Lessons learned
A “lifetime” guarantee only lasts as long as the business offering it. Here’s what I recommend:
- Download everything immediately, if possible
- Focus on short-term value – pay only if you will use it now
- Seek alternatives — free blogs, YouTube, and library books often cover the same basics
Seriously. Pay for a course you plan to use very soon. I’m sure some people paid for this course and planned to create a website and blog one day. The years went past. Until that day they remembered they bought this “lifetime access” course only to discover the website has shut down.
Hindsight perspective
Interestingly, much of the content from the original blogging course is now available for free. A condensed version can be found on Just a Girl and Her Blog along with additional blogging tips. Looking back, I realize that if I had waited a few years, I could have accessed most of this information without paying anything.
Of course, the flip side is that I might not have started my blog back in 2017 without the structure, encouragement, and accountability that the paid course provided. For me, paying for the course gave me the push to take action at a time when I needed guidance.
Why paying for courses today is different
The landscape has changed:
- Ten years ago: Paid courses were often the only structured way to learn step-by-step
- Today: Tons of free resources online = tutorials, blogs, and forums
- Paying now is often more about convenience, structure, and accountability than necessity
Bottom line: Evaluate whether a course adds value beyond what’s already freely available.
The takeaway
Investing in yourself is always worthwhile, but be cautious. A “lifetime” course can vanish, leaving nothing behind. Plan for the worst-case scenario, and value the knowledge you have access to today. Sometimes waiting could get you the same information for free, but not necessarily the motivation to get started.
It’s also worth noting that the online learning landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade. Ten years ago, paid courses were often the most reliable way to get structured, step-by-step guidance. Today, there’s an overwhelming amount of free information available online for anyone who wants to start a blog, build a website, or grow an audience.
In other words, the value proposition has shifted. Paying for a course today is less about necessity and more about convenience, structure, or personal accountability. It’s important to weigh whether a paid course truly adds value over freely available resources before committing your money.
The hard truth about “Lifetime Access” courses
It’s worth noting that Abby had two separate websites. One focused on teaching people to become more organized at home (Abby Organizes), and the other taught how to build a blog and start an online business (abbylawson.com). The site that offered the blogging course disappeared. Along with all access to the materials I paid for.
Investing in yourself is always worthwhile, but buyer beware: a “lifetime” course can vanish, leaving you with nothing. Always plan for the worst-case scenario, and value the knowledge you can access today, rather than assuming it will be available forever. If nothing else, my experience taught me that some “good deals” are only good for a little while, and sometimes waiting can provide the same information for free but not necessarily the motivation to get started.
“Lifetime access” sounds like a bargain – pay once, and the knowledge is yours forever. But here’s the hard truth: forever only lasts as long as the business does. I learned this lesson the expensive way when the blogging course I paid for vanished, along with my so-called lifetime membership.
Don’t we all hate it when we don’t get our money’s worth on something! Ha ha!
Although the argument can be that I paid $100 (more in Canadian dollars) and that may or may not have been a fair value, whether or not lifetime access was included. And I have a blog where I regularly publish new articles. So yeah, I probably got my money’s worth. But not so much in the “lifetime access” promise.
No hard feelings. Or not much anyway. I’m just using this story as an example that “lifetime access” or even “lifetime guarantee” lasts only as long as the company remains in business.
Your turn. Have you ever purchased a lifetime access to something and the company shut down or disappeared?
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on March 26, 2026.
