@Selena MacIntosh
"Give them a fish, they eat for a day; Teach them to fish, they eat for a lifetime".

The satisfactions of modern educational roles are legendary. From kindergarten to Post Doctoral Fellowships, the rewards of teaching, training and guiding are the foundation & backbone of our most redeeming institutions & cultural values.

But business is still business ... and the repeat-customer is every bit the icon as the fish and the fisher. Dominant business reality is that a provider 'builds a relationship' with the customer.

It's not that they couldn't do it themselves, but that it's so much smarter & sexier, not to. It is the business of business, to foster that milieu.

Helplessness is admittedly a loaded word. But in the greatest country that has ever been, that the preponderance of all economic activity consists of consumer spending .... 'Helplessness R Us".

Most 3rd party WordPress providers rely heavily on the permanent or recurring customer.

There are exceptions, and there are the exceptional. Even in an era of 'mass-everything', the few often contribute way-disproportionally. It sounds like you are one.