Articles
By Richard Patey. Padel and ski data, the businesses I run, and what I've learned buying, building and selling online businesses.
My businesses
- What is Cited? Why Maciej and I started a GEO agency ·
Cited is a GEO agency from Richard Patey and Maciej Marek. It tracks what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode say about your business, fixes your site and places mentions where AI reads. From $495 a month.
- What is BidPadel? Why I built a pay-to-rank board for UK padel businesses ·
BidPadel is a public leaderboard of 275+ businesses that supply UK padel. Listings are free, bids from £10 move you up, and the board says it is paid visibility, not a quality ranking. Built by Richard Patey.
- What is Snowbistro? Why I built a data-led comparison of UK ski operators ·
Snowbistro compares 50 UK ski tour operators on search traffic, ATOL capacity, Trustpilot and years trading, plus ski hire, transfer, school and insurance directories. Built by Richard Patey, who has worked in the ski trade since 2013.
Padel and ski data
- How much does padel cost in the UK? Court prices and occupancy in 2026 ·
UK padel courts cost a median £48 an hour at peak and £38 off-peak, or about £12 and £9.50 per player, across operators that publish prices (BidPadel, October 2026). Occupancy runs 57% to 70%.
- The biggest UK ski tour operators by search traffic (2026 data) ·
Crystal Ski is the most searched UK ski tour operator at about 234,900 visits a month, followed by Scott Dunn and Inghams. Data on 50 operators from Snowbistro, October 2026.
- Why my directories let businesses pay to rank, and say so on every page ·
Most directories sell featured spots quietly. BidPadel and Snowbistro, both built by Richard Patey, show the money openly: bids are public, cumulative, and labelled as paid visibility, not quality.
Online business
- How I'd invest $100k in websites in 2026 ·
AI has pushed copyable content towards zero, so the old website-flipping playbook is broken. Richard Patey, who has sold several online businesses, on what $100k should buy in 2026.
- Productizing services: how I've sold services like products for 13 years ·
A productized service has a fixed scope, fixed price and fixed delivery date. Richard Patey on the four he has built, from ski SEO packages in 2013 to Cited's AI visibility plans in 2026.
- Newsletter business models that still work in 2026 ·
Five ways to make money from a newsletter: sponsorship, paid community, done-for-you service, lead generation and directory tie-ins. Richard Patey on the ones he has run, including $100k+ in sponsorship.
- How I built a ski marketing business from a trade show stand ·
In 2013 Richard Patey picked the ski industry with no contacts, won his first customers at the UK's biggest ski show, productized SEO into three packages, and ran it through Snowbistro.
- The Upside Audit (retired), and what replaced it ·
The Upside Audit was Richard Patey's fixed-price audit for content site owners, covering content gaps, keywords, CTR, monetisation and links. It has been replaced by an AI visibility audit from Cited.
- Why I left Mailchimp, and what I use for email in 2026 ·
Richard Patey moved from Mailchimp to Drip for tag-based automation, then to beehiiv for newsletters. What each is good for in 2026.
- Leadpages vs ClickFunnels in 2026: what I'd use now ·
Richard Patey built a done-for-you funnel business on ClickFunnels. In 2026 he builds landing pages with AI coding tools instead. When Leadpages or ClickFunnels still makes sense.
- Freedom Flipping Podcast: interviews with website investors
The Freedom Flipping Podcast, hosted by Richard Patey: interviews with people who buy, build and sell websites and online businesses. Episode archive.
- Freedom Flipping Podcast Ep 14: Jon Haver from Authority Website Income
Episode 14 of the Freedom Flipping Podcast: Richard Patey talks to Jon Haver of authoritywebsiteincome.com about building and selling authority websites.