We just wanted to be able to say yes. Debut is how we finally can.”— Elizabeth SladeCHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND, October 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — New Zealand enterprises are shutting down at levels unmatched since 2010. Liquidation figures are climbing, cost pressures are squeezing profit margins, and the small businesses hit hardest are frequently the ones with the smallest online footprint. Half of New Zealand's small businesses still operate without a professional website. For many, the expense has simply been too high.
For 15 years, Christchurch-based marketing firm C i Marketing has observed this challenge from close range. Whether they are tourism operators, tradespeople, health practitioners, or professional service providers, the pattern rarely differs. A venture built on genuine expertise, run by someone deeply committed, who devotes everything to their craft. Yet when it comes to online discoverability, they remain hidden. Not because they lack value. Because a professional digital presence has never been designed with their needs in mind.
The choices have always been limited: invest hours wrestling with a template tool and hope it works, or pay an agency a fee that makes no financial sense for a business at that stage. Neither route includes strategic guidance, professional copywriting, or the technical foundation required for a website to perform effectively. The middle ground has never truly existed.
Elizabeth Slade has worked in marketing since before social media emerged. She founded C i Marketing in Christchurch in 2011 and has spent every subsequent year alongside business owners who deserved better alternatives than what existed. The expertise was always present. The support to showcase it publicly often was not. For years, she had to turn away the very people she most wished to assist.
"We just wanted to be able to say yes," she says. "Debut is how we finally can."
Today, C i Marketing introduces Debut: a fully managed, professionally delivered website service aimed at New Zealand small businesses that have long deserved more.
As businesses navigate one of the most challenging economic stretches in recent memory, being easily discoverable online is more important than ever. A website often serves as the first interaction between a business and a prospective client. For those that have been missing that opportunity, Debut is built to change that.
Debut is not a discounted version of what C i Marketing produces for larger clients. It simplifies the workflow while retaining expertise, strategy, and quality.
Creating Debut required building from the ground up. The team leveraged their combined knowledge across strategy, copywriting, visual design, photography, video, digital marketing, and technical SEO to determine exactly what a high-quality small business website truly needs, then developed the systems to deliver it reliably. The outcome is a website that fulfills its purpose: be found, create a strong initial impression, and give the business owner something they can handle on their own.
Every Debut site is professionally written, designed, hosted, and optimized for search. Ecommerce is not included in the standard package at this time but is under development.
To celebrate the launch, the first 30 eligible businesses can obtain a Debut website for $695 plus GST to set up, compared to the usual $995 plus GST. Monthly fee starts at $149 plus GST. No binding contract. Full details at debutwebsites.co.nz.
"The day your Debut site goes live is the day you become findable," Slade says. "People can discover you, read about you, be inspired to get in touch. You got there without the jargon, without the overwhelm, because someone just took care of it for you. And now you can get on with what you do best."
Businesses can learn whether Debit meets their needs at debutwebsites.co.nz.
Elizabeth Slade
C i Marketing / Debut Websites
+6433435622 ext.
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