Check Out Our All New Podcast Resource Center!
April 30, 2021

Adding Automations To Your eCommerce Business – With Scott Hartley of Master Plan 4 Success

Adding Automations To Your eCommerce Business – With Scott Hartley of Master Plan 4 Success

This episode features Scott Hartley, a business strategy coach with Master Plan 4 Success.

Andy and Scott discuss automating your business and how automating can free up your time as a business owner.

  • How do you define automation?
  • What are the keys to knowing what to automate?
  • What are some important automations that every company should have in place?
  • How can you get started automating your business?

Scott dives into those questions and much more within this information packed episode!

Episode Action Items:

If interested, you can schedule a free strategy session with Scott Hartley by visiting www.masterplan4success.com and clicking on the Schedule Your Free Strategy Session button.

In addition, you can download the free guide "The Forgotten Secret To Getting More Sales" by visiting www.amplifycreative.com/forgotten-secret.

ABOUT THE HOST:

Andy Splichal, who was recently named to the Best of Los Angeles Awards’ Fascinating 100 List, is the founder and managing partner of True Online Presence, author of the Make Each Click Count book series and Founder of Make Each Click Count University found at https://www.makeeachclickcountuniversity.com.

He is a certified online marketing strategist with twenty plus years of experience and counting helping companies increase their online presence and profitable revenues. To find more information on Andy Splichal visit https://www.trueonlinepresence.com, read the full story on his blog at blog.trueonlinepresence.com or shop his books on Amazon or at https://www.makeeachclickcount.com.

New episodes of the Make Each Click Count Podcast, are released each Friday and can be found on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast and on Make Each Click Count at https://podcast.makeeachclickcount.com.

ABOUT THE HOST:

Andy Splichal is the World's Foremost Expert on Ecommerce Growth Strategies. He is the acclaimed author of the Make Each Click Count Book Series, the Founder & Managing Partner of True Online Presence and the Founder of Make Each Click Count University. Andy was named to The Best of Los Angeles Award's Most Fascinating 100 List in both 2020 and 2021.

New episodes of the Make Each Click Count Podcast, are released each Friday and can be found on Apple Podcast, iHeart Radio, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and www.makeeachclickcount.com.

Transcript

Andy Splichal 1:48

Welcome to the Make Each Click Count Podcast. This is your host Andy Splichal. And today we are happy to welcome our next guest to discuss the subject of automation within your Ecommerce business. He is a Certified Infusionsoft Consultant, and an expert in marketing strategies and systems. We are happy to welcome Scott Hartley. Hi, Scott.

Scott Hartley 2:12

Hey, Andy, thanks for allowing me to be here today.

Andy Splichal 2:14

Thanks for joining us. Now, before we dive into today's topic, which is adding automations within your Ecommerce business, Let's first hear your backstory and what ultimately led you to doing what you're doing now?

Scott Hartley 2:28

Sure, like most serial entrepreneurs my journey to found the master plan for success and coming alongside small business owners really has been quite the scenic journey. So back in September of 2004, I started my first business, which is Calibre Computer Solutions. And I really started that because like all of my friends, all of my family, just people in my community, they kept calling me to fix their computers, they kept asking, you know, a lot of questions. And of course, I was obliging them. And so I was like, well, if they're gonna keep calling me, I might as well start a business and make money at it right there. So I had Calibre Computer Solutions. But you know, in those early days, I really quickly discovered that while I knew how to fix computers, there was a lot I didn't know about business. You know, I didn't know of course, all of the financial stuff that was required. And of course, you've got the taxes. And then of course, how do you actually profitably and consistently grow your business. And so that's where I really fell in love with the study of marketing. So I was buying books, I was, you know, enrolling in programs and everything. And so I really became a serious student of all things marketing. And so over the course of the months, and the years that followed, that, I started to apply what I was learning. And of course, you know, like everybody, we always make some mistakes. And so you have to learn from those missteps. But I rapidly grew calibre into a multi six figure six figure a year business, and that's from servicing mostly residential clients in a small rural community. And so, that was a lot of fun for me, but frankly, over the years, you know, technology just changes so rapidly, and I eventually grew tired of fixing computer problems, and more of that, because not necessarily because of end user error, but most of it was problems caused by Microsoft, you know, an update that they released that's faulty and you know, it just kind of created all kinds of havoc and I really kind of got tired of that. So because I was in such love with with all things marketing, in late 2017 I really decided to go all in on master plan for success. Now, I had founded the company several years earlier but never really did anything with it. And so I decided to go all in helping small business owners implement marketing strategies and systems to attract their ideal clients. And that's kind of where I've been over the course of the past three and a half, four years.

Andy Splichal 5:14

Okay, and automations, what are you? What, how do you define automations? What are what are the marketing strategies and systems? You're you're helping put in place?

Scott Hartley 5:27

Yeah, so great question. You know, a lot of things can come to mind when somebody you know, hears the word automations. But I typically frame it as a question. So how can I use technology? To do one or more of three things? One, how can I use technology to perform repetitive tasks? How can I use technology to reduce my workload? Or how can I use technology to improve efficiencies without sacrificing the customer experience? So that's how I look at automation? How can I use technology to perform repetitive tasks, reduce workload and improve efficiencies without sacrificing the customer experience. And that last phrase, is the key without sacrificing customer experience, not all automations are a net positive to our business. There are some automations that we can implement that create an unwell, or it creates an impersonal aspect when it comes to dealing with or communicating with our prospect or our customers. And those can have a negative effect. So so that's how I look at automations. And really determine, you know, is this something worth actually implementing?

Andy Splichal 6:50

Okay, now going from your computer company, to working with Ecommerce companies and role of consulting, How did you learn about the different e commerce platforms and what was available in the different platforms?

Scott Hartley 7:08

Sure. So you know, my initial introduction to ecommerce consulting really came when I became an implementation coach for Infusionsoft. It's a company and software, they now go by the name of Keap, but their flagship software, which was known as Infusionsoft, it's now called Keap Max Classic, includes an Ecommerce module. And so many of my initial clients, as I was doing this implementation coaching, were utilizing the Ecommerce module of Keap Max Max Classic. Now, as I've, you know, expanded my business and expanded my clientele. Over the past several years, I've become familiar with several other ecommerce platforms, there's dozens of them that are out there. But the ones that I've mostly become familiar with or worked in, in addition to keep has been WooCommerce, especially those who are using a WordPress platform in the Shopify platform.

Andy Splichal 8:05

Okay, and do you have a preferred ecommerce platform? Have you seen one that you feel really works better than the other for different companies?

Scott Hartley 8:16

Not really, I tend to be platform agnostic as much as possible. You know, obviously, I've got more experience in certain platforms than others, just because of the number of clients that I have using a particular platform. But I really try to be platform agnostic, because it boils down to what are the client's needs, all of the different platforms, you know, whether it's WooCommerce, Shopify, Keap Max Classic. And I think, you know, even Squarespace has an Ecommerce module to it as well. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, I don't really think that there's any one platform out there, that truly does it all. So it really kind of depends on what the client's needs are, as to what I would then recommend and then start working with them on.

Andy Splichal 9:05

Now speaking of client's needs, what what are some important automations that you believe every business should have in place in? And how can adding those automations allow a company to grow?

Scott Hartley 9:19

That's a really good question, Andy. Honestly, I could spend an entire day on just this topic alone. There's so much that businesses really can automate. Now again, doesn't necessarily mean that it should be automated, because if it creates an unwell or negative customer experience, that's not something that you want to implement it. But there's a lot of things that you really should have automated to kind of meet the three criteria that I mentioned earlier. And so I would narrow it down to least four marketing automations or what I also would call campaigns that every e commerce business should have in place And the reason for this is that, especially when we're talking mainly about websites for sure, and a lot of these automations, you know, a statistic that I recently came across is that really on average, only one in 51 ecommerce website visitors actually buys something. So the the four automations that are really important, help fix this problem of only one in 51, it increases your opportunity for getting people to buy from you. So the first one would be a lead generation campaign. So without leads, businesses really can't grow. And so this lead generation campaign, it allows you to offer prospects something of value in exchange for their contact information, this is a great way to get leads coming in the door. Again, most people when they go to a website, their intention initially is not to buy something, they're usually looking for information. They're looking for reviews, they're checking you out. And so by offering a lead generator, and this can be something as simple as a checklist or a guide, it can be a video series. The another popular lead magnet today is a quiz and interactive quiz. People love taking quizzes and getting results that are kind of tailored to them.

Andy Splichal:

So you had mentioned about a one a 2% conversion rate on purchases, and what kind of conversion rate do you see on these lead magnets?

Scott Hartley:

Yet, when you actually implement a lead magnet, this can actually generate anywhere from you know, five to I've seen 15% of people that will opt in for a lead lead magnet, that gives you an opportunity now to then, you know, have continued follow up with them. So you know, going from that 2% conversion rate. And again, remember, most of the people are looking for information, if you give them a way to get that information so that you can also capture their information that follow up is really key.

Andy Splichal:

Okay, so that's the number one automation is adding some sort of automated lead magnet, what were the other ones and you recommended?

Scott Hartley:

Yeah, so the second one would be a sales campaign. Now, this one really goes hand in hand with your lead generation campaign. Now there are multiple sales campaigns that you can have, but the initial one is going to be the sales campaign that's tied to your lead generator. So once you deliver that lead magnet, for example, then you want to have a series of three to five additional follow ups that ask for the sale, you know, that invite them to do business with you. And that really creates higher conversion. So taking that 2%, even 5%, you know, can make a drastic difference in your business. Now another sales campaign that you can periodically implement would be a cross sell campaign or an upsell campaign. So you're going to periodically invite your current customers to buy something else from you, it can be a complementary product to something that they've already purchased. It could be a completely different product or service that they've already bought. But you want to consistently do the sales campaigns, typically, you know, every quarter at minimum, maybe even more frequently, maybe every couple of months. But the second campaign I've read definitely recommend is the sales campaign, where you're going out and boldly asking for the sale.

Andy Splichal:

And the marketing vehicle that you're doing this is is email, correct?

Scott Hartley:

Most of it would be email, and I'm going to touch on that in one of the other campaigns that you know, you could include some other you know, methods as well, for outreach. The so another statistic that I kind of came across to, which is really interesting, in the Ecommerce world, I didn't realize that it was this bad. But 69.57% of shopping carts are abandoned. So those the one out of 51 that really aren't coming to your website to buy, you know, 69% of people are putting something in a shopping cart, and then they're leaving. And so another sales campaign as well would be an abandoned cart recovery automation. And you'd be surprised at the number of ecommerce businesses that don't have this in place. But basically, this is just a series of emails saying Hey, you forgot something would you like to, you know, finish your checkout over the course of you know, hours and days after they visited your site and put something in their cart. And I forget what the statistic was that I saw but that if you have an abandoned cart sales campaign, And that can actually result I think it was in about 49% of people actually coming back and completing their purchase. So that makes a difference.

Andy Splichal:

Was that percentage is that using a coupon and that abandon shopping cart campaign or just Just following up even without a coupon with that person?

Scott Hartley:

This was, as far as I know, it was just following up without a coupon.

Andy Splichal:

Okay. Yep. And so that was that was number two, or is that number three? I'm lost.

Scott Hartley:

Th at was number two, that was another sales campaign. Yeah, the sales campaign is kind of the big one, because there's so many variations of that, or, but the third one, and this is one that really makes a big difference in every business, whether it's ecommerce or not. The key to having more sales, long term is long term nurture, you need to have a long term nurture campaign or nurture automation. Now, most of the time, like you mentioned a few minutes ago, Andy, a lot of this is going to be done by email, you know, you may send out a weekly email. But a nurture campaign for sure, can include other things such as direct mail. So sending something a postcard or letter, by the US Post Office, sending out monthly newsletters, print newsletters, I know that, you know, a lot of people were like, Oh, I don't want to spend that money on, you know, something that's in print, and I don't know, if it's gonna get read, print newsletters actually do get read and they get passed around. So it's another great asset to have in your nurture campaign. And then of course, you can use periodic phone calls. You know, there's nothing like actually picking up the phone and talking to somebody today, because that's going to really set you apart because nobody else is doing it. But that's a great way to nurture your prospects create that know, like and trust factor, by providing massive value. And when people know, like and trust you, and you're continuously top of mind, when they're ready to buy, they're going to be more inclined to buy from you. So it's important to have this nurture campaign and really touching people at least once a week, so that you can stay top of mind and really provide the massive value that here's the one thing to keep in mind on the nurture campaign. Do not frequently ask people to buy.

Really, okay, yeah. Why, why is that?

Yeah, the nurture campaign is not a sales campaign. The nurture campaign is to deliver massive value. You want to stand apart from everybody else who's sending emails and postcards to clients. Because they're always asking for the sale, buy my stuff, buy my stuff, buy my stuff. If you show up and be like, Hey, I just want to provide value today, I want to make your day brighter. Hey, here's a good story I want to share with you, here's a testimonial from a client, here's, here's a quick tip, here's a funny joke, whatever that it is something that's going to brighten their day and build that know like and trust factor, then when you do put them through the sales campaign, again, typically, once every quarter or so, now they're gonna be more inclined to buy from you. Because there's that element of reciprocity.

Andy Splichal:

Interesting. So even an Ecommerce company, let's say, a company selling T shirts, you would recommend doing a nurture campaign where you're sending some sort of communication once a week, and then only do a sales campaign once a quarter?

Scott Hartley:

Yeah, I mean, you could do a sales campaign a little bit more frequently, if you wanted to do it. I mean, you could offer a, you know, a special of the month, if you wanted to, if you're focusing, you know, if your business, you know, can focus around holidays, you can do things around holidays, even some of the funny made up holidays and such. But you really need to provide more value than you do. asking for the sale. And typically, my rule of thumb is that you want to have about a three to one four to one ratio, so that, you know, they're getting three times as much or four times as much value from you, as opposed to asking for a sale.

Andy Splichal:

That's interesting. That's not what most ecommerce companies are doing for sure.

Scott Hartley:

Right.

Andy Splichal:

So they definitely would stand out. I would imagine with that.

Scott Hartley:

Yeah, and I mean, again, if your value, you know, does I mean, if you've got a T Shirt Company, I mean, you can use testimonials, you know, of how people have used t shirts in their organizations or their businesses or whatever they're buying T shirts for, you know, just kind of like the omnipresence that it kind of creates for a company. It's a subtle way. I mean, you're kind of, you know, you're not asking for the sale, you're not saying hey, buy mine T shirts. But you could, you know, you're telling how other people are using them. And so you're kind of planning ideas of what they could be doing with your product or service.

Andy Splichal:

Okay, so nurturing campaign very interesting. That's number three. What's what's number four?

Scott Hartley:

Yeah, the last one, though I mentioned here, like I said, I could go all day on this. But the last one that I see very, very few businesses implement at all is a referral campaign. Word of mouth is a great way to grow your business. But frankly, most people are not going to refer you unless you ask them to rigth, I mean, yeah, they may, you know, inadvertently talk to somebody about your business and say, Hey, you should go buy this from so and so. But most people are not going to consciously think of that. So if you can create referral campaigns that are ongoing, and maybe it's, you know, you're running a contest, and of course, you can automate, you know, referral campaigns like crazy. But periodically, you can create contests and encourage your customers to invite their friends, their family members, or co workers to send new people your way. You know, it could just be a simple ASK Campaign. It's like, Hey, we're looking to, you know, to serve more people this month, who do you know, that could benefit from our product or service, Here's a coupon for you and your friend, you know, another way that you can implement something, you know, referral based. So this is one that I see most people never implement, because they just don't think of it. But it can really boost your business. And it doesn't really cost you anything to do.

Andy Splichal:

That's yeah, no, those are those are all great, but I really liked that referral idea. Now, are you able and willing, if you are to share a story of how you've helped a recent company automate a piece of their business and and what kind of results is all?

Scott Hartley:

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, obviously, we've helped several different clients implement various types of automation, using Keap predominantly because that's kind of the platform that I typically work in. But I had a new client that actually worked with last week and, and she had reached out to me about setting up a system where prospects could request a free report from her by text message. Now, obviously, we all know that people can go to a website, you can have a button or a form on your website, and they can request a free report, she's actually wanting to set it up to where people can text the phone number and receive the report in their email. Now, she was already keep us her CRM and our email marketing platform. So I got her set up with a software that directly integrates with keep. And so we built out a really short automated messaging conversation, where a prospect will text a key word to her 10 digit phone number, it asks them for their name, ask them for their email address. And once the person answers the questions, it automatically creates their contact record in her CRM, adds them to the free report campaign that she's built out. And then it delivers the free report to their email. And so then I also helped her set up that sales campaign. So she's got multiple emails going out, after she's delivered the free report. But that's one example of, you know, clients that we've worked with another one that we worked with last week as well, is they wanted the same type of automation. So his clients, he's a financial advisor, but he wanted several of his clients to be able to text him to register for a free webinar that he's putting on this week. So you know, something that a lot of people don't think about, but you know, a texting automation could be a good asset or an add on to what you're already doing.

Andy Splichal:

Sure. You know, Keap keeps so hard for me to say instead of Infusionsoft, I know. Hey, um, do you work just exclusively with Infusionsoft? So if somebody comes to you, and as using another email provider or something like that, are you able to they need to open an Infusionsoft account?

Scott Hartley:

Or no, like I said earlier, you know, I really tried to be platform agnostic. Now, obviously, my skill set is going to be more adept at using Infusionsoft to keep but you know, I've worked with clients who have ActiveCampaign, which is kind of a competitor to Keap, I've worked with clients who don't need all of the power and functionality of Keap, and they need something as simple as maybe a Constant Contact, or even a free MailChimp account. And so we can help build some automations you know, with the limited functionality those software's have, but it's more than enough for what they particularly need.

Andy Splichal:

Now, let me ask what what are some mistakes that you might commonly see when a company attempts to automate some of their business and how can they avoid those mistakes?

Scott Hartley:

Yeah, so as I mentioned earlier, you know, a lot of times businesses will want to To automate as much as they can, but not really give any thought to the customer experience. And so they end up automating something, but it really kind of creates an unwell for the customer. So that's one mistake. And really another big mistake that I see is that they have this idea to automate something, but they don't thoroughly think through what it is that they want to accomplish. And then everything that can happen from the beginning to the end of the prospect or customer journey. Now, as business owners, we have this mindset, okay, we want people to go from point A to point B, and we automatically assume everybody is going to take a straight path to get from point A to point B. But in reality, that seldom happens. And so when you're building out automations, you really have to stop and think and consider all of the variables, all of the possible x exceptions that can occur in that journey, so that you can incorporate those into the design. Because if you don't, you're going to have leads or customers falling through some cracks. And then of course, that sacrifices the customer experience. So thinking through every possible scenario, that could happen on a customer's journey through that automation is critically important. But I see a lot of people not think about that.

Andy Splichal:

Yeah, that's, that's a great tip. Now, what would you say? Are you'd be willing to share the biggest success story of a company that you've worked with? And what kind of results they've seen from implementing one of your automations? strategies?

Scott Hartley:

It's a good question. Um, you know, really, all of our clients have experienced some sort of success in implementing some sort of automation in their business, even if it's, you know, internal type of things. You know, one of the the, the customers that we've worked with, is a used golf mat company. I mean, frankly, you probably wouldn't imagine that you know, that there's a need for that. But this company sources used golf mats. And they've got buyers all over the world that the purchase from them. And so they came to us late last year, and they were really wanting to figure out a way to improve their website and increase their sales. And so my business partner and I, we worked together with him, we got him set up on Shopify, for their e commerce site. And we also worked with them to improve their brand messaging. And within one week of having their new website live, the owner of the company came back to us and said, Whoa, guys, like we have received more sales than ever before, because we now have a clear message. And we now have automations built in our business, even though they're just kind of basic at this point. automations built in our business that are helping us deliver and wow, our customers. So that was kind of exciting in such a short timeframe to see and hear about that experience. Another opportunity that I had a couple of years ago, you may remember, when Microsoft said, Okay, Windows seven, we're done, okay, everybody's got to move to Windows 10. Windows seven end of life is here, I actually worked with a number of IT companies to automate scheduling meetings with their clients about the need to upgrade or buy new equipment so that they could get rid of Windows seven and beyond supported platforms. Nearly every single one of those IT companies that I worked with, in implementing that that campaign filled their calendars for months. With such a high level of workload, it was almost overwhelming to some of them, because they didn't really have I mean, they were keeping their teams working long hours every day doing these upgrades and these new installs. And of course, it generated hundreds of 1000s of dollars in new hardware sales and project labor. But they didn't have to manually call every single one of their clients or their prospects. They could send out letters, they could send out mass emails, saying, Hey, here's the situation. We want to help you click this link, go ahead and schedule with me and we'll meet with you that saved them hours and hours of time, but generated massive results for them.

Well, that's really the best case scenario. Now, let me ask you something for we wrap up here. What What's your motivation and working with companies? In other words, what gets you out of the bed and going in the morning

You know, it's just a joy to work with business owners who really want to grow their business, the ones who are passionate about what they do, the ones who just absolutely love serving their community, and they just want to grow, and they're open to new ideas. You know, I've worked with a few people who are kind of more closed minded, and that wasn't near as much fun. As somebody who's like, you know what, I'll give that a try. Let's see what that does and see how that makes a difference in our business. And then when they come back to you, just like the the owner of the US golf mat company, the the excitement and the aha moment that he shared with us, that's what drives me every single day.

Andy Splichal:

Now, what services are you currently offering? What when people come to you what, what you're offering?

Scott Hartley:

Sure. So master plan for success, I really specialize in coaching and implementation. So our flagship product that I'm currently in the process of redeveloping is what's called the marketing essentials blueprint. So it covers the 13 fundamental elements that small businesses need for growth and success. And then, as kind of a part of that kind of goes along with the marketing essentials blueprint, we also offer a offer a marketing mastermind membership. And so clients who enroll in that can receive additional coaching and trainings from myself, my business partner, other business experts, we offer weekly accountability and implementation calls, a lot of resources and things like that. And then of course, we offer some one on one services. So that can be individual strategy sessions. Or like some of the clients that I've recently worked with, it can be the done for you automation implementation, as well.

Andy Splichal:

Okay. And if a listener out there right now, is interested in learning more or working with you. Even adding automations or or any of those other great things you just mentioned? How can they best contact you?

Scott Hartley:

The easiest way to get a hold of me is to visit our website masterplan4success.com. So that's masterplan4success.com. And right there, in the header of the page, you'll see a button that says schedule your free strategy session, and you can click on that button that will pull up my calendar, and you can pick a time that works for you and just share some details about what you're looking to implement what you'd like to talk about, and then we'll schedule that call and have it and see how we can make it happen.

Andy Splichal:

Perfect. Now, do you have any specials or incentives today for listeners to take some action right now?

Scott Hartley:

Absolutely. So my business partner, who manages the amplify creative division of our company, and amplify creative, they specialize in the brand messaging and website design. He's actually created a guide that we kind of jointly worked on together that talks about the sales campaign automation messaging. So earlier, remember, we talked about giving that lead magnet out, and then you needed to have three to five emails after that as follow up emails, asking people to buy. And so my colleague, Christian has created a guide that walks you through what the content of those emails should be. And so anybody that's on this call can request their free copy, just go to a amplifycreative.com/forgotten-secret. So it's amplifycreative.com/forgotten-secret. And just fill out the form there. And we'll send you that guide. And you can work through that.

Andy Splichal:

Great, well, we'll make sure to get that link into the show notes as well. One last thing before we go, what would you say to the business owner listening right now that says I really would like to automate some things in my business, but I just can't afford the programming to do that right now?

Scott Hartley:

Yeah, I, I totally, totally get that. When I was in, you know, really in the day to day throes of the IT company. early on. I was, you know, kind of at a crossroads. I had heard about Infusionsoft at the time. And I was like, okay, that can be beneficial to my business. And then I looked at the cost, it's gonna be about $500 a year, you know, and I'm sitting here thinking like, Ooh, 2500 bucks a year, I could use that for a lot of different things. And then there was also the time factor of, Oh, I gotta learn how to use the software. You know, I went through a short four week course I think with a guide and, and they showed me how to do some things in the software. But there was also that time invested And I was like, man, 2500 bucks a year for the subscription. And then I have to actually do the thing build things to make it happen. But I did it anyway. Now, admittedly, I let Infusionsoft kind of sit on the shelf for about two to three years and didn't do anything with it. But then when I came back around, I was like, Okay, it's either cut it or use it, I decided to use it. And I would encourage people who are kind of on the fence, or they're thinking about like, Man, I just really can't afford it right now. Flip that question. Because when you ask better questions, you get better answers, and you get better results. So what is it costing you to not automate something in your business? So we talked earlier, that when people come to a website, the E commerce websites, only one and 51 people buy? What does that costing you daily? If those numbers are true for your business, how much revenue? How much profit? Are you leaving on the table every day? If 50 People are leaving your website and not buying? multiply that out times 365 days a year? Would you go out onto the street corner and publicly announce that proudly to the world? Probably not. So what is it costing you to not automate? What's that dollar amount? And then on the flip side, what's the stress and the overwhelm of you having to remember to do everything and try to juggle all these balls in the air? And make sure certain things aren't falling through the cracks? What toll is that taking on your health? What toll is that taking on your relationships? Some pretty hard things to consider. But it's important stuff to consider. And so when you think about like, Man, I'm not sure if I can afford it right now, are you sure you can afford not to do it. And the old adage really is true, you can always make more money, but you can't make more time. And so when you adopt automation, when it's done correctly, it does cause your business to grow. And it creates a multiple return on your investment. And you don't have to do everything. So earlier, when I said you know, these are the four automations that every business needs to have, you know, the lead gen the sales campaign, the nurture campaign, the referral campaign, don't, please don't try to do all of it at once. Because it'll make you bad, it'll create more overwhelm. But find one thing that you can implement, and again, even if it's the free MailChimp account, and that's how you deliver your lead generator, and you follow up with people who download it. That's better than doing nothing. And once you see results from that, and you get more revenue, then you're going to be inspired to take the next step and automate something else.

Andy Splichal:

Those are some great food for thought points. Now, before we end today, is there anything I've been amiss on asking you?

Scott Hartley:

I don't think so. I mean, you know, I love talking about automation. I love helping businesses really implemented, I guess, probably the only thing that I would say, for those who haven't really implemented much automation in their business, once you start doing it, once you kind of like taste like, Oh, this is so awesome. There's less things for me to do. There's less things for me to remember, I can sit back and relax knowing that nothing's falling through the cracks. The one drawback to that is, is it kind of get addicted to it? It's like, what else can I automate? What's the next thing that I can take off of my play and let technology helped me do. But you know, it just kind of grows on you as you implement it. But again, you have to keep it and you know, I don't want to sacrifice the customer or the prospect experience. But you're now once you get automation in your business, you're now able to spend more time on high value activities, you can become the visionary for your business. If you've got employees, you can now inspire and encourage them to help you reach that vision. And they're going to be capable of achieving greater things that again, it's going to help grow your business and increase your profits that's going to benefit everybody. And basically, you know, small business owners, we get stuck working in our business, and we've created nothing more than our own job. We're just not working for somebody else. We've created our own job. But when you implement automation, and you do it successfully, you're now able to work on your business and it's so much more enjoyable.

Andy Splichal:

Well, thank you. Thank you. No, that is Great and thank you for your time today. So yep, so that's it for today. Remember if you liked this episode, please go to Apple podcasts and leave an honest review and if you're looking for more information regarding connecting, I'll put the links in the show notes and you can contact him through there or get your free report. In addition, if you are looking for more information on growing your business using paid ads request to join the Make Each Click Count Facebook group I've been releasing some all new free live trainings and more will be happening very soon. In the meantime, remember to stay safe keep healthy and happy marketing and I will talk to you in the next episode.