I can’t even begin to tell you how important it is to have a nice size list for your business. There is a saying that the money is in the list. But if you don’t have a list or not marketing to that list correctly, you are wasting your time, not making profits and not building your brand.

I am always amazed by the amount of store front business owners that have piles of excel sheets full of emails that just sit there on a desk. If you have found yourself in one of the two categories and either don’t have a list of have a huge list, but not seeing profits… There is a root cause….

It comes down to a lack of a good running system. Either you need a system in place that generates leads for you, or you need a system that can organize and market to your list correctly, easily and automatically.

Let’s break this down a little deeper…

No List – No Profits

I was recently talking with a friend who just got started in business and wants to generate leads. I told him there are many ways to do this, but if you are looking for the fastest results, a basic system would look something like this:

- Some sort of capture page that has relevant sales copy directed towards your niche.

- A call to action.

- An optin form.

- A good autoresponder system.

Now I don’t want to go into detail right now about capture pages and sales copy, but the optin form and the autoresponder is what we want to look at.

There are many different email marketing services out there. If you are an Internet Marketer, you know the name Aweber. If you are a Brick and Mortar business owner, you have probably heard the name Constant Contact.

Both are email marketing systems that allow you to build lists and setup pre-written email sequences (aka = autoresponer).

Which leads me to….

Tons of emails – No Profits.

Now I realize you may have a big list and an autorepsonder and still not seeing profits, well… this article is not directed towards you. There may be a good chances it’s more of a email strategy issue.

But if you have a huge list and you are using hotmail or have a list sitting on your desk, then you are going to want to get a good email marketing system in place.

Like I said, there are many out there to choose from. I have played around with Constant Contact and honestly didn’t really care for it. Maybe it’s because I have been using Aweber for years and am very pleased with everything Aweber does.

Before you think I am going to tell you that you need Aweber, I want to introduce to you one more new email marketing system that you probably have not heard about before. It’s known as Comf5 and this system offers some pretty cool features that I have not seen offered before.

Some of the cool features are:
- Video Emails.
- Video conferencing.
- Webinars.
- Triggers.
- And more.

Now all of that is in one system!

If you have been on any of my recent webinars, you have seen the Comf5 webinar feature at work.

So here is a breakdown of what Comf5 and Aweber offers.

• Email Client. (So you can send and receive from your business email) Aweber does not, Comf5 does.
• Autoresponders. Both offer unlimited autoresponders and both have a very good inbox ratio.
• Triggers. In a nutshell, triggers allows you to make it to where people on your list can click on a link in one of your emails and then automatically be placed in a different list that you own. Aweber does not, Comf5 does.
• Video Email. This is pretty cool and very simple with Comf5. Aweber does not offer this feature.
• Optin boxes. This is very important if you plan on having people signup to get on your list! Aweber has an awesome selection of cool optin designs. Comf5 at the time of this writing lacks in this department.
• Analytics. Both services offer good analytic tools. From what I am seeing at the moment, Aweber might have the upper hand in this as well.

So this is just a few things to think about.  As you can see both are great systems, with little differences.

The reason why I have covered all of this is because if you need an email marketing system in place, you need to know what’s out there. If you have further questions, please feel free to ask me and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.

The main point here is, that you need a system in place that handles connecting and following up with your potential, current and past customers and clients.
Without a good email marketing system in place, you will continue to be losing out on revenue and wasting a lot of time.

So what questions do you have about implementing a good email system? Or what are you currently using?

Keep moving forward!

P.S. Want to learn more about email systems? Join me on a Free upcoming Simplify & Systemize Your Business Webinar!

If you have found yourself frustrated by the lack of growth your business is experiencing or you are just sick and tired of doing everything yourself, there is a simple solution.

I recently released a video titled the #1 Reason Why Most Small Businesses Fail. In this video I talk about how many business owners are doing EVERYTHING themselves and end up getting burnt out and having to close down their business.

Let’s face it, it is impossible to do everything yourself. The solution to getting past this and having a well oiled machine is by systemizing your business….

It you take a step back and look around, you will find that you are surrounded by systems. Most systems are built up of many sub-systems and each one of them has a very specific job.

When you begin to start seeing your business as a system, you are on your way to becoming a systemized entrepreneur and will reap the benefits… Which is more freedom and more results with less work.

Think about it…

When you car brakes down, you take it to a mechanic. The mechanic takes a look at many different sub-systems in order to pinpoint the problem of the system.
The same goes for when you are sick and go to the doctor. Our body is a system made up of many sub-systems. But what happens when your business is sick and stops working the right way? Who do you take your business to?

Well many business owners just try new things in hopes that it will fix the problem. But when you are a systemized entrepreneur, you can pinpoint the problem in your business with ease. Because you see your business as a system and you are able to look at all the different sub-systems.

If you have found yourself frustrated with an area in your business, when you get down to the root of the problem, it’s not a person problem or a time problem, it’s a system issue. When you fix the system or sub-system, you’ve fixed the problem!

See what I mean? To start to become a systemized entrepreneur so you can better systemize your business, here is a little drill for you…

Go to your local coffee shop and order a coffee (or if you’re like me, a mocha!). Then have a seat and watch people order. Take notice of the system that is in place… or the lack of one. 

The person behind the counter takes the order, rings them up in a sub-system (cash register), then that order is passed on to the person who makes the drinks by using other sub-systems (espresso machines, blenders, etc.). Now it’s important to remember when we are talking about systems, we are not just talking about mechanical or electrical systems… People are a part of the systems as well! Remembering this will help when you are designing your business as a system.

When starting to systemize your business, take one part of it at a time. I recommend take some time and writing it and drawing it out. You might start with your email setup and start looking at it as a system and how it can be improved upon. I recently started using ComF5 for my system for email, video and webinar marketing. This has saved me a ton of time!

I will have more to share on systemizing your business soon. In the mean time I would love to hear your thoughts…

What have you systemized in your business? Do you find it hard to view your business as a system? What’s stopping your from becoming a systemized entrepreneur?

Keep moving forward!

P.S. You I want to invite you to a LIVE “How To Systemize Your Business” Webinar!

Also, check out these blog posts:

- The #1 Reason Why Most Small Businesses Fail

- Systemizing Your Business – Part 2

- Selling With Webinars