If you know what systems you need for your business but you aren’t quite sure how to connect them, not to worry. Today we’re chatting about four things to consider in order to effectively connect your tech stack so that you can take back your time, energy, and place your focus on the things that really matter. Sound like something you want? Great! Let’s get started.
Links for This Episode
- Enroll in the Mama Business Blueprint
- Schedule your Mama Business Strategy Session
- Book your done-for-you Systems Services
Podcast Episode Recommendations
- #88: Streamline Your Systems Today [PART 1]: How to Create Workflows for Success
- #82: Systems or Goals: Which One Matters Most for Your Life and Business?
- #65: How to Automate Your Sales Process and Take Back Your Family Time
- #64: Are Your Business Systems Ready for Growth? 3 Ways to Know
Need Help with Strategy?
Before we jump into this episode about how to connect your tech stack, I wanted to let you know that I have just a few more openings for Mama Business Strategy Sessions this month. Here’s the deal: in order to have a successful business, you have to have paying clients and customers. That means, knowing who your ideal client is and how to reach them, understanding why your client should choose you over the competition, and designing marketing systems that work to generate leads – over and over again – without sacrificing your family. That’s exactly what a one-hour Mama Business Strategy is designed to help you do. After the session, you’ll be able to make your first sale (or 10th) without feeling salesy, sleazy, or annoying everyone you know on social media. Overcome decision paralysis when it comes to the practical and technical side of running your business. And sleep well at night knowing you don’t have to do “all the things” in order to be successful. Plus, you’ll know the next right action step to take to jumpstart the next phase of your business life. Sound like something you need? Schedule your session today at sarahbrumley.com/strategy.
How to Effectively Connect Your Tech Stack
Well hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Mama Business Podcast. We’re working our way through the Streamline Your Systems Today series and this is the fourth and final episode. So if you missed the first three episodes, you’ll definitely want to go back and listen to those, because everything we talk about today is actually going to build on the work that we did in those episodes. You can feel free to pause right here and come back after you’ve done so.
My goal with this is to help you put together the systems that you need to be most successful long-term in business. I know without a doubt that if we spend time really fleshing this out, you’ll feel a better sense of peace and clarity with regard to how you approach your client leads, project execution, and everything else related to business growth. Not to mention you’ll have the freedom not to spend time and money on things that aren’t actually necessary – because you’ll know exactly what to do and when to do it.
Today is no different. We’re breaking down how to connect your tech stack effectively so that it works for you – not the other way around. Let me ask you this. If you’ve been in business and you’ve had even one system that you’ve tried to use to make your life simpler, has it actually done so? And if the answer to that is no – then i want you to consider – is it because the system wasn’t a good choice for you OR was it because you didn’t actually take the time to connect and implement it in a way that allowed it to work to it’s fullest potential?
If you resonated most with that second answer, you aren’t alone. In fact, the most common complaint I get from business owners is that they want to have automation and effective systems in place, but they’ve tried it before and it just doesn’t work for them. But when I dig a little deeper, it’s obvious that the systems were never properly set up or integrated so that they could be used to their fullest potential.
Knowing that, today I want to give you a few things to think about as you move from creating workflows and choosing your systems to actually connecting the systems in an effective way. Sound like a plan? I thought so, too.
Set Up Each System Independently
In episode #90 we discussed how to choose which systems you need for your business. So, if you followed along with that and did the homework, then you likely are looking at a list of systems that meet your needs. Now, it’s time to set those systems up. And I want to focus on this for a minute because it doesn’t have to be complicated to set up a system and get things working for you. You already know from what you need each system to do, so it’s time to get the basics ready to go.
And it will likely be tempting to jump back and forth between systems getting everything ready to connect, but I want to recommend that you don’t do that. That’s where things get complicated and things get missed. Take the time to set up each system from start to finish. That means that if you are setting up your email marketing software, that you’ve fully written all of your emails, added your tags, creating the necessary landing pages, etc. The entire platform is set up before you move on to the next one. Repeat the process for each and every system you need BEFORE you try to connect them to one another.
I know, I know – sometimes we just want to have something that’s working, but you will save yourself tons of time, money, and frustration by doing it this way. Think about it this way – you create a landing page in your email marketing platform. Then, you decided to jump to your website and add that landing page. Great. That piece is connected. But, what happens when someone comes to that landing page and subscribes, expecting to get the freebie you offered and you don’t have your emails written and in place or you don’t have them tagged appropriately or you haven’t even figured out the system that hosts your freebie. You can see how that gets complicated quickly right? And how easy it is to miss a step or forget where you left off.
One system at a time until it’s fully set up. Not to worry – we’ll get those connections in place as soon as that’s finished.
Make Your “Connections” Plan
The second step in this process – after your systems are fully set up is to make a connections place. I’m sure that’s not an actual thing, but it’s what I’m going to call it – a connections plan. Like we did before, take a sheet of paper and write down each and every connection that needs to be made between your systems.
I might write down something like:
- Website Work With Me Page connected to Lead Capture Form
- CRM Connected to Email Marketing Platform to add tag for new client
- Landing Page Connected to Freebie Hosting Platform
Honestly, you might have multiple connections that need to be made between similar platforms, so by taking the time to list them all out, you won’t miss a single one.
Connect One System at a Time
The third step in this process is to make those connections. Like before, we want to make sure that nothing is getting lost in the mix. Because, a single missing step or action in a workflow might mean that you are back to a state of overwhelm or frustration. We don’t want that. So, decide which platform to start with and make all of the necessary connections. For example, if you start with your website, you might choose to go through it page by page and add the correct links to your scheduler form, embed those landing pages, and make sure your sales pages connect to the correct place for someone to actually purchase from you. Check off everything for the website before moving on to whatever is next.
Test Everything Repeatedly
That brings us to the final step in this process which is to test and then test again. You want to make sure that everything within your workflows is actually happening the way you intended it to so that your clients get the best experience possible AND so that you aren’t left missing a critical piece for your success. So, walk through each of the workflows that you designed in episodes #88 and #89. That might mean scheduling a fake appointment through your new client scheduling link, or signing up for that new freebie you just connected and then verifying that you received the email with the actual freebie and – possibly – that you were tagged appropriately in the email marketing platform. When it comes to actualy workflows, say through a CRM like Dubsado, you want to make sure that you set up a test project or client and then make sure that each piece – contracts, forms, invoices, etc – all goes out as it’s supposed to.
Once again, putting the time and energy into this now, means that you don’t have to recreate these things again. They will work for you so that you can focus on the things that require your special expertise and attention. But, you have to put the work in to have that as an option.
Take Action: Effectively Connect Your Tech Stack
And with that, we’ve come to the action part of this episode and we all know that action is where the dreams turn into the reality, and today’s action step is this:
Take the time to follow this process to get those systems up, running, and connected in a way that makes your life and the life of your business less complicated and more successful going forward. Use the steps I mentioned:
- Set up each system individually
- Make a connections plan
- Connect one system at a time
- Test until you are certain it all works properly
Once again, I just want to reiterate the importance of doing this ASAP. Because the sooner you do, the sooner you stop wasting money, time, and energy on things that don’t move the needle in your business. Put the time into getting things into place now – the future you will thank you.
And, like I said, if you need help with any part of this process, head to sarahbrumley.com/strategy and let’s get you some clarity. We’ll strategize and troubleshoot, and you’ll walk away knowing exactly what to do next – no guesswork involved. Once again, you can book your session at sarahbrumley.com/strategy.
Whatever you decide, mama, just know that I’m cheering you on. You’ve got this! Have an amazing day and I’ll chat with you next time!
