In 2017, it’s not about if you’re using email, it’s about how you’re using email.

70% of companies are currently using a marketing automation platform. It’s not enough for small businesses just to send emails, you have to send the best emails to be heard above the noise—or even make it out of the spam box. Luckily, there’s a ton of tools that can help optimize your email campaigns to make sure you’re delivering your message as effectively as possible.

But picking one isn’t so easy. Each email marketing tool comes with so many features and integrations, it becomes difficult to sift through and find one that suits your company’s needs best. That’s why we broke the most popular email services down into four categories:

• Design
• Marketing automation
• Sign-up forms
• Analytics

We compared Campaign Monitor, MailChimp, GetResponse, and ConvertKit to help you decide on the right one to fit into your team’s existing systems.

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When we started building Process Street, we thought we knew all the features our users would need.

We were quick to learn that we’d left an awful lot out…

After a year of continuous development, we’re rolling out Process Street 2.0 — a whole new app with a ton more functionality, including:

• A rebuilt UI from the ground up
• Form builder and automation
• Task assignments and due dates
• Run links and checklist sharing
• Zapier, Google Apps, and Yammer integrations
• Easily complete tasks and checklists

Process Street isn’t just a checklist app anymore. It’s a complete platform for workflow automation, business process management and reporting. Continue Reading

In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Dmitry Dragilev about the systems behind the marketing successes he’s engineered for startups like Polar and JustReachOut.io.

For startups, failure to get traction quickly can mean the difference between a multi-million dollar exit and another Silicon Valley tombstone.

Since it’s so vital to get exposure from the outset, you need to get the press, early adopters, and Google on your side.

This episode is all about how to do that: an interview with the growth hacker and startup PR expert Dmitry Dragilev.

Listen to the episode to find out where to start with an audit of your marketing site, how to write content that will force Google to pay attention, and Dmitry’s best hack for startup SEO.

Links to listen

• Listen on iTunes (iOS)
• Stitcher (Android)
• Listen on Business Systems Explored website

And remember, if you like the show, please leave us a review and rating. 🙂

Click below to subscribe on iTunes:

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Most companies turn to Gmail or Outlook to manage their workplace email. 13% of public companies use Office 365 or G-Suite (formerly Google Apps). The remaining 87% use a combination of the two, or a private email setup.

Some companies choose Google or Microsoft because they prefer one’s cloud office suite—which includes calendars, and collaboration on spreadsheets and documents—over the other. (We compared Office 365 with G-Suite in another post.)

But if you use other productivity tools and are deciding between Gmail or Outlook solely for email, you want to choose one that helps you speed up your workflow. Gmail set its initial bar high, and Microsoft clearly took notice. Given Outlook’s 2016 update, it is now more equipped to compete than ever.

Here are five game-changing differences between Gmail vs. Outlook.

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In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Doyle Albee, host of PR is Dead and president of PR firm ‎Metzger Albee.

Public relations expert Doyle Albee shares his stories, tips, and processes on building a PR strategy for your business.

We chat about everything from building relationships with reporters to knowing the perfect time to strike with your story. And, the myth that ‘all news is good news’ is debunked!

Get inside the world of reporters and their motivations with these unique insights from the president of Metzger Albee PR firm, and host of the Rainmaker.fm podcast PR is Dead.

Links to listen

• Listen on iTunes (iOS)
• Stitcher (Android)
• Listen on Business Systems Explored website

And remember, if you like the show, please leave us a review and rating. 🙂

Click below to subscribe on iTunes:

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Earlier this year we compared planner sisters Trello and Asana. But if you’re the owner of an Office 365 subscription, Microsoft has rolled out its own project management tool with kanban cards into your account for free.

It’s called Microsoft Planner and claims to “take the chaos out of teamwork.” Let’s see.

Sign in to Office 365 with your work or school email, and go to the app launcher by clicking on the Rubik’s cube menu in the top left corner. There you’ll see this friendly Planner logo:

Here’s our take on Microsoft Planner, including some tips and tricks for becoming a super user, and our take on how it differs from the other tools out there:

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In this episode of Business Systems Explored, I explain how to manage your tasks, delegate work, and build systems that help your business keep costs down, and work more productively.

At Process Street, I manage several different teams and assign hundreds of tasks every month.

You’d think that when you have to explain, upload, and send information to so many people so regularly, you’d have no time to do anything else…

You’d be wrong.

Managing a busy startup means you need to take a lot of shortcuts. So, thankfully I’ve found and documented a way to assign tasks to anyone from any device without switching between apps, sending emails, or messing around.

In this episode, I break down the system I use so you can re-create it and start delegating tasks successfully and efficiently.

Links to listen

• Listen on iTunes (iOS)
• Stitcher (Android)
• Listen on Business Systems Explored website

And remember, if you like the show, please leave us a review and rating. 🙂

Click below to subscribe on iTunes:

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In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Zachary Sexton, host of The Productivity Show for Asian Efficiency.

Whether you’re a maker or a manager, you could use a little more efficiency at work. It’s not like you’re choosing to goof off and doing a Homer Simpson, but you might be spending way too much time on email or less important work.

But how do you know? What really is the most important task for today?

We’ve looked at this topic a lot on the Process Street blog, but today it’s a focus on improving efficiency at work from the perspective of building a culture of productivity in your workplace.

Zachary tells us the tools, systems and methods he’s learned while running Asian Efficiency’s Productivity Show and the Buckets consultancy.

Listen to this week’s episode to supercharge your productivity, and find out what to do when you have a few bad days in a row.

Links to listen

• Listen on iTunes (iOS)
• Stitcher (Android)
• Listen on Business Systems Explored website

And remember, if you like the show, please leave us a review and rating. 🙂

Click below to subscribe on iTunes:

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In this episode of Business Systems Explored, Vinay explains the system he uses to hire at Process Street.

Hiring is the single most important thing any company does.

It’s right at the top of the chain, and the effects filter down to impact revenue, reach, signups, customer satisfaction, and more.

So, instead of settling on someone early because you can’t be bothered to manage relationships with hundreds of candidates, you should try the system described in this podcast.

The system involves ways to automatically reach out to great potential candidates, screen with automation, and use AI to schedule meetings. And, it’s nowhere near as complex as it sounds.

Listen to this episode to learn this semi-automated system for yourself and get it set up in a few hours!

Links to listen

• Listen on iTunes (iOS)
• Stitcher (Android)
• Listen on Business Systems Explored website

And remember, if you like the show, please leave us a review and rating. 🙂

Click below to subscribe on iTunes:

Quote to tweet:

“People are the ultimate system. It’s all about the team. Your company is how you hire” (tweet this)

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In this episode of Business Systems Explored, we talk to Armando Biondi, CEO of AdEspresso.

If you’ve ever ran a quick Facebook campaign to test the water, you know what a shot in the dark it can be. It’s likely that your first tentative campaign will have a stupidly high CPC, and eventually do nothing…

But that’s why you shouldn’t stop just yet. Facebook’s ad revenue is over $18 billion, so they’re certainly doing something right.
And, whether you’re selling to consumers or businesses, there’s a right and a wrong way to do it.

Listen to this episode — it’s an in-depth interview with a PPC genius ready to show everything he knows about Facebook advertising.

Links to listen

• Listen on iTunes (iOS)
• Stitcher (Android)
• Listen on Business Systems Explored website

And remember, if you like the show, please leave us a review and rating. 🙂

Click below to subscribe on iTunes:

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