4.4 Automation

Welcome to the Automation Process for Business By Design.  (I saved the best for last!)  Because... I can't recommend (require!) automation enough! It's essential! Why?  Because if you spend ALL your time marketing, promoting, emailing, posting etc... you'll burn yourself out and give up.  No bueno!

So, automation is ESSENTIAL and (the best part!) it's easier than your think.

You really only need two things:

#1. a Machine

and #2. Traffic

#1. A "Sales Machine" is anything that turns a lead into a customer.  (Think funnel, automated webinar, video series, email series, etc) 

Once you have a machine that works, you simply have to fill it!  That's where...

#2. Traffic comes in. You must put "leads" or subscribers or traffic INTO this machine in order for it to produce customers.  And if you have a truly automated system, then your traffic needs to be automated as well! (And that's were Facebook Advertising and other paid ad platforms come in!)

We will be discussing these two aspects of automation in this process, but remember, you also have access to a SPECIFIC automation campaign that you can build and run, called Absolute Automation.  

So... what exactly is "Automation?"

 Simply put, automation is a marketing campaign that runs without you.  With a combination of software (discussed in the next section) you can quickly and easily build everything once and have it run without you.

The real difference between a "live" launch and an automated live is, in a live launch, EVERYONE gets everything at the SAME TIME.  In an automated campaign, everyone gets the same material, but NOT at the same time. They get it all based on the time in which they signed up.  It's as simple as setting up an autoresponder in your email marketing software!

So, whether someone joins Tuesday or Friday or Monday, each has a unique experience! When they Start, it's DAY 0, and everything counts up from there. 

To me, this is really The Faucet vs The Fire Hose.  The "faucet" will give you a steady drip feed intake of leads and sales, while a live launch (the fire hose) will give you a TON of leads and sales ALL AT ONCE!

Which is better?  The answer is BOTH.  How can you create automated campaign that run in the background WHILE you launch live?  That to me, is what MY business by design is all about!

First Level Automation:

The first level of automation would be to create a complete sales machine. The perfect example of this and the one we recommend and teach inside absolute automation is to simply create an automated webinar. Otherwise there're a myriad of different types of funnels or launch processes that can be turned into an automated campaign.

To create a complete start to finish sales machine such as the automated webinar, and to drive traffic from Facebook ads, would be considered the first level of automation. This is simply creating an automated machine that helps build your list and generate sales this is where I recommend you begin and it's a great place to stay. But you could always take it further…

Second Level of Automation

Second level automation is where you begin to stack funnels. Instead of having one sales machine you begin to have two, three, four… or more consecutive funnels. After your audience completes that first sales machine where do you send them next?

Where do you send people who didn't buy in the first campaign? Where do you send people who didn't buy? When you begin stacking funnels you progressed to the second level of automation.

Third Level of Automation

In the third level of automation, you would simply begin to integrate your stacked funnels with your free content in a value-build campaign.  This may look a bit complicated, but tools such as Infusionsoft were MADE for campaigns like this.  

Okay this is the most simple yet important rule of automation: you always create the campaign LIVE first.

This rule especially applies to those who are just starting out. And the reason is simple, in a live launch you get real-time feedback from your audience you can pivot, squeak, And really understand the market and what they need. In an automated campaign you will not have as much feedback as quickly as you would with the live launch. So the best practice here is to take an offer and a launch process that you have, run it live first, and then convert it into an automated campaign.

I know it's tempting to skip that first step, but in the end it will make your life so much easier!

Below are the tools I use to create automation in my business

You'll need email marketing software.  I use Infusionsoft, and it's absolutely amazing for deep automation and segmentation. But there are plenty of other options available, and chances are if you're reading this, you already have software such as Mailchimp, ConvertKit or Kajabi. 

The point here is that your email marketing software really becomes the driving force that makes your automated campaigns work. 

The biggest sticking point marketers have had (up until now) when it comes to automation, is figuring out how to create "automated deadlines." the solution is: DEADLINE FUNNEL.

www.DeadlineFunnel.com

We use and highly recommend Deadline Funnel for all your automated deadlines. 

Note: Just like a live launch has a deadline, each of your automated campaigns, launched and funnels should have deadlines as well.  Remember, most sales will come in at the end of your launch, right before the deadline!

EverWebinar is the software I use to create automated webinars, which is ultimately what I recommend starting with.  

In fact, my bonus training ABSOLUTE AUTOMATION walks you through a complete automated webinar campaign. 

Just like filling a "live launch" with subscribers, you'll need to do the same with your automated funnel or webinar.

The following are a few options for filling your funnel or automated campaign. 

The best way I know how to fill funnel is through Facebook Ads. In fact, FB Ads drives all of my automated campaigns 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  and it's 99% hands-free, automated!  

If you want to learn the in's and out's of Facebook Advertising, please check out my complete A-Z FB Ads training program: Ads By Design.

The next way we can fill your automated campaigns is through your existing, organic traffic. Do you have a platform where you share free content?  (Podcast, YouTube, Blog, etc) 

How can you drive traffic from your content into a funnel?

Could you write a few pieces of content that serve as entry points into your funnel?

Then, once you've created one funnel, you can direct people who have completed it into the next funnel and the next funnel. This is what we call "funnel stacking!" 

Or, what I refer to as the "second level" of automation:

In order to make an automated funnel work, you'll need to be PROFITABLE. (duh!).

If you spend $1 to acquire a new lead or subscriber, they must be worth MORE than $1.00 to remain profitable. 

Therefore, there are only two top line metrics that I look at in my funnels:

1. My Cost Per Lead (Total Ad Spend/Total Leads Acquired)
ie. How much does it cost to Aquire a new subscriber into the funnel

2. My Earnings Per Lead (Total Revenue/Total Leads in Funnel)
ie. How much is each subscriber WORTH to me?

As long as your EPL is higher than your CPL, you are profitable. 

You can use the EPL Calculator I created to help with this.