In this blog, I will continue from where I left off in my last blog, The Inner Turmoil of Dealing with a System Change. If you read my last blog, you are probably aware that I have to find a new email system, automated marketing, shopping cart function and affiliate system – yes, all at the same time! As I mentioned in my last blog, I came to the realization that my systems were holding me back and it was time to make a change. If you haven’t read the first blog, you can read it here.
So to recap, here was my challenge:
- I started to second guess my integrated systems – email, automated marketing, shopping cart and affiliate
- I experienced system limitations and realized that my current systems were holding me back
- I determined the opportunity costs associated with NOT finding a new system and it looked like the following:
- The cost of NOT expanding my business
- The cost of my LACK of confidence in my own system
- My RELUCTANCE to build my business due to the fact that I can’t run proper campaigns
- My INABILITY to nurture leads and build my business because I can’t efficiently interact with my leads
I decided that it was time to look for a new automated email system, shopping cart, and an affiliate system. In addition, these systems will have to support my existing webinar, online course platform, and my opt-in pages. So the search began to find multiple systems that will serve my business needs.
The Search Began
First, I had to create a wish list. My business had grown organically, so I had to dissect it into small parts to understand how my systems currently interacted with one another. Once I had an idea of how everything was connected, I can start to find the replacements for the existing components. After dissecting my operations, I came up with my wish list.
Wish List
| Need | Requirements |
| Automated email system | Must integrate with my other system components easily |
| Shopping cart | Must integrate with my email system |
| Merchant account | Must integrate with my shopping cart – not all merchant accounts work seamlessly with all shopping carts |
| Online platform | My online platform must link with my online courses. I had to reach out to my course platform vendor to see what programs are compatible with what systems or how I can work around the fact that many don’t – another missing piece of the puzzle. |
| Webinar system | Must integrate with my email system |
| Affiliate system | Not many systems have an integrated affiliate system so I have to look for alternatives that can be integrated with the new shopping cart and email system. I need to ensure that when someone signs up as an affiliate that they will continue to receive links for free gifts, and the system must also continue to provide me with the analytics in order to pay commissions. |
| Lead Pages | I use Lead Pages for my opt-in pages and need to ensure that it can integrate with the new email system. |
[Tweet “There are several requirements to consider when looking for new automated email system, shopping cart, and an affiliate system“]
So what do I do now?
Once I had an inventory of my requirements, it was time to research the various systems. This means that I will be contacting contact support departments, watching product demos, setting up test accounts and crunching some numbers.
Check back here later to find out how I started the process of finding a new integrated email system and what steps I took to ensure that I found a solution that integrated not only my email system, but also my automated marketing, shopping cart, and affiliate system. I can tell you this much – not everything turned out the way it appeared in the first instance. It took more time and money than I anticipated but it also provided me with new opportunities that I wasn’t even aware of.
In the meantime, if you have questions about how you can find a system that integrates all of the tools that you need for your online business, join the Freedom Seeker’s Mastermind Facebook Group, where you can post your question and get support from your peers and myself plus find out about the next Strategy Power Hour, a Business Hour I offer to my clients and followers.
