All Systems Go! Marketing Automation and Systems Building with Chris L. Davis

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 190 - How can your business achieve true operational clarity and ensure your team is all on the same page about workflows and systems? In this episode, Chris interviews Brian Ragone, the founder and CEO of Puzzle, an app that helps teams visualize their workflows and systems. They discuss the challenges of documenting operations without a consistent visual language, and how Puzzle solves this by providing a unified way to map out processes. Brian also shares about the powerful features of this tool that connect processes to teams, roles, and tools. Tune in to learn how Puzzle can bring clarity and alignment to your team and business operations. What You'll Learn: About Our Guest: Brian is the Founder & CEO of Puzzle, and he's helping teams visualize their workflows & systems in a fast and easy way so everyone understands how they work. He's helped visualize over 10,000 workflows to bring clarity and alignment across teams within organizations so they can make improvements to their operations with confidence. He has found organizations use 130 SaaS applications to run their business operations on average. Yet, most processes and systems aren't well documented and the only person who knows how they work is the person who built them — everyone else on the team is left in the dark. Resources: PuzzleAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 189 - In this episode, Chris invites back Kay Peacey, a world-leading ActiveCampaign specialist and founder of Slick Business. They dive into the latest updates and features released by ActiveCampaign in Q2 2024, including new email sending limits, crucial email authentication changes, recurring payment integrations, and powerful enhancements to email engagement tracking. Kay shares valuable insights from her role on ActiveCampaign's Customer Advisory Board, offering a unique insider's perspective. Whether you're a seasoned ActiveCampaign user or just getting started, this episode is a must-listen to stay ahead of the curve and unlock the full potential of your email campaigns. What You'll Learn: About Our Guest: Kay Peacey has honed her email marketing automation skills to the very highest levels over 6 years of consulting and training for small businesses. She’s a world-leading ActiveCampaign specialist with a seat on the Customer Advisory Board for ActiveCampaign, and founded the ActiveCampaign Academy at her own company, Slick Business. Kay’s unique combination of top-level strategy and technical skills, plus a lifetime of teaching, make her the perfect person to help your business unlock bigger return on investment from your email marketing automation whilst keeping the human touch. She’s also partial to using the Lego mini-figs or paper aeroplanes to drive home the learning. Resources: Accelerated ActiveCampaign TrainingThe ActiveCampaign AcademyKay's Facebook CommunityAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 188 - In this episode, Chris is joined by Shaun Pereira, the founder and CEO of Emailpref, a software that simplifies user preferences while empowering businesses to gain deeper insights into their users. They discuss the importance of properly managing email lists and user preferences, and how Emailpref integrates seamlessly with ActiveCampaign to handle list subscriptions, unsubscribes, and segmentation based on user preferences. Shaun even walks through a live demo, showcasing how Emailpref fetches lists and tags from ActiveCampaign, creates customized preference pages, and syncs user preference updates in real-time. If you're looking to reduce your email unsubscribe rate, this may be the tool for you! What You'll Learn: About Our Guest: At just 24 years young, Shaun is already making waves as a visionary entrepreneur. With a proven track record as the founder of a contact sharing company, which he successfully sold, Shaun now leads Emailpref as the CEO. He's passionate about simplifying user preferences while empowering businesses to gain deeper insights into their users. Resources: EmailprefAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 187 - Are you prepared for when disaster strikes in your business? In this week’s episode, Chris draws from personal experiences and emphasizes the importance of having systems and automation in place to ensure business continuity. He discusses the challenges of relying solely on human resources, the risks of not documenting processes, and the value of facilitation automation to streamline operations and enable faster onboarding of new team members. Tune in to learn how to future-proof your business and ensure it can withstand unexpected challenges, whether it's a personal crisis or a key team member's absence. What You'll Learn: Resources: ASG 186 - Dear Manual Marketer...Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 186 - Why continue to settle for tedious manual efforts when technology allows for streamlining work, reducing errors, and freeing up time - all while producing the same or better results? In this episode, Chris challenges you to level up beyond simply "getting it done" and consider truly optimizing your processes through marketing automation. He argues that CEOs could be getting more value from what they pay marketers, and marketers could be providing more value without exerting more effort. By the end of this podcast, you’re sure to be inspired to stop settling for basic automation and embrace a smarter way of working. What You'll Learn: Resources: ASG 185: Your Done Doesn’t Equal My DoneAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 185 - Are you truly satisfied just coasting at "good enough" or do you have that hunger to level up and achieve even better results? In this episode, Chris tackles the idea that what clients see as a completed job may not match an expert's standards. He dives into why so often, clients simply don't have the specialized knowledge to recognize areas for improvement. It's an insightful look at the importance of getting objective feedback from real experts and why it is crucial to get uncomfortable and actively seek out opportunities to grow, rather than staying stuck in a mediocre comfort zone. This episode is sure to light a fire under you to stop settling and start striving for more. What You'll Learn: Resources: Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 184 - Do you really need all those bells and whistles, or should you focus on mastering the fundamentals first? In this episode, Chris challenges the conventional theory of building for scale. He draws on his lengthy experience in marketing and scaling businesses to argue that entrepreneurs should prioritize building functional, basic systems before worrying about advanced scaling strategies. Tune in as he shares insights on keeping things simple yet scalable, measuring the right metrics, and maintaining your systems – a refreshing perspective that will save you from costly mistakes in your journey for growth. What You'll Learn: Resources: Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 183 - Chris sits down with Scott Moran, co-founder of SamCart, the leading checkout solution for digital creators. Scott shares eye-opening data from SamCart's 2023 Creator Profit Report, including the surprising number of clicks needed to power a six-figure business, the conversion rates of different traffic sources (You may be surprised at the top performer), and the critical importance of generating repeat sales from existing customers. He also shares actionable insights on maximizing customer lifetime value, expanding product offerings, and leveraging data-driven analytics to identify growth opportunities. Don't miss this episode packed with valuable strategies to increase sales conversions and drive sustainable revenue growth for your business. What You'll Learn: Resources: SamCartThe 2023 Creator Profit ReportAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 182 - Join Chris as he dissects email segmentation and how three major platforms tackle this critical piece of marketing automation. He breaks down the pros and cons of Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, and HighLevel's segmentation capabilities - giving credit where it's due but not holding back on potential areas for improvement. Chris also reveals one feature that shockingly none of these platforms have fully nailed down yet. This episode is a must-listen for all marketers! Whether you're an email marketing pro or just getting started, you’ll walk away with valuable tips to level up your segmentations and campaigns. What You'll Learn: Resources: KlaviyoActiveCampaignHighLevelDripAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 181 - Chris invites back Kronda Adair to discuss the pitfalls of choosing the wrong software for your business. They explore various categories of software, from website builders to email marketing tools, course platforms, and community software, highlighting the potential drawbacks and limitations of popular options like Wix, MailChimp, Kajabi, Mighty Networks, and so many more. With real-world examples and expert insights, Chris and Kronda’s goal with this conversation is to help you better learn how to strategically select software that aligns with your needs, integrates seamlessly with your systems, and avoids data imprisonment. Avoid the costly mistake of choosing the wrong tools for your business by hitting play on this episode! What You'll Learn: Resources: Power HourBad Business Software is Costing Your BusinessAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 180 - After a short hiatus, Chris is back and dishing out his big plans for the podcast in 2024, announcing that segmentation will be a major focus this year. He reflects on the need for consistency and planning in business, promises more engaging content and interactivity with live-streaming episodes, and outlines all the new offerings coming for podcast listeners and community members including webinars, frameworks, Q&As and more. Tune in to find out how Chris plans to double down on lead segmentation, the secret sauce he credits for his biggest marketing successes, and how you can master this critical but often neglected skill yourself in 2024. What You'll Learn: Resources: ASG 019 - Stop Executing and Do This InsteadAutomation Bridge YouTube ChannelAutomation Bridge Community Membership3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 179 - This season finale previews the exciting new direction for the All Systems Go! podcast for the upcoming season 3. Chris explains how future episodes will focus on an agnostic approach to the strategic selection of software and the intelligent implementation of it in your business. He highlights specific past episodes to revisit and talks about the new live streaming format with a studio audience and software unboxings on YouTube. He also shares how you will be able to get your most burning software and use case scenario questions answered directly. Tune into this finale for a sneak peek at what's to come in Season 3 and to ensure you don't miss the latest software insights when the podcast returns!

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 178 - Chris invites on Avi Hercenberg, VP of Partnerships at SmartSuite, to discuss how this powerful work management platform bridges the gap between databases and project management. They dive into SmartSuite's features including robust automation, cross-platform integrations, task management, data rollups, and permissions in an effort to help you identify if SmartSuite is the missing tool in your tech stack. Avi provides tips on how to approach SmartSuite coming from other software like Airtable or ClickUp. They also discuss SmartSuite's focus on serving small businesses versus chasing enterprise accounts.

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 177 - This week, tune in to learn the 3 S's - Speed, Security, and SEO - for ensuring your website provides the best experience for your customers with web expert, Stephanie Hudson. Chris and Stephanie discuss free tools to test and improve site speed, tips to lock down your WordPress backend and protect customer data, and essential elements that make your site search engine ready. If you want your website to convert visitors into customers, you can't afford to miss this valuable guidance from a true website expert.

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 176 - Are you ready to turbocharge your nonprofit's marketing efforts? In this episode Chris invites on Dr. Kerry Kriger, a Certified Automation Service Provider™ and founder of a nonprofit consulting and web design agency, to discuss proven techniques to improve your marketing and attract more donors and volunteers. You'll learn ways to bring in recurring donations, powerful end-of-year appeals, how to build trust through your website and so much more. Chris and Kerry also cover little-known nonprofit discounts on top software. Whether you're just starting out or are a seasoned nonprofit pro, this episode is full of tips to reduce expenses and accomplish your mission.

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 175 - In this episode, Chris invites back a past guest of the show, Veronica Yanhs. This time they discuss how business owners can successfully implement operations and build effective teams. They cover strategies for determining your zone of genius, hiring the right people for your business needs, avoiding common hiring mistakes, and creating efficient systems and processes. Veronica provides tactical advice for both experienced and new business owners looking to optimize their operations for growth. If you’re looking to streamline your operations and hiring process, this is an episode you don’t want to scroll past.

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 174 - In this episode, digital marketing expert Ryan McCrary joins Chris to discuss "funnel stacking" - a strategy for optimizing your sales funnel by stacking multiple funnels together to maximize conversions and profitability. Ryan explains what funnel stacking is, the benefits of implementing it, and shares examples of how he has used it successfully for clients in various industries. They also cover best practices for tracking metrics and attribution to properly analyze funnel performance, as well as tips for assessing product-market fit, choosing the right price point, and determining how much to spend on ads when getting started with funnel stacking.

Send us a Text Message. In this episode, Chris invites back Samantha Pointer Foxx to have an in-depth discussion about membership, community, and forum softwares. They talk about the progression of membership sites over the past 20 years and how mobile capability is now essential. They compare options like Mighty Networks, Circle, Heartbeat, WP Fusion, and more, analyzing the pros and cons of each. Chris and Samantha outline key considerations when selecting software based on your goals, target audience, and desired user experience. Tune in to learn how to choose the right communication platform to meet your business needs.

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 172 - In this episode, Chris reconnects with a former colleague, Ashley Lundquist, to discuss the importance of focusing on your people to scale your business. Ashley explains how nurturing your team like you would any other asset can unlock creativity and innovation. She provides tips on defining the skills and qualities you need when hiring, having direct conversations even when it's uncomfortable, and creating psychological safety. This conversation is a must-listen if you’re a founder or leader looking to scale your business by building a healthy, happy team.

Send us a Text Message. Ep. 171 - Curious to learn the power of using no-code tools to grow your business? Chris sits down with Gareth Pronovost, founder of GAP Consulting, in this episode to cover exactly that. You’ll learn how to leverage platforms like Airtable, SmartSuite, Zapier, Make and more to automate processes, move data between platforms, and build interfaces to access your information. Gareth shares his journey leveraging no-code after getting laid off, how it enabled him to grow his agency to over $100k in monthly revenue, and why we’re still in the “first inning” of no-code adoption. If you want to optimize operations, cut costs, and scale your team intelligently, don’t miss this episode on the strategic use of no-code solutions.