Path to Simple

#34: Million Dollar Systems with Greg Hickman

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How Automation Can Help Scale your Business

(And How it Can’t…) 


Welcome back for episode 34 of the Think Digital podcast.


On this podcast we talk to Greg Hickman, digital marketing consultant and founder/CEO of System.ly.

Greg’s clients use automation to transform their grueling 15-hour days into manageable 5-hour days--all while adding revenue--thanks to the processes he helps them to put in place. He teaches entrepreneurs to build scalable businesses where the work that’s left for them to do is the work they actually like!

But, with all due respect to REM, going automatic isn’t for all of the people. 

Greg walks us through why clients need to put in the time doing a task manually before he’ll help them to decide if, and how, to automate. 

In this episode, Greg also talks about why every single business that he has helped get past the one-million mark--and those that were already there when he started working with them--offers their clients only one to two products. He shares some of his behind-the-scenes findings from big-time online outfits, including the commonalities in those that actually have it all together inside their operation. Those entrepreneurs whose businesses turned out to be big old messes behind the scenes? Greg shares what he found that they all have in common, as well. 

If you’re a service provider, you’ll want to hear why Greg cautions that you can’t be “hands to keyboard” for somebody else and still be building a sustainable company. He explains that saying yes to clients isn’t a scalable product (or a product at all...), and what you should be saying instead. 

What You’ll Learn In This Podcast Episode:

  1. How much Greg adores it when his cottage is filled with podcast wattage. [3:46]
  2. What companies often really need help with when they come looking for the “sexy stuff” of automation. [7:15]
  3. To steer clear of mimicking someone else’s funnel--instead of creating the one your business needs--because it will have you waking up one day with a business you don’t want. [20:36]
  4. Why getting one lead generation funnel working well unfortunately doesn’t mean you’re done with the work of perfecting your lead gen. [26:23] 
  5. The question that Greg asks that lets him flawlessly diagnose why you have a lead generation problem. (Hint: If your answer is vague, it’s a baaad sign…) [30:50] 
  6. How you might be falling into the trap of selling your time for money, even if you think you aren’t. [34:07]
  7. What Greg means when he says we’re currently not in a knowledge economy, but rather an application-of-knowledge economy. [50:32] 
  8. Why the prevalence of YouTube tutorials and other good content means most business owners probably already know what they need to do, but need a framework for how it fits into their business, what steps should be taken, and in what order. [51:24]

    9. Links from This Episode:

    • thinkdigital.co/gift
    • facebook.com/groups/SBLaunchPad
    • system.ly 
    • keap.com
      • ...more
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      Path to SimpleBy Justin Wise
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