Fully Automated Online Business – Leverage Technology To Free Up Your Time
Are you working your online business instead of it working for you? Then you need to create a fully automated online business to free up your time.
Hi Trish Davies, here and the focus today is automation and how to create a fully automated online business. I get that running any kind of business can feel that you have too many plates spinning at the same time.
You may have seen in the past entertainers who spin plates on flexible poles. They position the pole in the centre of the plate and then spin the outer rim. Then they start off another and so on but the first one lose momentum, so they have to run back and spin them again. That is to stop them crashing to the floor and creating a right mess.
Well, those principles can be applied to business both online and offline. Maybe you are a solopreneur or small business owner. Do you often feel that there is simply not enough hours in the day to get things done?
Business is quite simple when you think about it. You have products and services and customers, and your task is to bring them together so that a transaction goes through.
Now it the process you have in place to achieve transaction that I want to focus on today. To help you create a fully automated online business so you can enjoy the rewards it brings doing what you love. Before I do that let’s look a traditional business model.
The Traditional Business Model
The brick and mortar business model s to speak. Now there are thousands of different traditional business models but in essence they work on these lines. You would advertise and market the business through various ways.
The first is that you may have people on the road trying to drum up business and then maintain that business. This is expensive due to the overheads of vehicles and wages.
Alternatively, you could adopt the cold calling approach either yourself or having a team in place. Again, this can be expensive in regard to technology and wages of your telesales team. If you are doing this yourself then it is eating into time that you could be doing something else.
Then you have the old school methods of advertising in newspapers, radio, television or sending out flyers. What you are doing is blanket advertising which means that the vast majority of people who see your ad aren’t interested anyway. Again, this is unproductive and not cost efficient.
Could Be Time Better Spent
The transaction process requires you to do business face to face and accept the payment. This can be time consuming for even the smallest transaction and then you have the packing and shipping to deal with. This all adds up to having a business that you work in and not one you work on along with very high overheads and lots of moving parts.
Now don’t get me wrong this business model has been around for hundreds of years. It has served thousands of different business sectors and still does and in many respects technology has helped streamline the process.
For example, taking payments. Back in the day you would have cash register with levers that you pushed to enter the amount. Then the register would ping open as if by magic.
Obviously over time they became digital to make that task easier. Then barcodes meant you just needed to swipe the product and you couldn’t keep up with the cashier.
Now you just swipe your card, and no money is traded back and forth, and many stores now have self serve stations. Which leads me nicely onto automation.
A Fully Automated Online Business
For business owners there has never been a better time than now to leverage technology. Business is still the same principle in regard to connecting customers with products and services.
You still need leads that are converted into customers who then go through the payment process. Products and services whether they are digital or physical still need to be packed, shipped or delivered electronically.
You still need to advertise and market your business but now you can do this far more effectively. That’s because you can specifically target your customers which means only people interested will see your ad.
Basically, you will be casting your hook in the correct part of the lake and you will get bites. This is far more cost efficient so you will see higher returns on investment (ROI).
You won’t need people out on the road or an army of salespeople who are constantly on the phone. Your products and services will be presented to your audience in a systemised way so all they have to do is enter their credit card details.
If you are dealing in digital products then the delivery is instant after payment has been made. For physical products it will mean that your primary physical task is packaging and shipping. Alternatively, you can have third party fulfilment houses do this for you.
Your communication channels are also automated through email marketing service providers. Here you can provide information about your business, have these services linked to your sales system to send order confirmations and tracking information.
Your main focus is getting people in the front door to your system and then it takes over. So how does a fully automated online business operate.
Structure Of A Fully Automated Online Business
For this to work seamlessly you must have a system in place. A system that handles lead generation, lead nurturing, converting into customers, offering products and services, payment and delivery. So here is what it looks like on paper so to speak.
- Lead Capture Page
- Email Autoresponder
- Sales Pages
- Payment Processing
- Product Delivery
Lead Capture Page
This is a page to attract leads to your business. Here you will offer a free product or service in return for someone’s contact details, usually name and email. You will have a subscribe button that is linked to an email autoresponder.
Your task is to market and advertise this page through digital marketing channels. This is your sole focus.
Email Autoresponder
Once people have entered their contact details they are added to a database housed within an email autoresponder. Here you set up automated communications that are deliver on a daily basis. The purpose of this is to offer value to your lead and to create a relationship.
Within your emails you will promote your products and services. You will have links to your sales pages for people to click on.
Sales Pages
Sales pages are self explanatory as this is where you will ask for money. You will focus on the benefits the customer will experience by purchasing your products and services.
On the page you will have a “Add To Cart”, “Buy Now” button or something similar. That button is linked to a payment processes such as PayPal or Stripe. Those services process the transaction which triggers delivery of the product or service.
Product Delivery
Now at this point if you are selling physical products you either pack it yourself or have a fulfilment house to do it. If you are doing it yourself you will get notification of the sale and then proceed to ship the item.
If you have a fulfilment house doing it for you your payment processer will be linked to the fulfilment house. They will be notified of the transaction and then handle what is required.
Now if you are selling digital products and services once payment is made the product is delivered digitally. It may be a simple eBook for which a download link is sent to the customer.
For online video courses the customer will be sent login details so that they can access what they have purchased. Once they receive those details they simply log in and take delivery of the content.
I hope by now you can see the power of a fully automated online business. The principles that I have shared with you is what I teach within my Build Your AU 9-week program. The objective is to give you’re the foundations to create your own fully automated online business.
For more details on my 9-week program click here. Automation in business has become more apparent over the last 20 years. I am sure you have noticed it in your own buying habits.
Now it is your turn to jump on this automated bandwagon and create your own fully automated online business. Whatever niche you are in I can help you achieve your goals, and it starts with my Build Your AU 9-week program. More details here.
Helping you build your authenticity, authority and audience.
Trish Davies
Build Your AU
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