I promised I’d tell you the tools I use, well – here they are.

First, I need to preface this email by saying 2 things.

1. We’re going to get geeky. There will probably be terminology and ideas that make little sense. If digital automation interests you, then lets chat about it. I do not charge for a chat, I’d love to learn about your business and often a small and simple tweak gets huge results… so you really have nothing to lose by chatting. SCHEDULE A TIME TO CHAT BELOW!
2. I also need to say not all businesses are created equal. Different businesses will most probably use different tools. Some tool sets work better with gSuite, while others are better suited for Office365. Some are more Mac oriented, while others are Windows. A creative studio with a team will probably centre their tool stack around a project management tool, whereas a consultant would be more interested in the CRM.

Anyway…you get the deal. Here’s we go!

My company, Stackd Design has changed it’s focus and structure over the years, from just me, to a team of 10 and now back to a smaller team with specialist consultants for specialty areas. Before I pay wages, my ENTIRE operational cost for software and subscriptions for the ENTIRE team is only $237 /month. This is a completely scaleable solution. Whether I am approached by 1 or 10 new clients in a week, that $237 price tag stays the same month to month. That means my business systems only costs $2,844 to run each year – and through digital automation I can earn much more than that.

It use to be that a business would need a big budget to run the business with any sort of digital automation. The truth these days, is there are so many alternatives to the big enterprise solutions that you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars each month to get something effective. You just need to know someone (like me) who can integrate great tools, directly with your website, to get results.

Here’s a break down of what I use.

Emails and Documents – GSUITE
CRM Choice – STREAK
Email Marketing – DRIP
Automated Outreach – REPLY UP
Project Management – TRELLO
Scheduling – RESOURCE GURU
Communication – SLACK
Integration – ZAPIER
Appointment Scheduling – CALENDLY
Book Keeping – XERO

This tool stack works great for me because 95% of my communication is through email. I’ve been using Gmail for the longest time with a whole set of extra extensions to super power it – so Streak CRM was appealing to me and my team, as it integrates directly with Gmail.

I have built multiple sales and nurture funnels directly in Streak. These are called ‘Pipelines’. As an email comes in – it goes into a pipeline. As it moves through the various stages of a pipeline it has tags automatically added and removed so I can segment my audience later on. When a contact record in my CRM changes it also syncs with the same contact record in DRIP. This allows automated workflows to run (just like the one you are on now). The workflows can send emails, split test, notify me, collect analytics, etc. Whenever work is low, one strategy for new clients revolves around my subscription to Reply up for Automated Outreach. This sends a series of emails to highly qualified prospects, but cuts the sequence if they reply. Once they reply they are automatically added to my CRM.

With all of this automation, my website is at the heart. My leads and clients are constantly heading back to either my landing pages, or forms which drive extra automation. Now that I have a great system setup and in place, it is automated and easy. This is what I really love to do and it is the thing that sets me apart from most other ‘web people’ out there.

I would be genuinely interested to know how much of this stuff you think is important, and if you have automated it already. Feel free to comment below and let me know.

If you are in contact with somebody who needs to get more leads from their website – then there’s a stack of ways to get in contact with me:

[email protected]
0408705939

Schedule a call.

( I Love Automation! )

Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to reach out if you have a questions, need advice, or want to chat.

Talk soon.
Dave

The post Here's a list of tools I use. appeared first on Dave Spicer.

Did you know I play music? Jazz Piano and Singing specifically and I’m actually pretty good at it (if I do say so). It’s not just me saying that, I’ve won awards and everything. This is actually how I became a Website and Digital Automation guy.

I’ve had a thousand gigs and travelled the world with music. Some gigs have been big – some very small. In fact I remember one night years ago, I played a massive main stage festival gig to 10,000 people – a screaming sea of heads loving every moment of it… then I drove from that gig straight to an 80th birthday where they asked me to play in a different room (away from guests) on an out of tune piano. I learnt humility quickly – that’s for sure!

Anyway… I had an idea to start a music lesson website almost 20 years ago. The website alone cost me my life savings – $20,000. If I wanted to update it I had to pay an extra $100 for every change. But that didn’t matter… because the website got hacked anyway – only 6 months in.  I was devastated. Turns out the developer had saved a file in the root directory called ‘passwords.txt’ and it was visible to the world. I lost absolutely everything and needed to start again. My second website cost a lot less. Only $5,000. It lasted only 1 year before it got hacked.

I was out of money so I did something that many people only learn out of necessity, something daring, something radical… I learnt to code. I quickly learnt that to have a successful website I would also need to learn photoshop, illustrator and some design skills. Then I needed to figure out some marketing, and lead generation, systems, software, don’t forget sales, oh yeah – accounting, etc, etc.  Any small business owner will understand they need to wear a lot of hats.  I have had a lot of opportunities to learn lessons over the past 20 years, some huge wins, and some crushing defeats. All making me stronger and helping me understand how all the pieces fit together.

My approach to business and life is a real no BS approach. I talk openly and truthfully about everything and am able to find solutions that are a win/win for everybody. I don’t like ‘breaking the bank’ and usually find ways with new clients to stage the work so that we can get quick wins… start getting some return on the investment, then it makes sense to proceed to the next piece of work.

I find creating websites that are both visually appealing and technically powerful is much like a music concert. For over 15 years I have been designing digital and web solutions and have been a professional jazz and concert musician for even longer. Having a deep understanding of every instrument and element and how they inter-relate is the key for both a high functioning website and a performance that engages and inspires.

If you are in contact with somebody who needs to get more leads from their website – then there’s a stack of ways to get in contact with me:

[email protected]
+61 408 705 939

Book a time to talk with this tool I use.

I love automation!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to reach out if you have a questions, in need of advice, or simply want to chat. You can also leave a comment below!

Talk soon.
Dave

The post How I Got Hacked appeared first on Dave Spicer.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post! I’d really like us both to get to know each other better.

I’m Dave Spicer, founder of Stackd Design. Considering I’m an expert at Digital Automation, – I’d like to share with you exactly what I do using an automated email workflow I built using DRIP. I really do respect your time AND your inbox – so this workflow only contains three emails from me. If you don’t think there’s any value in my three emails then you can either not join the workflow, or after an email or two – hit unsubscribe in the footer – but I promise to share with you all the automation tools, secrets and integrations I’m personally using for Stackd Design within the next 3 emails.

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So what exactly do I, Dave Spicer do at Stackd? What is the mission? What get’s me up in the morning?… I am passionate about building smarter websites that work, nurture & convert.

You might think… what’s so hard about building a website? Well… nothing. Let’s be honest, it’s not hard to build a website these days. Many businesses choose to find a website builder platform and throw something together over a weekend. These websites often look great too! They are often templates from award winning designers and sometimes have a real ‘wow’ factor.

Is that what I do though? … No way – because I don’t really want my clients to have a new website… I want them to get leads and new business – that usually requires a smarter website.

Within my business, I know that it often takes 7 to 12 touch points to build trust and a relationship that might lead to new business. To be brutally honest with you, this is part of the reason you are receiving this email in the first place! My website is just one piece of the puzzle, but then I also use GSUITE for emails and documents, I schedule appointments through CALENDLY, I use STREAK for Customer Relationship Management and Sales Funnels, DRIP handles my automated workflows, TRELLO for project management, SLACK for team communication, and more!

And guess what… this completely automated, well oiled, lead nurturing machine all centres around the website. That’s how I build smarter websites that work, nurture & convert.

These tools I mentioned aren’t perfect for everyone.. but they seem perfect for me, right now. Different business models may require a different set of tools. I’ve used almost all of them so if you are comparing I’m happy to have a chat. Also, If you are in contact with somebody who needs to get more leads from their website – then there’s a stack of ways to get in contact with me:

[email protected]
0408705939

Schedule a call.

( I Love Automation! )

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to reach out if you have a questions, need advice, or want to chat. You can also leave a comment below!

Talk soon.
Dave

The post Who is behind Stackd Design? appeared first on Dave Spicer.