This article will discuss the elements and systems that will enable you to run your business on autopilot. Setting up a process or a way of doing business gives you so much control, versus making it up as you go. 

The way you set up your business has everything to do with how easy or hard it is to get results. 

For example, if you don't have a place to send your visitors that allows you to track results, it's hard to know what works.  

If you haven't identified your audience or you're not able to determine what your audience is looking for, you may have a problem reaching your business goals. 

Those are just two examples but there are lots of other examples of inefficiencies in our online businesses.

When you create strategies and you implement them, it's easier to celebrate the wins or the things that work. You can also change or tweak things to improve your process, and therefore your ability to earn.

Elements Needed to Run Your Business on Autopilot

To run a thriving, successful online business on autopilot, it's important to have procedures. Written procedures are better than keeping your procedures in your head. Your procedures should cover the following aspects of your business:

It Starts with an Offer

• Once you have an offer to promote, you can use social media, ads, and other content marketing strategies to advertise your business.
  
  The element of your business that handles advertising on social media can be automated using specific tools that will help your audience become aware of your company, products and solutions.
  
  When you know your audience, it will be easier to create offers that will attract your ideal customers. These items will  generate interest, create awareness and hopefully lead to the next element, web traffic. 

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Traffic (Lots of It) is Every Business Owner's Dream

• When your prospects click on your social media posts, ads, videos and blog content, they are hopefully taken to your website, where they can learn more about your offers, sign up for your list, and they can make a purchase.
  
  Most business owners want traffic, and let's face it, if there is no traffic, you basically have no business.
• That's why understanding how you get traffic, where it comes from, and optimizing your blog content to show up in search results, as well as understanding your audience and what they are looking for, you will receive better results from your efforts.
  
  If you have a documented process and strategy that you use to get traffic, you can monitor, track and analyze the results you receive.  
• You can also tweak and change your procedures as needed to improve your results.
  
  Implementing a plan, understanding your ideal customers and fixing any problem areas will help you consistently improve.
  

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Lead Generation, Your First Conversion

• To truly have a business that runs on autopilot, you need a way to collect visitor's contact information. These kinds of systems are called lead generation systems or opt-ins.
  
  When someone lands on your content, it's important to give them an opportunity to take the next step with your business.
  
  Believe it or not, about 95% of people don’t buy on their first visit to your website, so you need a strategy that brings your visitors back to your site again and again.
  
  At the same time, you only want to deal with people who are truly interested in your business. So you need a system that will repel the people who are not interested, and capture the people who are interested in obtaining more information.
  
  Collecting contact information (email addresses) enables visitors to send you a signal that they are interested in your offers.
  
  When someone gives you their contact information, they convert from being a visitor to becoming a lead for your business.  A lead is someone who has expressed interest in your company.
  
  Generating leads is possible with a blog or landing page that you own and control.  Using specific, easy to use sales and marketing tools, provides a low cost way for for you to grow your business.
  
  Another way to bring visitors back is through re-targeting, as part of a paid advertising marketing strategy through ads. We'll talk more about re-targeting in a different episode.
  
  While first time visitors may find your site interesting, they may read an article or watch a video. But if there is no CTA (call to action) for them to take the next step, you may never see them again.
  
  Generating leads is a way that you can allow visitors convert by taking the first step toward becoming a customer. 

Your Fortune Awaits in the Follow up

• If done well, your follow up is where your fortune resides. It's also where many new business owners drop the ball.
  
  Following up with leads (people who have expressed interesting in your business) is how successful businesses grow. How you might ask?
  
  By adding value in exchange for email addresses, and immediately following up with your audience is the first step. That's where you email autoresponder comes in handy. 
• Helping your audience solve problems, giving them useful ideas, educating them about how to use your products, and motivating them to reach their goals will help to nurture a relationship that has the potential to last forever.
  
  If you're good at building those relationships, and truly serving your audience, they will reward you by helping you reach your goals.
  

The Functions Needed to Run an Online Business

The Sale is Just the Beginning

• This is the ultimate goal for business owners, and some make the mistake of thinking it's the end of the road. However, when someone buys from you, it's really just the beginning.
  
  Getting the sale should be the goal, and getting repeat business again and again should be the ultimate goal. If you have someone who has bought from you, there's an opportunity to turn them into a super fan.
  
  Super fans give you referrals (*they tell their friends and family about you), they shop with you often and they can be an excellent source of feedback, testimonials and data. There is a real opportunity to use automated systems to generate this data as well using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.  
  
  However, it's a real struggle for many new business owners to generate sales. Many bloggers and online business owners struggle to make $100 per month, let alone the life changing income you hear touted by influencers.
  
  This process can be automated when it comes to online catalogs, product information and payment processing, So you don't have to be present to help visitors find products, and provide product descriptions, and receive payments.
  

Get More Information

The key to more efficiency and control lies in creating automated systems that work in the background. These systems will work for you distributing your marketing messages, capturing leads, following up and processing sales. 

Depending on your business, you may need more or fewer procedures and systems. However these elements will get you up and running and able to receive visitors that you can promote products and services to. 

Without these automated systems you end up manually doing the work, and in most cases there aren't enough hours in the day. Sign up below to learn how to build your business online using systems that will help you get more results quickly.