Business and Marketing Systems – The Real Definition

The term “business system” and the term “marketing system” have been corrupted and used online to mean something far removed from what they actually are. They are not quick, prepackaged solutions that run on auto-pilot to make money (and absurd concept to begin with). They are, in fact, customized, individualized, and carefully practiced routines and tools, which, in combination with skill in using them, will make your business and marketing faster, more effective, and more predictable.

The catch is, that for virtually every small business, you cannot buy them. You must either create them yourself, or hire an expert to help you create it. Sounds pretty daunting, but let me explain a little more, so you can perhaps catch the least, and the fullest, meaning of the concept.

If you have email come in every morning from clients, friends, online networks, and other, you may eventually decide that you have too much to sort through efficiently. You may decide that you’d rather deal with all of your network email at one specific time each day instead of having it disturb your work. So you set up a folder for it in your email program, and a filter which takes all of the email that comes in with the network subject line (or sender), and puts it automatically into that folder. Then you look at it at the end of the day, or over your lunch, or whenever you’ve designated for that set of tasks.

That is a very simple example of a system! You spotted a problem, and you developed a standard method of handling it, partly through routine, partly through customizing a tool to do part of it for you.

Most businesses have many systems, which, combined, give you a full functioning business. When someone packages the whole thing and sells it, it is called a “Franchise”. But even a franchise takes time to learn, and is not a magic formula for success!

Look at what you do each day. Are you doing anything that is repetitive and time consuming? How can you make it more efficient? How can you make the outcome more predictable? Can you use a form, boilerplate text, an automated tool, a piece of software, a set of containers, or anything else to make it faster or more effective?

You can do this with marketing also.  Store frequently used text for repeat use. Create multiple sizes of logo graphics for use across the net, and a standardized personal photo for use in networking. When you fill out a form and it asks for info that you are likely to need again, copy it and save it. Set goals for specific numbers of networking contacts or backlinks each week, then pay attention to thinking of ways to make it faster to do it. Analyze the performance rules for your business, and record them to be used again. Develop guidelines, test them, and if they hold over a series of tests, adopt them as business policy.

Successful systems are one of the key differences between successful businesses, and those that struggle perpetually and never quite make it. If you want to make the break into success, then you need to apply some science to developing effective systems to make the tasks you do ever day more efficient.

The power is inconceivable until you experience it.