We’ve been talking a lot about systems in the Learn and Get Smarter community over the past several months…and at the community meeting this past Saturday we focused in on the systems needed to keep our online businesses operating smoothly.
Mary Williams of Sensible Woo gave an enlightening presentation. She used the analogy of working out and training at a gym, as a framework to help us think about the kind of digital "workout" we can provide to keep our businesses running strong. (In fact, she calls this program "The Business Gym").
Connect with Mary at sensiblewoo.com and on Instagram @sensiblewoo.
Mary is the Chief Technology Therapist at Sensible Woo, where she works with online business owners to make their data management and software systems flow with ease.
She is an accredited librarian with her Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan School of Information and started her career as the digital archivist for Disney Animation Studios.
She has also worked with marketing agencies, entertainment technology companies, public libraries, fundraising organizations, and technology start-ups.
Mary's system of "Digital Feng Shui" helps entrepreneurs master milestones
and get past bottlenecks in their businesses.
(And we all have them. Business bottlenecks, I mean).
Mary’s goal is to help us create customized business systems, specifically tailored to our own business needs.
Rather than using a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach, she helps her clients and customers map out their own specific workflows, and then find customized ways to optimize them.
Her Workflow system helps transform unconscious ad hoc investments into intentional strategic decisions..
She shares that: "A business that runs smoothly with a lean overhead is totally attainable and it starts with understanding the best workout for you."
In her presentation last Saturday, Mary shared elements of business fitness such as:
What systems do you use in your business? What systems do you need?
What does your tech stack look like?
(That is actually one of my favorite questions. I’m fascinated by the technology it takes to create a business that runs by itself).
Or does it?
“Set it and forget it” may be the “holy grail” of digital entrepreneurship, but I don’t actually know anyone for whom it’s a complete reality.
Even if you DO "set it" ("it" being an automated system of some kind,) if you “forget it” for too long, it’s going to start to run down, fall apart, or go haywire.
Digital systems need care and tending and maintenance, just like any other kind of system.
If you would like to give your business, and the systems needed to run it, some TLC,
Mary is hosting an event she calls “The Workflow Party”,
to help us get our business procedures and processes in tip top shape.
At last week's meeting,
Sophie Lechner of Global Commerce Education, Inc.
shared her affiliate link to
Mary’s Workflow Party;
If optimizing the workflows in your business would be helpful to you, check it out!
A workflow that functions well for me in my business, is powered by my scheduling software.
It’s like having a secretary who works 24/7, never makes a mistake, and tactfully reminds me of all meetings multiple times.
And it’s genius at translating between time zones.
How about you?
Do you have a favorite business system, tech tool, or automated solution to a business challenge?
I’d love to hear about it ... from your bottlenecks to your brilliant solutions!
Drop a note to Rebecca@learnandgetsmarter.com …or come talk about it in the Facebook group!
And if you’d like customized support and help in getting your business systems optimized in ways that make the most sense for YOUR business processes, check out Mary’s WorkFlow Party at the link that Sophie shared with us.
Mary’s creative organizational abilities (and ingenious methods of working with Post- it® notes) are truly dazzling.
I hope you can join us next Saturday at the Learn and Get Smarter community meeting,
to continue the conversation about how to survive and thrive as digital edupreneurs.
Come to the community meeting
Saturday, October 17th, 2020
9 AM Pacific/ 12 Noon Eastern
