I had hired someone recently to do a marketing audit of our own company, and I learned a lot.
One of the many things I learned is that some key subscription forms were failing. This means that people who were interested in hearing from us haven’t been.
Oops.
Systems are deeply important to moving a business into momentum. They allow us to bring our full creativity and heart to the places that need it the most, while attending to the every day tasks that make the business run smoothly.
In the human body, unless something is terribly wrong, we don’t have to think about breathing. It happens automatically. Not just taking breaths, but the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the circulation of our red blood cells, helping all of the trillions of cells in our body breathe and function. Thank goodness we don’t have to give our conscious attention to that.
In a similar way, systems like a subscription form allow someone to tell you they are interested in what you do, and for that choice to be recorded and saved. The system can then automatically give them some goodness that you put your heart into, a download, an email, something helpful to them.
A well-created heart-centered system can do a tremendous amount of work for you and your business.
At the same time, all systems require maintenance and checking-in-on.
After discovering the two broken forms in our own system, we sleuthed out the problem, fixed one of them, and still working on the other one. It will be fixed soon!
Why do systems break, if at one time they were working?
Honestly, who the heck knows? There are perfectly understandable reasons, sometimes. The application you’re using does an update, does another update, and by the sixth update your system that has been in place for two years or more suddenly stops working. Or maybe you update your website and a plug-in is suddenly incompatible.
Sometimes, to be perfectly truthful, it just seems like the moon shifts to a new phase and the system breaks.
Because of this, you know what else we did, in addition to fixing the systems?
We put “Check to make sure subscription forms are functional” on our regular monthly maintenance checklist. That will stay on the monthly list for for six months, and then probably go onto our quarterly checklist.
In nature, there’s a progression that happens in meadows. First the grass grows high. Then, maybe over a few years, shrubs start to grow. Then large shrubs. Eventually, tree saplings will take root.
In time, sometimes surprisingly quickly, an open meadow or pasture turns into a part of the forest.
Life does not automatically rotate around our own desires and needs. We need to be willing to put our desires and needs into the mix, so they are included. This includes sometimes removing small shrubs if the desire is to keep an open meadow that’s already surrounded by mature woods.
And believe me, it’s MUCH easier to remove tiny new shrubs to preserve a pasture, than it is to cut down trees to open up a new space.
No, we don’t want to dominate the land around us, we want to be in a collaborative process. And, it’s okay, even good, that our needs and desires are also part of the mix.
Let’s keep some open meadows in your business.
My recommendation to you, without any panic or rush whatsoever.
- Make a list of all the systems you’re using.
- Check each system to make sure it’s still working the way you want it to.
- If any are broken, get them fixed.
- Put a reminder, and block off the time in your calendar, to check the systems again.
How frequently? It depends on the kind of system it is, and how important it is to your business. Some things are worth checking monthly or quarterly. Some can be checked every six months or every year.
–> Don’t overburden yourself with an unsustainable schedule of system checking.
–> Do create regular maintenance checklists.
Incidentally, if you have a virtual assistant, or are contemplating getting one, this is a great task to give to someone in that capacity. It often takes very little time to do, and they can just get it done.
If you do hand it off to someone else, make sure they generate a report for you each time they do it, and that you have an alert in your own calendar that you are expecting to receive a report.
This is not out of mistrusting anyone, but just as a back-up in case a system fails. Maybe their calendar crashes. Maybe an event or three disappears.
I want to see your business thriving, and having it happen as easily as possible for you.
With love,
Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.
The Heart of Your Business starts next week.
There are clear, dependable principles that make a business function really well, that help it to thrive and grow without so much struggle.
That’s what this course is about. It starts next week, and we don’t teach it again for a year.
Also, I ran a Q&A webinar yesterday, answering folks questions about the course. It might be helpful to listen in on if you have questions yourself.
You can also reply to this email and ask.
Pay from the heart. Starts this coming Tuesday. Join us?
