In this week’s episode, we are in conversation with Lisa Kempton, an automation expert and the Founder of Sage Peak Business Solutions, who helps businesses automate systems and processes to cut down on paperwork. Alongside this, the Colorado girl, now based in Ohio, hosts her very own podcast ‘Business Under Pressure’ conducting interviews of experts to discover real-world solutions to everyday problems in business.
She believes in making all the work happen automatically without manual duplication; hence, she recommends Zapier (an automation tool). Her motto in life is to work smarter and not harder, so we all have ample time to enjoy life.
Lisa’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/successdrivenentrepreneurs/
Katie Brinkley 0:02
Welcome back to the podcast. My guest today is Lisa Kempton. Lisa is an automation expert and founder of sage peak business solutions. She helps businesses create systems and process. She helps businesses create systems and processes and then automate those processes. Basically, she helps businesses put everyday tasks on autopilot so that they can spend their time focusing on important parts of their business. Lisa is also the host of the business under pressure podcast. She interviews different experts on real world solutions to everyday problems in business. Lisa is a Colorado girl that’s recently been transplanted to Ohio. She has a husband and four boys they all love they love all things outdoors and their dog Sadie. Lisa, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Oh, you’re totally welcome. I’m so excited to be here. Yes. And, you know, let’s just talk a little bit about where you know, you’re from Colorado, let’s start at the beginning. Tell us a little bit where you grew up and what life was like growing up. Um, so you know, Colorado, outdoor sports, you know, like being active. Like, that’s been my life a lot. I’ve enjoyed it.
Lisa Kempton 1:12
Professionally, I’ve always been in sales and working with small businesses. Before we moved to Ohio, I actually worked for Chamber of Commerce. So I was working directly with the small businesses in order to help them to promote their business to take advantage of, you know, connections and networking and all that. And I just fell in love with that type of thing. So when we moved to Ohio, I decided, hey, it’s time to you know, like, I’ve always wanted to start a business. This is the best opportunity to and I kind of putz around for a while trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to help small businesses but wasn’t sure exactly the route. I was helping a small business friends of ours with their hiring processes, because they had no organization to it. And so a lot of things were being dropped, a lot of balls are being dropped that type of thing. Found automation found Zapier found all the fun things that go along with that and fell in love and just like dive dope straight head first into it and have been looked, I mean, like, the happiest thing I’m ever doing is sitting down trying to figure out how to like, automate all the different processes of my life. So
Katie Brinkley 2:23
and that is, you know, what, how you and I connected was talking about automation, and how beneficial it is for small business owners, because there’s so many hats for small business owners out there, from, you know, doing the books to hiring to actually doing the work to, you know, sales to marketing, there’s so many hats and trying to figure out ways to automate those services, a lot of services that people probably would never even think of, can give you so much of your time back. And you can focus your time you do have on things that you’re most passionate about with your business.
Lisa Kempton 2:59
Exactly. Most people don’t get into their business to do paperwork.
Katie Brinkley 3:02
Exactly, exactly. Well,
Lisa Kempton 3:05
at all their plate. That’s great. The other part of it is if you can get back 20 minutes a day that you can put towards your business, that’s over 80 hours by the end of the year.
Katie Brinkley 3:16
And, and it all adds up. And I mean, you know, wheel and I were talking a little bit about just podcasts, and you have your podcast, I have, you know, Rocky Mountain marketing, and that is one of the things where it’s like, okay, well, we sit and record the podcast, but then there’s the editing, there’s uploading it to you, and talk to us a little bit about how you have been able to get your podcast automated. And that’s just one way to that people I think wouldn’t even think about getting things automated, that will give them 123 hours of their life back.
Lisa Kempton 3:50
Oh gosh, yeah, well, because I hate the production part or the post production part of my podcast. Like, I love interviewing people, I love talking to business owners about how they help other business owners. It’s such a fun thing to be, you know, involved with, but then getting it up and doing all and it’s not a matter of getting it onto the actual podcasting app that’s not too bad. It’s all the other things that go with it, the editing, the, you know, just the time involved it takes to render the videos and render, you know, all of that just it was like it was just taking so much of my time just to get all of those things together. And then you’ve got the promotion of it and that type of thing. So, you know, it always starts with I wonder if that’s, I wonder if and I found out that I can make it so my Zoom calls automatically get uploaded to YouTube. Oh, yes. Thank you. So once I figured out that aspect of it, I figured out that once they go live I can I can make it and these are Some things that I figured out for other things too, so it wasn’t a matter of like, you know, it’s kind of piecing together my different points of knowledge. But, you know, I can make it. So it automatically creates a blog post automatically is posted to all my different social media, I can even like with Twitter, right, you have to put things multiple times, because Twitter is such a fast feed, right? So I can even make it so that it posts to Twitter, and then it waits, you know, an hour or a day or whatever, and then posts again, and then post again, and each one of those is a different post, but I’m not writing it, it’s pulling information from different things, and putting it together in different ways. So all everything’s unique, everything’s, you know, all of that. So the things that I do manually are check to make sure all the information is like spelled correctly, and you know, in and that type of thing, but that’s mostly information I’m getting from my guess. So I’m not even writing that. And then I create some visuals for it some different artwork. And I, what else do and then once the blog post is written, I have to go tweak it a little bit. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough that, you know, can spend a few minutes, and everything else pretty much just happens. And then I can even do things like send it to medium afterwards or send it to all these different places. And I just don’t have to think about it. It just happens. And I love that. I love it so much.
Katie Brinkley 6:27
And I think that a lot of people might think, Oh, well, I need to hire a virtual assistant to do all this work. And having something that is a computer software automatically doing it for you so that you don’t have to say, Okay, well here you go virtual assistant here is the you know, here’s the audio in the video, now you’ll go and do it, and then you’re paying for all of their time. Yeah, having an automated is a huge benefit. Talk to us a little bit more about how other things that you’ve been able to automate for your business.
Lisa Kempton 6:58
Um, so it just really depends, like I said, the blog posting, like I I’m not, I find that when I sit down to write a blog post, I found very formal. So I wanted to figure out a way where I could talk my blog post. And so I created a form that just out of Google Forms just nothing big, but uh, you know, I can talk it into the form on my phone. And that automatically creates a blog post from that. So you’re gonna have to tweak it, make sure like the grammar and spelling is right afterwards, but I broke it down into all the different parts. So you’ve got like, you know, the first thing you want to do is have an introductory sentence or a topic or something like that, and then the paragraph and then I even added some, like links at places for links and all that. And all of that is formatted right into the blog post. So I don’t have to go back and think about those type of things. Because I really don’t like thinking about the minutiae I find, I like that to be taken care of. For me, I like to do like top level things, and then have the other things kind of take care of themselves. So. So that was one thing that I you know, that helps me to get my content out a little bit better. I had someone come to me and she was like, I hate writing resumes. She does. Well, she’s a hate it. But you know, she likes she’s spending all of our time writing resumes. And she wanted to transfer transition from that, to helping to be more of a business coach where she could actually help them in preparing for interviews, finding different jobs, you know, that type of thing. But she was spending so much of her time writing the actual resumes, but she didn’t have time for much else. So we actually created a template where they could implant implement all of their information into her resume. Guide, basically, and it would spit out a resume that was about 90%. Where it needed to be there was some formatting issues and things like that. But you know, pretty much exactly where you know, what she was spending all of her time, basically just cutting and pasting. This did that
Katie Brinkley 9:01
for her. See? And that’s, that’s one of the things where, again, you you, you set aside one two hours a day, where you’re like, Yeah, well, it’s just a lot of cutting and pasting. But if you’re spending two hours cutting and pasting, and you can take that two hours and turn it in 10 minutes, that allows you to focus on other aspects of your business that you might want to grow. How else? How else have you found automation to be a game changer for not only you but for some of your clients and customers with their businesses?
Lisa Kempton 9:36
So so many times people have this should list right? I should be doing this, like, I promote my podcast, but I really should be promoting it on these other platforms also, or I should, you know, I contact my leads, but I really should be contacting them in multiple ways or you know, more than just an email drip sequence or something like that. So what automation allows me to do is To create a specific path for people, whether it’s, you know, lead, follow up or onboarding new clients or things like that, if we break it down to what is the if you did all your shoulds, you know, when you got a new lead, or you got a new client, what would that look like. And then we can automate that process. So it happens every single time for every single client or every single lead. And then their conversion rates are so much higher, because for the most part, you know, customer service is about setting up expectations, and then meeting those expectations. So if you can have the communication involved, so people know exactly what to expect, and then they you deliver on that, then they’re happy, that’s all they ask is that they know what’s going to happen. And then it happens like that. So you tend to get more repeat customers, because they feel like hey, you know, like they have their act together, they know what they’re doing. Same thing with, you know, lead generation if, if you are reaching out in multiple ways, and you know, if you can find out like, Hey, why didn’t you sign up with me what was you know, that route, that path that made you feel like, Hey, this is someone I’m interested in learning more about to this is someone I’m going to hire, or this is a product I’m going to buy, if you can map that, that path out and duplicated over and over again, you’re going to you know, really increase your conversion rate. So, you know, a lot of people think, Oh, well, that has to be personalized, and things like that. And it does. But you can automate a whole bunch of personalization, because all it is, is just taking those things that you would have pressed that button to make it happen, or written that email to make it happen, and making it happen automatically. So
Katie Brinkley 11:48
what do you think that there’s some of the biggest mistakes that business owners make when they’re trying to grow and sustain a successful businesses? I mean, a lot of business owners will be spending all that time crafting those emails, you know, Oh, I gotta send out my monthly newsletter. So they’re sitting down, and they’re trying to figure, talk to us a little bit about how automation can solve a lot of these problems and mistakes that business owners might be making?
Lisa Kempton 12:15
Well, I think that the biggest thing is like when you have to automate something, you have to put it in a process that is going to be you’re going to be able to duplicate over and over and over again. And so I think that’s a lot of times where businesses get it wrong is they don’t have a process in place. They have a vague idea of how they want things to go. But it’s always like, Oh, I’ve got this to do list, and it’s on my list, and I need to get checked off my list. What I love about automation, is it complete, not only does it take it off my list, take it off my plate it take it takes it off my mind, I don’t even have to worry about it. Because I know what’s going to happen without you know, without fail, it’s going to happen. And if it does fail, which is very, very small amount of time, then I get a notification from Zapier, like hey, something didn’t work out, like I thought it would. And most of the time, that’s my fault, because I didn’t do my process, right. And if I don’t do my process, right, then it’s gonna hang something up along the way. But you know, Zapier is really good. That’s primarily who I use, I find it’s the easiest for people to understand. And since I spent a lot of time trying to teach people about it, I mean, I can go and automate things all day long. But the amount of time it takes to figure out a process and automated is quite a lot and ends up costing people a whole bunch of money. But if I can teach them how to create their own processes, and then go and automate that, whether through courses or things like that, then I really feel I’m so passionate about that, because I think that the small businesses that I want to target, they don’t have the money to go. I mean, there’s so there’s a firm out there that charge is $500 for three zaps, three zaps, and Zapier, like, that’s like a 20 minute, you know, three easy zaps is like a 20 minute job and they’re charging $500 To do that, I’m just like, Oh, my goodness, small businesses can’t afford that. So I want to put the tools into their hands so that they can figure that out. Or at least they can communicate to someone else what they want, in a very specific way and that person can duplicate it for them. You know, there’s just so much that comes out of having a strong process and that’s I think we’re the first part of
Katie Brinkley 14:32
it is now you brought up Zapier a couple times, and a lot of people might be saying what is she talking about? Tell tell everybody what Zapier is
Lisa Kempton 14:42
so it’s actually Zapier, Zapier, but they say Zapier makes you happier. So like, that’s how you remember it. Um, and it’s not a big deal, but you’ll just, you know, that’s what the company says. But, um, so Zapier is What they do is they basically hook your different tools together. So if you have calendar software like Calendly, and you have, you know, an email drip sequence, you know, sometimes you can get that to happen, but it, it’s not going to have like a text message, also into the mix or you know, different things like that you might, or even a phone call, like, sometimes you can automate some aspects of that type of thing. So it’s just taking all your tools and having them talk to each other. So the information is funneled from one to the next to the next. And the process goes from one to the next to the next, instead of you having to take the appointment from Calendly and create, you know, some sort of maybe take the person to a form that they fill out or collect some sort of information or give them a text message or an email all of those. Mike, oh, those things, I talked with my hands, sorry. All of those things tend to, you know, like, anytime a human is involved, there’s going to be a bottleneck in the flow. So you want to take that away.
Katie Brinkley 16:10
So talk to us a little bit about your business, what what have you found works for finding and engaging and selling to ideal clients and customers these days.
Lisa Kempton 16:19
Um, so a lot of people have gone online, Facebook is huge, I saw that it’s like engagement, and Facebook is up like 20%, since COVID hit so I mean, just huge amount. And I have had so much luck in Facebook groups, I’m really lucky because I don’t, I have a very unique business, most people don’t know much about automation. But I also kind of have a scary business too. People are like, Oh, technical, I can’t do that type of stuff. And it’s really not that hard. If you have you know, something like, you know, MailChimp or, you know, with kind of a campaign involved, you’ve done automation, it’s just taking that and expanding that into all the different aspects of your business and really making a journey. So, you know, I’ve really found that with, like, guiding people online and taking them where they are. So right now I’m creating, you know, I’m putting together a course on showing people how to engage in Facebook, especially in Facebook groups in a way that’s going to help them to stand out, and then to automate that, too. So it’s a process. And you don’t have to like at the beginning of the day go, Hmm, what should I do in my Facebook groups, I don’t know, like you have a plan, you have a process. And that process is automated. So it’s just, you know, Facebook doesn’t let you automate, posting in other people’s groups. But until that point, everything else is automated. And you can automate, you know, you can plan up to a week or a month, or even a couple months at a time, so you know exactly what you’re going to do. And then you’re constantly funneling people into whatever you’re trying to do. You’re, you know, doing freebies, you’re doing different lead magnets, you’re working with people in a very authentic ways, so that there may be joining your group, or coming on your podcast, or however you’re trying to move people into your sphere, like, it becomes a very systematic thing that you can know, like I, you know, I know that if I do a certain thing, I’m going to get about 50 to 100 people a day, new people in my funnel, and that’s really cool.
Katie Brinkley 18:32
Yeah, and I think that you brought up a great point, too, because a lot of businesses, you know, we’re business pages are the lowest spot on the Facebook algorithm, unless you’re a pan to see be seen, Facebook is going to give you the lowest priority. And that’s where a lot of businesses, I think, need to understand the importance of having those Facebook groups because it’s it’s an entire community built around people that have a an interest in what your services, what you are providing them. And you’re not going to get a higher spot on the algorithm to get your message out to everybody.
Lisa Kempton 19:09
But even if you’re just trusting the Facebook algorithm, you’re not, it’s not going to work for you, you have to kind of game the system, you have to put a process in place or it’s you know, it’s just hit or miss but if you like just basically don’t trust that Facebook’s gonna do anything for you, like you have to like take it into your own hands, and then you’re going to be okay, but like, you know, I try and I’m getting it, you know, like, I’m trying to post regularly in 100 different groups and that’s a lot but when I am active in that regard, I It’s amazing the amount of contacts I have people coming to me wanting to learn more. The ability I have to find the people are looking for, you know, podcast guests or blog posts. or different things like that. It’s just, there’s so many outlets out there for people to collaborate, to work together. And you know, and if I can bring my automation into it and teach the people some cool ways to automate some of those processes, then it’s super fun for me. Well, and
Katie Brinkley 20:17
you also brought up a point to about setting up your posts, setting up your messaging, and having that automation or just having that idea of, okay, this is what I’m going to post about today. Yeah, that’s where I think a lot of small businesses struggle is because they get to that point, and they’re like, I don’t know what to post about today. So it’s sitting down, and then creating that calendar, or, you know, that entire system of okay, well, this is what we’re going to post about for this week, or this month. And spending that day getting those processes and those ideas in place, is going to give you so much again, time, which is the most important thing, a small business owner, it gives you so much time back,
Lisa Kempton 21:00
it really does. And the other thing too, is like, you know, I can if I have my process together, then I can in the morning on my phone, when I’m you know, maybe on my elliptical or something like that, I can just quickly do the things I had planned for the day, I don’t have to put thought into it, it’s and then I can, you know, it’s one of those things checked off your list and good to go. And then you know, you, I just love being able to take something off of Top of Mind, because I don’t know about you. But decision. Fatigue, for me is a huge thing. Like, at the end of the day, I’m like done, I’m done, I’m done. Especially if I’m trying to engage with people all the day. Now, of course, I’m a little bit of an extrovert. So it’s not that big a deal. But I you know, it’s a lot. It’s a lot when you’re putting yourself out there time and time and time again. And so if you can automate some of that, even if it’s just automated in that you know exactly what you’re going to do. And when you’re going to do it and how you’re going to do it, then you it just takes so much of that off your plate. And if you aren’t as comfortable in that role, you can pre plan, then you you show up so much more authentically, you show up so much more how you want to show up instead of like, Oh, someone’s asking for, you know, good ideas on this, I have such a great thing. But now I need to go find it. And I need to create the post and I need to do this and I need to do that. And then hopefully it stands out by the time that there’s 100 different comments on the thread. So
Katie Brinkley 22:28
Well, before we finish up, is there anything I didn’t ask about during today’s discussion that you think is important to share?
Lisa Kempton 22:34
Um, so I would say like, automation really isn’t scary. Like it really, really isn’t. And like Zapier makes it super, super easy, because they have like, if you already have two tools, let’s say your you know, Google Drive, or Google Docs or Google Sheets, Google Sheets are probably the biggest one, and, and a calendar app or something like that, you can go into Zapier and say I have this tool, and I have this tool, and they’ll show you a whole bunch of different ways to connect those two tools. So it’s really you know, not that scary, you do get they have for a free account. And for very simple apps zaps, I will say, incredibly simple zaps, like you can do very little with the free account, but for just learning, it’s a good thing. And they also give you a 30 day free trial of their professional one. So you can actually try some of the little bit more fancy stuff. But just even just getting comfortable with something really simple, like your calendar or talking to your spreadsheet, you’ll start to see the possibilities with it. And, you know, my biggest thing is I’m all about productivity and working smarter and not harder. And, you know, like, I have four kids, I have a husband, I have a dog, I have a life that I want to do. I don’t want to be glued to the computer all day long. I don’t think many other businesses want that either. So I want to help them get out, enjoy life, enjoy their business, enjoy doing the things they love about their business, and not necessarily getting caught up in the details of the things they should be doing.
Katie Brinkley 24:15
And again, I think that that that’s a great statement. A lot of people are getting caught up in things they know that they should be doing X, you know, but in order to do X, they have to do all the things that come before it. And you know that I think so x can end up getting forgotten about. So having automation is a very valuable tool. And I think that what you’re offering and with your with your group, and hopefully your course soon will be super beneficial for a lot of small businesses. Throughout, you know, all industries.
Lisa Kempton 24:52
Yeah, yeah, you really can use it for any industry out there. So
Katie Brinkley 24:58
Well, Lisa, this has been such a great conversation. And where can we find out more about you and your business online?
Lisa Kempton 25:04
So probably the best thing is to join my Facebook group. It’s success driven entrepreneurs. And so that’s where I’m going to be doing a lot more automation right now. It’s just in the growth phase of like connections and things like that. But I do let businesses promote their business in it, because I think that it when we all work together, that, you know, that’s how we all grow. And so that’s probably one of the best ways to to connect with me and stay, you know, in that, you know, hear about my new and upcoming stuff and that type of thing.
Katie Brinkley 25:38
Well, great, thank you again, so much for coming on the show today. All right. Thank you.