Firstly, you have to consider where you are hosting your website to ensure a good loading speed which will help with your SEO. In Australia I recommend Ventra IP. Here is a link if you want to check them out.

For your website, I recommend you create it on an open source platform like WordPress where possible, simply because you then own it and as long as you have hosting for $16-$20 a month, it will stay live.

You can buy templates to use and then it is relatively easy to build out. If you need a hand let us know as we have some fantastic website builders in my network who can help.

When trying to choose the best Autoresponder and CRM for your business, it is tough there are a number of really good systems out there now, and it matters that you make the right choice the first time (unlike myself!)….

….as it can be very expensive to change providers and have to set everything up from scratch again.

I have taken a very long time, and have used many of the platforms listed below in my business over the years and the businesses of my Clients in order to figure all this out…..and that means, now I can make it easier for you!

The best ones available on the market that I would consider are the following.

(I have put some links in here for you – all prices are in USD):

1) Kartra – The silver option lets you mail to up to 12,500 subscribers and is very competitive price wise. It also has a membership site and landing pages built in plus affiliate tracking software, which is very useful and would normally cost extra. This tool allows you to build funnels, memberships sites, affiliate tracking etc. the whole lot for a very decent price.

Kartra kickstarter package $99 with 14 day trial: up to 2,500 subscribers and is only $79 per month using the yearly billing option if you can manage a lump sum payment

Kartra Silver package $199 with 14 day trial: up to 12,500 subscribers and is only $149 per month using the yearly billing option if you can manage a lump sum payment

Kartra is brought to you by the same Company that produced WebinarJam and Everwebinar (one of the most popular webinar services available on the market, so they integrate very well).

2) Active Campaign – Active Campaign is known to be a good system. It integrates well with shopify (an ecommerce shop platform)..…but it is pricey if you have a large number of subscribers.

• You can Tag contacts
• Set up automated follow-up sequences
• Score leads as they move through the Email Sales funnel
• Segment subscribers with tags to create a personalized experience for each person

3) Ontraport – $297USD per month – is the Ferrari of Autoresponders and they man that created it is a really decent guy as I have seen him speak personally! It does everything you could possibly want it to do.

There is a lot Ontraport can do that that other systems can’t….if you want it all…then this is the one for you however, it may be too much for smaller businesses to navigate.

4) Clickfunnels – It will cost you $97 per month or $297 per month depending upon whether you choose “20k Monthly Visits Plan” or “Etison Suite Plan”. There are major differences with both of these plans specifically with the number of funnels, pages & contacts you can create inside your membership area. I definitely recommend this software, especially bolting the $97 on to a WordPress site as their funnels are great & not hard to set up once you have completed the initial set-up!

You can do their One funnel Away Challenge if you wish here which I recommend to everyone for it’s content & incredible community!

You may also have to pair this with an email service like Sendgrid which can be free for up to 100 emails a day, but if you want more it costs another $14.95 plus a month.

5) KEAP (lower priced version of Infusionsoft) – This is a good for small businesses…$97 USD a month for 1000 contacts and $30 for every additional 1000 so it becomes pricey if you have a large number of subscribers.

We can get it a bit cheaper for you as we know a certified partner in Australia (so use the contact form to get in touch and we will gladly send you his details). It doesn’t have the templated landing pages or upsell and downsell capability (which is fine if you are a coach or consultant rather than an ecommerce provider.

It works well as a CRM, sales tracking tool and email funnel builder and you can track outstanding invoices. You can’t easily integrate it with Clickfunnels anymore as they see each other as competitors.

 6) Kajabi Growth – $159 USD for 25,000 contacts on Annual billing. This also has all the great components that you would want ie. Membership site etc.

In Kajabi, you can easily create sales and marketing funnels where you can sell your courses to a hungry audience that wants to learn from you. And, if you don’t want to sell courses – and want to create content such videos and blog posts at your own pace without bundling it up, you can also create membership sites and ask your audience to pay a recurring fee every month to access your content.

It’s important to note that while Kajabi is excellent for selling educational content, it’s limited to just that. If you plan to sell a wider variety of products, or are interested in ecommerce, a software with a funnel so you can upsell and downsell is better suited for you.

Once you have chosen your platform, you then need to plan and create a system to ensure you are building a relationship with your Customers continuously.

Do this well the first time and you can make small tweeks but overall it then runs on autopilot and that means you have freedom to work on other parts of the business.

Just as an aside, if you want a credible ‘done for you’ Social Media service, I suggest you try Social Media Worldwide.

I sincerely hope this helps make your life a little easier….we are here for you if you need a hand or some advice along the way.

There is a process to write out copy that actually makes sense and converts. If you require assistance with this, get in touch as we would be more than happy to have a FREE 30 min no obligation chat to you about it.

There is no hard sell, just a casual chat with some great recommendations about your Sales and Marketing strategy. 😉

It is important to make the right choice initially as it can be a lot of work to set it up on one platform, and then to have to change it over to another system can be a headache you just don’t need!

Take it from me, I have made this mistake!

The first priority is to decide what you need most…is it a sales function where you can track all of the opportunities you have on the table?

Is it a funnel ie. the ability to upsell and downsell and send out automated emails to your Customer every couple of days?

Keep in mind that there are different stages of a funnel.

Is it the ability to project manage your activities to ensure they reach the required outcome in the appropriate amount of time?

One you have nailed this down, in order of priority, it is then time to take a good look at the options available to you.

The good news is that there are some very user friendly software platforms available on the market.

For businesses that have a small team and who are operating anywhere up to $20 million in revenue, we suggest you need software that has an auto-responder, so you can keep in touch with your Clients via email.

We also suggest that you have the ability to build out a series of landing pages that provide free or low-priced offers to entice your ideal Customer to opt-in to your email list.

Then to be able to build out a campaign or funnel that takes them through some kind of education process about who you are and what it is that you do, so you are building a relationship with them over time is also what I would suggest.

Many look at funnels as the opportunity to upsell and downsell, and they are that, however, what they are to us, is the chance to touch base with your Clients on a regular basis in a way that builds a storey, entertains, educates and then eventually gives them an opportunity to work with you, or try your product.

If you are interested in knowing what software we recommend, based on our own observations over the last 10 years and also our Clients recommendations, we have created a cheat sheet with clickable links for you, which you can grab here.

By the way, we have no reason to recommend one over the other and aim to remain fairly neutral about software, as the best fit will depend on your unique circumstances, budget and requirements.

It is important to note that no matter which software you choose, the process we utilise to systematise your business is the same.

As always, we hope to provide you massive value and insight with these posts and would genuinely appreciate your feedback and comments, every single one is read by our team.

We would like to hear which software is working well for you and how you use it best in your business. Everyone in our community can benefit from hearing about your unique situation (and it’s a chance to give your business a plug…so go for it!).

That link to our software recommendations again is HERE