Organizing Your Automation feat. Samantha Pointer Foxx

Narrator 0:00
You’re listening to the all systems go podcast, the show that teaches you everything you need to know to put your business on autopilot. Learn how to deploy automated marketing and sales systems in your business the right way with your host, the professor of automation himself and founder of automation bridge, Chris Davis.

Chris Davis 0:33
Welcome to the all systems go podcast where we invite startup founders and digital marketers to discuss strategies and software used to build automated marketing and sales systems at scale. I am your host, Chris L. Davis, the founder of automation bridge, where we train marketers, or place marketers in your business to help you scale by way of marketing, automated marketing and sales. And today, on this episode, I have our my very own Samantha Poynter, Fox, one of the first certified automation service providers, everybody, those of you listening, I wish I had a sound effect that just kind of did

Chris Davis 1:19
the background. But Samantha, she is a certified automation service provider and the owner of Samantha pointer enterprises. And what she does is she helps small business owners who don’t have time patients, or the tech know how to automate their marketing and sales online. Why is this important? Everybody? This is an extremely important podcast for me, because if you’re a follower of the podcast, you’ve heard me mention automation service provider become an automation service provider. We train digital marketers on how to automate their marketing and sales. But who are the people who are actually saying yes, I want to do that I want to become one. So that’s what today’s episode is where you’re going to get to two up getting up close and personal insight to Samantha pointer because some of you Samantha pointer, Fox, some of you should not be touching your automation. You’ve heard, you’ve heard me say this. You’ve heard me say this. And what I want to what I want to use this podcast to do is start to introduce you to some vetted resources, people who I entrust with your business that would operate in a way extremely similar, if not the same as I would so with that being said, Samantha, welcome to the podcast. How you doing?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 2:39
Hey, thanks for having me on here. I’m doing great today.

Chris Davis 2:43
Yes, and thank you for jumping on the podcast and just your dedication. Samantha you and I met who it’s been for four

Samantha Pointer Foxx 2:52
years, 2016

Chris Davis 2:56
years time is flat is just flying. While at Active Campaign I had the opportunity to meet up in person in Nashville. Yes feel for the Nashville study hall. So alright, so enough, enough about us reminiscing. Now, everybody a little bit about your background and your business math.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 3:18
Well, hey, everyone, Samantha pointer, Fox, Samantha pointed enterprises. I actually have been in business since 1997. Very long time. And I did not start off as doing all this marketing automation stuff. I actually started off as a professional organizer, meaning I went into your home and cleaned the clutter, organize your files, all of this. So that’s how I got my start and ran that business for a long time. Then I went into web design, did that for about 10 years. And then I moved over into organizing digital files. And this is like been a progression into jumping into automation, mainly because starting out way back when when a one page website was like 10 to 20k

Samantha Pointer Foxx 4:14
I had to learn to do it myself because I was bootstrapping stuff. But yeah, that’s my background. That’s that’s how I got here, you know, got interested in marketing, and started studying more on that and found you at I think it was at a conference. Yeah. Yeah, was doing in Dallas. And I was like, what he’s speaking my whole is this one, the girl sitting next to me, she’s like, Oh, you don’t know who that is?

Chris Davis 4:51
Yes, and I will say that action. I mean, you took immediate action. I think we we had a call like right after I said yes speaking on the stage. And you’ve been one of those people that just, you know, you see it, you know, that’s what I want to do. And then and then you go. So hats off to you. Now one of the operative words that I hear and and it’s in the title of your your website as well, is organizing, and we’re going to talk about it a little later. But the importance of organizing your digital files, I think, I think there are some people, I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs, and very rarely is their workspace organized, right? For those who do honor and value that huge is operate just at a higher level of clarity, peace of mind efficiency, you know, my wife does home decor. So, you know, she’s going into houses, making them feel like a home and the person is just like, oh my gosh, it’s almost like an emotional experience. Yes. And I have to say, it is one of the most underserved and least spoke about assets, or I should say, facets of online marketing is how are your files organized? I can’t tell you how many people’s desktop, I see. You can’t even see the background is miles it, you know, and there’s tools by the way that you can use to automate your desktop, maybe I’ll share one or so. But I really wanted to hone in this episode on the org organization and automation, because I feel like when you’re organized it, it makes the automation just that much more better. Right. So what we’ll get into that. But first, let’s just start from from the very beginning, as you mentioned, hey, I was doing organizing in, in in person, then I moved to digital and now I’m in automation. What did that transition look like? Because I know you didn’t think from your organizing business, I want to just go do this in marketing.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 7:07
I was strictly marketing or myself.

Chris Davis 7:12
Right? You were trying to get your business out. Yeah. And at that point, because a lot of what I hear Samantha’s a lot of times people think that I’ve got to get everything together before I get into a program like this. Talk about where you were before you jumped into the program and some in some of those factors that you said, you know, what I’ve got, if I want to get to the next level, I’m gonna have to do this. And I’m and I’m willing to jump in?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 7:37
Well, I’ve always been the type like, I will spend what I have to spin to get, I want the best I want to go to the person who’s doing not somebody who just sits there doing it. Yeah, no results, but I want to go to the person who’s really doing it, and I can see that they’re doing it. At that time, like I was I was not making a ton of money. But I knew that, okay, if I want to make this happen, how many people that I have to work with to get this money up to do this? You know, I’m saying so that that’s where I had to change that mindset, to like, if I invest in this, yes, it’s a big investment. But look, what’s gonna come out of it, you know, you can’t be afraid of that. And a whole lot of mindset work with a coach and all of that. But, you know, systems, just in my own life have saved me, you know, my business would have shut down several different times over this long span, if I didn’t have stuff organized and in place in my business stuff automated. So there was like a time of, you know, deaths in my family, divorces, homelessness, you know, all these different things that can derail a business. And if you’re just the one man band, but you’re not, you know, you don’t have no systems in place, or you’re waiting to you hit that big rush of money coming in, like your business will be closed. So yeah, that’s where I was when I was I was like, I have to get in this program because I know this is where I want to go. And this is the person I need to learn it from out there. So yeah, yes.

Chris Davis 9:33
Man, I love it. I think a few episodes back i i recorded a podcast entitled When what happens when life happens? Yes. And this is spot on. I mean, we all have tomorrow is coming. Uh huh. God willing, tomorrow is coming for everybody listening and who knows what it has to hold. And I just think that sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on revenue and money money and making more that they forget, like, hey, look, this body is finite, there’s a finite amount of energy, a day, right amount of brain capacity, finite amount of breath that I can breathe in this body. And what the systems do is one, not only does it protect that energy, so you don’t have to exhaust it all the time. But it also ensures that it can, that energy that’s used once can be replicated right many, many times again, and give you that insurance. I just can’t imagine Samantha running a business, running a business without it. So for you, you’ve been in business for for quite a few years, I’ve had the privilege of being able to refer business to you, you’ve always done a great job with taking care of the clients never had a negative experience or bad review. And we’ve been doing this for a while this was back before the automation service program was called. Right. So we got some some legacy old school throwback experiences. So now now that you are where you at where you are, I want you to help the listeners, there’s somebody listening that needs help. Who is that avatar? Now I know, automation can be applied to anything, right? When you look at your your Rolodex of clients, and you look at the the big wins in the the not just the big wins the times that you’ve enjoyed the most, you know, doing the work? What would you say that avatar is so that person listening can say, oh my gosh, she’s it, she’s was who I’ve been looking for.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 11:41
For me, it’s been that business owner, that owner who has a team who has employees, but are still doing everything themselves, because they know everything, all their processes are trapped in their head. It’s not organized anywhere. And the big vision type owners who like they have the vision, I know what I want it to look like. And I’ll go learn how to do it. But you really don’t have time to do that. A couple of my clients are in marketing, do this for others, but their stuff isn’t of the mark, because it’s the cobbler who doesn’t have shoes syndrome. So I like to come in and help you do for you, which you’re doing for your clients, you know, make your stuff look as good as your clients, because it shouldn’t be that way. Yeah, oh, I really enjoy working with those business owners. And then just the professional services, business owners who, you know, provide a service, whether that’s in the medical field or whatever, who really don’t have time to do any marketing, but you need marketing and you need automated systems that run in the background. Because if you’re servicing the client, you don’t have time for that. And, and of course, I have a couple of coaches that I helped to. So that that’s kind of the span, just that small business owner, who is they’re not very tech savvy, and some are very tech savvy, to their detriment, and don’t need to be touching their stuff. Because you get so many ideas and you get on a tangent. And then I have to come in and untangle all that you need that help you know someone a fresh set of eyes to look at it in the bring your vision to life.

Chris Davis 13:37
Yeah, and I love how you talked about the marketer who needs marketing in place for themselves. And I love that avatar one because I think every marketer fits that. Yeah, every marketer, even though you’re scrappy, you’re doing whatever you need to do. And then you get to the point where you’re like, you know what, although I could keep doing this, I’m actually better off bringing someone in to do it. And a lot of times that path is like a VA or somebody else. And there’s a lot of training that’s required. Whereas as a certified automation service provider you come in, and the only training that’s needed is Hey, catch me up to speed with your process. All right. All right. I got it. Infusionsoft know how to use it. Active Campaign, back pocket. Spot Ontraport. Don’t worry, don’t worry your little brain a little Don’t worry your marketing mind about covered. Got it. So in a lot of people, one of the reasons why I do what I do is because a lot of people have not experienced that. Most of the time the marketer is so far ahead of who they hire, it becomes a burden just thinking about getting them up to speed, all right.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 14:51
And they don’t have time. They don’t have

Chris Davis 14:55
time for it, right? Even if they’re willing. So they start out thinking like, Okay, I know I need to do this, I need to replicate myself. And they do have the willingness, yes. But when they see the time that’s involved, they’re just like they don’t Okay.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 15:10
Because you’re off to the next thing. There’s, there’s no time you need somebody who can hit the ground running with the strategy help you get the strategy together that you’re wanting, and then build the strategy.

Chris Davis 15:22
Yeah, and there’s no, again, there’s no shame as a mark, I think it’s a sign of growth. When a marketer says, Okay, I’ve, I’ve taken this ship, as far as I can, I, I want to go rest for a little bit, can you grab the wheel here? Can you navigate us to land? You know, there’s, I think it’s a growth, a growth spot, a opportunity, that is often optimist. So I love that avatar. And then, of course, I love the service base, the brick and mortar, because they, you talk about don’t have time, none. Even if your business was really you get delegated staff to do most of the stuff, you and you say, hey, look, I’ve got free time, it should not be spent learning marketing something new. Now. If you look at the amount of of experience that you have, it would take them like 20 years plus, just come to maybe half because in that 20 years, you would have evolved, right? And more. It’s just like, listen, grab, bring somebody in bed can sit down at interview you right to get the process out, and then make the process real. I think the operative word in both avatars is team. Yeah. And when you come into a team setting, you’re able to not just apply automation for the sake of you know, generating money through leveraged efforts, but also streamline the operations for the people existing. Yeah, so it’s not just the CEO, that’s like, thank you. It’s the operations manager. It’s the copyright of the designer, because now there’s this system that streamlines everything. So with that in mind, I want to talk about some of the odd automations, I’ll call them, but these are automations that you’ve used to organize files. We’ve heard about sending an email and drip feed and a goal to stop and turn off those automations and then apply a tag and that gives them login access. We can do that for days. But what I find very unique about you is you’re able to not just organize files, but also identify the tools, because you just wrote a blog post about a marketing automation report on the site. And it it talks about that journey of listen, I needed to organize files in Zapier just didn’t work, that this is a different conversation, right? Yeah. So what are some of those odd automations? That you started out thinking, let’s start with marketing, then you’re like, you know, what, we’re gonna need some organization, I’m gonna need to bring some tools into organize these files, whether it’s moving a file, renaming a file, what are some that that come to mind for you?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 18:13
I mean, again, I always start with myself what I need, I got tired of the different tech tools I was using, having to go in manually, and create all this stuff. And I’m running into more business owners that, okay, when I onboard somebody, I have to set up these files here. And then I have to set up these files here. And then they need to get these documents here. No. And in human error is real. So I’m like, let’s see how we can automate this. So I mapped out how to automate, like just getting files set up, once a client pays and is on board, everything from they sign a contract to now it automatically populates for different places and set that stuff up automatically. So it’s there ready for you to just put the stuff in. I built an automation for myself, of when a contract, you know, you send the contract out when it gets signed, to automatically put it in the right folder. For me, the sign was, you know, so I don’t have to go find the email, download it myself. And then so I, I always think efficiency, how can this be easy? I can just be more efficient, you know, how can I cut out steps? Because as an organizer, we was always to talk to only touch paperwork once, twice at the most. So you got to figure out a way of how can I only do this step once or twice. And it’s done without me having to keep revisiting this every time. So

Chris Davis 19:57
yeah, yeah, that’s good. Now I’m gonna jump in and add some of my automations in an odd tool and an AI tool that I didn’t plan on it. But we’re in this flow. One is exactly what you mentioned, the creation of documents and spaces. So I’m starting to integrate more and more with clickup. That’s my project management tool of preference, click up in airtable. Samantha, this is a dangerous combo. It’s the amount of automation that can take place between those two, to get things done on the back end, back in operations, nobody sees it, but they see the result of it. It’s truly amazing. But I want to want to mention this tool. It’s called Hazel. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this to us method. It’s called Hazel. And it automates pretty much your desktop, right? I think maybe Mac Automator could do it. I don’t know, I’m not that savvy with MAC. I know this tool does it. So I have one platform, one platform specific, that will not let me dictate what folder the output goes into. So what this Hazel does is I set it up to run at midnight every day. And it looks in that folder for a new folder, and it moves it into my Drive folder. And everybody has access to it. And you would think Chris, so simple. But me having to remember to do that. Just one time forgetting means that what that entire pipeline is reliant on a file being moved Samantha Yeah, right. Wow, isn’t moved, and it’s on my computer, because I’m the one generated, so it’s not like my, somebody can log in remote. And if they could, why write that for me. Um, so that’s one and then two. As I mentioned, I hate seeing the desktop. Like I like I have a picture on my desktop. I like looking at my desktop picture. That’s why it’s my picture. So I can see

Samantha Pointer Foxx 22:03
I tell people, Hey, hide it.

Chris Davis 22:08
Right there keyboard shortcuts, right? Not everything. So now with the same tool every every day, I think it is it runs and says Hey, have you opened this image? If not, it puts it in a folder. And it just automatically cleans my desktop now from taking a screenshot or from downloading, I don’t even have to think about oh, okay, you know, I need to clean up my desktop, it cleans it up for me. And then the next level, this is the same tool, the folder that it moves into starts a 30 day countdown. So if I don’t use that file in 30 days, I probably don’t need it. And it just deletes it.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 22:49
automatic cleaning

Chris Davis 22:51
cleans up everything. Like I do my list, but it’s it’s just the more comfortable you get with automation, the more you realize I can streamline and make all of my business efficient, right, like my entire business. And it made me think it made me think of there was a time where automation was so like, in I guess you could argue even to this day, it’s still be it’s just some education required. Yeah, right. Yeah. But it’s definitely more widely accepted. But it used to be if you could send an email, and stop sending that email, when someone does something like that was kind of like amazing. And I remember tools like AWS Pro Tools back when I was using a Weber platform that could do it. All of these things. So now, as people get more mature, and they have more expectations for their marketing and automation, are you finding in your experience and with the clients that you’re working with that you are starting to tap into more of the operational back inside of automation, and not just so much heavily marketing and sales?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 24:12
I’m definitely tapping more into the backend, because that’s usually the most disorienting part, you know, the Client Onboarding, the remembering the little task of who should do what when, you know, it made me think of another automation Hi, I had built because I use click up to where when somebody books a discovery call, not only does it send me a Slack message to let me know, but in case I didn’t see it there it also sends me a message and creates a task for me to do my due diligence and so there’s no way I’m gonna show up on the car not knowing what we talking about or what’s going on. You know, it is it’s those little things like that, that, you know, makes your VA or whoever you have doing those things, not pull their hair out, you know, makes their job easier makes them do their job better. Is these little back in operational things you can set up.

Chris Davis 25:19
Yeah. Yeah. And I will say mature businesses know this, Samantha mature businesses know how important operational efficiency is. And watch this. Older businesses, businesses, you know, that been around maybe 1015 years or more, also have heard numerous complaints from their team about certain processes, certain things that just don’t work. And there’s a good example is you may have somebody who is tech savvy, it means they understand technology, they’re not overwhelmed with it, you may even have somebody on your team, that’s good at operations and process. But it takes a unique skill to blend the both of them, right, tech savviness, and process to create the system. And this is why automation service providers exist because you can find the elements that make up an automation service provider, individual, right, those elements are in individuals, but we combine them all into one person. So it’s very rare. If you’ve got a digital marketer, they may not know marketing automation or back end operational automation, right. You may have a online business manager that’s all about operations, light on tech. Right, integrating the software’s. This whole is present in every every business. And it’s my honor to be able to say yes, you are certified. So tell the listeners in closing, what went behind your decision in becoming certified? Because I’ll say this before you answer, I am not a person that chases certifications, right? The if the certification is going to teach me something, right, it has weight in the marketplace, then yes, I’ll do it. But I’m not the person who starts a business and then goes and searches for certification. So in creating this certification, I did my due diligence, I talked to people from Microsoft were created certification from Microsoft, my OBM is a teacher, I talked to other people with certifications in the marketplace, just like look, I want this to mean something. This is not going to be just another badge, these people are going to be vetted. And you know, you’ve gone through the right, not just pay money and answer some questions, and you’re certified, but top to just let the listeners know what your intention behind the certification was. And what really drove you to to say, You know what I want to put this badge on?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 27:53
Well, to me, I know the level of service I want to bring to my clients, I want to bring them the best. I want them to be up to speed, I don’t want them to have to worry about keeping up with the latest whatever, or is this right for my business? Or should I be moving over to here or just listening to whoever said what, in what Facebook or Google or whatever. I wanted to be the one because I love learning. I love you know, trying out new stuff. I love technology that’s like my jam. So I want it to always be learning. And I want I want it the person I’m learning from to always be learning and showing new ways of doing things more efficient ways, not just saying, Hey, this is how I’ve been doing it for 20 years. So this is how it’s gonna be and I don’t want to hear nothing different. Like, that’s what I love about you is your open is like, Oh, I didn’t know that. Let’s try this, you know. And so that’s what I was looking for someone who just knew what they were doing and had the receipts to back that up that this works. And I was looking for a system that I can also make my own and put in place for my clients to help them win. And so that’s why I went through the certification process. I took this just as serious as if I went and got a master’s or doctorate because that’s what it felt like. But, yeah, I just, I, you know, I’m proud to wear that certification badge because I don’t want out the certifications either. You know, or I’m not the type of believe you have to have this to know what you know, but this was something like I know I’m gonna continue to grow in this with the best of the best and this is so needed right now. This is so needed. in the marketplace, and I just didn’t want to be just that person another market out there just spun you a tool just because I’m getting commissions off of that or something. So I want it to marry all my loves organizing technology, processes, procedures, all that together. And, you know, you go,

Chris Davis 30:23
yes, yes, I love it and you’ve done a great job. I have to say, it’s been great just seeing the progression that you’ve made. One of the a lot of people go and they search for revenue. They’re like, Are you a millionaire? This isn’t that. But there’s so much more like the fact that you’re, you’re not single, you have a family? Yes. Right. Like, there are times you have to take your, your children to the doctor, drop them off at school, pick them up. Yeah. And for you to be able to build a business in a way for over a span of multiple years. And it’s not going to end anytime soon. Just growing. That is one of the most the largest achievements, because I was just talking to somebody who was making 75,000 a month and this is names like, but it’s not leveraged, Chris, I don’t have time with my family, I don’t have this, I don’t have that. So I look at things different. I want the money and the time, right? Make me choose, I want

Samantha Pointer Foxx 31:25
to enjoy the money not be stressed and sick and have to use that. Dr. Whatever, like, you don’t want to be stressed and you don’t want to lose your family over the work, no work is that it’s not worth it. And it’s not worth that to me. Everybody doesn’t want to be a millionaire. Everybody has their own number of what they need to hit to feel comfortable and give to the world. And that’s what they should focus on. But time and you know, you can never get that back.

Chris Davis 32:00
Yeah. And so the longevity that you’ve experienced in business is attributed, of course, to your willingness to invest. You’re always learning mentality and your openness to change your mindset. You’ve even in the back I see your sign and it says mindset shift higher technology, right. Small things, small things that the the average I may overlook, but this is this is the secret sauce to success. I can’t there’s I don’t have anything up my sleeve. There’s no magic cards to this thing, right? It’s like this is what you do. You invest get connected. I’m shameless plug but I don’t know, a person besides my mentor, perhaps. And maybe I’ve even exceeded that. That is in the space of marketing automation daily. Samantha, you’re in the community in my accelerator, like we talk about new tools all the time. Rhonda just shared one,

Samantha Pointer Foxx 33:01
and oh, my goodness.

Chris Davis 33:05
So where else are you going to stay up to speed with all of the technology especially as fast as it moves. So with that being said, Everyone, this is why she is who she is. This is why Samantha is on the podcast. Because she’s not just another marketer out there, there is some unique attributes that she has some unique skills that your business probably has been in need for some years. So with that being said, Samantha, if somebody wants to reach out to you, by the way, all the all of the certified automation service providers are in our directory on our website. So that link is always in the podcast, show notes. Regardless of who you listen to, you can always say Hey, I heard that let me go hire somebody who can do that. But if people want to reach out to you, individually, directly, what’s the best place for them to go?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 33:58
The best place is to go to organizing guru.com/SPElinks And that will give you all the links to learn in the work with me but then a strategy call my freebie everything. All I have to offer you can go there.

Chris Davis 34:18
Great. Great. So that’s organizing guru.com SPE as in Samantha pointer enterprises links SPE links will have that link in the show notes as well. Samantha, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast is greatly appreciated. Again, everybody. Samantha is in the first batch of certified automation service providers. I look forward to having 20-50 More episodes with more certified folks. If you need to skip the line. Don’t go on Fiverr don’t go on Upwork nothing against any of these freelancing websites. Samantha has worked with me closely for at least nine months, in her case years. So if you’ve been trying to really get a hold of this automation space, you have a trusted resource in Samantha pointer Fox, her link is going to be included in the show notes. Again, Samantha, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast is great to meet and have you officially in this capacity now to completed everything. All right. So with that being said, thank you again, Samantha. Greatly appreciate it. I’ll see you online in many facets and capacities after this. So I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Yep. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The all systems go podcast. If you enjoyed it, make sure that you’re subscribed at the time of recording the all systems go podcast is free to subscribe to, and it can be found in Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts new episodes are released every Thursday. So make sure you’re subscribed so that you don’t miss out and while you’re at it, please leave us a five star rating and review to show some love but also to help future listeners more easily find the podcast so they can experience the value and goodness as well. We’ve compiled all resources mentioned on the podcast, as well as other resources that are extremely valuable and effective at helping you grow your marketing automation skills quickly and you can access them all at allsystemsgopodcast.com. Thanks again for listening. And until next time, I see you online automate responsibly

Narrator 0:00
You’re listening to the all systems go podcast, the show that teaches you everything you need to know to put your business on autopilot. Learn how to deploy automated marketing and sales systems in your business the right way with your host, the professor of automation himself and founder of automation bridge, Chris Davis.

Chris Davis 0:33
Welcome to the all systems go podcast where we invite startup founders and digital marketers to discuss strategies and software used to build automated marketing and sales systems at scale. I am your host, Chris L. Davis, the founder of automation bridge, where we train marketers, or place marketers in your business to help you scale by way of marketing, automated marketing and sales. And today, on this episode, I have our my very own Samantha Poynter, Fox, one of the first certified automation service providers, everybody, those of you listening, I wish I had a sound effect that just kind of did

Chris Davis 1:19
the background. But Samantha, she is a certified automation service provider and the owner of Samantha pointer enterprises. And what she does is she helps small business owners who don’t have time patients, or the tech know how to automate their marketing and sales online. Why is this important? Everybody? This is an extremely important podcast for me, because if you’re a follower of the podcast, you’ve heard me mention automation service provider become an automation service provider. We train digital marketers on how to automate their marketing and sales. But who are the people who are actually saying yes, I want to do that I want to become one. So that’s what today’s episode is where you’re going to get to two up getting up close and personal insight to Samantha pointer because some of you Samantha pointer, Fox, some of you should not be touching your automation. You’ve heard, you’ve heard me say this. You’ve heard me say this. And what I want to what I want to use this podcast to do is start to introduce you to some vetted resources, people who I entrust with your business that would operate in a way extremely similar, if not the same as I would so with that being said, Samantha, welcome to the podcast. How you doing?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 2:39
Hey, thanks for having me on here. I’m doing great today.

Chris Davis 2:43
Yes, and thank you for jumping on the podcast and just your dedication. Samantha you and I met who it’s been for four

Samantha Pointer Foxx 2:52
years, 2016

Chris Davis 2:56
years time is flat is just flying. While at Active Campaign I had the opportunity to meet up in person in Nashville. Yes feel for the Nashville study hall. So alright, so enough, enough about us reminiscing. Now, everybody a little bit about your background and your business math.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 3:18
Well, hey, everyone, Samantha pointer, Fox, Samantha pointed enterprises. I actually have been in business since 1997. Very long time. And I did not start off as doing all this marketing automation stuff. I actually started off as a professional organizer, meaning I went into your home and cleaned the clutter, organize your files, all of this. So that’s how I got my start and ran that business for a long time. Then I went into web design, did that for about 10 years. And then I moved over into organizing digital files. And this is like been a progression into jumping into automation, mainly because starting out way back when when a one page website was like 10 to 20k

Samantha Pointer Foxx 4:14
I had to learn to do it myself because I was bootstrapping stuff. But yeah, that’s my background. That’s that’s how I got here, you know, got interested in marketing, and started studying more on that and found you at I think it was at a conference. Yeah. Yeah, was doing in Dallas. And I was like, what he’s speaking my whole is this one, the girl sitting next to me, she’s like, Oh, you don’t know who that is?

Chris Davis 4:51
Yes, and I will say that action. I mean, you took immediate action. I think we we had a call like right after I said yes speaking on the stage. And you’ve been one of those people that just, you know, you see it, you know, that’s what I want to do. And then and then you go. So hats off to you. Now one of the operative words that I hear and and it’s in the title of your your website as well, is organizing, and we’re going to talk about it a little later. But the importance of organizing your digital files, I think, I think there are some people, I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs, and very rarely is their workspace organized, right? For those who do honor and value that huge is operate just at a higher level of clarity, peace of mind efficiency, you know, my wife does home decor. So, you know, she’s going into houses, making them feel like a home and the person is just like, oh my gosh, it’s almost like an emotional experience. Yes. And I have to say, it is one of the most underserved and least spoke about assets, or I should say, facets of online marketing is how are your files organized? I can’t tell you how many people’s desktop, I see. You can’t even see the background is miles it, you know, and there’s tools by the way that you can use to automate your desktop, maybe I’ll share one or so. But I really wanted to hone in this episode on the org organization and automation, because I feel like when you’re organized it, it makes the automation just that much more better. Right. So what we’ll get into that. But first, let’s just start from from the very beginning, as you mentioned, hey, I was doing organizing in, in in person, then I moved to digital and now I’m in automation. What did that transition look like? Because I know you didn’t think from your organizing business, I want to just go do this in marketing.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 7:07
I was strictly marketing or myself.

Chris Davis 7:12
Right? You were trying to get your business out. Yeah. And at that point, because a lot of what I hear Samantha’s a lot of times people think that I’ve got to get everything together before I get into a program like this. Talk about where you were before you jumped into the program and some in some of those factors that you said, you know, what I’ve got, if I want to get to the next level, I’m gonna have to do this. And I’m and I’m willing to jump in?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 7:37
Well, I’ve always been the type like, I will spend what I have to spin to get, I want the best I want to go to the person who’s doing not somebody who just sits there doing it. Yeah, no results, but I want to go to the person who’s really doing it, and I can see that they’re doing it. At that time, like I was I was not making a ton of money. But I knew that, okay, if I want to make this happen, how many people that I have to work with to get this money up to do this? You know, I’m saying so that that’s where I had to change that mindset, to like, if I invest in this, yes, it’s a big investment. But look, what’s gonna come out of it, you know, you can’t be afraid of that. And a whole lot of mindset work with a coach and all of that. But, you know, systems, just in my own life have saved me, you know, my business would have shut down several different times over this long span, if I didn’t have stuff organized and in place in my business stuff automated. So there was like a time of, you know, deaths in my family, divorces, homelessness, you know, all these different things that can derail a business. And if you’re just the one man band, but you’re not, you know, you don’t have no systems in place, or you’re waiting to you hit that big rush of money coming in, like your business will be closed. So yeah, that’s where I was when I was I was like, I have to get in this program because I know this is where I want to go. And this is the person I need to learn it from out there. So yeah, yes.

Chris Davis 9:33
Man, I love it. I think a few episodes back i i recorded a podcast entitled When what happens when life happens? Yes. And this is spot on. I mean, we all have tomorrow is coming. Uh huh. God willing, tomorrow is coming for everybody listening and who knows what it has to hold. And I just think that sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on revenue and money money and making more that they forget, like, hey, look, this body is finite, there’s a finite amount of energy, a day, right amount of brain capacity, finite amount of breath that I can breathe in this body. And what the systems do is one, not only does it protect that energy, so you don’t have to exhaust it all the time. But it also ensures that it can, that energy that’s used once can be replicated right many, many times again, and give you that insurance. I just can’t imagine Samantha running a business, running a business without it. So for you, you’ve been in business for for quite a few years, I’ve had the privilege of being able to refer business to you, you’ve always done a great job with taking care of the clients never had a negative experience or bad review. And we’ve been doing this for a while this was back before the automation service program was called. Right. So we got some some legacy old school throwback experiences. So now now that you are where you at where you are, I want you to help the listeners, there’s somebody listening that needs help. Who is that avatar? Now I know, automation can be applied to anything, right? When you look at your your Rolodex of clients, and you look at the the big wins in the the not just the big wins the times that you’ve enjoyed the most, you know, doing the work? What would you say that avatar is so that person listening can say, oh my gosh, she’s it, she’s was who I’ve been looking for.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 11:41
For me, it’s been that business owner, that owner who has a team who has employees, but are still doing everything themselves, because they know everything, all their processes are trapped in their head. It’s not organized anywhere. And the big vision type owners who like they have the vision, I know what I want it to look like. And I’ll go learn how to do it. But you really don’t have time to do that. A couple of my clients are in marketing, do this for others, but their stuff isn’t of the mark, because it’s the cobbler who doesn’t have shoes syndrome. So I like to come in and help you do for you, which you’re doing for your clients, you know, make your stuff look as good as your clients, because it shouldn’t be that way. Yeah, oh, I really enjoy working with those business owners. And then just the professional services, business owners who, you know, provide a service, whether that’s in the medical field or whatever, who really don’t have time to do any marketing, but you need marketing and you need automated systems that run in the background. Because if you’re servicing the client, you don’t have time for that. And, and of course, I have a couple of coaches that I helped to. So that that’s kind of the span, just that small business owner, who is they’re not very tech savvy, and some are very tech savvy, to their detriment, and don’t need to be touching their stuff. Because you get so many ideas and you get on a tangent. And then I have to come in and untangle all that you need that help you know someone a fresh set of eyes to look at it in the bring your vision to life.

Chris Davis 13:37
Yeah, and I love how you talked about the marketer who needs marketing in place for themselves. And I love that avatar one because I think every marketer fits that. Yeah, every marketer, even though you’re scrappy, you’re doing whatever you need to do. And then you get to the point where you’re like, you know what, although I could keep doing this, I’m actually better off bringing someone in to do it. And a lot of times that path is like a VA or somebody else. And there’s a lot of training that’s required. Whereas as a certified automation service provider you come in, and the only training that’s needed is Hey, catch me up to speed with your process. All right. All right. I got it. Infusionsoft know how to use it. Active Campaign, back pocket. Spot Ontraport. Don’t worry, don’t worry your little brain a little Don’t worry your marketing mind about covered. Got it. So in a lot of people, one of the reasons why I do what I do is because a lot of people have not experienced that. Most of the time the marketer is so far ahead of who they hire, it becomes a burden just thinking about getting them up to speed, all right.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 14:51
And they don’t have time. They don’t have

Chris Davis 14:55
time for it, right? Even if they’re willing. So they start out thinking like, Okay, I know I need to do this, I need to replicate myself. And they do have the willingness, yes. But when they see the time that’s involved, they’re just like they don’t Okay.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 15:10
Because you’re off to the next thing. There’s, there’s no time you need somebody who can hit the ground running with the strategy help you get the strategy together that you’re wanting, and then build the strategy.

Chris Davis 15:22
Yeah, and there’s no, again, there’s no shame as a mark, I think it’s a sign of growth. When a marketer says, Okay, I’ve, I’ve taken this ship, as far as I can, I, I want to go rest for a little bit, can you grab the wheel here? Can you navigate us to land? You know, there’s, I think it’s a growth, a growth spot, a opportunity, that is often optimist. So I love that avatar. And then, of course, I love the service base, the brick and mortar, because they, you talk about don’t have time, none. Even if your business was really you get delegated staff to do most of the stuff, you and you say, hey, look, I’ve got free time, it should not be spent learning marketing something new. Now. If you look at the amount of of experience that you have, it would take them like 20 years plus, just come to maybe half because in that 20 years, you would have evolved, right? And more. It’s just like, listen, grab, bring somebody in bed can sit down at interview you right to get the process out, and then make the process real. I think the operative word in both avatars is team. Yeah. And when you come into a team setting, you’re able to not just apply automation for the sake of you know, generating money through leveraged efforts, but also streamline the operations for the people existing. Yeah, so it’s not just the CEO, that’s like, thank you. It’s the operations manager. It’s the copyright of the designer, because now there’s this system that streamlines everything. So with that in mind, I want to talk about some of the odd automations, I’ll call them, but these are automations that you’ve used to organize files. We’ve heard about sending an email and drip feed and a goal to stop and turn off those automations and then apply a tag and that gives them login access. We can do that for days. But what I find very unique about you is you’re able to not just organize files, but also identify the tools, because you just wrote a blog post about a marketing automation report on the site. And it it talks about that journey of listen, I needed to organize files in Zapier just didn’t work, that this is a different conversation, right? Yeah. So what are some of those odd automations? That you started out thinking, let’s start with marketing, then you’re like, you know, what, we’re gonna need some organization, I’m gonna need to bring some tools into organize these files, whether it’s moving a file, renaming a file, what are some that that come to mind for you?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 18:13
I mean, again, I always start with myself what I need, I got tired of the different tech tools I was using, having to go in manually, and create all this stuff. And I’m running into more business owners that, okay, when I onboard somebody, I have to set up these files here. And then I have to set up these files here. And then they need to get these documents here. No. And in human error is real. So I’m like, let’s see how we can automate this. So I mapped out how to automate, like just getting files set up, once a client pays and is on board, everything from they sign a contract to now it automatically populates for different places and set that stuff up automatically. So it’s there ready for you to just put the stuff in. I built an automation for myself, of when a contract, you know, you send the contract out when it gets signed, to automatically put it in the right folder. For me, the sign was, you know, so I don’t have to go find the email, download it myself. And then so I, I always think efficiency, how can this be easy? I can just be more efficient, you know, how can I cut out steps? Because as an organizer, we was always to talk to only touch paperwork once, twice at the most. So you got to figure out a way of how can I only do this step once or twice. And it’s done without me having to keep revisiting this every time. So

Chris Davis 19:57
yeah, yeah, that’s good. Now I’m gonna jump in and add some of my automations in an odd tool and an AI tool that I didn’t plan on it. But we’re in this flow. One is exactly what you mentioned, the creation of documents and spaces. So I’m starting to integrate more and more with clickup. That’s my project management tool of preference, click up in airtable. Samantha, this is a dangerous combo. It’s the amount of automation that can take place between those two, to get things done on the back end, back in operations, nobody sees it, but they see the result of it. It’s truly amazing. But I want to want to mention this tool. It’s called Hazel. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this to us method. It’s called Hazel. And it automates pretty much your desktop, right? I think maybe Mac Automator could do it. I don’t know, I’m not that savvy with MAC. I know this tool does it. So I have one platform, one platform specific, that will not let me dictate what folder the output goes into. So what this Hazel does is I set it up to run at midnight every day. And it looks in that folder for a new folder, and it moves it into my Drive folder. And everybody has access to it. And you would think Chris, so simple. But me having to remember to do that. Just one time forgetting means that what that entire pipeline is reliant on a file being moved Samantha Yeah, right. Wow, isn’t moved, and it’s on my computer, because I’m the one generated, so it’s not like my, somebody can log in remote. And if they could, why write that for me. Um, so that’s one and then two. As I mentioned, I hate seeing the desktop. Like I like I have a picture on my desktop. I like looking at my desktop picture. That’s why it’s my picture. So I can see

Samantha Pointer Foxx 22:03
I tell people, Hey, hide it.

Chris Davis 22:08
Right there keyboard shortcuts, right? Not everything. So now with the same tool every every day, I think it is it runs and says Hey, have you opened this image? If not, it puts it in a folder. And it just automatically cleans my desktop now from taking a screenshot or from downloading, I don’t even have to think about oh, okay, you know, I need to clean up my desktop, it cleans it up for me. And then the next level, this is the same tool, the folder that it moves into starts a 30 day countdown. So if I don’t use that file in 30 days, I probably don’t need it. And it just deletes it.

Samantha Pointer Foxx 22:49
automatic cleaning

Chris Davis 22:51
cleans up everything. Like I do my list, but it’s it’s just the more comfortable you get with automation, the more you realize I can streamline and make all of my business efficient, right, like my entire business. And it made me think it made me think of there was a time where automation was so like, in I guess you could argue even to this day, it’s still be it’s just some education required. Yeah, right. Yeah. But it’s definitely more widely accepted. But it used to be if you could send an email, and stop sending that email, when someone does something like that was kind of like amazing. And I remember tools like AWS Pro Tools back when I was using a Weber platform that could do it. All of these things. So now, as people get more mature, and they have more expectations for their marketing and automation, are you finding in your experience and with the clients that you’re working with that you are starting to tap into more of the operational back inside of automation, and not just so much heavily marketing and sales?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 24:12
I’m definitely tapping more into the backend, because that’s usually the most disorienting part, you know, the Client Onboarding, the remembering the little task of who should do what when, you know, it made me think of another automation Hi, I had built because I use click up to where when somebody books a discovery call, not only does it send me a Slack message to let me know, but in case I didn’t see it there it also sends me a message and creates a task for me to do my due diligence and so there’s no way I’m gonna show up on the car not knowing what we talking about or what’s going on. You know, it is it’s those little things like that, that, you know, makes your VA or whoever you have doing those things, not pull their hair out, you know, makes their job easier makes them do their job better. Is these little back in operational things you can set up.

Chris Davis 25:19
Yeah. Yeah. And I will say mature businesses know this, Samantha mature businesses know how important operational efficiency is. And watch this. Older businesses, businesses, you know, that been around maybe 1015 years or more, also have heard numerous complaints from their team about certain processes, certain things that just don’t work. And there’s a good example is you may have somebody who is tech savvy, it means they understand technology, they’re not overwhelmed with it, you may even have somebody on your team, that’s good at operations and process. But it takes a unique skill to blend the both of them, right, tech savviness, and process to create the system. And this is why automation service providers exist because you can find the elements that make up an automation service provider, individual, right, those elements are in individuals, but we combine them all into one person. So it’s very rare. If you’ve got a digital marketer, they may not know marketing automation or back end operational automation, right. You may have a online business manager that’s all about operations, light on tech. Right, integrating the software’s. This whole is present in every every business. And it’s my honor to be able to say yes, you are certified. So tell the listeners in closing, what went behind your decision in becoming certified? Because I’ll say this before you answer, I am not a person that chases certifications, right? The if the certification is going to teach me something, right, it has weight in the marketplace, then yes, I’ll do it. But I’m not the person who starts a business and then goes and searches for certification. So in creating this certification, I did my due diligence, I talked to people from Microsoft were created certification from Microsoft, my OBM is a teacher, I talked to other people with certifications in the marketplace, just like look, I want this to mean something. This is not going to be just another badge, these people are going to be vetted. And you know, you’ve gone through the right, not just pay money and answer some questions, and you’re certified, but top to just let the listeners know what your intention behind the certification was. And what really drove you to to say, You know what I want to put this badge on?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 27:53
Well, to me, I know the level of service I want to bring to my clients, I want to bring them the best. I want them to be up to speed, I don’t want them to have to worry about keeping up with the latest whatever, or is this right for my business? Or should I be moving over to here or just listening to whoever said what, in what Facebook or Google or whatever. I wanted to be the one because I love learning. I love you know, trying out new stuff. I love technology that’s like my jam. So I want it to always be learning. And I want I want it the person I’m learning from to always be learning and showing new ways of doing things more efficient ways, not just saying, Hey, this is how I’ve been doing it for 20 years. So this is how it’s gonna be and I don’t want to hear nothing different. Like, that’s what I love about you is your open is like, Oh, I didn’t know that. Let’s try this, you know. And so that’s what I was looking for someone who just knew what they were doing and had the receipts to back that up that this works. And I was looking for a system that I can also make my own and put in place for my clients to help them win. And so that’s why I went through the certification process. I took this just as serious as if I went and got a master’s or doctorate because that’s what it felt like. But, yeah, I just, I, you know, I’m proud to wear that certification badge because I don’t want out the certifications either. You know, or I’m not the type of believe you have to have this to know what you know, but this was something like I know I’m gonna continue to grow in this with the best of the best and this is so needed right now. This is so needed. in the marketplace, and I just didn’t want to be just that person another market out there just spun you a tool just because I’m getting commissions off of that or something. So I want it to marry all my loves organizing technology, processes, procedures, all that together. And, you know, you go,

Chris Davis 30:23
yes, yes, I love it and you’ve done a great job. I have to say, it’s been great just seeing the progression that you’ve made. One of the a lot of people go and they search for revenue. They’re like, Are you a millionaire? This isn’t that. But there’s so much more like the fact that you’re, you’re not single, you have a family? Yes. Right. Like, there are times you have to take your, your children to the doctor, drop them off at school, pick them up. Yeah. And for you to be able to build a business in a way for over a span of multiple years. And it’s not going to end anytime soon. Just growing. That is one of the most the largest achievements, because I was just talking to somebody who was making 75,000 a month and this is names like, but it’s not leveraged, Chris, I don’t have time with my family, I don’t have this, I don’t have that. So I look at things different. I want the money and the time, right? Make me choose, I want

Samantha Pointer Foxx 31:25
to enjoy the money not be stressed and sick and have to use that. Dr. Whatever, like, you don’t want to be stressed and you don’t want to lose your family over the work, no work is that it’s not worth it. And it’s not worth that to me. Everybody doesn’t want to be a millionaire. Everybody has their own number of what they need to hit to feel comfortable and give to the world. And that’s what they should focus on. But time and you know, you can never get that back.

Chris Davis 32:00
Yeah. And so the longevity that you’ve experienced in business is attributed, of course, to your willingness to invest. You’re always learning mentality and your openness to change your mindset. You’ve even in the back I see your sign and it says mindset shift higher technology, right. Small things, small things that the the average I may overlook, but this is this is the secret sauce to success. I can’t there’s I don’t have anything up my sleeve. There’s no magic cards to this thing, right? It’s like this is what you do. You invest get connected. I’m shameless plug but I don’t know, a person besides my mentor, perhaps. And maybe I’ve even exceeded that. That is in the space of marketing automation daily. Samantha, you’re in the community in my accelerator, like we talk about new tools all the time. Rhonda just shared one,

Samantha Pointer Foxx 33:01
and oh, my goodness.

Chris Davis 33:05
So where else are you going to stay up to speed with all of the technology especially as fast as it moves. So with that being said, Everyone, this is why she is who she is. This is why Samantha is on the podcast. Because she’s not just another marketer out there, there is some unique attributes that she has some unique skills that your business probably has been in need for some years. So with that being said, Samantha, if somebody wants to reach out to you, by the way, all the all of the certified automation service providers are in our directory on our website. So that link is always in the podcast, show notes. Regardless of who you listen to, you can always say Hey, I heard that let me go hire somebody who can do that. But if people want to reach out to you, individually, directly, what’s the best place for them to go?

Samantha Pointer Foxx 33:58
The best place is to go to organizing guru.com/SPElinks And that will give you all the links to learn in the work with me but then a strategy call my freebie everything. All I have to offer you can go there.

Chris Davis 34:18
Great. Great. So that’s organizing guru.com SPE as in Samantha pointer enterprises links SPE links will have that link in the show notes as well. Samantha, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast is greatly appreciated. Again, everybody. Samantha is in the first batch of certified automation service providers. I look forward to having 20-50 More episodes with more certified folks. If you need to skip the line. Don’t go on Fiverr don’t go on Upwork nothing against any of these freelancing websites. Samantha has worked with me closely for at least nine months, in her case years. So if you’ve been trying to really get a hold of this automation space, you have a trusted resource in Samantha pointer Fox, her link is going to be included in the show notes. Again, Samantha, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast is great to meet and have you officially in this capacity now to completed everything. All right. So with that being said, thank you again, Samantha. Greatly appreciate it. I’ll see you online in many facets and capacities after this. So I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Yep. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The all systems go podcast. If you enjoyed it, make sure that you’re subscribed at the time of recording the all systems go podcast is free to subscribe to, and it can be found in Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts new episodes are released every Thursday. So make sure you’re subscribed so that you don’t miss out and while you’re at it, please leave us a five star rating and review to show some love but also to help future listeners more easily find the podcast so they can experience the value and goodness as well. We’ve compiled all resources mentioned on the podcast, as well as other resources that are extremely valuable and effective at helping you grow your marketing automation skills quickly and you can access them all at allsystemsgopodcast.com. Thanks again for listening. And until next time, I see you online automate responsibly