Build a system

Building a system takes time. But then it saves me time.

I’m running radio ads in Ireland for Run with Foxes at the moment. The ads are just one part of my marketing system. Building the system itself takes time. But then it saves me time.

I’m a marketer, borderline obsessive - so I tend to sweat the small stuff.

I think about when someone hears the ad, what are they likely to do next? Most will do nothing. This is the 95:5 rule. Even if they are my exact target, most are not sitting there with a live brief, a signed-off budget, and a burning desire to book a call with a man who has chosen to brand himself around foxes. Given this piece of empirical information, the first goal is to make sure at the very least that they remember my name or brand so they can find me when they do have a need.

So then my attention turns to the 5%. If they visit the site, what state are they in? If they are not ready today to contact me, what would genuinely be helpful to them? If they are ready, how do I make that step easy? If they do contact me, what would make the first conversation better?

If someone is not ready to talk, they may choose to read this newsletter. They can subscribe. If they do, I get a chance to stay top of mind. They may not want to subscribe. That’s also ok. They may choose to download the first two parts of my book as a PDF, ungated. No “work email required”. No lead-gen hostage situation where a perfectly nice PDF is held behind a little form like it has done something wrong.

For the people who are ready, when they visit my contact page, Isa, my chatbot assistant jumps into action and offers a 30-minute discovery chat. Isa’s job is small but does a lovely job bridging outbound marketing efforts (radio ad) to intake. It is also an opportunity to create a memorable impression for my brand. Never miss a chance to imbue the brand.

If they book a chat, the next bit happens in the background. The meeting goes into the diary. I get notified and another AI assistant starts researching the person and the company before we speak. So when the call happens, I can ask better questions earlier.

The system is a mix of things I built, connected to reasonably inexpensive tools - Vercel, Github, Cal.com, Substack and Healthcheck io. All held together by Claude Code. I focus on quality first - the experience, the branding, the value-add, my goals. Then I automate the parts that repeat.

That is what I mean by building systems. Designing the experience properly, then letting software carry the bits that should not need human effort every time. For me, the radio ad creates awareness and visitors. The website explains what I do. The book gives people depth without asking for anything back. The newsletter keeps the relationship open. Isa helps the ready people move. Cal.com removes the email tennis. The research assistant improves the first call. Each bit has a job.

I like this stuff because it is practical. It is not AI as theatre. It is not a robot doing jazz hands at a conference. It is a few small jobs, joined together, making a real business process less leaky.