How to Build Marketing Systems That Run Themselves (Without Burning Out)
Running a business shouldn’t mean running yourself into the ground.
In the latest episode of Executive Edge Live, Harley Green, Founder of Workergenix, sat down with four powerhouse leaders to explore one transformational idea: marketing that runs itself.
If you’re a founder, executive, or growth-minded leader tired of wearing all the hats, this conversation is your blueprint for reclaiming your time while driving predictable, recurring revenue.
Preferred listening on the go? Catch the full podcast episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
What Does “Marketing That Runs Itself” Actually Mean?
Frank Jones of OptSus Marketing broke it down early: it’s not about magic or passive income myths. It’s about separating effort from results by building systems that generate leads and nurture prospects without requiring your daily input.
Melanie Asher of Omicle emphasized the difference between timely and timeless marketing. You automate the timeless—the foundational brand and lead systems that work today, tomorrow, and a year from now.
Start With the Basics Before You Automate
Before automation, you need infrastructure. Frank highlighted key essentials:
- A conversion-optimized, mobile-responsive website
- Consistent SEO-driven blog content
- Daily presence on relevant social platforms
Why? Because automation only scales what already works.
Eric Carrell of DoFollow.com added the importance of audience alignment: your site, your messaging, and your brand should reflect the expectations of your ideal customer—especially if you’re charging premium prices.
Know Your Data, But Focus on What Matters
Alex Hammerschmied of AutomateThis made it clear: “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity.” He and Melanie both warned against obsessing over vanity metrics (likes, impressions) and instead urged founders to track metrics that directly tie to profit: leads, conversions, and actual sales.
Automation Is Not a Shortcut, It’s a Strategy
Automation works after you’ve done the hard work of:
- Validating what converts
- Understanding your ideal client persona
- Creating messaging that resonates
Then, use email funnels, paid ads, and AI-powered repurposing tools to scale those systems.
Frank put it simply: “Start creating long-form content you enjoy, then repurpose it into multiple formats to collect real data and refine from there.”
Pro Tip: Don’t Skip the ICP Work
Eric’s biggest advice? Talk to 10-15 of your ideal clients to understand how they make decisions and where they consume content. That intel should guide everything—from your ads to your content to your messaging.
Final Advice from the Experts:
- “If you wouldn’t hire someone untrained, don’t launch untested automation.” – Alex
- “Just because you can automate it doesn’t mean you should.” – Melanie
- “Define success by what drives profit, not what looks good on paper.” – Frank
How to Connect with the Panelists
Frank Jones – Founder, OptSus Marketing
Website: https://optsus.com
Newsletter: Grow with OptSus (weekly tips for small business growth)
Alex Hammerschmied – Co-founder, AutomateThis & ArztAPI
Website: https://automatethis.pro
Email:
YouTube: AutomateThis
Eric Carrell – Founder, DoFollow.com & Pocket Capital
Website: https://dofollow.com
LinkedIn: Eric Carrell
Melanie Asher – Founder & Fractional CMO, Omicle LLC
Website: https://omicle.com
Workergenix helps busy executives delegate smarter and scale faster with highly skilled, AI-leveraged executive assistants.
🧠 Ready to reclaim 15–30+ hours a week?
👉 Schedule a free discovery call
Transcript
Harley Green:
All right, hi everybody. Welcome to the Workergenix Scale Smart Grow Fast Executive Edge live session. This month, we are talking about marketing systems that run themselves. We really want to focus on how you can help your business with recurring revenue and having recurring marketing systems. We’ve got a panel of experts here who are going to share some incredible tips. I’m excited to dive right in. I’m Harley Green, the founder and CEO of Workergenix, where we help executives and leadership teams stay focused on high-impact activities by delegating the rest to highly skilled AI-leveraged ultimate executive assistants. Today’s conversation is about growth. It’s going to help growth-focused leaders get the information they need. We’re talking about marketing systems that run themselves—systems that bring in leads and revenue without requiring constant effort from you or your team. Our panelists are going to share proven ways to create predictable revenue, leverage automation tools, and free yourself from the marketing grind. I’m honored to be joined by an incredible group of experts who have each built scalable marketing solutions in their own businesses and for their clients.
First, we’ve got Frank. He’s the founder of OptSus Marketing and the creator of the OptSus Website Bundle. Frank helps businesses build automated SEO content and social foundations that consistently drive results. With nearly 30 years of experience and a background teaching at six universities, he’s helped companies grow 2X to 24X by mastering the essentials first.
Next, we’ve got Alex. He’s an automation specialist and co-founder of multiple businesses. From school dropout to architect to automation innovator, Alex specializes in healthcare data, process automation, and market automation for industries like pharma, insurance, and health tech startups. As a co-founder of ArztAPI, AutomateThis, and hartmut.io, he’s passionate about making automation both accessible and transformative.
Next up, we’ve got Eric, founder of Pocket Capital and DoFollow.com. Eric runs Pocket Capital, a holding company investing in early-stage digital services, and DoFollow.com, a link-building and AI visibility company for B2B SaaS. He brings firsthand experience in scaling visibility, growth, and recurring revenue through smart marketing infrastructure.
And last, but certainly not least, we have Melanie, a fractional CMO and founder of Omicle LLC, blending mindset, brand clarity, and operational efficiency. Melanie works with leaders ready to scale. She is a sought-after speaker and international author of three books on culture-driven brands and brings deep insight into how to align brand, culture, and systems for sustainable growth.
Thank you, everyone, for joining us. I’m going to dive right in. What does marketing that runs itself mean to you and why is it so important for business leaders today?
Melanie Asher:
I’ll start this one. I love the whole concept of marketing that runs itself because so often it’s perceived that marketing is something you can outsource to the cheapest person. And the reality is, you get what you pay for with marketing. Marketing that runs itself is credible, it’s directly targeted to your audience, and it connects with them. It shortens the sales cycle and reduces the amount of day-to-day management time needed to consistently generate results.
Harley Green:
Love that. Anyone else want to add?
Eric Carrell:
Yes. In the past, we built marketing systems that required people to play various roles. With today’s technology and AI advancements, it’s easier to build systems that you set up once and they run themselves every month. It’s a lower lift with greater returns.
Frank Jones:
I want to address the skeptics. When the title of this event was released, I got pushback that “marketing that runs itself” sounds like passive income—a Holy Grail that magically delivers checks to your mailbox. But those of us working online know that “mailbox money” comes from work done at some point. It’s about detaching the work from the revenue. You build systems that you can check in on from time to time. You’re leveraging your effort to create something that delivers results even when you’re not actively involved.
Melanie Asher:
Yes, I describe it to clients as timeless versus timely. Timeless content is usable today, tomorrow, and even three years from now with minimal tweaking. Timely content, on the other hand, is relevant today and maybe tomorrow, but usually not next week. Timeless content can be automated effectively. Timely content can’t.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Exactly. Frank used the term “system.” In all the automations we build, the most important thing is to clearly identify what you want to automate and why. You need to walk through your whole marketing process, often multiple times, to understand what’s working. That’s the only thing worth automating. It’s like building a car before designing the factory assembly line.
Frank Jones:
Yes, I had a conversation yesterday where someone wanted to set up an email marketing automation system. Their goal was simply to not send emails themselves. They wanted a system to send them—but had no idea what to send or what results they wanted. That’s the problem. First, figure out what works. Then automate it. Don’t automate something that doesn’t already work.
Melanie Asher:
Right. It’s much harder to fix broken automation after the fact.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Exactly. Eric mentioned earlier that automation is viable now, especially with AI. You can create systems that learn from feedback loops—open rates, click-throughs, etc.—but you still need a baseline. You have to know what outcome you’re aiming for.
Harley Green:
Yes, I’m hearing a theme: master the basics first. Then you can layer in AI, VAs, automation, and more. Frank, since you focus on mastering the basics, what should businesses have in place before implementing advanced automation?
Frank Jones:
That’s exactly why I created our website bundle. This isn’t a sales pitch—it’s about the essentials. Everything costs either time or money. You can DIY these basics. Every business needs a responsive website that drives goals—leads, sales, conversions. I still see websites that are unusable on mobile. Over 60% of traffic is mobile, so this is huge.
Once you have a solid website, publish new content weekly. Post on social media daily. These are foundational. Without data—365 social posts and 52 blog posts—you have nothing to measure or refine. Most businesses don’t do this.
Eric Carrell:
Also, build your website with your buyer in mind. If you’re charging premium, the site should feel premium. Do ICP research, define buyer personas, understand KPIs your audience cares about. Have a unique POV and proprietary methodology. Your website should show who you are, what you stand for, and how you solve specific problems.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Yes, treat each marketing asset as an employee working 24/7 for you. If you don’t train your team properly, they won’t convert leads. A chef can’t sell shoes in a shoe store. Assets need the right messaging and tools to perform.
Frank Jones:
Exactly. Many small businesses haven’t even considered personas. We use forms and AI prompts to help them generate those personas based on their own answers. Clients don’t need to start from scratch—they can respond to options and refine from there. Use tech to reduce friction and move people through your funnel faster.
Melanie Asher:
Yes, I see the same thing. Companies are experts in their fields, but they forget to speak the customer’s language. They describe problems from their perspective, not how the customer sees them. If your messaging doesn’t match how people search or what algorithms reward, you won’t be found.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Right. In automation, everything is built on data—but most of it is useless. Focus on actual outcomes: leads, conversions, sales.
Melanie Asher:
Exactly. You can have thousands of page views, but if you’re being ranked as spam, that data is misleading. Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t tell the full story either. Understand the context.
Frank Jones:
I’ve worked with enterprise clients where I had to ask repeatedly: “If this metric goes up, down, or stays the same—what will you change in your business?” If the answer is nothing, then that metric doesn’t belong on the dashboard.
Harley Green:
Alex, where should people begin once they have the basics down?
Alex Hammerschmied:
It depends on your niche. For our automation company, we don’t do lead gen on the website because there are only a finite number of potential customers. But if people are actively searching for your service—like e-commerce or local services—you should absolutely collect leads on your site. Drive traffic via paid ads, offer a white paper or incentive, follow up with an email sequence to gauge interest.
Frank Jones:
Agreed. If you’re lucky enough to have e-commerce, optimize for actual purchases. But for most, leads are the closest KPI tied to revenue. Start there. Work backwards from revenue to build your system.
Melanie Asher:
Yes, and don’t confuse B2B with B2C. Many B2B businesses fail because they set expectations like a B2C funnel. In high-ticket B2B, your site supports sales rather than generating leads directly. Understand your sales cycle.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Right. People idolize brands like Red Bull or Starbucks without understanding their scale and strategy. Red Bull runs a full media company for brand awareness alone. You can’t replicate that. Focus on what drives profit in your business.
Frank Jones:
Profit matters more than revenue. I spoke with someone spending $10K a month on marketing. They needed $100K in new revenue just to break even. If you don’t understand your margins, you won’t know whether marketing is working.
Melanie Asher:
Also, don’t confuse marketing with advertising. Ads are short-term. Marketing is the full system. And when you stop ads, your visibility drops unless you’ve built organic traction. Platforms like LinkedIn reward engagement. My rule: for every 1 post you publish, engage meaningfully with 5 others.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Exactly. That’s why I don’t like social media—it’s time-intensive and hard to automate. I prefer paid ads and content that performs long-term. My early YouTube videos still bring in leads today. That’s automation.
Harley Green:
Let’s go around for a lightning round. What’s your best advice for leaders who want to start marketing automation this quarter?
Eric Carrell:
Understand where your ICP consumes content and how they make decisions. Don’t start with SEO or ads. Start with conversations. Learn what influences them. Then you’ll know which channel and message will actually convert.
Melanie Asher:
Just because you can automate doesn’t mean you should. Be intentional. Write for your best, most profitable client—the one you love working with. Speak directly to them.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Start with one small automation. Stick with it until it works. Don’t bounce to the next shiny thing. Get one win, one sale, then iterate.
Frank Jones:
Lay the foundation. Start with long-form content you enjoy. Use tools to repurpose it, distribute across platforms, and collect data. Define “perfect” based on what drives sales, not complexity.
Harley Green:
Incredible advice. Final round—where can people connect with you?
Melanie Asher:
Connect on LinkedIn at Melanie Asher, or visit omicle.com for bonus resources and my podcast.
Eric Carrell:
Follow me on LinkedIn at Eric Carrell or check out dofollow.com for resources.
Alex Hammerschmied:
Email me at alex@automatethis.pro or visit automatethis.pro. Also, check out our YouTube channel: AutomateThis.
Frank Jones:
Subscribe to my weekly email “Grow with OptSus” at optsus.com. I share one actionable marketing tip each week.
Harley Green:
Thank you all! To our audience, thank you for joining us. Don’t forget to check out our free masterclass Delegate to Dominate at workergenix.com. See you next time on Executive Edge Live!
