The Tech Stack Behind the Systems Room

What I actually use. What I set up for clients.

And what I would tell you to skip if you asked

A Note Before You Scroll

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. Meaning: if you click through and sign up, I earn a commission — at no extra cost to you.

Here's my rule: if I wouldn't set it up for a paying client, it's not on this page.

Just what I use, what I implement, and what I'd point you toward if you asked me directly.

This page is short on purpose. I'd rather recommend four tools I've actually lived with than pad the list with things I've only heard about. There are more coming — I'm actively evaluating them — and I'll add them here once I can tell you what they did for my business, not just what their sales page says.

How This Page Is Organized

I'll walk you through this in the order a lead actually moves through your business:

The Quick Version

If you don't have time to read the whole page, here's the at-a glance:

Keep scrolling for the full breakdown on each.

1. The Foundation: GoHighLevel (GHL)

Let me tell you where I started, because it's probably closer to where you are than you'd think.

I didn't know I needed tools. I sold mailing supplies and coffee by posting in a Facebook group, collected money through PayPal, and assumed Facebook would keep my people around. I didn't even have an email list. I just... posted. And hoped.

(I know, I know!)

When I finally started figuring out that there were systems involved, I grabbed one tool at a time, because I didn't really know what I was supposed to do.

On paper, that looks like a real tech stack. In practice, Lord, it was a full-time job just remembering which tab to open. And I was losing leads left and right - not because I didn't have leads, but because the tools didn't talk to each other.

The breaking point wasn't dramatic. It was just the quiet, constant weight of it. The sense that my business was leaking and I didn't even know where.

Then I moved everything to GHL.

Here's what changed: I stopped trying to remember where things lived. Email, scheduling, pipelines, tagging, segmentation, payments, courses, workflows — all under one roof. Hallelujah!

Was there a learning curve? Oh yes. I didn't have anyone to set it up for me, so I learned it the hard way. Trial and error. A lot of starting over at 11pm. But now I can see the strategy in my head — the way a lead flows in, gets tagged, gets nurtured, gets invited to the next thing — and the tool just does what I tell it to.

What GHL actually replaces: email platform + CRM + calendar + funnel builder + course platform + SMS + pipeline tracking + automations. Any one of those is $30–$100/mo on its own. Stacked, you're easily at $200–$400/mo before you've sent your first email. GHL starts at $97.

You do the math. I'll wait.

What I see over and over with coaches before they hire me:

They don't have a tech problem. They have a visibility problem. They can't see where leads are coming in, where they're going, or where they're quietly walking away. The tools aren't talking, so the business can't tell you what it knows.

GHL fixes it by being one place where the whole story of a lead lives — from the first time they raised their hand to the moment they paid you (or didn't).

Who it's for: You need this from the moment you get your first paying client.

Seriously, here's what most coaches don't realize: GHL isn't a tool you graduate into once you're "established." It's a tool that manages the leads that become clients. That work - keeping up with interested people, tracking where each one is in your world, making sure nobody falls through the cracks before they buy - is a huge job on its own. Most coaches do it in their head. Most coaches are also quietly losing money because of it.

If you've got one client and you're scaling, you need this now. Not "once you're making more."

Who it's NOT for: Coaches who are pre-revenue and haven't figured out their offer yet. GHL is a hub - you need something to put in the hub. If that's you, scroll to Systeme.io below.

The honest caveat: The learning curve is real. If you don't want to build it yourself, that's what The Systems Room exists for - I set it up for you so you can run your business instead of Googling "how to set up a workflow trigger" at 11pm. (I've been there. I would not with it on you.)

2. Starting Smaller: Systeme.io

If you're earlier in the journey than GHL is built for, Systeme.io is where I'd send you.

It's a lighter all-in-one - email, funnels, courses, basic automations - and it has a genuinely usable free tier you can build a small business on.

Who it's for: Coaches who are pre-revenue or early-revenue, still testing offers, and need one tool that does enough. If you're deciding between "keep patch-working free tools" and "jump straight to GHL," this is the middle path.

What I use it for: I don't run my business on Systeme.io - but I recommend it often to coaches who aren't ready for GHL and shouldn't be paying for it yet. There's no prize for over-buying your tech stack, I promise you.

The honest caveat: You will outgrow it. That's not a knock - it's the whole point. Start here, prove the offer works, then graduate to GHL when your business is big enough to need the hub.

3. Facebook Group Lead Capture

Here's something most coaches don't realize until it's too late: Facebook owns your group. You don't.

If Facebook decided tomorrow to delete your group, ban your account, or change the algorithm so your posts never show up again — you'd lose everything you built. Unless you've been capturing those members into an email list you actually own.

That's what this section is about. Not growing your groupbut owning the people in it.

GroupLeads

What it is: A Chrome extension that captures the answers to your Facebook group's membership questions and automatically pipes them into your email platform (GHL, MailerLite, MailChimp, whatever you're using).

What I use it for: Making sure every single person who joins my group (or my clients' groups) actually makes it onto the email list. Not "I'll add them later when I have time." Automatically.

Who it's for: Any coach running a free Facebook group as a lead source. If that's you, this is one of the highest-leverage $27/mo you can spend.

The honest caveat: It only works if you're asking membership questions that get an email address. If your group's entry questions don't include "what's your best email," this tool can't help you. (Fix your questions first, then buy the tool.)

4. Organizing the DM Chaos

Your leads aren't in your CRM. They're in your DMs. And if you've ever opened Messenger on a Monday morning and thought "who was that person I was supposed to follow up with last Thursday?" — you know exactly what I mean.

Messenger Organizer

What it is: A $47 one-time tool that turns Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Skool into platforms that actually function like lead tracking systems. Tags, filters, saved responses, organized threads. Imagine.

What I use it for: Not losing conversations. That's it. That's the whole pitch. It turns Messenger from a black hole into something you can actually work in.

Who it's for: Anyone doing meaningful lead gen in Messenger. Which, if you're running a Facebook group, is you.

The honest caveat: It's $47 one time, so the bar for "is this worth it" is low. If it saves you one client this year, it's paid for itself roughly 100 times over.

5. The Order I Would Build This In

If you're sitting here looking at four tools and thinking "okay but which one first," here's what I'd tell you over coffee.

Don't buy all of it. Build in order.

Phase 1 — Stop the bleeding (Month 1): Get Messenger Organizer ($47 one time). It's the lowest-cost, highest-immediate-relief move on this page. You'll stop losing conversations the same day you install it.

Phase 2 — Own your list (Month 1–2): Add Group Leads ($27/mo) if you have a Facebook group. Every new member automatically lands on your email list from that day forward. You stop bleeding leads out the back of your group.

Phase 3 — Pick your hub (Month 2–3):

The mistake I see most often: Coaches buy a hub before they've fixed the two immediate problems — losing DMs and leaking group members. Don't do that. Stop the bleeding first, then build the hub to hold everything.

6. When Tools Aren't the Problem

If you've made it this far, installed every tool on this page, and your business is still leaking leads — I want to tell you why - gently:

The tools aren't the problem. The infrastructure is.

Tools are objects. Infrastructure is how the objects talk to each other, what happens when a lead does X, where the lead goes next, and what gets automated vs. what requires you.

Coaches buy GHL, they buy Group Leads, they install everything — and six months later they're still overwhelmed, because nobody connected the plumbing. The tools are all installed. They're just not wired together to do anything for you.

If that's where you are, that's what The Systems Room exists for.

I run a Leaky Bucket Audit — a structured diagnostic that finds exactly where your conversion and retention are breaking down, and what it'll take to fix it. You might not need more tools. You probably need the ones you have to actually work together.

More Tools Coming Soon

A handful of tools didn't make this version of the page because I haven't lived with them yet — but I'm actively evaluating them and will add them here once I can tell you what they actually did for my business.

Questions about any of the tools above? DM me. I answer every one.

Sustainable growth needs systems that can support it.

If your business has grown faster than your systems,

time to rebuild the client journey behind the scenes.

Customer Care

Legal

The Tech Stack Behind the Systems Room

What I actually use. What I set up for clients.

And what I would tell you to skip if you asked

A Note Before You Scroll

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. Meaning: if you click through and sign up, I earn a commission — at no extra cost to you.

Here's my rule: if I wouldn't set it up for a paying client, it's not on this page.

Just what I use, what I implement, and what I'd point you toward if you asked me directly.

How This Page Is Organized

I'll walk you through this in the order a lead actually moves through your business:

The Quick Version

If you don't have time to read the whole page, here's the at-a glance:

Keep scrolling for the full breakdown on each.

1. The Foundation: GoHighLevel (GHL)

Let me tell you where I started, because it's probably closer to where you are than you'd think.

I didn't know I needed tools. I sold mailing supplies and coffee by posting in a Facebook group, collected money through PayPal, and assumed Facebook would keep my people around. I didn't even have an email list. I just... posted. And hoped.

(I know, I know!)

When I finally started figuring out that there were systems involved, I grabbed one tool at a time, because I didn't really know what I was supposed to do.

On paper, that looks like a real tech stack. In practice, Lord, it was a full-time job just remembering which tab to open. And I was losing leads left and right - not because I didn't have leads, but because the tools didn't talk to each other.

The breaking point wasn't dramatic. It was just the quiet, constant weight of it. The sense that my business was leaking and I didn't even know where.

Then I moved everything to GHL.

Here's what changed: I stopped trying to remember where things lived. Email, scheduling, pipelines, tagging, segmentation, payments, courses, workflows — all under one roof. Hallelujah!

What GHL actually replaces: email platform + CRM + calendar + funnel builder + course platform + SMS + pipeline tracking + automations. Any one of those is $30–$100/mo on its own. Stacked, you're easily at $200–$400/mo before you've sent your first email. GHL starts at $97.

You do the math. I'll wait.

What I see over and over with coaches before they hire me:

They don't have a tech problem. They have a visibility problem. They can't see where leads are coming in, where they're going, or where they're quietly walking away. The tools aren't talking, so the business can't tell you what it knows.

GHL fixes it by being one place where the whole story of a lead lives — from the first time they raised their hand to the moment they paid you (or didn't).

Who it's for: You need this from the moment you get your first paying client.

If you've got one client and you're scaling, you need this now. Not "once you're making more."

Who it's NOT for: Coaches who are pre-revenue and haven't figured out their offer yet. GHL is a hub - you need something to put in the hub. If that's you, scroll to Systeme.io below.

The honest caveat: The learning curve is real. If you don't want to build it yourself, that's what The Systems Room exists for - I set it up for you so you can run your business instead of Googling "how to set up a workflow trigger" at 11pm. (I've been there. I would not with it on you.)

2. Starting Smaller: Systeme.io

If you're earlier in the journey than GHL is built for, Systeme.io is where I'd send you.

It's a lighter all-in-one - email, funnels, courses, basic automations - and it has a genuinely usable free tier you can build a small business on.

Who it's for: Coaches who are pre-revenue or early-revenue, still testing offers, and need one tool that does enough. If you're deciding between "keep patch-working free tools" and "jump straight to GHL," this is the middle path.

What I use it for: I don't run my business on Systeme.io - but I recommend it often to coaches who aren't ready for GHL and shouldn't be paying for it yet. There's no prize for over-buying your tech stack, I promise you.

The honest caveat: You will outgrow it. That's not a knock - it's the whole point. Start here, prove the offer works, then graduate to GHL when your business is big enough to need the hub.

3. Facebook Group Lead Capture

Here's something most coaches don't realize until it's too late: Facebook owns your group. You don't.

If Facebook decided tomorrow to delete your group, ban your account, or change the algorithm so your posts never show up again — you'd lose everything you built. Unless you've been capturing those members into an email list you actually own.

That's what this section is about. Not growing your groupbut owning the people in it.

GroupLeads

What it is: A Chrome extension that captures the answers to your Facebook group's membership questions and automatically pipes them into your email platform (GHL, MailerLite, MailChimp, whatever you're using).

What I use it for: Making sure every single person who joins my group (or my clients' groups) actually makes it onto the email list. Not "I'll add them later when I have time." Automatically.

Who it's for: Any coach running a free Facebook group as a lead source. If that's you, this is one of the highest-leverage $27/mo you can spend.

The honest caveat: It only works if you're asking membership questions that get an email address. If your group's entry questions don't include "what's your best email," this tool can't help you. (Fix your questions first, then buy the tool.)

4. Organizing the DM Chaos

Your leads aren't in your CRM. They're in your DMs. And if you've ever opened Messenger on a Monday morning and thought "who was that person I was supposed to follow up with last Thursday?" — you know exactly what I mean.

Messenger Organizer

What it is: A $47 one-time tool that turns Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Skool into platforms that actually function like lead tracking systems. Tags, filters, saved responses, organized threads. Imagine.

What I use it for: Not losing conversations. That's it. That's the whole pitch. It turns Messenger from a black hole into something you can actually work in.

Who it's for: Anyone doing meaningful lead gen in Messenger. Which, if you're running a Facebook group, is you.

The honest caveat: It's $47 one time, so the bar for "is this worth it" is low. If it saves you one client this year, it's paid for itself roughly 100 times over.

5. The Order I Would Build This In

If you're sitting here looking at four tools and thinking "okay but which one first," here's what I'd tell you over coffee.

Don't buy all of it. Build in order.

Phase 1 — Stop the bleeding (Month 1): Get Messenger Organizer ($47 one time). It's the lowest-cost, highest-immediate-relief move on this page. You'll stop losing conversations the same day you install it.

Phase 2 — Own your list (Month 1–2): Add Group Leads ($27/mo) if you have a Facebook group. Every new member automatically lands on your email list from that day forward. You stop bleeding leads out the back of your group.

Phase 3 — Pick your hub (Month 2–3):

The mistake I see most often: Coaches buy a hub before they've fixed the two immediate problems — losing DMs and leaking group members. Don't do that. Stop the bleeding first, then build the hub to hold everything.

6. When Tools Aren't the Problem

If you've made it this far, installed every tool on this page, and your business is still leaking leads — I want to tell you why - gently:

The tools aren't the problem. The infrastructure is.

Tools are objects. Infrastructure is how the objects talk to each other, what happens when a lead does X, where the lead goes next, and what gets automated vs. what requires you.

Coaches buy GHL, they buy Group Leads, they install everything — and six months later they're still overwhelmed, because nobody connected the plumbing. The tools are all installed. They're just not wired together to do anything for you.

If that's where you are, that's what The Systems Room exists for.

I run a Leaky Bucket Audit — a structured diagnostic that finds exactly where your conversion and retention are breaking down, and what it'll take to fix it. You might not need more tools. You probably need the ones you have to actually work together.

More Tools Coming Soon

A handful of tools didn't make this version of the page because I haven't lived with them yet — but I'm actively evaluating them and will add them here once I can tell you what they actually did for my business.

Questions about any of the tools above? DM me. I answer every one.

Customer Care

Legal

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