“You Have Already Authenticated This Domain”: Adventures With Systeme.io's Pending Status

This wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend the day after Christmas, but let's face it...tech stacks don't set themselves up.

My overall plan involved setting up a sales funnel with a freebie, an upsell offer, a welcome email sequence, and all those other wonderful things, but first? I needed a website!

This installment actually brings us in a little ways into the process; I'd already tinkered with Systeme a bit; apologies for not logging everything I did that way. But I'll try to put a log of everything else here, so that you can see what it actually takes to start from scratch building an online business.

I'm documenting this process for y'all because I love transparency. I've been a fan of Lizzy Goddard's "Lizzy's Weeks" for a while (not currently available separately, but if you go to this page, scroll down a bit, and sign up for her mailing list, you'll know when she offers them again...they're great!), because they let me see what she's doing behind the scenes to make her magic happen. So this is my attempt at doing something similar...but for free (and also because I might need to do it again someday...).

Verifying My Sender Email and Authenticating My Domain

Before I can create a welcome email sequence, I have to confirm the email address I want to use as the sending address and authenticate the domain it’s coming from (MichelleLiggitt.com). I authenticated the domain once (using the instructions in this YouTube tutorial), but then I set up a Google Workspace, which apparently broke some of that authentication. It took a chat with HostGator tech support to get my Google Workspace email set up, and now I’ve confirmed my primary email (super simple: Systeme sends you an email and you click a link) and I’m back to getting the sending part set up.

It looks like I already had most of the DNS records in; all I needed to do was add the DMARC record, using the dropdown in the video above, though oddly my domain authentication is still showing as pending. I’m also getting a message saying “homepage detected for this domain,” which AI tells me is because I haven’t yet told Systeme which page should appear when someone types in michelleliggitt.com, and of course I already have a WordPress install displaying when someone types that in. So I’m not ready to change that just yet.

My overall plan involved setting up a sales funnel with a freebie, an upsell offer, and all those other wonderful things, but first? I needed a website!

Trying to Set Up My Double Opt-In (And Hitting a Wall)

I’m getting annoyed, because Systeme keeps saying my authentication is “pending,” yet when I go to authenticate again it tells me “You have already authenticated this domain.” WTF?

I went to set up my double opt-in confirmation email, and that also won’t let me save my changes yet, since it’s still saying I haven’t authenticated my domain. It wouldn’t even let me fall back to using my GMail address, which is extra annoying. So I saved what I'd written out in a separate document, and moved on.

WordPress vs. Systeme.io for My Main Site

While it’s possible to integrate Systeme's popups, funnels, etc. into WordPress, it looks like the easier route might be making Systeme my homepage, blog, and everything else. That’s scary, given how long I’ve been married to WordPress, but…I think it might need to happen eventually. Not today, though!

Facing the Overwhelm and Moving Forward Anyway

I worked on something else for a bit, and a few hours later, Systeme is finally happy with my domain. Woohoo!

So I copied my email autoresponder back in, and I also set up a blog there and set that as my main page. Currently it’s under michelleliggitt.systeme.io rather than michelleliggitt.com, so I have time to work on it before I migrate my .com over from WordPress.

Even setting the migration question aside, I still have an overwhelming amount to do. But whining about it isn’t going to get it done any faster. I just have to knuckle under and continue working through the list of necessary tasks to set up all my other domains on Systeme as subaccounts.

Now though? Now it's time to celebrate bringing over my main domain...and eat Christmas dinner with my boyfriend and his mom. 🎄

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