Save your time. Automate.

Zapier & Integromat are automation tools that let users connect their online applications. Both are powerful and let you integrate web applications. When one event occurs in one software tool, a specific step occurs in another. The services include services like Airtable, Social Media Platforms, and Analytics services. Connecting services allows the user to save time effort & money. I’ve taken a bit of my experience automating processes to show you why these tools are pushing the boundaries of what you can create.

Imagine you are running an eCommerce store on Shopify that relies on you packaging and sending your product. To improve this process you might use Zapier to add new order details to your Airtable then notify you via SMS when you get a new order. This type of flow will improve your customer experience and save your time. To further automate your store why not create Social Media postings about your products that keep them fresh in your users minds. Using Integromat you can take your Shopify products and tweet them out with a link & description. These tools allow you to focus on doing what you do best instead and create a unique brand experience in a flood of Direct to Consumer companies.

One project I worked on required recording incoming text messages. When a user replies to a text, the message is saved to Airtable. This allows the business owner to simply examine the data. At first I went the code route, and spent a few hours toiling on the API. Then I decided to look at Zapier to automate the interaction. Within 2 minutes I had a solution that patched my problem for me. While it’s not the most elegant situation, it’s cheap (time and money) and allowed to me to work on a feature that mattered more to the completion of the project.

I’ve found automation to provide value with my personal website in several places. First I set up a system that distributed my content on my Linkedin and Twitter using Integromat. Integromat is more involved than Zapier. But can use the software to perform up to 1000 automations for free, ten times more than Zapiers free tier. I used this to automate social media postings. As long as I keep publishing my articles on time, my minions will handle doing the the postings. I’ve been able to look at my Google Analytics goals and get a notification every time a certain metric is hit. When one my readers spends a certain amount of time on the site, I get a nice little dopamine hit in the form of a text message.

While I’ve laid out a few use cases, there are so many more. The most difficult part of this type of software is understanding what they can do. Each tool has different abilities and some are more limited than others. Some social media sites don’t allow you to repost (Facebook & Instagram) while others do. If I were to get started with this, I’d go to the Zapier or Integromat websites and start figuring out what services I use that they incorporate. These systems save time and can be as good as you make them. I would love to hear your thoughts, send me an email and let me know how you could use automation.

I decided to write this email because of an email from a friend who wants to learn more about applying technology to business, so feel free to reach out if there is a topic that interests you. If you enjoyed this article. Sign up for my newsletter here and get my BEST from every week. Thank you!