Automation, It’s A Beautiful Thing
It’s Harder Than It Looks
The upkeep and success of an online business is far more demanding than many people likely realize. It may seem easy to take a photo, post it, write a caption, and be on your way. It may be simple to add new content to your website or even to write this blog, but the reality is without constant updates and attention, all these customer capture points can fault quite quickly. Grabbing customers’ attention and pulling them in to your brand/product, and then making them repeat customers or supporters of your journey is what keeps all of us small business owners standing and thriving, and the use of automation helps greatly to achieve this.
Some Helpful Sites To Take The Load Off
I realized quite quickly in the making of this brand that automation would go so far in making sure I could get everything done and out to the world as fast and easily as possible. It would also allow me to save time and keep my motivation up for daily tasks by reducing my to do list and stress. So I would like to talk about two sites I have used so far that make the world-a-difference in running an online business.
Planoly: Social Media
Planoly is a site/app that allows you to pre-plan, create, and schedule your Instagram posts. What’s awesome about this (especially for travelers or people working other jobs whose time is more limited) is that you can plan posts days, weeks, months, and even years in advance! This allows you to dedicate a day or whatever it may be into your schedule to get a bunch of content ready to go and then you don’t need to worry about always being ready and able to post which is a huge advantage. What is so wonderful is that Planoly not only allows you to schedule your releases, it will actually show you the times of day for each day of the week that your followers or people on Instagram will be the most likely to see and engage in your posts, how awesome is that?! The best way for small business owners and influencers to stay in business is by having the highest engagement rate as possible and Planoly works wonders in making this a reality for us creators. An awesome feature for creators is the ability to save hashtag lists so that you don’t have to come up with the full thirty on the spot each time. For anyone in this line of work, you know how imperative the use of hashtags are to reach the widest audience possible, therefore promoting your brand. So you are able to create multiple lists for different types of posts or content, and with the click of a button that list is added to your post and there is no need to sit there and wrack your brain for the best choices. Another great feature is that you are able to have your scheduled post released not only to your Instagram page, but also to your Facebook and Twitter at the same time! This allows you to keep your work all together and limits the number of apps or services you need to pay for or switch between to get your work done, so helpful! You are also able to see all of your drafts and plans in a calendar view to help you organize and balance your content, as well as plan and schedule stories, not just grid posts! I have used Planoly for every single grid post I have made thus far and it has been amazing! It has allowed me to sleep in while a post has been released at 6am, just in time to catch the people doing their wake up scroll before getting ready for work, love it!
GetResponse: Website
GetResponse is an email automation site. What this means is when customers sign up to your email list they will automatically be sent any emails that you have pre-written. You are able to set up multiple email lists so that not all customers receive the same information, and you are able to schedule on what day and time these followers will receive your emails. This is fantastic because again, you can plan as many emails as you want ahead of time, and they will only be sent out according to your plan. What’s so cool about this is you don’t need to be sitting at your computer waiting for the exact minute you want your emails sent. You could be swimming in the Pacific Ocean, skiing in the Alps, even sleeping, and GetResponse will do all the work for you! There are many different types of emails you can write but my favourites are autoresponders and newsletters. Newsletters allow me to release new, one time information that is relevant at the time, and autoresponders allow me to set up emails that will be relevant and necessary for years to come. For example if you are reading this blog post via my email, it is because I sent a newsletter to all my subscribers informing them it has just been published. However, my autoresponders talk about subjects such as thank yous, subscriber deals, etc. which I want all new subscribers to see, not just the ones I have at that moment. What I love about sending not just by day of the week but by day since subscription is it allows for someone today to get the same line of emails as someone who won’t be added until, say, next year. How helpful is that?! As long as your content remains relevant and up to date, your emails could continue to bring in customers for years to come and all you have to do is spend an hour or so writing an email one time! I will also mention that GetResponse has many templates to choose from to make your writing and format process even faster and styled to your specific brand. They have templates set up for welcoming, thanking. promotions, new products, anything you can think of! But of course if you really want to take style and creation into your own hands, you can simply choose the blank template and do everything exactly to your liking! So stop stressing about the hundreds of emails you need to write and all the people that need to get them, and hop on the automation train with GetResponse! As they say, work smarter not harder.
Are You Ready To Let Automation Change Your Life?
Technology and the Internet these days is beyond amazing. It may be overwhelming but when your lifestyle and business is based online, these tricks and services can go miles in helping your business thrive. If you are used to all these technological advances, these sites are a great addition to your knowledge base and workflow. If you are still getting a hang of computers or are currently working manually, I highly suggest giving automation a try. It may be scary but it is indeed the future and the pinnacle of your online success! Let your brain rest and allow the computer to do some work for you! If you are interested in learning more about either of these services, simply click any of the name links above to be directed to their sites!
Until next time ☺️
