As a small business owner, you’re probably always looking for shortcuts to enable you to get more done in a day. Thankfully, with the proliferation of high-speed internet, there are ever more options and opportunities for you to get more done in less time through automation.
1. Zapier.com
This amazing tool that uses IFTTT technology enables you to do amazing secret organization and automation that you don’t need to totally understand to make sure it works. IFTTT means, “if this, then that.” The platform enables you to automate your data flow between software platforms.
For example, you can set the program up to automatically take email attachments you receive and put them in a file in Dropbox. This software does so much; you will be shocked and excited to learn more.
2. AWeber.com
Most people realize they need email marketing software, and there is a lot of discussion all over the web about which one is best. The reason AWeber is so great is that it’s been around a long time; it’s growing and adding features that marketers really want, and the price isn’t outrageous.
This software enables you to build an email list and set up autoresponder emails and funnels to help you market to your list members on a very personalized basis. You can also make amazing sign-up forms and more.
3. Hootsuite.com
You know that social media posting, sharing, and engagement is essential today for any type of business. But who has all day to do this? No one. You have a choice. You can hire someone, or you can use software. Software is an excellent choice to automate posting and sharing and organizing your engagement.
Using the social media management tool to post is great, but you can also use it to keep track of all your social networks in one spot. You can monitor and respond right from the platform by looking at all your streams in one place.
4. Grammarly.com
If you use content marketing, and of course you do, checking anything you buy or write in Grammarly (at least for plagiarism) is a great way to ensure that your content is original and unique. Even if you use private label rights content (PLR), check it, and then fix it up to be more unique using this software.
Grammarly is a cloud-based product that you can use in the cloud, or you can use the plugin with your MS Word software, both using the cloud-based 365 and the hard-drive-based MS Word by installing the app. By installing the app in your MS Word, you will essentially automate plagiarism checks and it’ll even help you improve your grammar and sentence structure.
5. WordStream.com
If you want to run ads online, using this service to help you is essential. Unless you want to go back to school or pay someone a lot of money for their advice and knowledge, this software will enable you to manage your ads in Google, Bing, and Facebook on a single dashboard, while also offering advice for keywords and more.
This system is designed for small to medium-sized businesses rather than giant ones. That means it’s going to be affordable for you to try it. If you understand the basics of Google Ads, you can put this software to use right away.
6. AcuityScheduling.com
If you allow your clients to set up appointments with you and that process is not automated, you’re truly missing out. Imagine being asleep while a prospect visits your site, clicks a few buttons, and signs up for a meeting with you – all without you having to do a thing.
Not only that, the software prompts them to fill out a questionnaire that you have created and uploaded, and it can even take payment, send some handouts, and more. It’s truly a wonderful and fully-featured scheduling automation software.
7. QuickBooks.intuit.com
Every business needs to keep track of their income and expenses, not only for tracking purposes but also for tax purposes. QuickBooks makes it easy for small to medium-sized businesses to set up and automate a lot of the bookings, even if you don’t understand bookkeeping.
You’ll never regret automating your bookkeeping because there is a certain calmness in knowing where you stand at any given moment. With QuickBooks, once you set it up almost every booking will be entered automatically. Because of this, researching and understanding your financial situation will be instant.
When you do seek more ways to automate your business, remember that what you want to automate is anything that does not require your personal touch. For example, it’s great to automate social media posting and sharing, but as a small business owner, don’t automate interaction and engagement in the same way. Use automation to give you more time to engage with your audience, and you’re sure to build more trust and make more sales.