In this #12DayGiveaway we’ve talked about outsourcing, scheduling social media posts and using tools to help make running an online business easier. And, that’s because I believe adding in simple automation can lighten our work load – making it easier to leverage the time we have.

There are 2 more tools I’d like to introduce you to today, that can help with a wide range of automation. Tools that connect the dots in the background, so that you don’t need to keep repeating tasks over, and over again.

IFTTT.com can connect your everyday tasks and automate them, so you don’t have to remember.

For example, I often share “Freebies” on twitter. I try to remember to bookmark them, so I can update my online tools list, but I’m not perfect (or even close) and forget. So, instead of relying on my memory, I created a rule with IFTTT.com that makes a copy of every tweet I make with the hashtag #freebie. It copies the tweet & sends it to a spreadsheet on my Google Drive. Now, all I need to remember is to use the hashtag #freebie (pretty easy habit to create) and have confidence that I have an ever growing list – a backup, I suppose?

Another way I use IFTTT.com is by creating a rule that automatically welcomes a new member of my Facebook group (with a custom message I can change from time to time).

I was a bit worried that it would be repetitive, or impersonal. But honestly, I was forgetting to welcome people & I believe it’s better to use the same message consistently, vs no message at all.

As you’re going through your business tasks, ask yourself, “Am I repeating this task over an over again?” If so, let’s see if there is a way to automate part of it.

Some automation tasks you might want to use from IFTTT.com are:

If you have an IFTTT.com account already, just click the “add” button below & set up any of these recipes for yourself.

3 Recipes for small business owners 

Some of the Channels you can connect to….

As of the day I wrote this post, here are the tools you could connect – pretty amazing, right?

Use your imagination and think of ways you could connect tools you’re already using, in creative ways

The list might change (they seem to add new ones every time I look)
https://ifttt.com/channels

Using Zapier to Automate

Zapier works in much the same way, but has quite a few more of the channels you might be using in your day to day business.

Zapier has free and paid accounts, and you can earn extra Zaps by  to earn extra free credits. With the free account you can set up 5 zaps (like the recipes above) with 100 tasks. I earned enough in my first 2 months (back in 2012) that I’ve never needed to pay. In fact, I still only use about 1/3 of my free zaps per month.

Instead of posting graphics like I did with IFTTT.com, I’ll just include a couple of links & a short video of one of the ways I use Zapier.

 Add Newsletter sign up to a specific group in Mailchimp

setting up a zap from one mailchimp list to another mailchimp list in zapier

Set up this same task with my referral link to get a bonus 100 tasks free http://zpr.io/qLmb

Or click the button below to copy my point:

Let me know in the comments below if you’re using Automation now. Or have a zap or ifttt recipe you’d like to share.

Giveaway for December 23, 2014  is Automate Your Biz

Report, Worksheets & Resource List

• Creating Websites
• Automating SEO
• Automating Your Daily Email Tasks
• How to automate your social media marketing
• Analytics & Testing
• Website Maintenance
• Business’s Finances
• Day to Day Tasks

Automate Your Biz (Value $29)

To enter the contest:

1. Leave a comment below.
2. If you want an extra entry, share this post with a friend and ask him/her to say you referred them. 1 entry for them, and an extra one for you.

On December 24th (tomorrow) I’ll draw a random name (through random.org) from the comments left on this post, to select a winner of Automate Your Biz
Happy Holidays!

p.s. remember to come back tomorrow to see what I’m giving away next, or go back to previous days & enter to win)