#753: 5 Time Saving Automations Every Entrepreneur Should Have

Summary

Podcast Summary: Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield

Episode #753: 5 Time Saving Automations Every Entrepreneur Should Have
Release Date: February 25, 2025
Host: Amy Porterfield

---

Introduction

In Episode #753 of the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, host Amy Porterfield delves into the essential topic of automation for entrepreneurs. Titled "5 Time Saving Automations Every Entrepreneur Should Have," this episode offers actionable strategies to streamline business operations, save time, reduce errors, and enhance customer relationships. Amy emphasizes the transformative power of automation, especially in leveraging the advancements of AI tools to make business processes more efficient and effective.

---

The Importance of Automation

Amy kicks off the episode by highlighting the multifaceted benefits of automation beyond mere time savings:

• Cost Efficiency: Automation reduces operational costs by minimizing the need for manual intervention.
• Error Reduction: Automated processes decrease the likelihood of human errors, ensuring consistency and reliability.
• Enhanced Customer Experience: Automation helps in making customers feel valued through timely and personalized interactions.

Notable Quote:
"Automation saves you time, you know that. But it also saves you money and precious energy. It takes out room for human error."
— Amy Porterfield [00:00]

Amy shares a personal anecdote about her transition from a corporate environment to building a multi-million dollar business through automation. She underscores that automation isn't a luxury but a necessity for modern entrepreneurs aiming to grow sustainably without succumbing to burnout.

---

Key Automation Strategies

Amy outlines five critical automations every entrepreneur should implement to optimize their business operations:

1. Email Automation

Email remains a cornerstone of digital marketing. Amy provides a comprehensive guide to automating email communications:

• Autoresponders: Set up automated responses to acknowledge receipt of emails and set expectations for response times.

  Quote:
  "Set up an autoresponder to be sent outside of the times where you check your email."
  — Amy Porterfield [06:42]

• Guided Responses: Instead of impersonal canned responses, create templates that allow for slight personalization, enhancing customer engagement.

  Quote:
  "I prefer the term guided responses... you can still add a little personal touch to it even if it's just one sentence."
  — Amy Porterfield [07:50]

• Boomerang Tool: Utilize tools like Boomerang to manage inbox efficiently by scheduling emails to return at a later date and setting follow-up reminders.

  Quote:
  "With Boomerang, you can mark an email in your inbox to go away and come back another day when you're ready to tackle it."
  — Amy Porterfield [09:15]

2. Social Media Automation

Maintaining a consistent social media presence is vital yet time-consuming. Amy discusses tools and strategies to automate social media tasks:

• Scheduling Platforms: Tools like Later, Buffer, Hootsuite, and Gain App allow entrepreneurs to plan and schedule posts in bulk, ensuring consistent engagement without daily manual effort.

  Quote:
  "The best benefit of using a social media automation tool is that it gives you the opportunity to plan out your weekly and monthly social media all at once."
  — Amy Porterfield [10:30]

• Analytics Integration: Platforms like Hootsuite provide analytics to monitor the performance of social media activities, enabling data-driven decisions.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Automation

Managing customer interactions becomes seamless with the right CRM tools:

• ConvertKit vs. Infusionsoft: For newer businesses, ConvertKit is recommended for its affordability and scalability, allowing for effective email list management and marketing automation.

  Quote:
  "ConvertKit is software that will manage and optimize your customer life cycle through marketing and sales automation funnels."
  — Amy Porterfield [13:10]

• List Segmentation: Tagging subscribers and segmenting lists based on customer behavior enhances targeted marketing efforts.

4. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

SOPs are crucial for maintaining consistency and efficiency, especially as businesses scale:

• Creation and Documentation: Develop detailed SOPs for every automated process, including step-by-step instructions and visual aids where necessary.

  Quote:
  "Creating SOPs ensures that if you have to reset something or perform a weekly, monthly, or yearly task, you don't have to start from scratch."
  — Amy Porterfield [16:05]

• Centralization: Store all SOPs in a centralized location, such as Google Drive, for easy access by team members or virtual assistants.

5. Outsourcing and Delegation

Delegating automation tasks to virtual assistants can further streamline operations:

• Hiring VAs: Assigning tasks like content scheduling, email management, and inbox maintenance to virtual assistants allows entrepreneurs to focus on strategic activities.

  Quote:
  "By hiring a VA, you get to spend time in your zone of genius, just like we envisioned."
  — Amy Porterfield [17:50]

• Cost-Effectiveness: Virtual assistants can handle multiple automated tasks efficiently, often at a fraction of the cost of full-time employees.

---

Recommended Tools for Automation

Throughout the episode, Amy recommends several tools that integrate seamlessly with AI to enhance automation capabilities:

• Email Management: Boomerang, ConvertKit, Help Scout
• Social Media Scheduling: Later, Buffer, Hootsuite, Gain App
• CRM Solutions: ConvertKit, Infusionsoft
• Task Management: Google Docs for SOPs

Each tool is selected based on its ability to simplify processes, affordability, and scalability, ensuring that entrepreneurs can implement them regardless of their business stage.

---

Action Steps and Conclusion

Amy concludes the episode by encouraging listeners to take immediate action:

1. Choose One Automation to Implement: Select a single automation process from the discussed strategies to set up within the next seven days.
2. Utilize SOPs: Develop an SOP for the chosen automation to ensure consistency and ease of delegation.
3. Engage with Amy: Share your progress on Instagram by sending Amy a DM about which automation tool you're implementing to foster accountability.

Final Quote:
"Within the next week, you will set up one really good, valuable core automation tool that will allow you to step away from your day to day menial work and instead focus on the things that matter most in your business. Deal?"
— Amy Porterfield [19:27]

Amy reinforces that embracing automation not only enhances business efficiency but also contributes to personal well-being by reducing stress and workload. She shares her personal success story of transitioning to a four-day workweek through effective automation, serving as inspiration for entrepreneurs to adopt similar strategies.

---

Key Takeaways

• Automation is Essential: It streamlines operations, reduces costs, minimizes errors, and improves customer relationships.
• Start Simple: Begin with one automation process and gradually build upon it.
• Leverage the Right Tools: Utilize recommended tools that align with your business needs and scale alongside your growth.
• Document Processes: Create and maintain SOPs to ensure consistency and ease of delegation.
• Delegate Effectively: Hiring virtual assistants can amplify the benefits of automation, allowing you to focus on core business activities.

---

By implementing the strategies discussed in this episode, entrepreneurs can significantly enhance their business efficiency, leading to sustained growth and a more balanced professional life.

Transcript

[Amy Porterfield]

Automation saves you time, you know that. But it also saves you money and precious energy. It takes out room for human error. Trust me, when you're juggling a lot of things, eliminating this in a few areas of your business can go a long way. And last but not least, automation can support and make your customers and potential customers feel important and know that you care. I'm Amy Porterfield, ex corporate girl turned.

[Unknown]

CEO of a multi seven figure business. But it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the confidence, the budget.

And the time to focus on growing.

My small but mighty business. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned and you'll see the business I have today. One that changes lives and gives me more freedom than I ever thought possible. One that used to only exist as a daydream.

[Amy Porterfield]

I created the Online Marketing Made Easy.

[Unknown]

Podcast to give you simple, actionable, step by step strategies to help you do the same. If you're an ambitious entrepreneur or one.

[Amy Porterfield]

In the making who's looking to create.

[Unknown]

A business that makes an impact and a life you love, you're in the right place, friend. Let's get started.

Can we all agree that 2025 is actually the year we begin to work smarter, not harder? I'm imagining you're nodding your head or you're saying Amen. And if that's true, then betting your precious revenue on social media's 20% visibility.

[Amy Porterfield]

Rate, meaning on a good day, 80%.

[Unknown]

Of your social media followers don't see a thing. That's so 2024, right? Well, this week I'm hosting a free masterclass to teach you how to not.

[Amy Porterfield]

Only start and grow an email list.

[Unknown]

But how to monetize it from the beginning, even when you only have a.

[Amy Porterfield]

Handful of people on there.

[Unknown]

I'm going to show you exactly how it works in my business and how it would work in yours.

[Amy Porterfield]

All you have to do is go.

[Unknown]

To amyporterfield.com listbuilding and choose a date.

[Amy Porterfield]

And time that works for you and I'll send you a link to join.

[Unknown]

That's amyporterfield.com listbuilding hey there. Welcome back to another episode of Online Marketing Made Easy. I'm your host, Amy Porterfield, and today I'm sharing a replay of one of my most popular episodes, all about automation.

[Amy Porterfield]

With a little twist.

[Unknown]

So, since this episode first aired, the landscape of automation in business has transformed, really in exciting ways, thanks to the rise of AI tools. So these advancements have elevated what's possible, making the strategies you're going to hear today both easier to implement and more impactful than ever. So here's what this means for you.

[Amy Porterfield]

And what I want you to remember.

[Unknown]

As you listen in today. Automation isn't just a luxury for businesses anymore, it's a necessity. If you're serious about growing and showing up for your audience in big, more meaningful ways. And if you just heard that and thought, this sounds like extra work and I don't have time to change what I'm doing, so maybe I should just skip this episode to save time. Let me stop you there. You, my friend, are exactly the person who needs automation in your life. So give yourself permission to slow down and really lean into these automation strategies. Take the time to explore and test new AI tools and figure out what works best for you. So this small investment of time and effort up front will simplify your workload and pave the way for better, bigger, better results in your business for years, years, years to come. And trust me, I'm not judging you. If you had that thought, like, I don't have time for this. I can't change what I'm doing. I gotta move on. I've been there. There was a time in my business when I thought everything was working just fine. And I believe my success came from sheer hard work and out hustling everyone else. I hate to admit that, but it's true. I'd pull all nighters week after week. And honestly, I thought this was normal. I thought this was like a badge of honor. This is what everyone else who is successful, this is what they're doing. But here's what I learned. It doesn't have to be that way. And I certainly don't want that for you. And here's the thing. I have seen entrepreneurs who have come before me and after me build their businesses in different ways that didn't focus all on hustling to get there. And so believe me, this is very real and I do not hustle anymore. And you might say, yeah, but Amy, don't you have to hustle to get to a place of success? Then you can slow down. No, you do not have to hustle any part of the journey. I really do believe that I know enough now to know that was not necessary and it actually was a detriment. So that's why I feel so strongly about re airing this episode, to make sure it reaches as many ears as possible and inspires you to take action, helping you avoid the overwork and burnout that so many big hearted entrepreneurs face. So thanks to the strategies I share in this episode, I now work a four day work week and I don't feel like I have to hustle with every new project that I take on. And I think this is all possible because I took the time to automate my core business. So I'm living proof that once you slow down and take the time to set things up, automation saves you time, energy, money and sanity. I really do believe. I think the mindset part of this is the most important. So it allows you to work smarter, not harder, and frees you up to focus on the parts of your business that truly matter and that really light you up.

[Amy Porterfield]

So I want you to dive into.

[Unknown]

This episode with excitement because these strategies are good. Now we're going to cover everything from automating your emails and lead magnets to scheduling your social media posts and weekly content, and even setting up standard operating procedures SOPs that will keep your business running smoothly. Plus, I'm going to share some of my favorite tools I know you love when I share my tools for each of these areas. Tools I've used at different stages of my business that now integrate with AI. When I recorded this episode, I didn't talk about that part. So think about this when I name a tool, they definitely integrate with AI to make automation simple, affordable and incredibly effective. By the end of this episode, you'll have actionable steps to start automating your business. So let's dive in.

[Amy Porterfield]

First things first, why the heck should you spend time automating your business? I get it. When you think of putting systems into place to automate your business, it sounds like a lot of work up front, but done right, it doesn't have to be a ton of work. Plus, speaking from experience, the earlier you can set up systems in your business and get things running without you hands on, the better. So even if you're a brand new entrepreneur, don't go anywhere. This can help you at any stage of your business. Okay, the benefits Automation saves you time, you know that. But it also saves you money and precious energy. It takes out room for human error. Trust me, when you're juggling a lot of things, eliminating this in a few areas of your business can go a long way. And last but not least, automation can support and make your customers and potential customers feel important and know that you care. Now, before we jump in, I also want to mention that I'm sharing a little bit of what we use now to automate and what I've used in the past to automate. Some of the automation I currently use within my business is something that wouldn't serve you if you're just starting out or early on in your business. So these tools I'll offer you today are ones that will really relate to where you are now. So here we go. Let's kick it off with Talking About Email Automation Before I share the first strategy, I highly recommend that you consider only checking your email maybe once or twice a day, or if you're really good, only a few times a week. And if you do that, these strategies will work like a charm. So the first strategy is to set up an autoresponder to be sent outside of the times where you check your email. In the email that you auto send, you'll say something like thank you so much for reaching out. Your email is so very important to me. I do want you to know that I only check my email and then state the days and times that you check your email so you can plan to hear back from me during those times. However, I also wanted to provide you with a resource that might help to answer any questions you might have in the meantime. And this is where I would actually encourage you to create an FAQ doc or a webpage and you can put it right in the email or link to it answering all of your most common questions. So maybe you answer questions like what products you currently have available or when your products will become available. Again, if you have a business where people can schedule or book appointments or sessions with you, maybe you include that schedule scheduling link which we'll talk about in a moment, and you can even share it. If you're currently taking on clients, booking to be a guest on podcast, or willing to collaborate, the list is never ending. Depending on your business, I would then wrap up the email saying I hope these helped to answer your question. However, if they didn't, please respond back to me and I'll get back to you the next time I check my inbox. While you'll still need to personally respond to some emails and stay tuned because I have a trick up my sleeve to speed that up as well. This should help to minimize inbox overflow. All right, let's talk about this trick to speed up your response rate on those lingering emails. You've probably heard of something called canned responses, but I prefer the term guided responses. I'm not a huge fan of sending a canned response without any personal touches, so I take the most common questions or email replies that we send and I create a guided response for each one. And guided means it's just that, a guide. You can still add a little personal touch to it even if it's just one sentence. And you can pretty much create these in any email platform. You use Google Spark Help Scout, which is the one I use, and they all give you this option to to put in these guided responses and you can pull them up easily each time you want to use them. All right, last little strategy for automating email. It's a platform called Boomerang and it served us well in the past. After all, if you're anything like me, you love to get to Inbox zero each day. With Boomerang, you can mark an email in your inbox to go away and come back another day when you're ready to tackle it. Get it Boomerang. You can also pause emails coming into your inbox for a period of time, track emails and get follow up reminders. So if you email someone and you don't hear back, the email will return to your inbox for you to handle. Boomerang offers a free option, a $5 per month option and beyond so you can check it out and see see if it's a good fit for you. All right, I know we spent a lot of time on email, but it's because it's such a big part of your business. It's important and easy to get under control, especially early on in your entrepreneurial journey. Oh, and I'll speak to this a little bit later, but having a va, a virtual assistant work on your emails once a week for a minimal amount of time is a wonderful way to ease into having a virtual assistant. All right, moving right along, let's talk about Automating social media and weekly content automation, which, let's be honest, is an essential part of owning a business and growing your email list, but can also be a pain in the butt. The best benefit of using a social media automation tool is is that it gives you the opportunity to plan out your weekly and monthly social media all at once rather than constantly having to be reminded of it. A burden that can be avoided matching anyone. Well, there are so many options available for platforms that allow you to do this. I'll give you a few of them here. Let's start out with some of the free platforms that seem to work well for budding entrepreneurs. Later and Buffer B U F F E R both offer free plans with limited use features. If you're just starting out and you need something to take the daily social scheduling off your hands, these are great options. You can also move into paid options with more features as your business grows. If you have a little cash to put towards Automation. These scheduling platforms might serve you better. For starters, hootsuite this is a platform that we used for a long time. Like many of the other platforms, it gives you the flexibility to manage social media activity all in one place. Plus it offers analytics and makes it easy to keep tabs on all moving parts of your social media accounts. The platform we currently use is Gain App Gain App which offers some more advanced features. Plus when we work with contractors or agencies, it makes it easy for everyone to access the content. At the end of the day, you have to choose the social media automation platform that suits your needs best. Just be sure you look for something that will support you in having a consistent social media presence and allows you to schedule ahead and across multiple platforms and ultimately makes your life easier. Now I know I've already mentioned email automation with Boomerang and other strategies, but that was about managing your own inbox to support your automation efforts. Further, I want to talk about managing emails from your community, AKA those who sign up for your lead magnet and get on your email list. Fun stuff, right? When you collect names and emails, whether that's through someone signing up for your lead magnet or your email list, or even purchasing one of your products and now they're on your list, you need to have a database of all of your potential customers and paying customers and surprise surprise, you want to email them on a regular basis. That's where I like to suggest ConvertKit. Inside my business we currently use Infusionsoft and we've used them for like 12 years now. However, if you're just starting out or if you're in the first few years of your business, I believe that ConvertKit is a better solution to get you started. And the bonus is that you can grow into all of its features and bells and whistles as you scale. ConvertKit is software that will manage and optimize your customer life cycle through marketing and sales automation funnels and the cherry on the top. They're extremely affordable. Just another reason I love to suggest them to my new entrepreneurs. Now not only does it house your email list, it also allows you to tag incoming subscribers as well as other fun features to optimize your email list and your email marketing. But all in all, this is a wonderful email service provider to start with to get your email list automated. On top of that you can pre write and pre schedule your email broadcasts so you don't have to do it in real time. Hello Schedule flexibility. That means that when you're enjoying a little staycation but you're still wanting to remind your audience of that epic blog post or podcast that you just released, you can still get it into their hands without breaking that at home pedicure you scheduled for yourself. All right, time to talk about standard operating procedures. It sounds so stuffy. In corporate, right? We call them SOPs. Why are they important? Well, listen, before you skip ahead, stick with me. These seemingly unimportant docs will actually save you a lot of headaches down the road when you hire and scale your business, which you will. Now, I won't spend too much time diving into these, but I'll give you the rundown of how we create these. In my business, anytime we have a new system or process that we're creating, like automating something, we require somebody on the team who's ever responsible for this, who's ever working on it, to create an sop. Meaning we write a Google Doc with step by step instructions on how to perform the task at hand. Now, the SOP includes all the instruction, and also at the top, we say how much time it takes for this task, why we do it, and then of course, the written instructions, along with any images needed if appropriate. So creating SOPs ensures that if you have to reset something or perform a weekly, monthly, or yearly task, you don't have to start from scratch and try to figure it out as you go. Instead, it's going to be all written out for you. And if you bring anyone on, say a virtual assistant or a new employee, you can task them with this and they can use the SOP to be efficient. And that means you don't have to show them how to do everything from scratch. So I'm going to tell you right now, SOPs feel like a pain in the butt until they're not, meaning slowing down, actually creating them. No one likes to do that. However, if you do this, you never have to start from scratch and you don't have to repeat yourself over and over and over again.

[Unknown]

We like to house all of our.

[Amy Porterfield]

SOPs in one spot on Google Drive so that they're easy to access. Okay, now for my favorite and most fun part of the automation conversation. Hiring out these tasks. And yes, I just said fun. Because hiring a VA or employee or thinking about growing your team should be a fun thing to think about. The cool thing about every single task we talked about today is that they can be passed to a VA for just a few hours, if that, per week. For as little as five hours per week, a virtual assistant could schedule all of your content, answer all of your emails, and questions, Set up your automated weekly emails, manage your inbox, and help manage your schedule. You'd simply give them the SOPs to help support them. And there you have it. They take care of the daily and.

[Unknown]

Automation tasks and you get to spend.

[Amy Porterfield]

Time in your zone of genius, just like we envisioned at the very beginning of this episode. All right, my friend, if you're multitasking, come back to me. Let's talk about your action steps, the steps you're going to walk away with from this episode and implement. And my challenge for you is to start to implement within the next seven days. Here's what you're going to do. I want you to decide on one automation process that you can set up in the next seven days. Start simple and build from there. Within the next week, you will set up one really good, valuable core automation tool that will allow you to step away from your day to day menial work and instead focus on the things that matter most in your business. Deal?

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Amy Porterfield]

To hold you accountable, I want you to reach out to me. I want you to jump on Instagram, send me a DM and tell me which automation tool you're going to implement in the next seven days. I want to hear from you because, listen, I cannot wait for you to spend more time creating and doing the things that you love. Cheers to time and schedule freedom. Thanks for joining me today. I'll see you next week, same time, same place. Bye for now.