← The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business
The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business
856: Smarter Marketing, Less Work: 11 Automation Tips You Need to Try
00:43:53
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- [00:02]
Jenna Kutcher
This isn't just about collecting emails. Chat funnels create opportunities to connect with your audience in a way that feels personal and intentional, even at scale. You can send reminders, provide additional resources, or answer questions, all while freeing up time for the things that you love the most. I'm Jenna Kutcher, your host of the Gold Digger podcast. I escaped the corporate world at the age of 23 with nothing more than a 300 camera from Craigslist and a dream. Now I'm running a figure online business that feels even better than it looks. All from my house in small town Minnesota with my family here, we value time as our currency. We mix the woo and the work, and we are in the pursuit of building businesses that give us the freedom to live lives that we love. I've always loved turning big goals into reality, and I'm here to help you do the same. This isn't just a peek behind the curtain. Come along with me and my guests as we tear the whole curtain down. Every week we tackle practical no fluff marketing strategies and host honest discussions on what works and what doesn't. Join me and my expert guests for actionable insights to help you grow your dream business with confidence. Pull up a seat and get ready to be challenged, inspired and empowered. This is the Goal Digger podcast. What if you could reclaim hours of your life every single week? Like imagine focusing on what truly lights you up while repetitive, time consuming tasks practically handle themselves. Sounds incredible, right? Automation isn't just a buzzword, it's a proven strategy for boosting efficiency and growth. In fact, businesses leveraging automation have seen up to an 80% increase in leads and a 77% boost in conversions. This episode is a re air of one of my most powerful conversations about the power of automation. It is packed with strategies to help you streamline your work, delegate effectively, and reclaim your time. And because this topic is so valuable, I'm also adding a new automation strategy we've started using since I first recorded this episode, one that has been a total game changer for my business when it comes to social media. So whether you're hearing this for the first time or revisiting it, you'll walk away with actionable ways to simplify your life and focus on what matters most. Are you ready? Let's dive on in.
- [02:24]
Marie Forleo
So when I was in Arizona and on my maternity leave, I actually dug into an online course called Time Genius by my friend Marie Forleo. Now, I love learning and both times that I've had babies, I've ended up buying and taking an online course towards the end of my maternity leave, which starts helping my brain fire again. But it also gives me a chance to learn new skills that I can take back into my business. I've kind of realized that when I'm super busy or when my schedule is super full, taking and implementing a course just doesn't really happen for me. And so it's this beautiful balance of starting to work my brain again while also learning something new that I can take moving forward. And Marie's course was definitely not about automating, but it was about time. And it really got me thinking about all the tasks that we do and all of the many ways that we're stretched and switching tasks a million times a day and how we can just simply feel so overwhelmed with a lot of the little things that we never really get to the big things. As business owners, we naturally wear a lot of hats, right? And those hats can make our heads spin when we're trying to do all of the things all of the time. You know that saying, it goes the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We've all heard that, right? Well, what if we applied that to our businesses? Have you ever found yourself sending the same type of client follow up email over and over and over again? Or even logging in to pay your invoices or subscription fees month after month? Or maybe you're trying to create unique experiences for every single client that and in doing that, it's adding more work and more stress to your plate. Don't even get me started about the humans who wait until the very last minute to do all of their annual accounting before taxes are due. Hello. I know you're out there, but here's the thing. All of those things I just talked about are kind of like repeatable tasks. And repeatable tasks clog up our time and can be simplified a lot of times through automation. And those aren't the only things that can be automated. There's more, like way more. Now here's a real shocker. As the girl who takes courses on time management, I love automation. So let's dig into the things that you absolutely can and should simplify or automate in your own marketing strategy. We're going to talk about the different ways that we can really refine your creation process, but also ways that we can lean on tools that allow us to automate or set and forget pieces of our business that will free up more brain space to again do more things like enjoy life. So up first, let's Talk about automating your email marketing. So you know that my email list is the number one way I drive profits in my business, right? It's where I serve, it's where I connect, and also where I share about my new programs or offers. Like, my email list is my priority and it's also the place where I want to be showing up thoughtfully and intentionally and consistently. So let me tell you, there's something super rewarding about planning out your content ahead of time, especially your email content and batch, working it so that you can schedule it to send automatically. Now, not only is it absolutely awesome to have things go out to your email list without you having to manually hit send, but when you can batch a few emails ahead of time, you can be way more focused on serving and strategies so that every single email that you send out has a purpose. So rather than realizing, oh my gosh, it's been a few weeks or maybe even months since you've last emailed your list and feeling that frantic feeling that you need to send out an email last minute in real time, you can work ahead and look at your calendar to see what events or launches or business activities might be coming up or happening soon. And you can plan your email topics to align with whatever you've got going on. Basically, you can ultimately create it and then set it and forget it. Which also frees you up to have the time to respond to all of your email subscribers when they hit reply and tell you how much they loved your email. Which I know they will because I know you follow my rules for serving. Now the truth is, not only does this method of creation save you time, it also helps you to leverage your email list more thoughtfully. Like when you're sitting there and sending one off emails, it's super hard to remember what you last sent, and it takes a while to acclimate yourself with how the email can impact your audience. So you can save time, batch a few emails all at once and then schedule them to serve. So I tend to do an entire month at once and we send about two emails a week, so that's about eight emails. And then we schedule them out all at once. So we load them in, test them, make sure everything's working, and then schedule them. And it really helps for me to look at this all at a glance. So I want to see what I'm sending when I'm sending it, and I want to take into account any launches or promotions and be free to up to respond when those go out. So basically you can set it and Forget it and serve and engage on autopilot. And that way you're freed up and less rushed to create your emails strategically. Trust me when I say this, this process can absolutely trans the way you use your email marketing, but it can also transform the way that your audience experiences your email marketing. So number two is this. Did you know that you can automate your long form content plan? Okay, so if you're currently putting all of your eggs into the social media world, well, listen up. Long form content is something that you should prioritize. I've done episodes about this, but I just want to reiterate. Long form content is content that will live on. It's going to serve long after a post gets sent, lost in a feed, or dies from the algorithm. And you should be aiming to show up with some sort of long form content in some way or another that will help for you to serve your audience and build intentional content that will outlast anything on social. I could go on and on about this, but again, another episode, another day, but long form content should be something you're working towards. I basically look at our long form content, which is this podcast or the blog, as this resource library that people can visit long after I hit publish. So whether you show up on a blog or a podcast, or you have a YouTube channel, however it is that you want to or plan to, or that you create long form content, you should again be able to batch, record or write and then schedule the content to release on a consistent schedule. Like today, when I'm recording this episode, I'm actually recording four episodes that I prepped, got ready, researched, got the outlines all set, and then I just have to set up once, record the episodes and I am set for all of my solo shows for a month. So again, look at how intentional time blocking can help you get into a zone, get focused, and then it can help you set things up and just schedule them. All of these strategies together are going to save you tons of time, but they're also going to help for you to be more thoughtful and strategic in your creation process. So again, we do this for both the blog and this here podcast. And it's been just a way of the way that we work. It's a part of our culture. It's a huge time saver for everyone that's involved. And plus it allows us to see the big picture. Like I can look at content themes and map out our plan for bigger promotions and again, we can just set it up, strategize around it, and then schedule the Content to release way ahead of time. So we use this tool if you're wondering, well, how do you organize all this? Or what does it look like if you're batch working and doing all these things in advance. We use this tool called Monday.com I've talked about Monday.com on the podcast before and basically it houses our content calendars for all of our long form content, which for us again is mainly the blog and the podcast. And so inside of Monday, we can look at a month and all of the topics that are going to go live and make sure that we're releasing content that hits on all of our main brand pillars and that supports the bigger brand's mission. It basically kind of gives us this bird's eye view that helps us to release relevant content and to stick to a plan. And we're often at least a month or even two ahead when it comes to our long form content, like blog posts and podcast episodes, so that we can keep our content plan strategic and well balanced and so that we are never working under stress. I always say stress work is not our best work. And our business operates on this notion that nothing is urgent. So for us, it really does help us and it allows us to not work from that place of stress or urgency. And instead it allows us to create with intention, to serve and provide helpful resources on a consistent basis. And it also allows us to figure out how we're going to promote any of our long form content and plan that out in advance too. So just wanted to say, if you want to try Monday.com, which our entire team uses, that's our project management software, you can go to jennalovesmonday. Com, you can check it out, see how we use it and why we love it, and give it a try. Okay, moving on to number three, automating payments, subscriptions and invoices. So I want to start this one off with a little story. So I recently had a new contractor join our team, and I had been logging in once or twice a week during maternity leave to check in and pay invoices and get a pulse on things in the business. And that new contractor had sent me an invoice, and the way that she sent it, I had to manually go into PayPal, fill in her email to pay her, hop back to the invoice, triple check the amount, type that in, hit send, and it really wasn't a big deal at all. But my ADHD and my million tabs open literally made me nearly forget what I was doing more than once. And it took me a lot longer than if she had just simply sent the invoice to through PayPal. So I emailed her asking her, hey, would you be willing to just do that next time? Could you send your invoice through PayPal? I could hit the button and boom, it's taken care of. And again, this is such a silly story. It's really not a big deal. But that simple ask could save me over an hour by the end of the year just because I was brave enough to say, hey, this could actually streamline the process for both of us. Would you be cool if we do invoicing this way? And so if you are someone who sends invoices or pays invoices, you know how important it can be to have that ability to automate that process. Like that can save you a ton of time. So whether you're working with your contractors to create an invoicing system that's easier for you, or you're the one sending out the invoices, you want to make sure that you're looking at, well, how can we simplify this process?
- [13:12]
Jenna Kutcher
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- [15:40]
Marie Forleo
One thing that we ended up doing last year is that we had a lot of our consistent contractors actually move to retainer packages since our hours are super consistent and it basically makes our monthly expenses more fixed, which was actually helpful when it came to accounting. And in doing that, it allowed us to automate payments since they're consistent, they're the same on a monthly basis. So I was able to set up like the direct withdrawal and know exactly how much was going to be exiting my account each month. And that actually streamlined a lot of things for us. So when you think about it, any way that you can automate making payments for things like subscriptions or even requesting consistent ongoing retainer payments that you can set up for auto withdrawals that can save everybody involved time and it can help you make sure that you stay on track with your budgeting and make sure that you are timely in how you pay your invoices. So if you're wondering, okay, well, how can I simplify this? I've got to give another quick plug to a tool that we use. It is our favorite invoicing software. You've heard me talk about it before. It's called HoneyBook. So I have been using HoneyBook since 2015, which makes me pause. That is literally seven years ago, which is crazy. But what's amazing about Honeybook is that the way that I use it has evolved. So when I joined Honeybook, I was a wedding photographer. Now I'm a podcaster and an author and an influencer. And the cool thing is is that while my business has transitioned and I've pivoted a time or two, Honeybook has been this constant in my business with every single one. So what we use Honeybook for is for all of our contracts and invoicing. We're sending out contracts every single week for our podcast guests, we're sending out invoices for different sponsorships or partnered posts. And so if you're an entrepreneur who hates tracking down payments from clients or who is still collecting payments via the postal service, it might be time for you to streamline and get everything into one place. I can't tell you how valuable that is. Honeybook can automate payments and payment plans so that you can basically set them up and then they can do all of the emailing and payment reminders for your clients. It's also super nice to have all of that built into your invoicing process so that you're not the one manually checking in and making sure all of your payments are received every single, single month. Now, if you want to learn more about HoneyBook and save 50% on your annual subscription, just head to Jenna Kutcher.com HoneyBook and again, you can see how I use it and why I love it there. That's Jenna kutcher.com honeybook Anyways, any time that you can automate or streamline invoicing and making payments, I encourage you. I urge you, do it. It will save you so much time. And a really quick caveat here, but it is important to acknowledge. While it is super nice to automate your payments, I also recommend checking in at least once or twice a year to make sure that all of the subscriptions and tools and softwares that you're paying for and even team members that you're utilizing are worth the money that you're paying and that they're being utilized to the full extent. If you notice that you're on autopay for a certain tool or expense that you no longer use, jump in, cancel that subscription, allocate those funds somewhere else. So just make sure you're auditing once or twice a year because it is so easy to sign up for trials and then automatically pay for things that you're not even using. And so we love to just do an audit of all the tools that we're using in business and in life and make sure that we're still using those. And I just got an Instagram ad, but they actually have apps that help you audit any subscriptions or payment plans that you're on and so leverage Any tools that you need just to make sure that you are being a good steward with your money and that your money is being well spent and invested. Okay. My fourth automation tip is your client onboarding process. Now this can look different across the board based on what industry you're in or how you work or communicate with your clients. But across the board this is something that you likely do. And especially, especially if you're in the service industry, this is something that probably takes up a lot of your time. So if you've never sat down to map out the journey a new client goes on with you, or created templates that help you to make sure that you have everything you need to serve a new client, this tip could be life changing for you. Whether it's getting an intake form, signing a contract, collecting a retainer, learning more about your clients needs, there are so many things that can be thoughtfully created once and then set up to be delivered and collected without you having to manually communicate every single step of the way. Now I know, I know, you're probably like done it. Here you go again. This theme of creating a workflow or information that can be set on autopilot so that you're not in the weeds of things like correspondence all day, every day. Look, I know that you know it takes a lot of time to send thoughtful replies to client inquiries and to get them onboarded smoothly, but that doesn't mean that you have to draft every single email from scratch. And here's the thing, you shouldn't be doing that. Anyways, let me tell you a story. When I first started as a wedding photographer, I told myself I was giving every client this boutique unique experience and therefore they needed and deserved unique emails. But here's what happened. In reality, I was juggling my corporate job trying to get to emails in the late hours of the night after my shifts, when I was so drained and I could barely form a sentence, let alone write a well crafted email that would give them the experience I wanted to offer. And so templates and workflow literally changed my life. And it allowed me to sit down once, draft up heartfelt and intentional responses, and then copy and paste them with confidence. Now, when I started, there were way fewer tools for automating this process, but now there are actually a ton. You can use things like Honeybook to send out scheduled information, to request questionnaires, even to remind them of the workflow or the process. Like basically anything that can help give your client an easier, well thought out experience can be turned into a workflow or a template and the best thing is, is that you can be super thoughtful in creating all of this one time and then create a workflow that can run on automation for you, allowing you to serve your clients on autopilot while you work on more needle moving tasks. All right, number five, automating your social media tools and your sharing capabilities. Let's talk about this one. So the jury is still out on this in terms of if it's okay to use a third party tool to push out your social media posts. Specifically, I'm talking Facebook and Instagram. Now if I were to personally place a bet, I would bet that they don't want people just automating and scheduling posts because they want active users who are engaging with their followers. If you think about how Instagram and Facebook measures their success, they want people on the app. And if you're posting and ghosting, it doesn't look like you're an active user. So again, this is just my guess, but I think it's an educated one. So when you think about automating social media, it can feel super tempting, right, because it would be a great time saver. But I personally err on the side of what will bring about genuine connection and engagement, which is what social media is for. We got to be social on social media, guys. So we actually skip those scheduling tools for the most part, but we utilize them in different ways. And honestly, the thing is is I've tried a few different ones and I haven't fallen in love with anything, truthfully. Now hear this though. Just because you might not want to automate the actual posting process, it doesn't mean that you can't automate other parts of social media. So here's how we do this. So we plan out our social plan in advance for things like the Gold digger Instagram page and post for my Facebook groups and business pages and posts for LinkedIn and new pins for Pinterest. We plan all of this out in advance, which shouldn't be a shock after hearing some of the other things we do. And then basically we set automated reminders to post or use the tools inside of Facebook and Pinterest to schedule the post natively right on the platform. And while this is a huge time saver, I'd argue here to use automated posting sparingly and not expect exclusively. A big reason that I don't love the automated posting is that I think it's important to be online if you can, in order to engage when you post. But here's the thing, automation can be awesome here if you don't necessarily have the bandwidth to always hang out after posting and if you can circle back once your post is live to engage with anyone that has commented on the post. So again, it shouldn't be the rule that you're doing, but the exception when it comes to scheduling and just automating posts. So maybe hearing this, you're like, okay, tell me more. I'm excited about this idea of automating more of the social process. You can use tools like Tailwind or Plan or Planoly or Meet Edgar, and those can help you prep and plan out your content and then schedule and automate either actual posts or better yet, to set reminders for you to post. And this, again, can be a huge time saver. And it can also help you stay on track and consistent with your social media plan. I'm sure you guys are sensing a theme here. Like, okay, Jenna, you do a lot of planning in advance. You do a lot of work batching. Can you see how efficiency, when partnered with automation, can literally be a game changer?
- [25:10]
Jenna Kutcher
Hey, goal diggers. I'm jumping in here to share something new that I didn't talk about when this episode originally aired, but it's been such a game changer that I couldn't leave it out. Let's quick talk about chat funnel. Okay, so imagine this. You're fully present with your family, enjoying your weekend, and a reel you posted days ago catches the attention of a potential customer. They then comment on that reel on Instagram. And while you're all cozied up on the couch, a chat bot is working behind the scenes. It's engaging with them, collecting their email address and delivering exactly what it is they're looking for, all without you needing to log in or lift a finger longer. So what is a chat funnel? Think of it like this. When I ask you to comment a keyword on a post, and then you get a DM with a link to a free resource or something valuable. That's an automated chat funnel working. It's like a virtual assistant having a conversation with you. But it's all set up in advance to save time and make things easier for everyone. This is the magic of chat automation, and I can tell you firsthand it is absolutely worth it. In one year alone, Chat Funnels helped us collect over 52,000 new email addresses, getting people off of social media and onto our email list, and helped US generate over $1.4 million in revenue. One campaign for the launch of my program, the Pinterest Lab, saw an incredible 85% of people who commented on our posts give us their email in the DMs. That's a way higher conversion rate than a traditional landing page. But this isn't just about collecting emails. Chat funnels create opportunities to connect with your audience in a way that feels personal and intentional, even at scale. You can send reminders, provide additional resources, or answer questions, all while freeing up time for the things that you love the most. So if this sounds like a strategy you'd love to try, hop onto Instagram DM me the word chat at Jenna Kutcher and you'll get to accept, experience this automation firsthand and see how it works in real time. I'll also link up a previous episode where I go deep into what this is and how it works, so that if you want to dive deeper into this specific strategy in automation, you absolutely can. All right, back to the episode. This next part is packed with even more tips to help you streamline and simplify your work. Let's dive back in.
- [27:26]
Marie Forleo
All right, on to number six did you know that you can automate parts of customer support? So I'm going to guess that when you started your business or your side hustle, I'd bet that you weren't super stoked about being the main customer support person. Like, think about it. On top of invoicing and marketing and copywriting and web designing and all the other things you find yourself doing, customer support might not be your favorite. And here's the thing, if you run a company that has any sort of customer service or support offered, there are actually ways that you can automate that support. So whether you put a chatbot or a human support chat on your pages that can connect people with commonly asked questions or direct them on how to best get in touch for their issue, you can actually save so much back and forth time by providing resources that answer any questions. And here's the thing, it would definitely be great if we could all assign a real human being to be available 24, 7, but that's probably not feasible for a lot of us. So instead, having these tools installed on your website can help connect people to answers or put them in touch with you when you're available, making the connection clear and easier while also informing them when they can expect to hear a response from you. According to Findstack, using chatbots can help save up to 30% of customer support costs because you can set them up to provide curated responses to commonly asked questions without having to spend a ton of your time. Or if you have a team, your team's time on that communication. So here's the thing. If you're not ready to get your own bot, or if this sounds like a foreign language, another way to offer proactive support is by using tools like an FAQ page or even using something as simple as your email autoresponder that can help curate and answer common questions, sometimes before the person can even ask them. For example, my autoresponder is set up to communicate when and how I'll get back to people that are reaching out to me. But beyond that, it also intentionally points the recipient to resources they might be seeking, like our course login page or a podcast application, or my media kit for partnerships. So automating this piece of the process can help serve your potential clients and your actual clients immediately. And again, if you take the time to just set it up thoughtfully once, it can save you time every single day and help your customers have a better experience with you. Okay, on to number seven, an automated pop up strategy. Okay, trust me here, if you have a website or a blog and you aren't using pop ups, you are missing out on a major way that you can drive traffic strategically and collect site visitors email addresses so that you can stay in touch. Now the best part about pop ups is they are an entirely automated thing that you can kind of set and forget. For the most part. Pop ups can be this huge way that you can connect your people to the next step on autopilot. And I know what you're probably thinking. You're probably thinking, I could never use pop ups because they're spammy. But here's the thing. Think about it for a second. Look at your own user habits. If someone offers you value that's aligned with what you're looking for, you probably put your email address in that box and you claim it. And if you use pop ups right, it's really just a way to get the next step front and center for your visitors, like this invitation that they can choose how they RSVP to. So we use this tool called Optinmonster for our popups and we essentially connect pop ups to every blog post that gets published, which connects the reader to a different post or a page that correlates with the topic of the post that they're on. So for example, let's say someone clicks to my blog and they want to read a post about my favorite postpartum skincare products and routine. We would then put a pop up on that page that leads to my landing page that has information and my discount code for my favorite non toxic skin care line Primally Pure One of.
- [31:28]
Jenna Kutcher
The most rewarding parts of running a business is taking care of your team. But it can also be one of the hardest. That's why my team and I switched to Gusto, the all in one platform that takes the pain out of payroll, benefits and HR. Whether it's W2s, 1099s or small group health insurance, Gusto has you covered and with their offer letters and checklists, your new hires will feel welcome from day one. Businesses that switch to gusto save on average $2,600 a year and 48 hours of time. Their software is easy to use and accessible online from anywhere. Payroll is fast and easy too. Gusto automatically files and pays all federal, state and local taxes so you don't have to stress about paperwork. And if you ever have a tough HR question, Gusto has certified experts ready to help. If you've been waiting for a tool to simplify your business and make life easier, this is it. Right now you get three months for free. When you run your first payroll. Head to gusto.comgold digger to get started. That's gusto.comgolddigger they don't have to search.
- [32:31]
Marie Forleo
For my faves or try to Google to find their own answer. We've already connected them with an exception exclusive coupon code, which is something that they can claim with just a click. So here's the thing. If you're looking for automated ways to move the needle more for your business, pop ups should absolutely be a priority. They've been a huge conversion tool for us and an awesome automated piece that we can check in on once a month or even beef up our strategy around launches. And it's one of those pieces that's consistently serving and connecting the audience with another tool, tool, or resource without us having to manually do it, or without the reader having to seek out what they want to do next. And the best part here is that you can start super simply with just one pop up and then get fancy with your strategy later. All right, on to number eight, Automating your lead generation. Okay, so what is lead generation? Lead generation goes along with email marketing, but basically it is the part of the process when someone joins your email list. And yes, this part can be automated. I've kind of touched on this in different ways throughout this episode, but essentially you want to incentivize someone to exchange your email address for something of value. And the best part is, is that all of this part of the process can be automated. So when you Share about the incentive or value you're offering. Whether you're doing a free guide or a coupon code or a training or a template or some other exclusive info, you can create the freebie once and then have it automatically delivered along with a welcome email or better yet, a welcome sequence. And this is an awesome way to give people an experience right off the bat. And it can be working for you. Get it while you sleep. So you can have popups that point to your freebie, or you could put your freebie offer in the footers of your blog posts. You can point to your opt in on podcasts, on your website, in the sidebar or footer, or in your social media post or your bio. Basically, you can and should be providing multiple places for people to find your freebie and give them that opportunity to hand over their email address in exchange for the thing that you're offering. And then automation comes into play. Once they enter their email, you can automate everything that happens after that. So remember how I said my email list is the number one way that I drive profits in my business? So it's important. If you want to grow your list, you want to offer something with true value, something that people are going to be pumped and excited to hand over their email address for. So basically, if you think about how you can create a freebie or an offer that's desirable for your audience, you can set that up and automate it. And your leads can continue to come in without any effort on your part. And in combination with all of the tips from above, if you're strategically creating your content and focusing on serving, leading up to things like launches, your email list will be growing and serving right alongside the other automated content that you're busy working on. Can you start to see how, like, all of this can be connected and all of it can be done in a very strategic and systematic way? Okay, number nine, Creating templated email responses. So I kind of touched on this a bit, but one of the most valuable things I've ever created in my business has been my templated email responses. I literally created my first email templates a decade ago as a wedding photographer when I realized that I was literally saying the same thing over and over again and that I didn't have the capacity to write a new email every single time someone reached out. If you do not have templated emails, oh my gosh, just implement this one tip from this episode and it is going to save you so much time and beyond the time it's going to allow you to communicate more effectively and in a more effortless way. So we've already talked about automating your client onboarding process, but what about all the questions that you get all the time outside of that? Or even emails that you find yourself sending out to others regularly like testimonial requests or questionnaires or follow up email? Look at your outbox like take a quick inventory or an audit and see what themes repeat themselves in your correspondence. And then take the time to create templated email responses that you can quickly update, personalize and send off next time. Now the best part about this is if you can incorporate this into your communication. Right now, when the time comes to hire a virtual assistant, then they are already set up with all the templates that they're going to need that are going to allow them to do their job way easier. So trust me, your clients are going to thank you and your future self will thank you. This is a mega time saver for anyone and everyone. Trust me, take this tip and run with it. I cannot wait to see how much time you're going to save. Okay, number 10. Last but not least, automating meetings and scheduling. So inside of Marie's course, we talked a ton about calendar management and how to really set up your schedule in a way that allows you you to do focused work, like the work we've been talking about in this episode, but also in a way that moves the needle forward the most. And I feel like I've been doing consistent calendar audits lately and it's really helped me to look at what do I love doing, what do I dread doing, and where am I not blocking my time as well as I could be? Now you can use any sort of calendar that works best for you, but for me personally, I'm a Google Calgirl. Like I love Google Calendar and and one of the things I love most about it is that it automatically inputs any dates or scheduling matters into your calendar if you get an email about it. Like if you book a flight and the confirmation email shows up in your Gmail inbox, it automatically adds the details to your calendar. Same goes with Zoom invites or other appointments that send you email confirmations, like even restaurant reservations. This can happen for and the fact that it automatically adds these items to your calendar has literally saved me on so many occasions. Having everything in one place can help me get a really good look at what's going on for the day or the week, and it allows for me to plan accordingly. Now if you're thinking, well wait, I'm not on Google Calendar, you can actually sync any other digital calendar you might use with it, like Outlook or Apple Calendar, so that you can keep all your commitments in one place. Now another thing that I love that syncs with Google Calendar is a program called Calendly. I was just telling my friend about it and she's like, what is it called? And it's Calendly. So why we love Calendly is basically you log in and you set your availability and you can set it for certain days or times of the day and then you can send out your link and people can book in when they're available. So whenever we do podcast interviews, I do a full day of interviews, I open up that day, I do one hour time slots and people can sign up for the time that works best for them. I love that you're able to set your own availability and then people are able to book in. And the cool thing is, is that if you're hosting meetings on a meeting platform, people can self select and then they get the email with all the information and you can even set it up so that your meeting cohort receives all the details that they'll need for that meeting after a time and date is selected. So it can automatically send things like topics or questions that are going to be covered in the call or the zoom link to access the meeting. So there are so many ways you can use it, but Calendly is a really great one that we love. So Regardless, tip number 10, look at the ways that you can streamline your calendar, your meetings and availability. If you need to set up consistent reminders that could save you time. And there is a huge opportunity for automation here and a way to also help you free up more blank space on that calendar for you. Oh my gosh. Okay, there you have it guys. 10 different ways that you can work more efficiently and set up automations in your life and in your business. And I know what you might be thinking. This is kind of a long and maybe even slightly overwhelming list of things that you can automate. Now chances are you might be thinking that setting all these up are probably going to take you a lot of time. And in fact, that was the same belief that held me back from working smarter, not harder, for years. And here's the truth. The truth is, is that automation does take prep and intentionality and it is going to take you time to set it up. But when you do it today, you can reap the rewards tomorrow and for years to come. So if you're right now feeling overwhelmed, here's what I recommend start with picking two or three things that fit your current brand or business right where you're at, the ones that feel like the easiest lifts for you. And start there. Sit down, create thoughtfully for one day or one hour or one week and have that goal in mind of setting something up and then letting it run. I'd put money down that you will be absolutely shocked at how much time you're going to save. And on top of time, just the mental bandwidth of being able to release tasks and know that they're taken care of like that is worth so much for you in the long run as an entrepreneur. So start with one, move on to one more, and another and another. This episode will be waiting for you to come on back to it and once you do that, you will see that many of these automations actually work together and create a more hands free, lower stress business that serves your clients and your audience well and gives you back some of that valued time and money. Trust me, a little legwork upfront is always worth it for a more balanced, efficient business later on, especially if it frees up your time and allows you to get more out of the weeds of the repetitive and menial tasks that really don't move you closer to your dream. Dreams I'm going to close with this. It's a line from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley and it ends like this. It says, I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. You, my friend, get to choose where your time and your energy and your efforts go. So choose wisely, work intentionally, and put the rest on autopilot. Not only will you serve and show up better in your business, you'll show up better for your life. And that is something I know you want to do. Until next time, gold Diggers, keep on digging your biggest goals. Thanks for pulling up a seat for.
- [42:37]
Jenna Kutcher
Another episode of the Goal Digger podcast. I hope today's episode fueled you with inspiration, gave you information that you can turn into action, and realigned you with your true north in life and business. If you've enjoyed today's episode, head head on over to gold diggerpodcast.com for today's show notes, discount codes for our sponsors, freebies to fuel your results, and so much more. And if you haven't yet, make sure you're subscribed so that you never miss a future show. We'll see you next time, Gold Diggers.