Zapier
Today I noticed that automation is pretty cool. I found this new service called Zapier. Ok, it’s not new and maybe some of y’all have heard about it. Zapier started in 2011 so it’s been around for like 10 years now; I’m just slow to the game apparently.
Zapier is, in their words, “a product that allows end users to integrate the web applications they use.”
In other words, Zapier connects the different apps you use. It can connect Facebook to email or Instagram or Twitter. The options are almost limitless!
By the way, I’m not like making money talking about them. I just think they’re really cool. Zapier solves a lot of the problems I’ve been having and waiting on someone to create the solution.
As you know, you are reading my blog post. Most likely you’re reading it from your email. You may not know this, but I send those using a newsletter service called Substack. I love Substack! It’s super easy to use, simple and does everything for you. All I really have to worry about is writing. As it should be.
The issue is, I want to grow my blog and also grow my other “newsletter” Biblit. Substack is great, but the reach on their platform is so-so. At least for now! I hear they are working on some cool stuff to help with that, but it’s not here yet.
That’s why I also use Medium, or why I want to use it more. I used to only write on Medium until I found Substack. Medium is a writing/publishing platform with more than a million users per day. So their reach is pretty good if you get lucky with their algorithm. If you haven’t checked out Medium, I think they let you read like 3 free posts a month and then you have to pay after that. If you’re at all interested here is the link: Medium
I do most of my reading on Medium by the way.
Anyways, back to the issues at hand. It gets annoying to try and import Substack stuff into Medium. I mean it’s possible with just a few clicks, but I always forget to do it.
Introducing Zapier!
With Zapier everytime I send a Substack email, they also post it to Medium, my personal website, post a tweet on Twitter, and are capable of so much more! That’s just the tiny bit I’ve gotten it to do so far.
Tons of small businesses use Zapier to help their sales teams find leads and keep track of data. It can help teams automate incoming data to send a slack message, keep track of any sales in a spread sheet, or even keep an eye out for specific emails to do whatever you want.
It’s so cool! I really like this author, Tim Denning, who recently put this in a Bitclout post:
“A system is automation. Those who do tasks manually in the hope of earning money rarely succeed.
Without a system you rely on willpower.
A system is confidence in what you’re doing.”
I like that. Automation really takes a lot of the stress out of the picture, but still allows you to reach your goals.
That’s the end of my rant on automation, haha! I assume we will see a lot more of that in the future and I have no idea what that’s going to mean for society.
Sometimes it’s both exciting and scary. What happens when we really can automate food service jobs? I already see artisan pizza vending machines being sold. What will those people do for work? I’m not sure.
On the flip side, automation means businesses could lower prices. Will they? Probably not. Only time will tell what’s going to happen in the future, but it will be interesting, that’s for sure.