General Content

Zapier Workflows and Facebook

If you use Facebook Lead Generation ads, then you need to become familiar with Zapier, as it will make your data keeping much easier.
Zapier Workflows
Zapier is a collection of tools that allows you to automate workflows between applications. For example you could have the weather forecast for each day sent to you in a text message, or even have it appear as a blog post on your website.
I currently have a lead generation ad running on Facebook. When someone fills out the form, Facebook then sends it to my Page (don.teague.training) and I have to go download it. This is how Facebook is (as of this blog post) set up to send you the information.
With Zapier, though, I have the ability to do much more. When I get a new lead via a FB Lead Ad, the following happens.
  1. The person is subscribed to my newsletter at aweber.
  2. Their name and email address is added to my CRM. I also add tags in there to track where they came from.
  3. I then have a text message sent to me.
  4. I also have it emailed to me.
  5. (Planned) Export the data into a Google Docs, Google Sheets, or other online file service.
All of this happens the moment the lead fills in their information. I do not have to go to my Facebook page and check the page to see if anyone is there, or look in the ad manager to see if the number has gone up from the last time.
How does all of this happen? Let's take a look.
  1. I use the FB Lead Ads Zap to get leads as they come in. This Zap is considered an 'instant' app, meaning that the data will be seen by Zapier as soon as Facebook gets it.
  2. I take the name and email address from that lead and use the aweber zap to create a new subscriber in my pre-selected list. You can choose any list in your aweber account.
  3. I send the name and email address to my CRM. This CRM let's me put in some additional tracking information via the Zapier module, so I tack on some info so I know where it came from.
  4. Zapier has a Text Message Zap available for use. I use it to have a text message sent to me giving me the important info.
  5. I use the email Zap to have all of the information sent to me. Just tell Zapier which email to send it to, and away it goes. I get to define what data goes into the email.
The planned step hasn't been configured at the time of this blog post. However, I could have the data then sent to any service I wanted to. I could sent the information to a file in Dropbox, or append to a note in Evernote. All of the data would be there, for me to retrieve easily.
As you can see Zapier has the potential to make your technology life much easier and more automated. Give it a try today!

The Difference Between AutoResponder and CRM

I've recently noticed people getting the terms Autoresponder and CRM mixed up. This leads to confusing conversations as they think they are talking about one, but really mean the other. Let's take a moment and review the differences.

Autoresponder

An autoresponder is a service that will send emails to subscribers for you. They are commonly used by those who want to build a list of people who are interested in following them. This could be an individual person, small business, or a mega million dollar corporation. Despite what some people think, email marketing isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

CRM

CRM, or Customer Relationship Manager, is a server that is used to track your relationships with your customers. Common tasks of a CRM would include keeping track of contact information, the last time you talked to a customer or emailed them, their social media information, and possibly a field to keep general notes about them. Some enterprise grade CRM's (think Salesforce) allow you to even keep track of what the customer ordered, their service plans, etc.

While a CRM could act as an autoresponder, that's not it's primary goal. Unless you are using a very high end CRM, or one that you've written yourself, you should not assume that the CRM has an autoresponder. You will want to go out and get your own autoresponder for your own use.

Don Recommends

I've used aWeber for email marketing for a while now, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants or needs an autoresponder.

You can learn about aWeber here. - Pricing plans are reasonable for anyone who wants to start sending emails to those who sign up for them. Remember, this is a great way to build YOU or your business.

You know the different between these two great online services, and can help others out as well.

I have a Starbucks Reward or two…

The post below the line is via Zapier. I created a 'Zap' that takes any picture I post to my Instagram account, and makes a post here on Don's Tech Blog. Don't look for many more of these in the future, but I will consider working on a 'How-To' of sorts in the future.

My Starbucks Reward

Starbucks Reward

I think I have a Starbucks Reward or two.....

This post brought to you via my Zapier integration.

10 Steps To Fire Your Boss

Some time ago MLSP had a PDF document available that gave 10 steps to fire your boss. Fire Your Boss

It tends to move around a lot, so I thought I would put it somewhere for people to find. This document is somewhat MLSP based, but the ideas are the same regardless of what you are doing. Don't let the fact it has branding of a system you may not be a part of deter you from reading it.

10 Steps To Fire Your Boss

PDF Download

Yes, it's a PDF download. No, I'm not affiliated with MLSP, I just see people looking for the document, but not able to find it.