June 2022 Summaries

With Zapier, users can create customized automated workflows using a collection of built-in tools to customize their workflows further. These tools include Webhooks by Zapier for creating integrations with apps that aren't already on the platform, Formatter for formatting data correctly as it moves between apps, Filter for setting conditions for when automated workflows continue or stop, Email Parser by Zapier for reducing and tidying up email data, Zapier Manager for tracking account activity, Transfer for moving data in bulk from one place to another, Paths for creating conditional workflows, Code by Zapier for adding Python or JavaScript to Zaps, Storage by Zapier for saving and retrieving information from Zaps, Email by Zapier for sending automated emails, Delay by Zapier for pausing workflow actions, Schedule by Zapier for scheduling workflows to run at specific times, and other tools such as RSS feeds, URL shortener, Chrome extension, Lead Score, Translate, IMAP, SMTP, Digest, and more. These built-in tools can help users automate repetitive tasks, streamline their workflows, and increase productivity.

123 Form Builder is an online form builder used by millions of customers to collect data through various forms, including lead generation, event registration, application forms, quizzes, surveys, and polls. The tool offers drag-and-drop functionality, add-on elements, branding features, and conditional logic to collect exact data. It also provides pre-made templates for any use case and allows users to automate their forms and surveys using Zapier workflow automation software.

The company Zapier has grown its integration with apps from 34 to 5,000 over a decade, thanks to automation and strategic processes. To manage this growth, Zapier implemented automated checks on partner progress, dynamic email campaigns, notifications for launch, and marketing content sharing. These tools allowed the company's team to focus on relationships and customer success while scaling quickly without sacrificing quality. The successful integration of 5,000 apps is a testament to the power of automation in supporting business growth.

Sales teams can automate their workflows using Zaps, which integrate with thousands of apps to streamline administrative tasks, save time, and keep databases up to date. By automating lead conversion, tracking new sales opportunities, nurturing leads, keeping team members updated about new leads, automating client communication, streamlining customer review processes, and closing more sales, teams can focus on strategic tasks, increase efficiency, and improve customer satisfaction. With Zapier's automation capabilities, businesses can automate repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and enhance their overall sales process, ultimately driving growth and success.

This article discusses the importance of addressing mental health concerns with clients, particularly when self-employed. The author shares two approaches to handling this sensitive topic: being open and direct, and being more indirect while still prioritizing communication and boundaries. The author emphasizes the need to assess situations objectively, set clear boundaries, and prioritize one's own mental health needs. They also stress that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and encourage readers to find a professional approach that works best for them.

Zapier has recently added several new integrations and features to its platform, including new apps such as MemberPress, Shape, Billetto, Ortto, COR, to.co, WooSender, Walcu CRM, Privyr, Gatekeeper, Kiflo PRM, Issuetrak, Spoki, FormCan, Malcolm!, folk, Urable, Mailtrack, Pluspoint, Referral Factory, Octane AI, Stripe, TeamUp, Timely Time Tracking, Square, and Mighty Networks. These new integrations enable users to automate various tasks and workflows across different apps and platforms, such as managing memberships, sales, marketing, customer support, and more. Additionally, some of these updates include improved features like email tracking, review generation, and project management.

Customer reviews are crucial for an online business's reputation, with 93% of shoppers reading them before making a purchase. To effectively manage reviews, businesses can use Zapier to automate the process from gathering and storing reviews to following up with customers. This involves setting up workflows that log new reviews, notify team members, and trigger actions such as sending notifications or publishing testimonials. By automating these processes, businesses can save time, respond faster, and foster brand loyalty, while also ensuring they act on every review, regardless of rating.

A client recently repositioned their brand by changing the focus from "analytics" to "intelligence," reflecting a desire for more precise decision-making tools rather than just numbers on a dashboard. This change in language emphasizes the platform's ability to provide concrete recommendations for action and automated real-time adjustments. The new term, "intelligence platform," is part of a broader concept called a brand lexicon, which is a vocabulary list that reflects a brand's values or marketing message. A lexicon serves several purposes, including improving consistency across marketing channels, speeding up content development, and establishing a clear brand identity. To build an effective lexicon, one must gather insights from various sources, such as customers, competitors, and internal discussions, to identify core words and phrases that align with the brand's values and messaging. A well-crafted lexicon should be concise and serve as a guiding tool for content creators, helping them stay true to the brand voice while avoiding negative connotations.

You can navigate the most efficient way to use Zoom by utilizing various shortcuts such as temporarily unmute your microphone with Alt + A or command + shift + A, raising your hand immediately with Alt + Y or option + Y, revoking remote control access with Alt + Shift + G or control + shift + G, inviting people to calls with Alt + I or command + I, always showing meeting controls and changing focus to Zoom meeting controls by pressing Alt on Windows or control + \ on Mac, and switching your view between active speaker and gallery views using various keyboard shortcuts. You can also edit and customize these shortcuts in the Keyboard Shortcuts menu within Zoom's Settings. Additionally, automating your workflows may be an option for those looking to take their Zoom usage to the next level.

Automating the process of adding new Microsoft Dynamics CRM contacts to a Mailchimp list can help nurture clients and foster customer loyalty without extra tasks for sales representatives. This is achieved by creating an automated workflow called a Zap using Zapier's workflow automation software, which sends information from one app to another. The user sets up a trigger in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and an action in Mailchimp, mapping data fields to send the new contact's email address to Mailchimp. Once tested and reviewed, the Zap is ready to use, automatically adding new contacts to the desired Mailchimp audience list without manual intervention.

Gmail shortcuts can help users spend less time in their inboxes by providing quick navigation and composition options. To turn on Gmail shortcuts, users must first enable the feature in the settings menu, then customize the shortcut keys to suit their workflow. With these shortcuts, users can quickly browse through emails, jump between categories, compose new messages, and add CC and BCC fields with ease. Additionally, users can create custom keyboard shortcuts to further optimize their Gmail experience.

In a time of economic uncertainty, Zapier remains committed to its employees and continues to hire more people, despite the trend of companies scaling back on hiring. The company's strong financial standing, including zero debt and over $100M in cash reserves, gives it confidence to continue growing. With a proven track record of weathering past recessions successfully, Zapier is well-positioned to support its team members through the next few years, offering benefits such as career planning programs and investments in its product and people. The company's low debt and strong financials make it an attractive investment opportunity for those looking to invest in a stable business with growth potential.

Google is sunsetting Universal Analytics (UA) and moving to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a new platform that offers significant changes from its predecessor. GA4 tracks events rather than sessions or page views, providing more useful information about customer behavior. It also supports full cross-device and cross-platform reporting, offering a clearer picture of marketing impact. Additionally, GA4 leverages automation and AI to provide predictive analytics, allowing businesses to forecast, find new audiences, and gain insights into their customers' journeys. The platform is highly customizable, with features such as the ability to create complex events, reports, and explore tab queries. While it may take time to learn, GA4 offers numerous benefits, including improved data visualization, export capabilities to BigQuery, and predictive metrics that can be used to target specific audiences.

Zapier, a company that specializes in automation tools, has implemented an onboarding process for its employees that includes a comprehensive program with asynchronous learning, live sessions, and automation through the use of webhooks and Zaps. Ashley Priebe Brown, the onboarding program manager, created custom Zaps to automate manual tasks such as managing calendar events, launching new hires into the onboarding process, and pairing them with experienced employees. By using these automated processes, Ashley was able to save a significant amount of time and focus on improving the human side of the onboarding experience, ultimately unlocking her full potential as an employee. The implementation of automation has had a positive impact on the company's ability to scale its onboarding process while maintaining a high level of quality and efficiency.

Facebook pages can benefit from sharing customer recommendations and responding to negative reviews, but manually notifying sales reps can be time-consuming. Zapier offers a solution by creating automated workflows called Zaps that notify teams in Slack whenever a new recommendation is received on a Facebook page. Users can either start quickly with pre-made templates or create their own custom Zaps from scratch, setting up triggers and actions to customize the workflow, such as filtering specific ratings or adding additional data. With Zapier's workflow automation software, users can build and automate anything they can imagine by combining user interfaces, data tables, and logic with thousands of apps.

WordPress 6.0, codenamed "Arturo," is the latest update to the popular content management system (CMS), which manages 42.9% of current websites worldwide. The update introduces significant changes aimed at improving user experience, customization options, and workflow efficiency. Key features include improved block editing and block themes, brand new blocks for deeper site editing, enhanced styles switching, easier text and writing controls, and numerous conveniences to streamline website building and management. Overall, WordPress 6.0 advances the CMS closer to its goal of full-site editing, making it more user-friendly and customizable for website managers worldwide.

You can generate high-quality leads on TikTok through lead gen ads that include a form attached to them, allowing users to fill out their information without leaving the platform. To run a campaign, you need to sign up for an advertiser account, select advertising goals and audience types, set your budget, create ad creative that is short, raw, and organic, upload your ad, set up an Instant Form with custom fields, and automate the process by sending leads to your CRM or sales team. The TikTok Ads Manager dashboard provides data on ad success, and workflows can be automated using Zapier or other integration tools to streamline processes.

Using a read it later app like Pocket can help individuals become better readers by keeping them focused, creating a distraction-free reading experience, and setting up a system for consuming content. To get the most out of this feature, users need to save content mindfully, considering factors such as value, engagement, and relevance. Blocking time for reading, using the audio feature, and training oneself to pick articles that are worth reading can also help build the habit of regular reading. By implementing these strategies, individuals can overcome procrastination and make progress on their reading goals.

We adopted Kubernetes in 2017 and initially used Helm and custom scripts to deploy applications from Helm configs in a git repository. We used the Helm secrets plugin to manage our secrets, which uses SOPS under the hood to encrypt or decrypt secrets using various key providers. However, this approach had limitations, such as CI/CD tooling needing permissions to decrypt secrets and unencrypted secrets getting committed to the repo by mistake. We later moved to sops-secrets-operator, which manages Kubernetes Secret Resources created from user-defined SopsSecret custom resource objects using sops. This approach provided better security, but also introduced new challenges, such as duplicate secrets for each Kubernetes cluster and granular access control limitations. Finally, we adopted Vault, a centralized secret management solution that provides granular access control, out-of-the-box Kubernetes authentication mapping, and a user-friendly UI and CLI. We are currently using external-secrets to manage secrets in Kubernetes, which allows us to reference actual secret values in Vault without having to decrypt them. Overall, our journey of secrets management in Kubernetes has been shaped by the evolution of these tools and our need for better security practices.

Asana, a traditional project management tool, offers an optional setting that brings out the playful six-year-old in its users by featuring colorful celebration creatures that dance across the screen when tasks are completed. These creatures, including a unicorn, narwhal, yeti, phoenix, and otter, add a delightful user experience (UX) to the software, providing surface delight with their visual appeal and deep delight through their backstory and connection with the brand. The feature resonates with users by incorporating play into the workday, helping to overcome negativity bias and provide motivation for further tasks. The unpredictability of the creatures' appearances is effective in reinforcing behavior, making them an unexpected accountability partner and a game-changer for morale, motivation, and creativity.

As businesses navigate economic uncertainty, they are reassessing their expenses and identifying essential technologies that can help them survive and thrive. Key to this process is determining which apps to keep and which ones can be paused or replaced during a recession. CEOs and business leaders have identified several indispensable tech solutions, including competency-based assessment technology, video conferencing software, chatbots, password managers, CRM software, employee recognition software, premium antivirus software, Google Workspace, remote device management, community-building channels, and human resources information systems. These technologies can help businesses reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase productivity during a recession, while also ensuring the safety of sensitive information and building strong relationships with customers and employees. By investing in these essential tools, businesses can position themselves for success even in uncertain economic times.

While there is uncertainty about the economy, entrepreneurs are preparing for a potential downturn by prioritizing automation. Automation helps businesses optimize operating costs, boost employee retention, and create a better customer experience. By automating tasks such as process optimization, task delegation, information-sharing, and data analysis, businesses can free up time and money to focus on growth and improving their operations. This approach enables entrepreneurs to be "recession proof" by being proactive in adapting to economic changes.

The number of side hustles in the US is increasing, with two in five Americans currently having one, up from about a third in 2020. The survey also found that men and younger adults are more likely to have a side hustle, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the charge. Many side hustlers attribute their success to automation, which is widely used in business processes, with nearly two-thirds of Americans using it for some or all of their business operations. Automation allows individuals to work fewer hours on their side hustle while still earning decent income, with over half of side hustlers spending less than 10 hours per week on it.

QuickLook is a free app for Windows that offers instant previews of various file types, including images, media files, documents, and archives. Using the spacebar while viewing any file instantly displays its contents. The feature allows users to quickly jump between files using the arrow keys. Although not all file formats supported by QuickLook are available on Mac's Quick Look, this app is more versatile than its Mac counterpart. Users can install plugins to add support for additional file types, including Microsoft Office files and EPUB ebooks. This app provides a similar functionality to Apple's Quick Look feature, which is widely praised for its usefulness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a surge of Americans starting their own businesses, and many worry that a recession could happen as early as this year due to ongoing inflation and global events. However, certain business models are more resilient in tough economic times. Online marketing agencies can adapt quickly to changing trends, eCommerce stores with low-investment stock items can pivot to new markets, professional online communities and resource platforms can provide support during job searches, home improvement companies can capitalize on people's desire to improve their homes, skilled trades contractors can take advantage of the need for renovation work, real estate businesses can profit from lower prices and interest rates, and online software companies can benefit from reduced overhead costs. To succeed in these uncertain times, it's essential to be agile, adaptable, and prepared to pivot when necessary.

HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is a platform where bloggers and journalists post questions for experts to answer, providing them with backlinks and exposure for their companies. To craft the best pitch for HARO, it's essential to answer questions relevant to your industry and expertise, tap into your personal experience, provide context, keep your answers concise, and follow directions. Writers are more likely to use an answer if they think you're qualified to give it, so don't try to guess or plagiarize answers. Instead, focus on providing unique insights from your own experiences and perspectives, and make sure to explain the why behind your opinions. By doing so, you'll increase your chances of getting your quote chosen by writers who are looking for valuable and useful information.

When faced with a potential recession, business leaders are urging small businesses to act quickly like they did during the early days of the pandemic. Experts from various industries share their experiences on how to prepare for economic uncertainty. Key takeaways include acting before you have to, remembering that change is constant, scrutinizing expenses, getting creative, and being transparent. These strategies can help businesses pivot and thrive in uncertain times, as they did during the pandemic.

Small businesses are facing another potential recession, with experts predicting a tough ride ahead due to inflation and rising costs. To survive, businesses must scrutinize their finances, prioritize spending, and make tough decisions. Contract work is expected to grow as contractors fill gaps in the workforce, and businesses may need to rely on fractional leaders or part-time CFOs to navigate financial uncertainty. With rising wages and prices, businesses must differentiate themselves to stand out, hosting special events and creating incentives to attract customers. Despite the challenges, experts believe that with the right mindset and preparation, small businesses can continue to thrive and even accelerate their growth.

A customer engagement platform (CEP) is a comprehensive tool that combines help desk, CRM, and communication features to support businesses in managing and improving their customer relationships. These platforms enable centralization of customer interactions, fast communication across multiple channels, analysis of customer behavior, and hyper-personalized marketing. Advanced segmentation capabilities allow for identifying trends and acting on them, while knowledge bases provide easy access to help articles that customers can use proactively. Live and AI chat support speeds up response times, and ticketing workflows streamline the process of assigning queries to support teams. Personalized marketing uses customer data to send targeted messages, and feedback systems enable customers to rate interactions easily. Seamless third-party integrations ensure automatic flow of information between the CEP and other tools, making it easier for businesses to integrate these platforms into their tech stack. Various customer engagement platforms exist, each focusing on different aspects such as live chat, ticketing services, social media integration, or growth-focused features. By choosing a platform that aligns with business needs, companies can improve customer satisfaction, engagement, and retention, ultimately driving revenue growth.

This year marks the first-ever Marketing Ops Appreciation Day, launched by Zapier to recognize outstanding achievements of industry leaders in marketing operations. The day highlights the crucial work of professionals like Romana Amato at uptime.com, who increased lead generation by 100% through her efforts in building and optimizing their sales and marketing ops from scratch. Other notable mentions include Amy Goldfine at Iterable, who developed processes that enabled her team to be power users of their tools, and Nora Graehling at A-LIGN, who implemented tooling to streamline sales, marketing, and IT operations. The list also includes Christina Kay at McGraw Hill, whose automations saved her team 50 hours per week, and Veronica Lazarovici at Alma, who set up a re-engagement tracking process that attributed an additional $4M in marketing-driven revenue. These individuals are just a few examples of the many talented marketing operations professionals making a significant impact behind the scenes.