Automation is a dirty word for many small businesses. Most of us pride ourselves on our personal touch in everything. The thing is, with only one or two (if running the business as a couple) people to get everything done, a lot of people end up burned out.
Enter automation of some tasks. Now, a few tasks can never really be automated, such as responding to email queries. Things like social media or billing though are perfect candidates for automation. This way removes the daily grind aspect.
Some social media sites have scheduling functions built in. These are the best option most of the time if they’re available. It allows access to all the features of the site, such as setting up the alternative text. These extras can be powerful and well worth the minor inconvenience of not being able to schedule all in one place.
Some social media does not offer planning or scheduling. In these cases, it’s time to investigate third-party applications. These are several different ones to pick from, depending on which platforms need automating. Applications such as Tailwind*, Later*, and Planoly* are all options that offer to schedule with multiple social media accounts that are not otherwise schedulable.
Billing is another candidate for automation, especially if working on retainer. Scheduling invoices to send is within the capabilities the most common accounting software. However, it does require a little closer supervision than social media. After all, a client who chose a different service would not be happy receiving a bill!
Automation is an option for a number of parts of a small business. It can be a time saver for small business owners while also helping with conversion rates. After all, humans like predictability. Automating posting of certain things certainly does that.
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*I am not affiliated with any app or website mentioned in this post