Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by a never-ending to-do list? You’re not alone. Over the years, I have found a small business owner’s to-do list is never truly complete. However, what eases my anxiety during challenging days and busy seasons is knowing how systems within our small business are working on behalf of our business, trusting our web design is putting our best foot forward, trusting our social media is sharing our message effectively, and knowing any automations we’ve put in place are running like a well-oiled machine. No matter how long your to-do list may be, there are systems you can put in place to boost your productivity and help your creativity. There are features of your business you can automate or ‘set and forget’ as you continue working on and in your business as needed. Today, I’m excited to share systems you can add to your small business to help you stay productive and creative — and avoid burnout.

How to Stay Productive and Creative

Welcome to Episode 187 of the Brand It, Build It Podcast: Systems for Staying Productive and Creative. As small business owners, we wear many hats and juggle countless tasks. Whether we’re managing our website, social media, client work, or business operations, finding a balance of productivity and creativity among all of these facets of our businesses can be challenging. That’s why, today, I’m excited to share ways you can add systems and automations to your small business, so there are at least a handful of areas of your business you can ‘set and forget’ — and rest assured are working on behalf of your business.

1. Email Marketing Automation: Our go-to email marketing system is called FloDesk. With FloDesk, you can set up automated email sequences a variety of purposes — on-boarding new clients, nurturing leads, or promoting your products or services. Creating automated email sequences saves time and ensures consistent, high-quality communication with your audience. We love and value knowing our automated email sequences are working on behalf of our business, even when we’re not working — communicating about our business and brand, fostering community with our audience members, and laying a foundation for future growth.
2. Social Media Scheduling: Use social media management resources like Hootsuite, Buffer, Later, Planoly, Planable, or Tailwind to schedule and automate your social media marketing. Plan your content calendar, so you can maintain a consistent online presence without needing to post in real-time. This better ensures your marketing is designed with intention, and better ensures your social media marketing is consistent in quantity and quality.
3. Workflow Automation: Streamline internal processes by using workflow automation tools such as Zapier. Zapier allows you to connect various apps and trigger actions when specific events occur. For example, when a customer purchases a product from a system like Shopify, you can trigger an automated newsletter to be sent from another system like FloDesk. Zapier allows you to integrate or connect all of the systems working on behalf of your business — which makes custom automations easy to create.
4. Project Management Automation: Use project management and workflow tools like Trello, Asana, or Monday to automate task assignments and progress tracking. You can create templates for common project workflows, saving time and ensuring consistency in project execution.
5. Customer Communication Automation: Lastly, you may consider using a chat feature or chatbot to answer common customer questions quickly and easily. An automated chatbot can help your business to serve your customers seamlessly, quickly, and accurately.

When adding automations to your small business, remember to carefully plan and assess your workflows to ensure your automations align with your business goals and provide a seamless experience for your clients and customers. In the end, automating key areas of your business can help you to maintain productivity and creativity in your small business — decreasing your chances of experiencing burnout. I hope today’s episode equips you to confidently automate facets of your business, and experience greater balance in the process. Thanks for tuning in!

About Brand It, Build It Podcast, Hosted by Kelly Zugay

Hosted by Kelly Zugay, co-founder of With Grace and Gold, The Brand It, Build It Podcast is a leading small business marketing podcast for small business owners, creatives, and founders. Weekly, brief, actionable episodes will equip you to build a successful, sustainable small business. Since 2014, With Grace and Gold has provided award-winning custom brand and Showit web design and completely customizable Showit website templates for small businesses worldwide.