Let’s Talk Automation …

Automation, automation, automation – you just can’t seem to escape this term. So, let’s talk about how you can embrace it!

Now, before we dive into automation, I want you to begin with a quick examination of your business.

Ask yourself things like …

Do you track your time per project or task?
Where does your time go in an average working day?
Do you feel you have a great work-life balance?
Do you feel most of your time is spent on menial admin tasks?
If so, do you feel this is stalling your growth?

So, you are probably now wondering how you can incorporate automation to address your answers to these questions?

Let’s be honest here … lately the word automation has ignited fear in everyone. It suggests the loss of jobs for humans and the world being taken over by artificial intelligence (A.I.). Shaking that narrative and focusing on how technology can help your business grow is the best way for you to move forward. In the end, whether you accept it or not, it is something that is already happening! I am not going to be focusing on A.I. and robots in this blog post, but more so other technological systems and automations you can put into play in your business.

But before we dive into all those details, it might be beneficial for you to start here with the low down on time management.

Rather than wringing our hands about robots taking over the world, smart organizations will embrace strategic automation use cases. Strategic decisions will be based on how the technology will free up time to do the types of tasks that humans are uniquely positioned to perform. ~ Clara Shih, CEO and Co-founder of Hearsay Social

As an entrepreneur, I don’t doubt that work-life balance is important to you, that you value the concept of time management and yet you still find yourself repeatedly running out of time and feeling burnt out.

This is where (and why) you need to give automation some serious consideration!

So, why automation?

Efficiency and Time Management: Spend more time doing what you are good at and less time doing individual menial tasks that eat up way too much of your time! And if you work with customers and clients, you have a timely process that doesn’t require you to be present every single waking Instead you have automations set up in the back end that do this for you!

Project Management: Automating menial daily tasks means less room for human error and more time freedom.

Creating Systems: Doing such brings bigger strategies to the forefront – whether it be onboarding a client or sequencing out a sales funnel. It means you have a consistent system in place for particular aspects of your business. Systems that don’t require you to be tied to your technology device to hit the send button, or to be writing a new email or social media post every single day.

Freedom with Time and Money: If done right, automation means freeing up staff to contribute in bigger ways since you have automations and systems taking over those time crunching menial tasks they were performing before. It also means you are investing your time and your funds more wisely as a business owner, whether that be less personnel or more automation systems.
Best Way Forward: As I mentioned earlier, automation is happening whether we like it or not and it is best to see this growth in technology as an integral part of your business going forward than trying to resist it.

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. ~ Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft

What automation could look like in your business …

Onboarding of clients and customers
Intake forms and prompts
Email marketing and sales funnels
Empty cart notifications
Invoicing and project management tools
Social media management
And so much more!

Now, to get started …

“There’s a lot of automation that can happen that isn’t a replacement of humans but of mind-numbing behavior.” ~ Stewart

Perhaps begin with a breaking down all the tasks you feel take up your time. No matter how big or small. The goal here is to free up your time and precious brain energy – that you use every single day – for working in your business instead using it to work on your business.

Next …

Do some research into what sort of automations are there out there and for what (being specific to your personalized business needs). Taking time to really assess what automations would be worth your investment, and which ones to prioritize and integrate ASAHP (as soon as humanly possible).

Lastly …

Start with small changes, such as moving everything to the Cloud, which comes with its own set of built-in automations (e.g. Dropbox, GoogleDrive, OneNote, Evernote, etc.). This is a great way to wet your toes, experiment, have fun and gain some new skills all while implementing automation!

So, what sort of automations do you currently have integrated in your business?
Or perhaps you haven’t begun this process yet … Then share with us, which ones are you interested in or perhaps on your business bucket list?

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Crystal Kordalchuk

Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.

Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.

As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.

Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.

Let’s Talk Automation …

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Crystal Kordalchuk

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