Automation is a vital part of the modern world. Learn how to master it to make your life much easier.
How to get it started?
Make a list of all the duties you and your employees have to perform. Do not neglect any of them. Write everything down. That`s how you`ll get a realistic idea of the tasks you really need to perform. If you use a ready-made solution, examine the product’s description, see what it`s offering and whether any of its functionalities can automate some of your work processes. Look for applications that can replace unnecessary human activities. Advise with a programmer or consultant to learn more about it.
Automation saves you time
Consider optimizing processes, which are not automated. If, for instance, an employee has to add an article with a photo, there are many ways to perform this task. Sometimes programmers use ready-made solutions used by other websites because it`s easier.
It`s easier but only for the programmers. In such cases, it may turn out that adding a simple article on the website will require clicking the “UPLOAD ARTICLE” button, adding the text, then going to the list of articles to select a category, and then going to a module of photos where after choosing the material in question among thousands of others, the employee should find the one they are looking for and add a photo to it.
I have personally seen this process being used in big media projects. But there`s a problem with it: it`s too complex. There`s an easier way: it can be done on one single page, where all separate elements can be positioned in a more user-friendly way. Why not adding the “save” button right after the box used to add information? Thus, the user won`t need to scroll up and down aimlessly. You might be thinking: it`s not that important – just a few seconds being saved. Yet, if you think of it adds up to numerous hours of annoying clicking back and forth, searching and waiting for pages to load for ages.
Imagine you have 100,000 records that have to be entered into your database. Let`s say your employees have to spend just 1 minute more for each upload. Let`s do the calculation: this means that your business will need 69 days more to upload the information. Not convinced that it`s important? Let me tell you that there’re more than 5 million topics on forums like TeenProblem.net (the platform I`ve created and successfully sold in the early days of my career path). What if someone had to manage all these topics manually? How much time would they need? Let`s say it`s a lot…without the help of automation processes.
Make your business work for you
There`s another good thing about automation – your website is “live” all the time. It works even if you`re chilling on your well-deserved holiday.
On the internet, there `re no set working hours. And you can make it work for you. You can set up a system that publishes the necessary products or articles at a specific date and hour. Also, you can program your newsletter to automatically send articles, news, and products at regular intervals of time. These things have been a common practice for years and they are even integrated into the systems I listed above. Why don’t you try integrating them when developing your own systems, too?
Think a step ahead. Make your business as independent from you as possible. It should serve you. Not the other way round.
