If you have heard the name Zapier, but don’t exactly know what it is, who uses it, or how it can help you, then you’ve come to the right place! In our company, we LOVE Zapier! Automation may sound a little intimidating, but fear not! We’re here to break it down for you and keep it simple! There is a lot to learn about Zapier, but after you’ve read this post you should feel like you had a 101 crash course to get you going. Ready?

What is Zapier?

Zapier is an online service that allows users to integrate web based applications that they use with each other. It’s often described as a translator or bridge between web APIs (Intelligent Peripheral Interfaces). In other words, it connects Apps, like Evernote, MailChimp, Gmail, etc. to each other,  so that they can work together to automate tasks in the background so you can focus on other work.

Creating Zapier “ZAPS”

To start using Zapier, you’ll need to create an account. Once logged in, you’ll get to a dashboard where you will be start creating Zaps. What’s a Zap you say? Well, a Zap refers to an automated workflow between Apps and is used to create automated tasks. You can make your own custom zap between the hundreds of integrations Zapier has available for you.

Utilizing Template Zaps

To help you get started, Zapier has many different templates to help you create specific Zaps. For example, you can create ones to use with your email, to manage a project, to post news feeds to web pages or Facebook, for e-commerce, or for marketing, And the list doesn’t stop there. You can find plenty of examples over at Zapier.com for all types of projects. For example, maybe you have a Google Spreadsheet of contacts that you would like to add to MailChimp. In this case, you can create a Zap to take all of your contacts and any new ones to be automatically added to become MailChimp Subscribers. This way you don’t have to do it yourself. It becomes an automated task.

Another example of a Zap would be if you wanted to get a text message each time you got an email. You could set up a Zap so that an automated text would be sent to you alerting you that you have something new in your email. These are just a couple of ways that using Zapier could be helpful. If you click on this link, you can get even more ideas of how it can be implemented to save you hours of tedious work. 

Who Uses Zapier?

No matter what career category you fall into, Zapier can help. Small businesses, Startups, Developers, Designers, Support Teams, and generally anyone who is an entrepreneur or needs to save time, money, and cut back on stress – this is for you. In our business, we take full advantage of everything they have to offer. In fact, we dare say that we couldn’t live without it at this point. You can read about just one example of that in Caroline’s guest post for Zapier here.

What Zapier Can Do For You

Well, there’s lots, but here are just a few examples we can think of:

• • Create To-Do Lists
  • Manage Files
  • Schedule Appointments and Payments
  • Save images to storage sites
  • Create Spreadsheets and Presentations
  • Track your work and Time
  • Build email lists
  • Grow an audience
  • Monitor social media
  • Personalize webinars
  • Send automated alerts, messages, and posts
  • Consolidate tasks
  • Archive materials
  • And much more!

Popular Apps To Integrate

Zapier can do almost anything when it comes to automating tasks. That’s because it works with hundreds of other apps. This is important because depending on the type of work you want it to automate, you will want to make sure it can be used with an app that does what you need it to do. For example, if you are wanting to automate a task for presentations then you might use it with Google Slides. Another example might be if you want to automate a video task then you might use it with YouTube. To give you a better idea, here is a shortlist of popular apps that Zapier uses and a link below to all of the others. We bet that you are using at least one or two of these in your daily life…

• • Gmail
  • Google Sheets
  • Google Docs
  • Google Drive
  • Google Calendar
  • Airtable
  • Hubspot
  • Dropbox
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • WordPress
  • Wunderlist
  • MailChimp
  • Evernote

This is just a very small list of examples! You can see the full list of integrations here!

How to use Zapier

1. Sign up for a free account at https://zapier.com/sign-up/ (Type in your name, email address, and a password)
2. Log into Zapier (This will take you to the “Explore Page”)
3. Check out the “Explore Page” for ideas and inspiration
4. Familiarize yourself with the “My Zaps Page” (This is where you can view any Zaps you have already created, make new Zaps, edit, and organize)
5. Take a look at the right hand corner (If you click the dropdown menu you can change your account settings and more)
6. Check out this short YouTube video on “Creating Your First Zap”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v98d2tH3wfc
7. Go forth and zap your way to better productivity!

The Cost

Zapier is free to start, but we definitely recommend that you upgrade to take full advantage of more automation. It can be used for a business for a mere $20/month, and for teams starting at $250/Month. Both of these options come with a 14-day free trial. If you consider the fact that Zapier can do the same work as two full-time employees, that’s quite a steal!

Zap Away! 

There it is. A quick reference guide to Zapier. Now that you got your feet wet, why not go for a swim? Imagine how much more efficient and focused you would become with a few simple automations. If you have more questions and are looking for more specific information, don’t forget to check out Zapier’s FAQ page. Or…you can always contact us and we’ll help you get set up!