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Episode 91: Building Systems into Your Business
181 Plays4 years ago
In this episode of Brands that Book, Dawn from Tech Savvy Creative and I chat about building systems into your business. Dawn provides a really helpful framework for getting started with business tools, that's especially helpful if tech is something that generally overwhelms you.
We also spend a good amount of time chatting about some of our favorite business tools, which was the part of the conversation I really enjoyed.
For the show notes, go to https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-tech-savvy-creative-episode-91/
Recommended
Transcript
Tool Use and Resource Optimization
00:00:05
Speaker
There's a lot of situations too where a tool is really great, but if it doesn't process with you, it's not right. Again, the best tool that you can use is one that you're actually going to use every day. But if you don't use it and you just have it because you feel like you need it, that's not a great use of your resources or your money or your time.
Introduction to the Episode with Don from Tech Savvy Creative
00:00:31
Speaker
Welcome to the Brainset Book Show, where we help creative, service-based businesses build their brands and find more clients. I'm your host, Davy Jones. In this episode of Brainset Book, Don from Tech Savvy Creative and I chat about building systems into your business. Don provides a really helpful framework for getting started with business tools that's especially helpful if tech is something that generally overwhelms you.
00:00:57
Speaker
We also spend a good amount of time chatting about some of our favorite business tools, which was a part of the conversation I really enjoyed. Be sure to check out the show notes at DavyandKrista.com for the resources we mentioned during the episode. And I want to hear from you. Let me know what kind of content you'd like to see on the Brancetbook podcast as we move forward. To leave your feedback, head on over to the DavyandKrista Facebook page and send us a message or send us a DM on Instagram at DavyandKrista. Now, on to the episode.
Building Systems and Automation in Business
00:01:29
Speaker
All right, we are back with another episode of the Brands That Book Podcast. I'm here with Dawn from TechSabi Creative. And we are talking about really getting your systems in place and building systems and automation so that not as much of your time is tied up with tasks that are repeatable. So welcome, Dawn. I know we have a lot to get through today. Yeah, thanks for having me, Davey. I'm excited to be here.
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, so it's such an interesting topic. One, I kind of noticed in the background, even being a tech person, you have, you know, a physical calendar, you have the post-it notes out, right? So do you still, like, even when it comes to planners, this is a big debate. Vanessa Kynes is on the podcast a lot and she's a paper planner person. I'm more of a digital planner type person. Where do you land on that debate?
00:02:15
Speaker
I'm definitely a hybrid, and that's funny that you say that because I have my paper planner right next to me. For me, I'm a firm believer in digital. My calendar and all of my tasks are digital, but there is something very special about being able to write down my priorities and then physically crossing it off of a to-do list. So that's where my hybrid is. Everything is online, so I don't lose it, don't forget it, but then the day-to-day stuff is still in front of me just because it's right in front of me at all times.
Dawn's Transition from Tech to Photography
00:02:44
Speaker
Awesome. I do love a good to-do list and just the satisfaction of crossing things off that list for sure. And I think that's an interesting topic to get into is there is probably some balance out there. I remember on days where I'm like on a systems kick, I can kind of overdo it and build out systems I don't really need and then becomes tedious to maintain and defeats the purpose and all of that.
00:03:08
Speaker
But I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We do start every episode with, you know, our guests entrepreneurial journey. And you I think have a pretty eclectic journey like so many of the guests that we have on the podcast, like me myself, from software engineer to photographer to now helping creatives get organized. So take us through that and tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are right now. Yeah, absolutely. So my stories, I call it like the full circle. It's
00:03:37
Speaker
started in technology and here we are again. My tech career began at Apple and I was there in like iPhone 4 or like first iPad day so it's been a while. But that's where I really got started and started working with technology in a professional sense. From there I moved on to be a web developer. I got my degree in information systems and then I moved on to be a software engineer. So I was really just you know completely immersed in this technical
00:04:06
Speaker
field and I loved every minute of it. And while I was a software engineer, I ended up with a camera in my hands and it was like a Groupon thing and like, Oh, this is fun. Like it's techie like cameras a machine at the end of the day and I fell in love with it from a technology side.
00:04:24
Speaker
And as I got more and more into the ins and outs of photography, I started learning more about being a business owner. And that's what I really fell in love with. I fell in love with creating systems and creating these workflows and working with clients and creating this experience. And at about two years, I went full time with my photography business and left my software engineering job.
00:04:51
Speaker
And I have had my photography business now for five years. We do about 30 weddings a year and still do 30 weddings a year.
Linking Business Success to System Implementation
00:04:59
Speaker
And in that process, I learned with working with other creatives, I was the leader in the rising tide society and connecting with other people that the part of my business that I loved the most, like building these experiences and the technology was actually what other creatives were most fearful of.
00:05:20
Speaker
From there, I started building resources and speaking on these topics, and that's how we led into the launch of Tech Savvy Creative, which is a huge resource of all this information to help creatives become confident in those things that they are terrified of. I meet so many creatives that are like,
00:05:40
Speaker
I'm so fearful or uncertain that I just don't do anything. And I'm here to hopefully bridge that gap and bring some peace and clarity to those creatives and then help them get some time back and some security and protect their business through technology.
00:05:55
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And I feel like so much of, you know, success in business or at least to a certain extent is getting systems in place because it's very easy to start wrapping your time up into things that take a lot of time but don't really have a lot of impact, right? And I think that's where it's really helpful to start building systems so that you can focus on and I know that maybe this is sort of an overviews phrase but working, you know, on your business versus working in your business.
00:06:22
Speaker
Do you feel like your background in tech, you know, from Apple to being a web developer and software engineer helped you when it came to like, do you feel like you naturally were just inclined to build out some of these systems and automations in your business? 100%. And I think that's because I've been on both sides of software and technology, I've built it, and then I've utilized it. And I've also taught it, right? So for me, it's really, I think the best
00:06:48
Speaker
thing that I learned from my experience in the technical field is to not be afraid of it. I feel like that's something that helped me really build my business is like, I know that this isn't going to work perfectly out of the box every single time. I know that this is going to be a process and I know it's going to drive me crazy sometimes.
00:07:07
Speaker
I know a lot of my coaching clients, they feel like it should work right away. And when it doesn't, they're immediately disheartened. And knowing that like walking in, I think that helped me grow and not be fearful of those areas of my business.
00:07:25
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I want to start diving into some, I guess, tech considerations here. One of the things that especially now that I'm running or help running till agency doing Facebook ads, it's become apparent that the tools that you choose are relatively important.
00:07:41
Speaker
Now, of course, I'm a believer in just getting started. And so, if there's a tool out there that, you know, maybe you don't know if you can grow into, fine, use it if it's going to help you, you know, in the now. But in general, I feel like sometimes people will come to us and they just have sort of a technology infrastructure, so to speak, that can't do what we want it to do.
00:08:04
Speaker
And so, again, I mean, just as a couple examples and not to get into the weeds here, because that's not really the point of this episode, but learning management systems that don't allow for things like upsells and downsells and stuff like that. So it kind of handcuffs us in terms of the funnel that we can put together.
00:08:20
Speaker
you know, again, I feel like I'm going down the rabbit hole here. So if you're listening, you're like, I don't understand any of really that, you know, that's not what you do. The point I'm trying to make is that, you know, even in choosing a website, so that might be a more practical example for people starting on something like Weebly or Zenfolio or something like that, you know, it's sort of a bummer to a certain extent, because at a certain point, you're going to outgrow it.
00:08:45
Speaker
So I guess, you know, just in terms of choosing different platforms, all right, finally, myself around to a question here, just in terms of choosing certain platforms, do you have any advice for like, doing research and figuring out, you know, okay, what's going to meet my needs now, and not going to be too overwhelming for me, but at the same time is something that I can grow into? Absolutely. And I think you, like, you hit the nail on the head there, like, it's
00:09:13
Speaker
What do you want to be? Like, who do you want to be? Not necessarily who are you right now, especially if you're just getting started, you might not know what those things are. But it is definitely harder to change systems while you're in the middle of it than it is to start with a stronger system. And I personally, I have experienced that both on the side of like, I kind of went for something that was a little bit bigger than I was at the time. And then I've also made the change to something. And
00:09:42
Speaker
It's so much easier if you can start in the beginning and say, hey, this is where I want to be. I want to be a six-figure photographer that has hundreds of clients. I want to have this website that will let me sell products on it, kind of deciding those things and really sitting down and what's your vision for your business? What's your goal? And I know that's also hard because a lot of us start as a hobby. We are passionate about something. We're not really sure what that looks like, but if you can
00:10:11
Speaker
establish a system, or at least the general idea of what kind of system you want to be in eventually, it's gonna help you change yourself internally and say, okay, I am a professional, right? And I think we all experience that when we get started, it's kind of like, okay, like, when do I start calling myself a professional photographer, and choosing the right system, even one that might be bigger than you at the time, is really a huge step into going into that direction. So I think, like, just like you said,
00:10:41
Speaker
Do some research and trials are a huge thing. Go try them out. Give yourself some time. And to even piggyback off of all of that, there is no such thing as a perfect tool. There's always going to be something that one tool has that another tool doesn't. You really just have to prioritize what's important to you and then keep those priorities front of mind as you choose those tools and systems.
Investing in Automated Systems
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And I do have a couple follow-up questions about that. But I feel like I probably jumped ahead a little bit. For people who are, you know, who feel like, okay, well, I can do that myself and I can save myself, you know, 5, 15, $20 a month by completing this task myself.
00:11:26
Speaker
What's sort of the case for not doing that, for giving up $5, $10, $15 a month for a specific tool and investing in some technology that can automate a specific system? Absolutely. Really, when you are choosing these right tools, you're buying yourself time, right? So it really comes down to how valuable is that time. Sure, you can send out those manual invoice reminders, but what happens if you forget or what happens if your daughter gets sick?
00:11:54
Speaker
Or what happens if you are at the vet for an emergency visit? You don't want those small pieces of your business, even though at the time they seem like, oh, I don't need this. I can do it myself. You are creating consistency. You're creating security. And then the confidence that your business is going to take care of itself in the situation that you have to step away. And I think that's something that's really important that
00:12:19
Speaker
no business owner should overlook. If it works, it works, but what happens when it doesn't, right? That's always like it's in the perfect world scenario. It's totally fine. Save yourself that $5. But what happens when life throws you a curve ball or what happens when you become sick or what happens when, you know, your husband's job makes you need to take a step away from work for a while. And these just bring that peace of mind and that clarity that you can do that without everything that you've worked for falling to pieces.
00:12:48
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I feel like the benefit of working with a spouse or just anybody else in general, but I know Krista and I kind of do this for each other where bookkeeping, for instance, is something that we typically did on our own because Krista was like... And there's all sorts of good reasons and I think this is, you know, maybe gets to a point of going through that process of deliberation on what you should be outsourcing or what you should replace with the tool. For Krista, it was when it came to bookkeeping, it was like, well, I can do this myself.
00:13:16
Speaker
And two, she wanted to very much be aware of her numbers. But I finally got her to commit to something like bench. I don't know if you're familiar with bench, but it kind of combines a QuickBooks with a bookkeeper. And this way, she can still be very familiar with our numbers on a monthly basis, but at the same time, it's off her plate. And so the time that she spends doing that,
00:13:37
Speaker
Certainly, and anybody who's worked with QuickBooks or Wave or something like that, I know last year, and Chris is very diligent about doing this at the end of each month, but something went wrong where all of our categories were disconnected with our transactions. So she had to do like nine months of it over again. And it's like, well, we don't have to deal with that anymore. And so I think it goes back to that point of yours where how valuable is your time? And is this a task that you're going to have to repeat over and over again that's going to add up?
00:14:05
Speaker
So, you know, I 100% agree with that. And something else that you mentioned that I think is important is taking advantage of the trial is something that's been helpful for me because I err on the other side where I'm like, okay, I'll sign up for this because I think I'll use it one day. You know, three months later, I haven't set it up, right? And so hopefully, you know, we'll be able to get into that a little bit and you can speak to that. But so, you know, we have a new role in the house where if we sign up for a trial, we put on the calendar when that trial ends. And if we haven't set it up, we haven't used it, then we get rid of it.
00:14:34
Speaker
And it forces a decision there. It prevents us from getting into that subscription creep where all of a sudden we're paying for a bunch of stuff that we don't actually use. Right. It's the FOMO, right? Yeah. It's like, oh, I need that. And then you don't realize you don't need it. And then here you are with the subscription.
00:14:52
Speaker
Yeah and sales and things like that and you say okay well it's on sale right now you know but it doesn't matter if it's on sale if six months later you haven't used it you haven't saved any money you know so for sure but it is helpful having Krista because I can look at some of the stuff she's done or she's doing and tying up her time with and encourage her and then likewise she can come to me and be like you know with bench it's become easier for her to be like hey Davey so these three things you signed up for and and we're not using like
00:15:18
Speaker
Anyways, as far as where people should get started with systems, because I got to imagine too that just the people that you work with, are there any patterns in terms of like common starting places? Like for somebody who has no systems or minimal systems, where should they start? Yeah, absolutely. I think the best thing they can do to start is to really dive into some resources. There are so many amazing educators in our industry that utilize these systems.
00:15:47
Speaker
So see what they're saying, see what they're using and just use that as a starting point. Now I want to emphasize starting point. You should not use a tool just because I say to use a tool or just because your best friend got you a cool discount on this tool, right? You really need to dive in and evaluate if this is the right tool for you because the right tool for me is not the right tool for everybody else.
00:16:14
Speaker
And I experienced that between my two businesses between tech savvy creative and Donald's the studios. We actually utilize some different tools for the same thing like for my client management system two separate tools.
00:16:29
Speaker
just because my workflow and what I, my purpose for the business were two totally different things. Do you mind if I ask what the two different CRMs are? Is that what you just had to use two different CRMs? Yep. Okay. I do. Yes. For my studio, my photography studio, I use Tave. I am a huge fan of Tave. I've been with them since the very beginning. So it's been five years for the coaching business for tech savvy creative. I'm actually utilizing Dubsado.
Starting Business Systems with CRMs
00:16:56
Speaker
And I dove into the Dubsado route because a lot of my clients were using it and I wanted to get a better understanding of the experience, but also they had some things like public proposals and the ability to book from the site that really worked well for that business model. And that's why I went that direction there. Yeah, it makes sense. And have you enjoyed Dubsado? We're Dubsado users. Yeah, I have. Probably don't have it set up, you know, in the most...
00:17:26
Speaker
And so this actually kind of loops back around to I like it. It's beautiful. It works well, but it's so different than what I was used to and I cannot stress this enough to any of my coaching clients. This is a process. I love tools and I love technology and it took me a while to really understand how this tool works.
00:17:48
Speaker
If you walk into any type of tool expecting this to change your life in five minutes, you have the wrong mindset and you are going to be disappointed. And it is just so important to know that, hey, this is going to take some time. Dedicate a couple hours and sit down and say, no, I'm going to do this. And the biggest thing you can do too is test, test, test, test, and test some more. Pretend you're a client, walk through the whole process.
00:18:14
Speaker
take notes as you go through that process. Because you don't want to be working with real clients and be like, I hope that email sent or I hope this looked good. What does it look like that sort of thing? What does it look like? Yeah, exactly. You want to be so confident in that and that's really going back to the foundation of what are the right tools. A tool that you're confident in is going to be so much more helpful than having a tool that you don't really use or you aren't really sure about.
00:18:40
Speaker
I think that's such a helpful distinction, that distinction between having a or nuance rather, having a tool that you feel really comfortable with versus maybe a tool that can do all of the things. I think this is certainly true of websites. One of the biggest questions that we get when it comes to websites is around SEO, you know? So, is show it good for SEO? What's the best platform for SEO? And both a show it website and a WordPress website can be optimized for SEO.
00:19:07
Speaker
So there's plenty of show it websites out there ranking for their target keywords, right? But because WordPress can be probably more optimized, right? People think, okay, well, this is better for SEO, but that's not necessarily true, right? Just because something can be more optimized.
00:19:24
Speaker
doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to go through the trouble of actually optimizing it, right? Right. And so at the end of the day, if you feel comfortable with show it, and you're going to update that website, and that works for you, that's, you know, nine times out of 10 going to be better platform for you. So 100%. I really believe strongly in that point. It's just like you said, like the tool that's best for you is the tool that you're going to use. Like it doesn't matter how great or how expensive a tool is, if you're not going to use it, it's worthless.
00:19:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So getting into some of these tools, so we just talked about CRMs a little bit. And like I said, we also use Dipsado. Do you find that's a pretty good starting place for people? So for people who are just kind of exploring systems, CRMs, or maybe task management systems, like where do you usually start with people as you set up systems? Absolutely. I always recommend starting with the CRM. And I recommend that because it tends to take care of those big wins in your business, things like invoices and contracts,
00:20:21
Speaker
automatic payments, any type of payment processor, that tends to be the foundation of a business. And that's why I always direct my clients to go there first. Also, when you are implementing a CRM, I found that it really helps you simplify and streamline your business because you have to really answer some questions that you might have not had to answer before. Like, okay, like if this product cost me X amount of dollars, how much am I going to charge for it?
00:20:49
Speaker
You know, what does this process look like? What clauses do I need to have in my contracts? What payment reminders or what payment plans do I need to have? Those questions are answered when you set up those systems. So those can really kind of refine your process. And like, I really kind of challenge you, like, are you taking steps in your business that are necessary or is that totally a waste of time? So I always recommend starting there.
00:21:15
Speaker
If they're looking for something that might be a little bit more, maybe I want to say the word sexy because contracts and invoices are not a lot of fun. But getting paid is. Oh, but getting paid is absolutely correct. But I also really enjoy connecting my clients with task management software as well.
00:21:35
Speaker
Just because that's something that's kind of one of those quick wins like an online to do list makes people feel real good because then they feel like they're not forgetting something. So that's also one of those tools that I tend to lean towards like if we're going to get started client management system.
00:21:51
Speaker
task management website. Definitely. Awesome. So let's look at those three real quick. So starting with the CRM, and we already talked about this a little bit, Dipsado and Tave were the two that came up. Are there any other ones that you recommend? I imagine that those two cover most use cases, right? Like Tave is probably a great event oriented one. Is it photographer specific or is it wedding industry specific?
00:22:15
Speaker
It's not, it's, I would say it originally started more photographer specific, but now it's so customizable that I've seen DJs, I've connected wedding planners with it. So a lot of other industry professionals are utilizing it.
Switching from Asana to ClickUp
00:22:29
Speaker
Awesome. And Dibsada is pretty, I feel like we use it for both Davey and Krista and Fertility Agency. Granted, they're both agencies. So of course, if it works for one, it would likely work for the other. Are there any other ones that you recommend? Oh, 100%. There's Honeybook is a really big one.
00:22:44
Speaker
We love Honeybook because it's very simple and it's beautiful. And if you're looking to get started, that's a great place to start. We've also had some clients utilize tools like Seventeen Hats. I've had some utilize Basecamp, which is a little bit more of a, I would say like a big bulky software for a different purpose. We've also had some great luck with Pixify. We love the Pixify team.
00:23:08
Speaker
And, oh gosh, I'm trying to think if I've missed any of them. There's a lot of them out there. Yeah, yeah, for sure. To be the primary, the dubsado Tave 17 hats, honey book, pixify. And again, it really just depends on everybody's learning style, right? If you're looking for something very simple, very beautiful and elegant. Typically I direct them towards the dubsado or honey book route. If they're looking for something to be a powerhouse and to really
00:23:34
Speaker
you know, be this tool that's kind of almost the end all be all that's where I tend to lean towards Tave just because of how customizable it is. So we can talk about these for a long time. So moving on to task management systems, just some recommendations around there. What do you recommend? What are your favorites? My favorite so this is I got stuck down this rabbit hole a couple months ago, I got targeted for an ad.
00:24:01
Speaker
for this software called ClickUp. And I believe you use ClickUp, is that correct? It's amazing, yes. Yes, it's amazing. I used to be a big Asana fan and I lived in Asana and then I dove into ClickUp and it blew my world away. And my editor likes it so much more, my assistant likes it so much more, so we made the full switch over to ClickUp. So that's where I'm at now.
00:24:28
Speaker
What are a few things that you like about ClickUp versus Asana specifically? Yeah, so this was the big winner for me. When I change a tasks due date, all of the sub tasks change with it. Oh my gosh, y'all when I have so I have weddings in here, they have 56 tasks under each wedding. And if a wedding date changed, I would have to go manually change those tasks.
00:24:54
Speaker
Now with ClickUp, I just changed the wedding day and everything shifts. And that has been huge for me with the coronavirus and rescheduling all these weddings. All I have to do is change a wedding day and everything else shifts, including social media postings, including when I need a touch point with them or when I need to have like a follow-up call with them.
00:25:17
Speaker
all of those things are automatically moved. And it has made my life so much easier. So that's a big win for me. Yeah, I'm a big ClickUp fan as well. I think I've talked about it on the podcast before. But it's one of those things. And I think this is my favorite pieces of technology usually check this box where ClickUp is easy to get started with, but it also expands to your needs, you know, and I feel that same way about Slack. When it was just me and Krista, Slack was still super helpful. It was just a simple, you know, back and forth easy messaging system.
00:25:47
Speaker
Now that we have teams, now that we share channels across different teams, it's been able to grow and accommodate all of that. So I think that's really to me the mark of a good piece of software. Absolutely. Because I know even for ClickUp, I'm sure we don't use even 50% of the features, but I don't feel that way. You know, I don't feel like there's a lot left unused. Right. Well, and you can constantly change and adapt to like, you might start a new project and you're like, Oh, it would be really helpful if I had this custom field.
00:26:17
Speaker
And you can add that and click up. And I don't know, but for me, that's a little bit dangerous because I get stuck down this rabbit hole of like, like, Oh, this is fun. I can do this and this. And, you know, before I know it, it's two AM and I need to go to bed and get off of my tool, but it's perfect because I can have it do exactly what I want
Website Platform Integrations
00:26:37
Speaker
it to do. And it grows with me. And as things change, it's really easy to modify that too.
00:26:42
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. So, we'll just stop there for time management or for task management tools. Asana, ClickUp. I know Trello is a popular one. Me and Cash Moyer getting arguments about Trello. She loves Trello. I hate Trello. So, I'm not even gonna give Trello any sort of conversational space right now beyond that. We love you, Kat.
00:27:01
Speaker
Moving on to websites. Recommendations there and I think, you know, websites do play a sort of a pivotal part in this conversation because it is sort of what everything else is connected to, to a certain extent, right? Sort of a hub. So, what sort of website recommendations do you make? So, let me start this by saying I was the person that was like, oh no, I'm in control of this. Like,
00:27:24
Speaker
Because I was a web developer, like I can do this. And I really had a hard time with some of these tools that were like drag and drop. I'm like, No, I'm a developer. Like I don't need this. So I started off kind of like doing my own. And I quickly learned that was a mistake. Because again, it's like you don't like why do that when you don't have to, you know, it's worth paying some money. For me, I am a huge, huge fan of show at
00:27:49
Speaker
I don't think you could pay me enough money to get off of show it. I've been with show it for the last four years now. I go to United every year. I'm a big fan of the community around show it. And I'm a fan around what you can do, what you can build. And it's similar to ClickUp. Like there's really no limit to what you can do, but it's also simple and easy to get started. And I think it's that perfect blend of those things for
00:28:16
Speaker
creatives and business owners of all kinds, whether you're just getting started or whether you've been doing this for 10 years.
00:28:22
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And I do think as far as drag and drop systems out there, there's really nothing that compares to the creative control that you have over your website with show it. But you know, it does have that WordPress integration, you still blog through WordPress. And that ecosystem opens itself up to all sorts of easy integrations, you know, it's easy to do, it's easy to connect tools, it gives you the opportunity to add so much more functionality to your
Using Zapier for App Integration
00:28:48
Speaker
website. So yeah, I mean, I agree with all of that.
00:28:51
Speaker
as far as
00:28:54
Speaker
I guess, you know, I mean, do you play around with Zapier a lot? Oh, all the time. Okay. So I don't, you know, I don't know if we should even go down this path. I do have one or two other things that I'd love to talk about before we wrap up this interview. And I don't want people who don't love this stuff as much as you and I, I don't want to lose them. But I have found that it's helpful to understand what Zapier is. So could you explain to people listening what Zapier is and, you know, what they might have to use it for?
00:29:24
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So Zapier is an online tool that allows you to connect two applications together. So for example, if something in ClickUp is completed, then add it to a Google spreadsheet. Or if this email with this subject line ends up in my inbox, add this task to Asana or ClickUp or whatever that might be.
00:29:49
Speaker
So it allows you to connect two tools together that might not have direct integrations with each other. Now, there is a little bit of a caveat with Zapier that not all tools have Zapier integrations.
00:30:02
Speaker
So I know for me, I use Tave. Tave does not integrate with Zapier right now. Really? And it doesn't. That's actually kind of shocking. And they say it's on their roadmap, like it's coming eventually and they know that we want it. So I'm not trying to give Tave a hard time here, but it is something that we don't have. However, Zapier has allowed me to get creative and utilize other things to allow the zaps to take place. So for example,
00:30:31
Speaker
When I sign or counter sign a contract in Tave, I send the email to my clients. It's like, here's your contract, right? Well, I have ZAP looking for that email in my Google sent folder. And when it sees that email, it adds the client to a flow desk segment. So, right, I'm kind of like I went around it a little bit, but I'm utilizing tools that I can connect to do what I need to do, even though that integration is not there.
00:31:02
Speaker
So if I didn't have that, I wouldn't have been able to have things automatically added to Flowdesk or projects created in ClickUp. But because I can do that with Gmail or with any inbox, I'm able to make that happen even though the tool I use doesn't.
Outlining Workflows and System Integration
00:31:18
Speaker
Yeah. And absolutely, and if you're listening, I think one of the key things about Zapier is that it was created to allow integrations between apps easily. So if that sounds overwhelming to you, and Zapier can get a little bit complicated, but I think in general, even if you feel like you're not super tech savvy, you could probably jump in and create a Zap probably easier than you think. So it was created to make the connection between these apps easier.
00:31:47
Speaker
There's something that's definitely worth checking out. I don't know if you have a resource around Zapier, but if you do, I'll have to get it from you and link to it in the show notes because I do think it's such a valuable tool for people to use.
00:31:59
Speaker
Yes. So moving on, a couple of things that I want to, or at least one thing I want to chat before we end this conversation is a system for building out any sort of automation or system. So do you have a specific system that you use when building systems for others or building automations for others? So this really comes back to the roots of like the very beginning of our conversations, like are you a paper or a digital person?
00:32:26
Speaker
You know, for this one, I actually start on paper. I want you, anybody that I'm working with, like, let's sit down and draw out your workflow from start to finish. And you will be surprised about how hard this is. It is not an easy task. You get caught up in like, oh, but I send this email and I need to do this reminder and I got to schedule an engagement session.
00:32:47
Speaker
Draw out that whole workflow and that process in itself is really gonna kind of make you take a look at it and be like Okay, like is this necessary? Can I simplify this once you have that full workflow? mapped out Go through that entire process and circle the things that drive you crazy. I
00:33:08
Speaker
What are those things that you forget to do? Or what are those repeating tasks? Or let's say you cannot stand hounding somebody for their payment, right? Or you always forget to send that automation or that questionnaire. Circle those items in your workflow and then use that as your priority list of like what tools can I use to implement or what can I automate here? And you'll also learn that
00:33:35
Speaker
you might find these things over time. You might find yourself repeating a step over and over again. And that's something also important to remember is this is meant to adapt and change over time. You're not gonna get it right the first time you do this. You're gonna change things, your process might change, your packages might change, and that's okay. And you'll just have to adapt your tool and your systems as you go. So find those pain points,
00:34:03
Speaker
prioritize them, which one drives you the most crazy, and then focus on the how. Start researching those tools. Ask other creatives how they deal with X, Y, and Z, whether that's bookkeeping and, you know, how do you guys handle your books every year? Or maybe that's, how do I make sure that these clients get into this email list so they get these beautiful emails and aren't forgotten about? Whatever that is,
00:34:29
Speaker
Then you focus on the how, ask other people, do some research, try those trials, but actually use those trials. Don't just like, let them go. And then you just work from there. Again, this is not something that's instant, right? You're not going to sign up for a tool and it's instantly better. You're going to have to sit down, focus and let yourself learn and really figure out if the tool is right for you. There's a lot of situations too, where a tool
00:34:54
Speaker
is really great. But if it doesn't process with you, it's not right. Again, like the best tool that you can use is one that you're actually going to use every day. But if you don't use it, you just have it because you feel like you need it. That's not a great use of your resources or your money or your time at all. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think all that is so true. I really appreciate the writing it down first. Yeah. And I think that
00:35:20
Speaker
going through and trying to build it out as you think about it is just a recipe for disaster, you know? And I've been guilty of this trying to build out some sort of automation, realizing that, you know, I skipped a step somewhere along the way. And then you have to go back and rebuild it from that point. And it's always just a little bit miserable. So I think I appreciate that approach a lot. And also, I mean,
00:35:42
Speaker
There is a lot of value in finding the right tool and not just using a bunch of free tools that you can piece together. Like when it comes to contracts and invoices, there are definitely, I remember way back when we first got started and this might have been good, maybe when we first got started, but it was we used Wave and that's free and we could send invoices and then we use something like Adobe sign or something like that. And that was free up to 20 signatures or whatever at the time.
00:36:09
Speaker
But it's such a headache, especially if you're on the go, you know, trying to, you know, having to do any of that from your phone, you know, we'd always run in, especially when it comes to Adobe, we'd always run into people not being able to open it on their end, you know, and so that's why, okay, so yeah, Dipsado all of a sudden makes a lot of sense paying, you know, whatever that is, $25 a month or so for that tool.
00:36:32
Speaker
I have to imagine though, some people listening either fall into the camp of, okay, that's great. Dawn, you're telling me this is easy. I still want nothing to do with this,
Connecting with Dawn for Coaching and Resources
00:36:42
Speaker
you know? Or, you know, they're just busy and they're like, I know I need this automation like yesterday. I know I need this system like yesterday, but I just don't have the time to build it myself.
00:36:52
Speaker
So, how can people connect with you and work with you to get these things set up? Where can they follow along just to get some of the content or get access to some of the content that you push out around these topics? Right. So, you can find me at techsavicreative.com. I'm also techsavicreative on Instagram. So, that's where I'm most active definitely on Instagram.
00:37:15
Speaker
We offer coaching packages that allow our clients to work directly with us and then have ongoing support with us for some time. And we use Slack for that. We also use a boxer just depending on if you're somebody that would rather use voice or if you'd rather type and send screenshots type thing. Now, we currently do not offer setups, but that's something that we are talking about
00:37:39
Speaker
like offering in the future. I currently believe that it's really important for people to experience their tools firsthand and kind of be in the weeds of it because I think that's how they learn best. When they get to implement and actually learn the system themselves, they tend to do better than if something's just handed to them completed.
00:38:00
Speaker
And that's why we go down the route of, Hey, I'm going to walk with you through this process and let's find the right tool for you. I'll ask you these questions and I'll help you implement it. But at the end of the day, I want you to be the one in the driver's seat. I want you to be the one clicking the tool and actually typing this out. So we do offer coaching for that. And that tends to be what most of my interactions are with my clients. They are getting something set up, whether that's email marketing or a client management system.
00:38:28
Speaker
And I also have people just drop some quick questions into Instagram and Instagram stories. So you can definitely find me there too.
00:38:35
Speaker
Awesome. And that makes sense with the evolving nature of systems, you know, and just like what happens then, you know, down the road when you need to make a change, it doesn't make sense to then have to hire somebody just to make, you know, one small change. Had you set it up on your own, you know exactly, you know, kind of where to go and make that change. Voxer is something that I know more and more people are using. And I just don't understand why. That's a whole nother conversation. But I mean, it's been around forever. You definitely have to like,
00:39:05
Speaker
get over this fear of it. I so I use it with my coach and I went maybe three months before I was brave enough to push that button and actually start talking just because I felt silly when I was doing it. But it was once I got over that fear, it was so helpful just to kind of be able to talk and honestly to be able to ramble like maybe I wasn't really sure what my thoughts were. And I could just push that button and kind of ramble and then she would help me like organize and formulate what I was really trying to say.
00:39:34
Speaker
Sure, sure. Yeah, I guess that makes sense to me from an organizational standpoint. I just feel like it'd be a nightmare like going back to a earlier conversation and trying to find something, you know, unlike slack where you could just search and I definitely prefer slack. That's for sure.
00:39:49
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But anyways, I really appreciate your time today. And we will be sure to link to all those resources in the show notes for people to access. We didn't talk about email marketing at all and email marketing tools. But I know I feel like that is something that more and more people are trying to adopt and integrate into their business. Sure, it's been around forever. But I feel like for the wedding industry and specifically, seeing a lot of photographers lately specifically wanting to incorporate some sort of email marketing into their business just as part of their lead gen, you know, nurturing. So
00:40:18
Speaker
It definitely sounds like there's plenty to reach out to you for. But again, thank you for your time today and I'm excited to release the episode. Yeah, thanks for having me, Davey. Thanks for tuning in to the Brands That Book Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving a review in iTunes. For show notes and other resources, head on over to DaveyandCrista.com.
00:40:50
Speaker
you