22 Ways To Be More Productive and Automate Your Workflow With IFTTT and Zapier by @jessicamalnik

by Jessica Malnik | Featured Contributor

Now, I struggled a bit with whether or not to write this post. Both Ifttt and Zapier are incredibly powerful automation tools. Simply put, it puts the Internet to work for you and your needs, by automating your daily workflows and creating “recipes” to do certain tasks. Like with many awesome tools, there are ways people can abuse it. I won’t go into that here, but I do want to share 22 ways people can use it to make their job and life a little easier.

Zapier:

1. Add Eventbrite attendees to Mailchimp 
If you run even a small meet-up every so often, chances are one of the biggest pains is getting your attendees funneled into your email list or CRM. This zap seamlessly automates the process of syncing Eventbrite RSVPs with Mailchimp.

2. Create Trello card from Gmail 
Trello can be a great way to manage projects. This zap makes it easier to move important details from your email into Trello.

3.  Sync Linkedin Connections With Gmail Contacts
It’s a pain to have to sift through your email contacts plus all your Linkedin ones separately. Use this zap to sync them.

4. Sync and track Rescuetime alerts with Google Docs
The best way to stop squandering your time is to be hold yourself accountable and track where you are spending your time online. Rescuetime allows you to do this. Many swear by it. This zap allows you to sync your Rescuetime alerts with Google Docs.

5. Send Feedly Saved For Later Posts to Evernote to archive/read later
Don’t have time to read that article right now? Bookmark it to later and then zap it to Evernote.

6. Sync Feedly articles with Buffer
Ditto for social media. You can automatically send Feedly posts to Buffer to schedule out.

7. Create Asana Tasks from new Wufoo form entries
If you use Asana to manage projects, here’s a cool zap to sync it with Wufoo forms.

8. Create a Zendesk ticket from a Wuffoo form 
If you use Zendesk, you can automatically sync any support inquiries from your Wufoo Form straight to your Zendesk account.

9. Track Paypal Sales in a Google Doc

10. Sync Paypal with Quickbooks or Freshbooks 
This will make accounting easier and less hassle-free.

11. Sync Stripe new customers with Freshbooks or Quickbooks  
Same as #10.

Ifttt:
1.  Instagram to Dropbox 
This recipe is particularly useful because it automatically transfers and archives all your Instagram photos to Dropbox.

2. Download and archive Facebook tagged photos to Dropbox
Save and back up your Facebook photos easily to Dropbox

3. Save my iOS photos to Dropbox  
Ditto your iOS or Android photos.

4. Save starred gmails to evernote
Just like with Feedly, you can send starred emails to Evernote to archive and/or access later.

5. Log and sync all receipts from Gmail to a Google Spreadsheet
Taxes are a royal pain. This should make the process a little easier.

6.  Get a text reminder for an upcoming GCal event
Never forget about an event again. Get text reminders to your phone through Ifttt.

7. Send favorite tweets to Evernote 
Just like #4.

8. Get today’s weather report synced to your GCal

9. Backup phone contacts to Google Drive 
Prone to losing your phone? You will see have everyone’s phone numbers via this recipe.

10. Get a text reminder on your friends’ birthdays. 

11. Get an alert on your phone for breaking CNN news 

Now, I just shared five recipes of literally hundreds. Ifttt like so many other tools can be as useful and powerful as you want it to be. Browse the recipes on their site, or you can create your own to fit your specific needs.

What’s your favorite recipe or zap? Share it below in the comment section. 

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Jessica Malnik is a community builder, content creator and an avid blogger.  She blogs regularly on her own blog, jessicamalnik.com. Her blog focuses on community management, social media, PR and a little bit of marketing.

Her work has been featured in a variety of online sites and publications, including Convince and Convert, PR Daily, Spin Sucks, SocialFresh, 12Most and TheCommunityManager.com

You can also connect with her on Twitter, Instagram or by following her blog here. 

Jessica Malnik