51: Week 8 of the series How to Automate & Streamline the Backend of your Lead Magnets (and Offers) – All about Zapier

Does the very mention of Zapier make you feel like you need to get a Bachelor’s degree to use it? Maybe you’ve heard how great and useful it is, but once you open the site and start looking around, you immediately close the tab due to intimidation. If you are ready to have your systems talk to each other and start collecting more data on where your leads and income are coming from, this episode is for you. In this episode, I revisit Zapier and share how you can do a lot with this powerful tool, especially as you start mapping out all your puzzle pieces for your opt-ins and offers.

The Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast is brought to you by Dolly DeLong Education. This podcast is for creative business owners who want to learn tangible steps to automate their business through workflows, systems, tools, and strategies to go from scattered to streamlined with purpose because even muggles can become automated wizards.

Automate the Backend of Your Lead Magnets

Are you ready to automate the backend of your lead magnets? I have put together the comprehensive checklist you need to ensure that all your puzzle pieces are in place for your next opt-in, your next offer, or even your next bundle! Stop letting tech fears hold you back from automating and streamlining the backend of your amazing offers and opt-ins!

Grab the Guide

(Need more than a checklist? Sign up for the mini-course!)

Review the Show Notes

Introducing Zapier (3:50)

How to use Zapier for bookkeeping  (4:37)

Using Zapier as a bundle contributor (8:44)

Using Zapier to optimize quiz results (14:58)

Getting started with Zapier now (19:53)

LINKS MENTIONED

My podcast is turning ONE. Will you leave a message for me, please? https://www.speakpipe.com/MyPodcastTurnsONE

My newest mini-course (how to automate and streamline the backend of your opt-ins, offers, and/or bundles): https://dollydelong.thrivecart.com/automate-your-offers-mini-course/?coupon=60OFF

Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions: The Legal Paige: https://thelegalpaige.com/?aff=33

Zapier: www.zapier.com

Flodesk: get 50% off: https://flodesk.com/c/DOLLYDELONGPHOTO

Thrivecart Learn:  https://dollydelong–checkout.thrivecart.com/thrivecart-standard-account/

TryInteract Quiz  Builder: (here is my  affiliate link: https://get.tryinteract.com/9ztpank9ttog) 

Listen to the series

Week 1 – The Importance Of Copy & Having A High Converting Landing Page Featuring Ashlyn Carter

Week 2 – All About Lead Magnets

Week 3 -The Perfect Guide To Making Your Way Into Your Subscriber’s Inbox

Week 4 – The Ultimate Crash Course To Setting Up Your First Nurture Sequence Featuring Amanda Stores

Week 5 – How To Incorporate Visuals Featuring Jennifer Carfora

Week 6 – My Top 5 Favorite Ways To Grow My Email List

Week 7 – All about Tech

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REVIEW THE TRANSCRIPT:

Dolly Delong
Welcome to the systems and workflow magic podcast where I help entrepreneurs go from scattered to streamlined in their creative businesses. I’m your host, Dolly DeLong, a wife, a mom, and a photographer turned systems educator. Join me every week as we have conversations centered around creating tactical workflows, and automations in your business. Now, let’s make some strategic workflow magic.

Dolly Delong
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the systems and workflow magic podcast. I am your systems and workflow guide, and BFF dolly DeLonge. And this week, we are entering week number eight of the mini-series on how to automate the back end of your offers opt-ins, and even bundles if you are a contributor. So I know it’s been a fun little series. And to quickly recap, here are the topics we have covered, which I highly recommend you go back and listen to especially binge on if you’re new here. And just in general, I really wanted to help you optimize the back-end puzzle pieces of your offers opt-ins, and or bundles as a contributor. So in no particular order, here are some puzzle pieces we have discussed so far. One is how to create a landing page that converts, featuring Ashlyn Carter, we spoke about the importance of having optimized lead magnets and everything that goes into that. Three, we spoke about the importance of email marketing, and how to start researching different email service providers. If you’re brand new to the world of email marketing, we spoke about the importance of having the puzzle pieces of email nurture sequences set up. So just in case, somebody downloads an opt-in from you or gets an offer from you, they’ll know exactly what to expect. In a nurture sequence that featured Amanda Stores. Five, we spoke about the importance of having visuals to explain to the viewer, what to expect from either the opt-in or offer and not featured. Jennifer Carfora. Six, we spoke about my five different ways to promote lead magnets, of course, you know, there are tons of different ways to promote your lead magnets and opt-ins. And I shared my top five favorite ways to promote lead magnets. And then finally, we spoke about tech stacks and how you can assess your own tech stack if you were ever going to be optimizing again an opt-in offer, or if you are a contributor as part of a bundle. And again, let me reiterate, these are episodes 44 through episodes 50. So again, I know that a lot of different episodes, but they all build on top of each other. Or let me just put it this way. They’re all a puzzle piece, a back-end puzzle piece. So in this week’s episode, we are revisiting the topic of Zapier because I believe you can do a lot of powerful things with this tool, especially as you start mapping out all your puzzle pieces for either your opt-ins or your offers. Now I have a few examples I want to share with you. But before we do that, let me just share and define what Zapier is okay, so the technical side, Zapier is a software and a product that allows end users to integrate the web applications they use in automated workflows. Alright, so in other words, it acts as a bridge between apps between software that would normally not speak to each other. So Zapier is one, I believe it is a very robust tool out there. But it can be pretty intimidating. But at the same time, it can be so much fun to use within your own creative business. And let me just say you can take baby steps and use them within your business. Now, you know, I am all about examples and giving you some action items. So here are three examples of how to use that gear. And I’ll share an example of how to use it as a contributor for a bundle. I’ll share it as an example of how to use it if you have an offer. And then I’ll also share how do you If you have a lead magnet or an opt-in. So let’s talk about example one. So I think example one, I think I wrote this down as an offer. So, example one is for offer. So if you have an offer that you want somebody to purchase from you, alright, setting the stage. So you may want to set up a zap between your cart checkout, and a Google Excel spreadsheet so that anyone who buys your offer from you will be that their information will be zapped into a Google spreadsheet. That way you can track it. Now you can make this as complicated or as simple as possible. It’s up to you. But a really, really good starting point would potentially be to have the Google Spreadsheet have the first name, the last name, the email address of the buyer, the price of the offer, and the name of the offer. So just in case, you have several offers, and you have the SAP set up for all of your offers, and they all go into the same, let’s say Excel spreadsheet, then you can organize it by the name of the offer. All right. So why this example? Well, let’s say you don’t have a QuickBooks setup, or you don’t have a bookkeeper, or you don’t have a CPA you are working with which by the way, I highly recommend you find a CPA and get QuickBooks set up ASAP. Because from personal experience, it has helped me out tremendously. Now I consider myself pretty good with numbers. But I’m not an expert. I’m not a CPA, I am not a QuickBooks expert. And I knew I needed to take it to the next level. In order to truly understand the numbers behind my business, I needed someone to hold my hand. And so that’s where my CPA Jackie stepped in, and I have interviewed her on this podcast, but I just highly recommend, like whatever industry you’re in whatever creative business you have, please consider getting a CPA that should be one of your first hires to help you with the numbers and the back end taxes of your business. All right, that’s just me stepping off of my platform of getting a CPA. Alright, so going back to Zapier in the Google Forms, just in case you have not taken the steps of hiring a bookkeeper or setting up QuickBooks, or getting a CPA to help you set up QuickBooks. This is a way like setting up Google and your Google spreadsheet with Zapier and then your cart checkout system. This is a good way to track your money. Whenever somebody purchases one of your products from you, then you know where the income is coming from, from what source, or from what offer that’s coming in because you’ll have it organized in an Excel spreadsheet. That way come tax time when you need to give an account for where the main sources of income are coming from, from like your digital products, you know exactly the name of the offer, and the price they came in from Alright, so you can add everything up. Now, this is one example of how you can set up a zap for an offer on the back end. So again, the puzzle pieces mentioned here, are Zapier, of course, Google Excel spreadsheet, and then connecting your cart checkout system. And then the puzzle pieces, of course, are your offers. So example two, let’s say you are a contributor for a bundle, and you have a certain product you are promoting within somebody’s funnel. All right. So this is what I would recommend you would do the backend work of cloning your product. And then you set up a coupon code that directly correlates with only the bundle. Okay, so let’s say you did that. And, but it’s what if you know that your checkout or the course platform that houses your course or template, what if that doesn’t speak directly to your email service provider? Well, one way around this is by using Zapier. Now, you can set up a zap in Zapier by simply bridging both the course platform and your email service provider together. So how this looks for me is this. Whenever I clone a product and put a coupon code that directly impacts that product since it’s for a bundle. I didn’t go into Zapier and I set up a zap that says hey from Thrive cart because again, that’s my code. The first platform sends exactly to the flodesk and looks for this specific segment. Because the segment has my specific email sequence setup that talks about the course, and it talks to the new subscriber of the bundle like they are entering from the bundle. So, for me, this is four different steps within one zap. And the reason why I like doing this is that, I want the email subscriber to be put into a segment labeled XYZ bundle, for example. So I know what bundle they are coming in from because I have been a part of several bundles every year. And I try to do that scattered throughout the year. Another reason I do this, it helps me see how many subscribers I actually gained from each bundle to assess if that bundle was even worth being a part of so I can assess marketing for next year. So if let’s say that bundle was to happen again, and the creator of the bundle said, Hey, can you be a part of this? I can assess Hey, actually, I would love to see that 500 subscribers came last year. So yes, I would love that. And number three, the reason why I like doing this, is I like the email sequence to be worded in such a way that allows the new subscriber not to feel confused as to wait, did I buy this product, because it was a part of a bundle. So if I were the email sequence to be, hey, you gained access to this product because of XYZ bundle, then that new subscriber who keep in mind, if they are downloading a bunch of different products from a bundle, they’re getting a lot of emails, hopefully, with confirmation, like, here’s your new product here is this here is your XYZ product. And so you want to remind them in your first email that that to them, how they came to you from Okay, and it’s from XYZ bundle. So I know this type of example is more intermediate or more complicated. But again, I had mentioned that Zapier is very robust. And there was just so much you can do with it, especially as a contributor who you might be a contributor, you might have been asked to be a part of a free bundle or a paid bundle. And you want to know okay, how can I take advantage of Zapier on the back end where certain puzzle pieces are? So in this instance, the puzzle pieces were your course and your course platform and email service provider and Zapier, oh, and also an email nurture sequence. So all of these are playing together. But you can see that one reason your new subscribers are able to get that product is that it’s happier. Zapier is zapping I’m saying zapping a lot and it’s kind of making me giggle a little bit. Zapier is letting your email service provider know hey, here’s a new subscriber from this. And they need to go into this specific segment the segment or audience or group, whatever your email service provider calls it. In my case, it’s flodesk, they call it a segment. So hey, they need to specifically go into the segment. And then this segment needs to be triggered into this email automation series or nurture sequence.

Dolly Delong
Calling all creatives if you have an amazing opt-in offer. And you have been asked to be a part of a bundle with other creatives, which, by the way, is also awesome. But you feel stuck because you don’t know what steps to take to Automate, optimize and streamline the back end of said, opt-in offer or bundle offer. Then listen up. You don’t have to hire an integrator because I have created a step-by-step mini-course to guide you through the process of putting together the puzzle pieces you need. In order to lay the groundwork for this back-end process. I have created how to automate the back end of your options and offers mini-course because as a Systems and Workflow Educator for Creatives, I want to help you succeed as a small business owner and really want you to feel confident in your systems. After listening to the podcast don’t forget to head on over to the show notes and click on the link for an in-depth look at what this mini-course entails. As always stayed magical with those systems. You amazing Mughal you let me share sample number three with you. So let’s say you have a new opt-in. So this example is all about lead magnets all about opt-ins. And let’s say your lead magnet is a quiz. Because this is a great type of lead magnet. Currently, it’s really popular, a lot of people love taking quizzes and finding out the results. And so this is why I wanted to use this example. So I actually use these various app I’m about to share with you. So I have discovered that whenever I have a quiz as a lead magnet, I will usually have up to four different quiz results. And I want to make sure to not confuse the new subscriber who has clicked to find out the results because I want to make sure they are getting the right email with the correct results. So on the back end, here’s the tech stack I normally use for my lead magnets of quizlets. Alright, I am using try interact, which is a Quiz Builder. I’m using an email service provider like flow desk I am using showit which is my website and that actually houses my quiz results. So I created some secret landing pages on my website. Remember, we spoke about landing pages a few weeks ago, and I’ve created landing pages specifically for the quiz results. And then, of course, they use Zapier which helps try interact quizzes, and flodesk which helps them both talk to each other. So again, I know this is more of an advanced example but just stick with me okay? Person one gets result A so on the back end of try interact and flow desk, I make sure to let try interact quizzes know that result a gets segmented into flow desk email sequence and result a right and let’s say person two gets result B. So on the back end try interact and flodesk and make sure to let try interact quizzes, know that result B gets segmented into flow desk email sequence and result b and so on and so forth. So essentially, I know I have to create four different email nurture sequences based on each result, especially if I have four total results. And that means I need to make sure I create four different zaps in Zapier based on each result between try interactive quizzes and flodesk, again, I know myself and I totally nerd out on things like this. And I know this example, may have just melted a new listener’s brain, especially if you are brand new, and to this podcast brand new to trying out a new system and workflow strategy. I would say don’t start here. I would say start off with an easier lead magnet. But I wanted to give you another robust and cool example of a way you can use Zapier for your opt-ins. There are just so many fun ways. Overall, I just wanted to share three examples of how you can utilize that here for your opt-ins for your offers and even for the bundles that you are a contributor in now remember the sky’s the limit with Zapier, and in full disclosure, I am still learning about it in so many ways. As a matter of fact, I even signed up for a mini I’m calling mini masterclass with a Zapier expert, who is Angela Tan have the systems RX. She’s actually been on this podcast before but now we’re internet and Instagram friends. And she has been hired by me to set up a very robust zap system for a specific part of my business. And I’m really, really excited about this meeting. And we’re already mapping out these zaps. And let me tell you, it’s going to be so cool to see it all work together. And I’ll keep you posted about how that goes. All right. So I just wanted to share that to let you know that yes, even your systems and workflow BFF needs Zack your help I love learning and I love continuing to grow within my own business so that I can not only apply it to my business so that I can turn around and hopefully educate others and apply it to my podcast or right. So overall I just want you to remember that you can do a lot of powerful things with the tool in the software of Zapier and that should definitely be added to your tech stack for your opt-ins for your offers and bundles as you put the puzzle pieces together on the back end of those three items. I also hope that this encourages you to do some research yourself and to see how you can use Zapier for yourself In your creative business, because you might decide, oh, I don’t want to overcomplicate it, so you can start off small with Zapier, I know that Zapier has a plan that starts off as low as No, don’t quote me on this as low as $25 a month, which is very affordable, it’s more affordable than hiring a VA right off the bat. So looking to Zapier, because some tasks that a VA does, you can easily just have that set up as a zap, and you don’t have to hire out a VA for a while. All right. So I hope this has gotten you excited about another tech tool. And I hope it has not overwhelmed you that much. Remember, the whole point of this mini-series is to help just peel back the curtain of different puzzle pieces you need to be aware of. And again, I am just skimming the surface. Now if you’re interested in diving into a mini course training on how to get your puzzle pieces together when you are either putting together your first opt-in or an offer or maybe you are contributing to a bundle, I have a mini course all about it. And you can find it in the show notes. Now, this is more of a time-sensitive message. If you’re listening to this when this podcast goes live, I have a special offer that runs through Cyber Monday. So in this case, November 28 of 2022. So where you can get this mini-course for only $37. And after that, after Cyber Monday, the price will go up to $97. So from here until November 28 of 2022. Head on over to the show notes and snag that special deal, since this is a brand-new mini-course. And I’m really really excited about offering something new just to show you all the different puzzle pieces you need to be aware of, in order to better streamline and optimize either your opt-ins or your offers or things to consider if you’re a contributor for a bundle. So if you enjoyed this episode, I really want to know the truth, so shoot me a DM and let me know which episode of this mini-series you have enjoyed listening to and learning about the most. And I would also love for you to do me the biggest favor as well. So my podcast is about to turn one in a couple of weeks. And I would love to hear from you the listener. And I want to know how this podcast has helped you and your creative business. So if you can please take five minutes, head on over to the show notes for a link to leave me a voice message and that way, I will be able to hear it and share it on the actual one-year anniversary of my podcast that this would mean the world to me. And so far I have little several different messages from different listeners and different subscribers of the podcast and it’s just so cool listening to these messages. And I am just wanting to do a fun anniversary episode just featuring my listeners and sharing just what everybody has gleaned from this podcast, it would just be in the world to me. As always, I cannot wait to come back next week with another systems and workflow-related tip, and believe me is going to be a good one. I’m really excited about it. As always Stay Magical and streamline you amazing, muggle you. I will talk to you later, bye.

Dolly Delong
Thank you so much for listening to the systems and workflow magic podcast. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at dolly DeLonge photography.com forward slash podcast. If you’re loving the podcast, I’d be so honored if you’d subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast player. Be sure to screenshot this episode, share it with your stories, and tag me @DollyDeLongEducation over on Instagram. Until next time, go make some strategic workflow magic!