5 ways automation can help entertainers streamline work and maintain an online presence

There's a sign down the street that just says "back to work." It's part of a larger campaign that's eager to get folks back into the office, and—as someone who happens to really like working from home—it's super annoying. 

As offices, shops, and performance venues begin welcoming everyone in person again, many who made the shift to working remotely are hesitant to go back. And why shouldn't they be? Switching to remote work when your whole job used to be in-person takes a huge effort, and it would be a shame to let that go to waste, especially for entertainers and speakers who have found new audiences online. 

If you've made the switch to providing remote services and want to keep it that way—either full-time or as a hybrid model that works for you—you're probably going to need automation. By having "the machine" take care of your menial tasks, you can get more done from anywhere you like, and help make the case that maybe you should stay home, at least for a little while longer. 

Subscribe patrons to your mailing list

Speakers, DJs, drag queens and more have had to make up for the lack of in-person events, and they're turning to apps like Patreon and Ko-Fi to help rebuild that relationship with their audience online. With a Zap, you can automatically subscribe new patrons and donors to your mailing list, so they're kept up-to-date on all your new content.

Let the world know when you go live

As much as I miss in-person shows, watching my favorite band go live on Twitch, or my favorite comedian perform on Zoom helps remind me that I'm not alone. Plus, the food is usually cheaper, and my house smells better than most concert venues. 

If you rely on streaming to get your face in front of your audience, these Zaps can help make sure that everyone knows exactly when you start broadcasting.

Start building your own CRM with a spreadsheet

A confession: I'm pretty good with faces, but absolutely terrible with names. Because of that, I started using spreadsheets to create my own form of customer relationship management (CRM) for friends, family, and people I work with! I use it to track names, birthdays, related tasks, who I owe money to, etc. And it's already saved me from the awkward "where do I know you from?" conversation more than once. 

If you're building an audience, putting together an event online, or just trying to organize your friend group a bit more, these Zaps can help automatically keep track of the important information of everyone involved.

Share everything, everywhere

One aspect of working in-person that I hear pretty often is, "when you're in-person, it's easier to share stories and build comradery." Which, as a person with a Zapier account, I think is a load of hooey. 

With Zaps, any time you have a story, video, joke, or update to share, you only have to share it once. Zapier can take it from there, and re-post it to anywhere your audience is, letting you share and build community anywhere and everywhere at once.

Upload recordings automatically

OK, I'll bite. There's one part of working remotely that I still haven't gotten used to: I can't make it to every "live" event. There are either too many things going on, or I have other obligations, or I'm getting older and just want to sleep instead. And I know I'm not the only one—not everyone can make it to every Zoom call, no matter how much they might want to.

Because of that, it's important to record everything, so folks in other timezones, or with other obligations, can get up-to-speed at their own pace. You guessed it: you can do that with a Zap.

Can I automate even more of my work?

Probably! Here are even more resources to get you started with automation so that you can keep working from anywhere you like (even the couch):

• How to use Zapier at work—no matter your role or industry

• Make social media monitoring easier with automation

• Spend less time on lead management with these tips