Raise your hand if you have time to waste............... *crickets*

I know I don't and if you're in the process of building your business and/or blog, you absolutely don't either. There is something that I've been doing for a while that has made life so much easier and it's also something that I recommend to business companions to start utilizing wherever possible!

Automation!

What's so great about automation? The fact that you can invest time up front setting something up and not have to touch it again unless you're making updates or improvements later on down the line.

Here are three ways that I use automation:

1. Automatically capturing e-mail addresses into my mailing lists.

I use Mail Chimp for my e-mail marketing and I love them. It does so much for you behind the scenes and integrates with lots of other websites. This means, for example, when I receive a new order and the customer pays with PayPal, they are automatically added to my e-mail list. There's nothing that I have to do other than the initial set up of linking my PayPal to Mail Chimp. So why are these e-mail lists so important? Because you can communicate with your customers by keeping them up-to-date with new products, promotions, events, etc. and they will possibly purchase from you again if they enjoyed their first experience buying from you. Sometimes they just need a friendly e-mail reminder that you're still making products that they will love. You can also send surveys to your customers to get an idea of who they are and what problems you may be able to solve for them. You can then determine a way to help them out; win-win for all! If you don't have an automated mailing list, you are missing out on VALUABLE information my friend! Stop what you're doing and sign up for a Mail Chimp account RIGHT NOW.

2. Automatically capturing transaction details into my accounting program.

If you want to save valuable time that can be used creating your beloved products, please look into an accounting program. If you use a web-based program, your transactions can automatically be entered into your account and into the correct tax category. I use GoDaddy Bookkeeping and love that every transaction in my PayPal and Stripe accounts are automatically added to my financial sheets. I can also generate a Schedule C through my account and everything is listed and ready to go for tax season! Automated bookkeeping software is a must so that you can spend more time doing what you love rather than crunching numbers.

Bonus Tip: If you have a PayPal debit card, every transaction that you make with it will automatically appear in your GoDaddy Bookkeeping account, so you won't even have to add transactions manually when you purchase business items!

3. Automatically scheduling blog posts.

Newsflash! If you think that bloggers are posting content onto their blogs on a whim, think again! Scheduling your blog posts saves so much time. There is definitely an initial investment of time, but when you're done, you're done. For example, if you set aside two hours a week to work on your blog posts for the week, that will free up more time for you to...say...get a coffee! Also, you will feel amazing for accomplishing such a huge task and can check it off of your to-do list like a champ!

I hope you consider using automation for your blog/business. It is definitely a game changer in the business world, and with the laundry list of things to accomplish as a business owner or blogger, scheduling some of your tasks to happen while you're asleep is golden!

These three ways that I've shared with you aren't the only ways that I use automaton in my business. In fact, I have created a list of 15 ways that you can utilize automation (I use about 10 of these regularly). Click the button below to receive your FREE copy which is available in the Color Hug Freebie Collection!

Heck yeah!

Brand consistency is so important for bloggers and business owners because it not only distinguishes you from a sea of sameness, but it also helps to create a recognizable image for yourself. This is quite important these days considering the lightning speed of social media feeds. If you stick to these seven tips, you will be sure to create brand consistency and be more memorable.

1. Use the same profile picture for all platforms- I have been to so many social accounts that had a different profile picture on each one. This is an automatic way to be less memorable because viewers aren't seeing a consistent image of you. If you use the same photo, you will be easily recognized in a sea of images on a feed or even in comment sections of blogs.

2. Use one account name for all social platforms- It's easier to find you when you are under the same name on every social platform. It also takes the guesswork out when trying to find you on a platform that people aren't sure if you use or not. It's easy to get caught up with different names on social media since the direction of your blog/business may change over the years. You may not want to start a new account if you already have a large following. If this is the case, you can always open a new account with the name that you use for your other social platforms and you can direct new people to the old account, or direct your current followers to your new account.

Tip: If you're just starting out, you should perform a search for the name that you have in mind on all platforms to make sure that they're available before signing up for anything. An easy way to do this is to go directly to the proposed URL to see if it's already taken instead of wasting time going through the sign-up process. For example, if you want the name "ColorHug" on twitter, just type www.twitter.com/colorhug into the address bar to see if it's taken. FYI, this is taken :)

3. Create a unique hashtag for your business/blog- This is a fun way to make your blog or business stand out. For example, if you are a coder for female bloggers in the creative field, you might create a hashtag for all of the images of you working as #CuteCoding. As long as the hashtag represents your blog or business, go for it!

Tip: Search for the hashtag that you have in mind to see what (if any) images people are associating it to. Depending on the images that pull up, you may want to consider a different hashtag.

4. Stick with the same fonts and colors- This is the easiest way to create brand consistency and it's totally free! Stick with no more than three colors to represent your blog/business (unless it is one in which multiple colors make sense), and stick with two fonts. You can use variations of your colors and fonts as accents. For example, changing the opacity of colors is a way to get accent colors that are still on brand and changing the style of a font to bold, light, etc. is a great way to use a font variation and still be on brand.

5. Use a catchy tagline or phrase to end all of your email correspondence, blog posts and periscope sessions- This is a fun way to emphasis your blog/business purpose, and when people hear it enough times they will possibly incorporate it into their lives and remember that it was you that said it. For example, Mattie James of Mattieologie uses the phrase "Slay Your Day" at the end of all of her Periscope sessions. Because I hear it so much from her, it has become a part of my mentality, and I might end up saying to someone "As Mattie says, Slay Your Day".

6. Post specific topics to your social on certain days- Recently I started posting a "Welcome" image on the 20th of the month on Instagram for all of my new followers so that I can introduce myself and welcome them to my feed. This is also cool for my current followers because they get to know a little more about me each month since I share a small thing about myself in the description. You may choose to post weekly about something specific to your blog/business or even daily at the same time of day. Either way you choose to do it, it will create consistency and your followers will be looking forward to it.

7. Say NO to randomness- If you have a business selling eco-friendly makeup brushes, your Instagram feed should be a reflection of the products and things that relate to an eco-friendly lifestyle. It wouldn't make sense to post images of home improvement projects, children's books or a fur coat. Your feed should be very specific to what your blog/business represents, and random acts of posting should be avoided so that people won't be confused on what your account is about. There's nothing wrong with posting personal photos every now and then, but just remember that people are there to see your blog/business, so the Random Show can cause more harm than good.

If you stick with these tips, you will be sure to change your online presence for the better and you may even begin attracting more followers that are a part of your niche!

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