Today I am bringing you two technology solutions which I use and will continue to use as I scale out my company.

Technology is not difficult, this is the biggest misunderstanding which exists in small business today. It does not take a developer or a large amount of money to create automation of small, everyday tasks. Technology can consolidate the communication platforms, keep you better informed, update your customers on offers along with hundreds of other ideas. 

The first solution I want to bring to you is a free solution which can help consolidate communications between customers, community, and your employees. Discord is a VoIP, instant messaging and digital distribution platform designed for creating communities. VoIP, Voice of IP, means you can have phone calls with people through an application. Basically, Discord hosts a server which allows you to build a community of people which you can then have calls with, text with, and send non-confidential documents with. This server is very easy to use and has access controls so you can separate your community based on who they are in the community.

I use Discord as an easy way to communicate with my business partner, community business owners, advisors, and customers. I have created specific channels where I can send messages to all business owners warning them about items such as quarterly tax payments along with the forms they need to fill out. Those business owners can request services from me easily through the instant messaging feature built into the server application. Discord also allows me to create an archived resource for business owners and customers where they can find documents they need easier than searching through the web. Meetings can be held within a “chat channel” on Discord along with screen sharing capabilities so I can walk people through our conversation while showing them their Quickbooks status or graphs which can explain the content better.

The second solution, Zapier, is an API integration platform. Essentially, an API allows you to connect two platforms through automation. For example, I can save any attachment sent to me through email into my Google drive account automatically when the email hits my inbox. Zapier recognizes the new email with an attachment which is listed as a “trigger”. It then performs the “action” of saving that attachment within Google Drive without me touching my computer. API integration is one of the most important and easiest things for a small business to use in order to alleviate them from mundane tasks they perform every day.

I use Zapier as an easy way to stay up-to-date on local news and my own social media channels. Rather than using all of the applications for each social media channel and posting on each, I can use Zapier to connect my Discord Server to my social media. Any activity on each social application immediately posts into my ‘Social Media’ chat channel on Discord allowing me to review Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram from one application. If a response is needed to the activity, I can easily click the URL link which takes me immediately to the post for response. 

I also keep informed with the local news through a Zapier API integration. News feeds like The Villages News, blogs, and other news sources hold an “RSS Feed”. This feed allows for an API to easily read any articles posted on the site and creates a point of reference for the computer to consistently read and search for new content. When Zapier recognizes new content on the RSS Feed, it will post that new content within the Discord server. I use this program to keep track of multiple news feeds that post into a Discord channel called “news” which helps me keep informed on local events and happenings.

Hopefully this was a helpful dialogue to help you find the right solution to further technology within your business. As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to discuss building your own website.