Media training 101 for small businesses

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Great news: you just scored a big press interview to promote your business. The story will expose your brand to the perfect new audience and drive meaningful traffic to your website. So…don't blow it. Yes, just as quickly as the excitement for the opportunity arrived, the realization that you now have to do an interview sets in. I get it—press interviews can absolutely be intimidating. The resulting coverage represents a significant opportunity to acquire new customers, drive sales, or raise awareness, and you want to be sure to represent your brand well and really compel the audience to check out your company. On top of that, you have to contend with adrenaline and nerves in the moment. You may be thinking, "So many other business owners are so polished and articulate in their interviews. How am I going to pull that off?" Deep breath. A successful interview is usually the result of good media training: preparation and practice in advance of an interview. I've tr...
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3 workflows to help you get the most out of your database

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Effective database tools can organize and centralize all kinds of information, letting you turn raw data into insights you can use. Relying on manual input and output, however, can turn your database into a bottleneck. Rather than being freed from volumes of data, you can end up feeling trapped by the need to process all of it.

Humans aren’t suited for data entry—let technology pick up the slack.

With these automated workflows, you can integrate other tools with your databases so information flows automatically into the places you need it. Zapier can help make your database an effective part of your technology stack rather than an obstacle you need to overcome.

Automate data entry and output

Data entry is a pain. Worse, it’s inefficient. If you don’t keep entering data, however, your database becomes stale, and you lose out on the insight data analysis can provide.

Make data entry easier with these workflows, which automatically enter information from a wide variety of tools into your databases. That way you’ll have the info you need without anyone spending time entering the data by hand.

If you use Google Forms to collect data, use these Zaps to send that info to tools you can use to group, sort, and analyze responses.

Parseur extracts important data from your emails. With this Zap, you can automatically add those important details to your Amazon DynamoDB database.

Facebook Lead Ads can generate more prospects than you can parse in a single sitting. Use this Zap to pipe leads to your SQL server database for later analysis and review.

If Typeform is your contact form of choice, use these workflows to connect it with MySQL, PostgresSQL, or MongoDB. Zapier will automatically send form responses to your database.

With automation, human typing is no longer the barrier between getting data and using data. Instead, you can move swiftly from insight to action.

Send info to and from other databases with ease

One dataset is good—but more is better. With multiple datasets, you can cross-reference different data points, draw correlations, and build compelling cases for your next business decision.

Zapier can connect database tools like Airtable, MySQL, and Amazon RDS to Google Sheets, making it easy to route relevant information to one place. Use these workflows to monitor your database and data warehouse tools and automatically add key results to Google Sheets.

Your entire company doesn’t need in-depth database access. When someone wants to make a report or get a glimpse under the hood, don’t resort to manual data entry.

If you have team members who need information from your database but don’t need full access, use these workflows to automatically export data into an accessible spreadsheet instead.

Automatically monitor database growth

Your team has more important things to do than watch for new entries to a database. Small businesses can’t afford to pay people to wait for new sales leads to come in. That said, you also can’t afford to let entries sit untouched if no one is keeping up with new ones.

Rather than waste time watching for updates or catching up, use automation. Keep your team in sync with workflows that automatically send out updates as new entries file into your database.

Make your database tools actionable

Use these automated workflows to ensure your database remains clean and effective. With automation, you won’t slip into the habit of collecting data just to collect it. Your database will always automatically connect to tools that can help you make use of that data.



from The Zapier Blog https://ift.tt/2AG0RlP

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