Dotty shows a client who was using two CRMs and Zapier when a single CRM with a native integration would have worked. Before automating anything, ask yourself why you're doing it. Peer groups help you spot when you're overcomplicating things.
doing this? That is the question I want you to ask every single time you do something. This is for DIY business owners like you. Why are you doing this? I'm Dotty, and I help business owners embrace technology in their business. I wanna tell you a story. About 2 weeks ago, I had a client call me to help her work through a situation that she created with her website. And it was all about kind of automation, taking, going from the website, going to this program, and then sending it over to this program and all of this, like, string of stuff. And I had to say, why are you doing this? And if you can ask yourself that question every single time when you're trying to do something, it will help you map out the logic of what you're doing. And what she was doing was not logical. So if you're going to go from your website to a program to do some sort of an automation. So in this example, it was to a CRM. But for some reason, she had two CRMs. Well, I don't know why you want two CRMs. And when I asked her why she wanted it set up this way, the only thing she could tell me was, well, so-and-so set it up this way. I'm not quite sure why, but it's working for them, so I thought I would do it the same way. Well, you know, it's great as a DIY business owner that you are asking people what they're doing and what's working for them. But start by asking yourself, why are you doing this? And it will really seriously help you think through the logic. There's no reason to have two CRMs. It's double the work. It's double the maintenance. It's double everything. So it may be working for whoever gave you that advice, but I guarantee you it's not the easiest, simplest way for you to get something accomplished. So again, why are you doing this? I was able to get her set up with going from her website, going directly through an integration that the service provider had to the CRM. And she was gonna wanna go from the website to a CRM and to another CRM that didn't connect to this one. So then we had to set up a Zapier integration to go from the CRM to Zapier and then from Zapier to this other CRM. Well, there's too many places for that to fail. I mean, if you really have to go that way, then yeah, do it. But the simpler the integration, the fewer places there is for something to break over time. Believe me, Zapier breaks over time. They will send you an email, but if you miss that, then all of a sudden you think something's working and it's not. I try to avoid using Zapier whenever possible. I mean, there are things that I have to use it for. But again, I'm asking myself every single time, why am I doing this? What's the simplest, most streamlined way to get this accomplished? And is this really the easiest way to do it? And that's where things like masterminds, networking groups, um, people that are other self-employed business people that are doing stuff themselves, other DIY marketers. All these things can help give you a perspective of what you're doing. So this has been Dotty. I'm with Premium Websites and AskDotty.com. If you want more tips like this, then go ahead and follow, subscribe, like, wherever you're watching this, whatever platform it's on. Ring my bell if you're on LinkedIn or YouTube, then you will be notified when I produce another quick tip video. Have a great day.
