ifttt Archives - Frugaling

I need context when I'm writing, this productivity app scares me. — I need context when I’m writing. This productivity app scares me.

“There’s an app for that.”

Apple trademarked this phrase about the diversity of applications available for iPhones. They might be right. Limitless button pressing is at my fingertips.

Wade through the fart and fake aging apps, and you’ll find a palatial collection of productivity applications (Android users: this goes for you, too). They get their own section of the App Store.

Do you run a business that needs a productivity boost?
Are you a frequent shopper of the household?
Have you thought about writing your first novel?

Yes, there are apps for every niche. Browse through the many apps present, and you might begin salivating over the productivity porn. Look at all of the opportunities to save time, money, and life — how enchanting!

Download a productivity app and you’ll travel into a rabbit hole. Hours may go by without any work. Every productivity tool has a learning curve. It takes time to learn skills and make them habitual. Trying something new is rarely, if ever, seamless. Apps are fun to manipulate and play around with — the interaction feels natural and it is.

Maybe you switch to another app — there’s another, better feature. Maybe the app you originally downloaded gets an update. Maybe you decide to downgrade back to another productivity system. Maybe you are struggling with syncing issues — the productivity app information is no longer across devices. There are a lot of maybes — I know — but something is inevitable. The learning curve never stops — you’re never freebasing productivity.

It’s easy to imagine productivity apps as a superhero’s cape. Put this on, and you’ll instantly be able to fight your assignments, organize your life, and win at work. The reality is that capes bog you down, aren’t aerodynamic, and take more time to put on. You’re busy fixing app changes, looking for the latest options, and browsing for new methods of saving time, as you pour it down the drain.

Time is limited. It motivates us to become more efficient. We’re desperate for more down time. I struggle to start difficult projects, but finding, downloading, learning, syncing, and beginning to use a new app is an illusion of productivity. It feels purposeful, but isn’t.

Wake from the productivity dream. You’re the only tool needed to complete your projects. That’s because productivity rarely comes from addition — only subtraction. Every computer contains all the productivity programs necessary: a word processor, calendar, and calculator. 99% of my tasks can be completed within these programs. When I’m desperate for a productivity app, it must be something that doesn’t require any interaction (i.e., IFTTT). When you add more to this system, you are significantly risking your total time.

I’m a writer. There are limitless productivity apps for my kind. But simplification and frugality don’t come from a $20 writing app for iPhone. Nothing more than a basic word processor is needed. I simply need to start typing.

Just a few weeks ago I was looking at the Twitter streams of those I follow, and I noticed something strange. They seemed to be tweeting all the time! Shocked and dismayed by this overwork that everyone must be doing, I decided to inquire from one of the best bloggers in the business, Jeremy Biberdorf (of Modest Money). He quickly assuaged my worries and introduced me to the world of Twitter automation.

Tweet For Traffic, Money

There’s a stupid simple fact about Twitter: The more you tweet, the more you’ll gain followers and visitors to your site. As a writer and blogger, gaining these numbers will be both motivating and rewarding. The fact is that most writers are fighting off obscurity. When you realize that some people are actually reading your material, it can be a wonderful feeling.

The problem is that you likely don’t want to stay up all day and night tweeting. Not only is that not the best use of your time, it can feel demoralizing and repetitive to keep sharing. This is where automation comes in.

iPhone IFTTT automate twitter — *IFTTT on iPhone*

How Can You Automate Twitter?

As Modest Money’s founder and owner was saying, the busy Twitter users you may follow are probably automating their process. And I can tell you from first-hand experience, by creating a regular tweeting schedule, I’ve seen terrific increases in traffic.

After learning about this, I researched a couple options. The two major players are Dlvr.it and IFTTT.com. Dlvr.it offers a variety of professional grade options for sharing your own website’s articles and others. You can schedule the delivery of your articles and track the statistics associated with them (i.e., how many people clicked on a specific tweet?).

But the one I recommend is IFTTT.com. The website is an acronym for If This Then That. Every single automated ability asks you to choose one option (If this) and then you can choose what to do with it. Not only is it free, but it also offers an incredible platform for automation across technologies. Snap a picture from your phone? You can automatically blog it. Write a new blog post, now you can email friends, share it on Facebook, and even tweet it out – all free!

Automate Your Blog, Tweets

If you’ve made it this far through the article, you’re probably interested in some direction. The following portion is a specific “how to” for automating your website and turning it into a Twitter machine.

The first step is signing up for an account on IFTTT.com. Click here to join. After you’ve confirmed and registered for the site, you’ll be brought to a dashboard that shows all of your current recipes (IFTTTs). This virtual hub is a great way to glance at statistics and “Create a Recipe.”

IFTTT Dashboard Screenshot Automate Twitter — *IFTTT.com Dashboard Screenshot*

Here’s where the fun begins. Once you click to create a new recipe, you’ll be given the IFTTT option. Click the blue, underlined link that says, “this.” The page should automatically move down to “Choose A Trigger Channel.” IFTTT is full of trigger (this) options and makes it an exciting platform to work with.

IFTTT Trigger Channel to Automate Twitter — *IFTTT.com Trigger Channel – Select RSS “Feed”*

For this step, we want to choose feed (the RSS icon). By selecting feed, IFTTT will know that the automation process starts with your website’s publication of stories. The page will automatically scroll down further and you will be given two options. Choose “New feed item.” For me, I would navigate to my site’s feed, copy it, and paste it into the box shown below.

IFTTT Trigger RSS Feed Automate Twitter — *IFTTT Trigger RSS Feed*

At this point, you’re nearly there! By selecting “Create Trigger,” the page will have you select would you’d like to do with it. You might assume that you’d select Twitter for your “action channel,” but you shouldn’t. If you want to include Twitter @ symbols, you’ll need to choose Buffer. Buffer is an application that can take your automated tweets and space them out over time and give you in-depth statistics on the success of certain stories. If you don’t have your account attached to IFTTT or haven’t ever used Buffer, it will ask to pair the accounts. You’ll need to register with your Twitter account on Buffer and then link to IFTTT. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to select “Add to Buffer.”

Choose Buffer App to Automate Twitter via IFTTT — *IFTTT Buffer App Choice*

When you are ready to “Add,” click the entry title and entry URL area and add “via @YOURTWITTERNAMEHERE.” Click “Create Action” and then “Create Recipe.” Once you hit that, you’re all done! You’ve created your very first automated Twitter recipe. Your RSS feed will update IFTTT, which will send a notification to Buffer for Twitter publication. While it sounds complicated – technically, it is – the process will save you hours and hours over the course of your site.

Sharing Is Caring

Beyond automating your own Twitter and site, people often automate other people’s websites and blogs. Sharing is caring when it comes to this. When you share someone else’s blog automatically, they will be inclined to share your work and visit your site. Do them a favor and you may just get one in return. If not, it makes for good karma.

Hope this little how to and tutorial helps! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment!