Running an online biz? Oh man, it’s like you’re spinning plates on a highwire while answering emails with your toes. We’re talking content, customers, leads, sales, invoices—yeah, you might start questioning your life choices. And just when you think you’re caught up? Something else pops up. Classic.
But hey, bright side: you don’t actually have to do every. single. thing. by hand.
Here’s the secret sauce nobody tells you—the wizards who seem to do it all? They’re using automation. I don’t care if you’re solo, doing this on weekends, or just scrapping by with zero tech skills—this stuff works without a Silicon Valley dream team or a billionaire budget.
So, real talk: I’m about to spill how you can automate the annoying parts of your online hustle with three killer (and zero-dollar) tools. Free is my love language. Get your life back, make your biz run smoother, and—bonus—maybe actually sleep. Ready? Let’s jump in, caffeine in hand.
Why Bother With Automation?
Let’s just lay it out: why even stress about automation? I’ll tell you straight, it’s not just a “nice to have,” it’s how the pros keep their sanity.
Automation does things like:
With the right system in place? Insta-glow-up for your business. People will swear there’s ten of you behind the screen.
Tool #1: Zapier — Basically, Your Invisible Robot Intern
This thing is wild—Zapier links your apps together and handles busywork while you chill or focus on stuff you actually care about.
Try picturing this: A customer fills out a form → you get a Slack message → they’re added to your email newsletter → a welcome message zings right to their inbox. Did you touch a thing? Nope. Magic.
Stuff you can get Zapier to do for you:
How do you actually use this robot sorcery?
They give you 100 free actions a month. That’s more automations than most people even use.
Example: Automated Leads Like a Pro
Say you’re sharing a free eBook and collecting leads with Typeform. You want those leads:
Recipe: Trigger is Typeform, Action 1 is ConvertKit, Action 2 is Slack message. Done. Never mess with that manual stuff again.
Tool #2: MailerLite — Set-It-and-Forget-It Emails, No Tears Involved
Email is still the OG moneymaker, but who’s got time for fancy automation platforms? Enter MailerLite—easy as heck, and free up to a thousand subscribers.
Do this with MailerLite:
Honestly, it’s made for folks who just don’t want to think too hard about software.
Stuff you can automate:
How to pull it off:
Example: Welcome Sequence in Your Sleep
Someone wants your free checklist? Boom, five-day sequence—no manual sends.
Set this up once, and it’s like you cloned yourself. Basically, you’re the Oprah of your inbox.
Tool #3: Notion — The Swiss Army Knife for Organizing Chaos
Notion is… I mean, it’s hard to explain, but think Google Docs, Trello, Airtable all got together and decided to make life way easier.
It isn’t “automation” in the robot sense, but for running your operations? It’s your best friend.
Use it for:
With built-in AI and integrations? Notion turns into a command central, minus the NASA headset.
How do you start?
Bottom line: With these tools, you get more done by Wednesday than most folks do by Friday. Just don’t tell your competition.
But hey, bright side: you don’t actually have to do every. single. thing. by hand.
Here’s the secret sauce nobody tells you—the wizards who seem to do it all? They’re using automation. I don’t care if you’re solo, doing this on weekends, or just scrapping by with zero tech skills—this stuff works without a Silicon Valley dream team or a billionaire budget.
So, real talk: I’m about to spill how you can automate the annoying parts of your online hustle with three killer (and zero-dollar) tools. Free is my love language. Get your life back, make your biz run smoother, and—bonus—maybe actually sleep. Ready? Let’s jump in, caffeine in hand.
Why Bother With Automation?
Let’s just lay it out: why even stress about automation? I’ll tell you straight, it’s not just a “nice to have,” it’s how the pros keep their sanity.
Automation does things like:
- Gives you back your time (Netflix, anyone? Or maybe actually building your business…)
- No more “oops I forgot!” moments with customers.
- Lets you scale up without hiring a small army.
- Finds lost money, like cart abandons and missed follow-ups.
- Ditches grunt work so you can think big picture, not to-do lists from hell.
With the right system in place? Insta-glow-up for your business. People will swear there’s ten of you behind the screen.
Tool #1: Zapier — Basically, Your Invisible Robot Intern
This thing is wild—Zapier links your apps together and handles busywork while you chill or focus on stuff you actually care about.
Try picturing this: A customer fills out a form → you get a Slack message → they’re added to your email newsletter → a welcome message zings right to their inbox. Did you touch a thing? Nope. Magic.
Stuff you can get Zapier to do for you:
- Every new email signup? Toss ‘em in Mailchimp or ConvertKit, hands-free.
- Stripe sale? New row in Google Sheets. Data nerds, rejoice.
- Someone hits up your Typeform? Get an instant SMS like a VIP.
- That blog post you just published? Auto-posts to your socials, cause self-promotion is exhausting.
- Calendly booking? Not just blocking your calendar but triggering a slick confirmation email.
How do you actually use this robot sorcery?
- Sign up at Zapier.com (no cost for basic stuff)
- Pick a trigger (“Hey, something new happened!”)
- Pick an action (“Do this now!”)
- Flip the switch and forget about it
They give you 100 free actions a month. That’s more automations than most people even use.
Example: Automated Leads Like a Pro
Say you’re sharing a free eBook and collecting leads with Typeform. You want those leads:
- Instantly on ConvertKit (no copy-paste nightmares)
- A “you got a new lead!” ping on Slack so you can brag or, you know, actually follow up
Recipe: Trigger is Typeform, Action 1 is ConvertKit, Action 2 is Slack message. Done. Never mess with that manual stuff again.
Tool #2: MailerLite — Set-It-and-Forget-It Emails, No Tears Involved
Email is still the OG moneymaker, but who’s got time for fancy automation platforms? Enter MailerLite—easy as heck, and free up to a thousand subscribers.
Do this with MailerLite:
- Whip up shiny-looking email blasts
- Build email sequences that send themselves while you nap
- Automatically sort your readers (spooky, but in a good way)
- Add popups, landing pages, all the list-building jazz
- Nerd out on open and click rates, if that’s your thing
Honestly, it’s made for folks who just don’t want to think too hard about software.
Stuff you can automate:
- Send that “welcome, you’re awesome!” series
- Push a product pitch after they download your freebie (subtle flex)
- Cart reminders so you don’t lose sales to goldfish attention spans
- Auto-newsletters with zero effort
- Tag folks by what they click, because… segmentation, baby!
How to pull it off:
- Sign up: MailerLite.com, free
- Toss up a form or landing page
- Drag-and-drop an automation (legit easier than IKEA furniture)
- Tweak your emails (use a template if you don’t wanna fuss)
- Hit play. It runs forever. Unless the internet ends.
Example: Welcome Sequence in Your Sleep
Someone wants your free checklist? Boom, five-day sequence—no manual sends.
- Day 0: Checklist, intro, hi I’m not a robot
- Day 1: Your story, or at least something interesting
- Day 2: Awesome tip they can actually use
- Day 3: “Wanna chat? Here’s a free consult or maybe a webinar”
- Day 4: Soft pitch your thing, cause hey, you’ve earned it
Set this up once, and it’s like you cloned yourself. Basically, you’re the Oprah of your inbox.
Tool #3: Notion — The Swiss Army Knife for Organizing Chaos
Notion is… I mean, it’s hard to explain, but think Google Docs, Trello, Airtable all got together and decided to make life way easier.
It isn’t “automation” in the robot sense, but for running your operations? It’s your best friend.
Use it for:
- Publishing calendars
- Managing tasks like a boss
- Mapping out sales pipelines (who’s hot, who’s ghosting you)
- Hoarding content ideas and resources
- Building SOPs (so if you do scale, you can actually delegate)
- Linking forms and databases automatically, so info doesn’t get lost
With built-in AI and integrations? Notion turns into a command central, minus the NASA headset.
How do you start?
- Sign up at Notion.so (again, free)
- Grab someone’s template or use the defaults (don’t overthink it)
- Set up dashboards for content, leads, social, whatever you want
- Mess with databases, play around, break stuff—it’s super forgiving
Bottom line: With these tools, you get more done by Wednesday than most folks do by Friday. Just don’t tell your competition.
