📰 News & Announcements

This morning we got an alert from Google saying that some phishing content had been detected in Backendless. Indeed, a user created an app in Backendless and uploaded a phishing page to the Backendless File storage. Static content from the file storage in Backendless is served via the backendlessappcontent.com domain. Since the domain (from the...

The post Phishing attack appeared first on Backendless.

Let me start with a simple question: While running your business, how many hours a day do you spend in front of your computer? If your answer is "too many", it's not necessarily bad news—but it could mean there's room for improvement. Anyone trying to grow their business to seven figures—as I did with my contracting company—will eventually find themselves the last one at the office, tapping away at the keyboard with nothing but the glow of the monitor lighting up the place. 

There's no avoiding the administrative work, and the more successful you get, the more of that work needs to be done. You've probably already looked for solutions to make your admin tasks quicker and more efficient: CRM platforms, sales tools, data management, and more. This is a step in the right direction. I went from keeping all my customer and job information in notebooks to putting it on spreadsheets to customizing a CRM. But it still wasn't enough. There I was, the last one at my desk, tapping away.

Does this sound painfully familiar? When I finally realized that Zapier could make my different apps and platforms work with each other to automate my processes, it was a game-changer. It wasn’t how I started organizing my data, but it was the solution I needed at the right time. Think it may be for you as well? Here are three signs your firm may need Zapier. 

You find yourself in front of the computer more than in the field

This was the first sign for me. It suddenly struck me that I was spending more time in front of a computer than out in the field. We need computers to help run our companies, but we need to focus on growing the business rather than being inundated with day-to-day minutiae. 

There's no avoiding the fact that growing a business results in an increased load of administrative tasks. If you're like me and used to being in the field, you'll need to find a healthy balance between site work, setting expectations of the team, and maintaining a growing operation's increased workload. Tools like Zapier make this possible.

The final straw for me was when I finally adopted a CRM platform for my company but was still doing too many administrative tasks. My first Zap connected my CRM platform to Google Sheets, allowing me to stop manually updating my record-keeping sheet.

This not only opened up more time to do what I'm best at but opened my eyes to the idea that my workflows and processes could be much more automated and potentially something I wouldn't have to do at all. This Zap has since become one of the most important in my office. Now, if a workflow process changes during a job, the Zap creates a "domino effect" of changing the data in both JobNimbus and Google Sheets. 

Zapier can do this with other CRMs as well:

 

Your firm uses lots of apps and online tools

Adopting new technologies to solve data and time management issues is a sign that you're taking the right steps to more efficient business operations. My first step was to start putting information in Excel and throw away my paper notebook (baby steps, right?).

Eventually, I worked with Excel, Google Docs, JobNimbus, and was about to invest in Cognito Forms. I felt like some kind of MIT graduate (and my company was certainly growing), but I was still in front of the computer doing administrative tasks more than I wanted. So, I turned to Zapier to see how I could connect all these apps and online tools.

I looked at my workflow and created a Zap that helped eliminate manual data entry.

My workflow starts with Cognito Forms, the most frequently used platform by my sales team. When a salesperson fills out a form in the field, this Zap triggers an upload of that information to four different platforms. Hence, the apps and software used by admin, production, and management had up-to-date information on things like materials requirements, scope of work, and customer information. 

The Zap also has an output to send this data via email. Better still, the Zap can parse that information to Spotio, our canvassing application. This allows our sales team to quickly finish their administrative tasks without having to return to the office. They stay in the field and close more deals.

Here are some starting points to connect Cognito Forms with other essential business tools:

You are looking for ways to reduce office overhead

Want to know one of the fundamental ways I grew my company from just me and a truck to more than 10 employees? I found a way to grow my business without massive increases in overhead. I attribute this to automation with Zapier: It allows for increased efficiency. As my company grew to seven figures annually, automation keeps the manual admin tasks manageable for just one person. 

Invoicing and accounts receivable is an excellent example of this. I know of contractors who hire a person to handle this task alone. But with the right Zap, it's not necessary for my company.

I have a Zap that sends information from Cognito Forms to Quickbooks Online and my CRM, migrating different data into both. 

Again, the bottom line here is that I’m not doing this task, and I haven’t hired someone to do it for me. The Zap does it all. Think for a moment about how many redundant administrative tasks you may be able to eliminate using the right Zaps.

Here is one starting point: 

 

Automation can help you keep your focus

If you’re trying to grow your business but feeling overwhelmed, it may be time for you to consider adopting technologies like Zapier. If you’re spending more time in front of a computer instead of doing what you do best, or you’ve already adopted tech tools to help, but are still manually moving information from one to the other, see where automation could help. 

Honestly, I didn’t graduate from Harvard, and I’m not reinventing the wheel. This is something you can do. But remember, every initiative your company undertakes will require buy-in, both from you and your employees. If it looks like it’s time to take the next step, then commit to using Zapier at your company. It made all the difference for me.

This article was written by joe@trianglebc.com (Joseph Keller) and first appeared here: https://zapier.com/blog/three-signs-your-business-needs-zapier

For many, automation is already a workplace reality. And it's catching. 

Its growing popularity is thanks to the scale at which it can complete thousands of tasks automatically. As tech companies seek ways to meet rising demand, integrations are the new building blocks to a better user experience.

Yet building an integration (and getting it up and running) isn't enough. Not if you want your users to discover the automated workflows they can create right away and where they'd expect to find them—inside your UI. 

It's all too easy for your customers to hit a dead-end when trying to connect their favorite tools if it's not immediately clear you can support their needs. In fact, according to a survey we conducted with knowledge workers in 2019, 73% use a variety of different software they wished worked better together. And 81% actively look for solutions that help share information from one app to another. 

That's exactly what Zapier's suite of embed tools can solve. Below we'll cover a full rundown of all the tools you can use to embed Zapier into your product (and meet your users at their point of need).

Embedding Zapier into your product

Customers today have a real "use it or lose it" attitude towards apps. If your product doesn't deliver on value, they'll stop paying for it. 

Embedding your Zapier-powered integration into your UI gives your product an added value. In turn, your customers can discover and build the workflows that grow their business—churning less and upgrading more. 

By embedding Zapier into your product, your users can easily connect the apps they're already using and find ways to do even more with your app—without leaving your product UI. 

Here's a rundown of the embedding tools we offer and the impact our partners have seen from prioritizing this work. Click a link below to learn more about each embedding tool:

• Zap templates: Build readymade workflows for your users

• JavaScript widget: Embed Zap templates anywhere in a few minutes

• Zapier's Partner API: Customize your integration

Zap templates: Build ready-made workflows for your users

Regardless of which embedding tool you decide to use, you'll need to build a few Zap templates first.  

Zap templates are ready-made workflows with the apps and core fields pre-selected for publicly available Zapier integrations. In just a few clicks, they help people discover a use case, connect apps, and turn on the Zap. They're the fastest way for your users to automate workflows with your app. 

To create a template, you simply choose the app you want to pair with your app, then map out the steps of each Zap by filling in the required fields. Then all your user has to do is select the template and they'll be guided through the set-up process. All of your Zap templates are also included on your Zapier app directory page so users can easily find them.

Want to learn more about creating Zap templates? Check out our partner documentation or create your own custom embed here. 

JavaScript widget: Embed Zap templates anywhere in a few minutes

Zapier's embed tools help Keap put integrations right where users expect to find them. -Stephanie Kelman, Product Marketing Manager at Keap

Once you have a library of Zap templates, the JS widget allows you to easily surface them with a short snippet of JavaScript. 

You can paste this snippet anywhere to dynamically display the most popular Zap templates for your app. You can exhibit them anywhere—across your help documentation, in blog posts and onboarding emails, on your integrations or FAQ page, and more. Just think about what makes sense contextually (i.e., where your users would expect to connect to another tool). 

The widget is the quickest way to get an embedded Zapier experience up and running for your users—it takes just a few minutes and doesn't require any design resources. But if you feel Zapier's custom orange buttons don't fit your app's design, there are advanced options to change the border, background, and button color. 

Get started by generating your JavaScript snippet, or take a look at our advanced styling options. 

Zapier's Partner API: Customize your in-product experience with flexible styling options

The Partner API helps you exhibit your best Zapier use cases exactly where it's most helpful: Within the flow of your app. With the Partner API, you can feature your integration inside your app without sacrificing the look, feel, and flow of your product. To see what we mean, let's take a look at the three tools powered by the Partner API. 

App Marketplace

Prospects want to know their favorite tool seamlessly connects with your app. 

As a Zapier partner, you already rely on our library of thousands of apps to serve your users' needs. But using Zapier's Partner API makes this collaboration visible to anyone who lands on your site. That way, when a user searches for a business-critical app that you don't natively support, they find a path forward in your directory, rather than a blank page. This reassurance helps nudge users to sign up or to upgrade their plan. 

The API returns a list of all the apps available in Zapier's app directory so you can show your users all the integration possibilities. 

Of course, if you don't want to show users everything, that's not a problem, as the API can also return apps by category. Show all of the available apps (like the example from Wufoo below) or only show the categories that are most relevant to your users.

It also returns the app name, logo, app description, related Zap templates, and app page link. Dynamically populating your marketplace eliminates the need for manual maintenance of directory listings. Because as our library of apps grows, yours does, too. 

Embedded editor  

Powering your app marketplace with Zapier's Partner API shows users that you can support their workflows. But there's additional functionality: enabling them to start building automated workflows directly inside your product. 

When you embed the Zapier editor in your product, you empower users to build automated workflows right at the point of need, without ever hopping out of your UI.

Inside Facebook Lead Ads, for example, users search for the CRM they want to send their prospects to. If they select an app that's powered by Zapier, the Zapier editor appears in an iFrame and guides users through the entire setup, step by step. 

Manage my Zaps  

To create a seamless automation experience, you can allow your users to manage their Zaps from an embedded panel inside your product—see which Zaps are up and running, and toggle them on and off from within your UI.  

Take Unbounce, for example. Unbounce treated our suite of tools like a menu, picking and adapting the solutions they needed to best help their users. To illustrate this point, let's take a look at the way Unbounce uses the embedded editor. 

For a seamless setup, Unbounce users can build Zaps from an embedded editor.

They can easily see which Zaps are up and running on a form. Users can also turn these workflows on or off without leaving the Unbounce dashboard. 

This strategy unlocked 56% higher revenue per user. Today, to build on this momentum, Unbounce is using the Partner API to build more in-product access points.  

So: Which tool will you use to embed Zapier into your product? Submit your embed plan.

This article was written by elena.alston@zapier.com (Elena Alston) and first appeared here: https://zapier.com/blog/zapier-partner-tools-overview

For many, automation is already a workplace reality. And it's catching. 

Its growing popularity is thanks to the scale at which it can complete thousands of tasks automatically. As tech companies seek ways to meet rising demand, integrations are the new building blocks to a better user experience.

Yet building an integration (and getting it up and running) isn't enough. Not if you want your users to discover the automated workflows they can create right away and where they'd expect to find them—inside your UI. 

It's all too easy for your customers to hit a dead-end when trying to connect their favorite tools if it's not immediately clear you can support their needs. In fact, according to a survey we conducted with knowledge workers in 2019, 73% use a variety of different software they wished worked better together. And 81% actively look for solutions that help share information from one app to another. 

That's exactly what Zapier's suite of embed tools can solve. Below we'll cover a full rundown of all the tools you can use to embed Zapier into your product (and meet your users at their point of need).

Embedding Zapier into your product

Customers today have a real "use it or lose it" attitude towards apps. If your product doesn't deliver on value, they'll stop paying for it. 

Embedding your Zapier-powered integration into your UI gives your product an added value. In turn, your customers can discover and build the workflows that grow their business—churning less and upgrading more. 

By embedding Zapier into your product, your users can easily connect the apps they're already using and find ways to do even more with your app—without leaving your product UI. 

Here's a rundown of the embedding tools we offer and the impact our partners have seen from prioritizing this work. Click a link below to learn more about each embedding tool:

• Zap templates: Build readymade workflows for your users

• JavaScript widget: Embed Zap templates anywhere in a few minutes

• Zapier's Partner API: Customize your integration

Zap templates: Build ready-made workflows for your users

Regardless of which embedding tool you decide to use, you'll need to build a few Zap templates first.  

Zap templates are ready-made workflows with the apps and core fields pre-selected for publicly available Zapier integrations. In just a few clicks, they help people discover a use case, connect apps, and turn on the Zap. They're the fastest way for your users to automate workflows with your app. 

To create a template, you simply choose the app you want to pair with your app, then map out the steps of each Zap by filling in the required fields. Then all your user has to do is select the template and they'll be guided through the set-up process. All of your Zap templates are also included on your Zapier app directory page so users can easily find them.

Want to learn more about creating Zap templates? Check out our partner documentation or create your own custom embed here. 

JavaScript widget: Embed Zap templates anywhere in a few minutes

Zapier's embed tools help Keap put integrations right where users expect to find them. -Stephanie Kelman, Product Marketing Manager at Keap

Once you have a library of Zap templates, the JS widget allows you to easily surface them with a short snippet of JavaScript. 

You can paste this snippet anywhere to dynamically display the most popular Zap templates for your app. You can exhibit them anywhere—across your help documentation, in blog posts and onboarding emails, on your integrations or FAQ page, and more. Just think about what makes sense contextually (i.e., where your users would expect to connect to another tool). 

The widget is the quickest way to get an embedded Zapier experience up and running for your users—it takes just a few minutes and doesn't require any design resources. But if you feel Zapier's custom orange buttons don't fit your app's design, there are advanced options to change the border, background, and button color. 

Get started by generating your JavaScript snippet, or take a look at our advanced styling options. 

Zapier's Partner API: Customize your in-product experience with flexible styling options

The Partner API helps you exhibit your best Zapier use cases exactly where it's most helpful: Within the flow of your app. With the Partner API, you can feature your integration inside your app without sacrificing the look, feel, and flow of your product. To see what we mean, let's take a look at the three tools powered by the Partner API. 

App Marketplace

Prospects want to know their favorite tool seamlessly connects with your app. 

As a Zapier partner, you already rely on our library of thousands of apps to serve your users' needs. But using Zapier's Partner API makes this collaboration visible to anyone who lands on your site. That way, when a user searches for a business-critical app that you don't natively support, they find a path forward in your directory, rather than a blank page. This reassurance helps nudge users to sign up or to upgrade their plan. 

The API returns a list of all the apps available in Zapier's app directory so you can show your users all the integration possibilities. 

Of course, if you don't want to show users everything, that's not a problem, as the API can also return apps by category. Show all of the available apps (like the example from Wufoo below) or only show the categories that are most relevant to your users.

It also returns the app name, logo, app description, related Zap templates, and app page link. Dynamically populating your marketplace eliminates the need for manual maintenance of directory listings. Because as our library of apps grows, yours does, too. 

Embedded editor  

Powering your app marketplace with Zapier's Partner API shows users that you can support their workflows. But there's additional functionality: enabling them to start building automated workflows directly inside your product. 

When you embed the Zapier editor in your product, you empower users to build automated workflows right at the point of need, without ever hopping out of your UI.

Inside Facebook Lead Ads, for example, users search for the CRM they want to send their prospects to. If they select an app that's powered by Zapier, the Zapier editor appears in an iFrame and guides users through the entire setup, step by step. 

Manage my Zaps  

To create a seamless automation experience, you can allow your users to manage their Zaps from an embedded panel inside your product—see which Zaps are up and running, and toggle them on and off from within your UI.  

Take Unbounce, for example. Unbounce treated our suite of tools like a menu, picking and adapting the solutions they needed to best help their users. To illustrate this point, let's take a look at the way Unbounce uses the embedded editor. 

For a seamless setup, Unbounce users can build Zaps from an embedded editor.

They can easily see which Zaps are up and running on a form. Users can also turn these workflows on or off without leaving the Unbounce dashboard. 

This strategy unlocked 56% higher revenue per user. Today, to build on this momentum, Unbounce is using the Partner API to build more in-product access points.  

So: Which tool will you use to embed Zapier into your product? Submit your embed plan.

This article was written by elena.alston@zapier.com (Elena Alston) and first appeared here: https://zapier.com/blog/overview-zapier-partner-tools

Today, more and more businesses and individuals are launching online courses—whether as a means to market a small business, build a niche brand, or just share know-how. Online courses offer the opportunity to build a community and even earn some additional income.

While the concept and reasoning behind building an online course is simple, the process often isn't. It's more than just uploading a video: it requires you to build out a course curriculum, develop assignments (if you want), design the course pages, and more.

Online course platforms streamline the process. These platforms offer all the tools you need to develop, launch, teach, and manage an online course—so you can focus on your content.

The 10 best platforms to create and sell online courses

• Udemy for launching your first course

• Skillshare for teaching creative skills

• Teachable for creating an online school with advanced marketing

• Podia for selling digital products and memberships

• Thinkific for building a course from scratch

• Kajabi for marketing a course on autopilot

• LearnWorlds for creating an online school

• Mighty Networks for building a paid community

• Pathwright for building action-oriented courses

• Xperiencify for gamifying your online course

What makes a great online course platform?

For this piece, we only considered platforms for building and selling an online course, which means we did not consider learning management systems (LMS). While the terms are often used interchangeably, LMSs are generally used either in a school setting or to help companies train their customers and employees. The platforms covered below, on the other hand, are designed for individual creators to earn money by selling their courses.

Online course creation platforms can be broadly divided into two categories:

• Course marketplaces

• Course creation software

In a marketplace, your course is a part of a catalog, and you have the option to customize your course landing page but not much else aside from the course content. Most marketplaces let you publish a course for free but take a share of course sales. The major advantage: Course marketplaces provide you with an existing student base, so if you don't have much of an online presence yet, you might want to dabble with these first.

Course creation software, on the other hand, offers many more customization options. You can create branded landing pages, choose from multiple content formats when building your course, and get the necessary tools to market your course. These usually charge a fixed monthly fee, and some platforms also charge a transaction fee.

Unsurprisingly, there's no one-size-fits-all solution for creating a profitable course. Your ideal course creation platform is unique to your needs and goals. Are online courses your bread and butter? Then you need a platform that helps you reach the maximum number of students. Does teaching and engaging with students excite you? Then a course creator with interactive tools would work well. Are you creating a course to engage your existing audience? Then you'll want a tool with robust marketing features.

While every platform has its own unique selling point, we've judged the platforms below based on certain criteria:

• Content formats supported, including video, audio, PDFs, and images

• Editing features and customization options

• Whether or not they're realistically affordable for small businesses

• Support for assessments: quizzes, exams, certifications, etc.

• Marketing and payment features

Ready to share your trade secrets online? Take a look at the best platforms to help you get the job done.

---

Online course marketplaces

Best online course marketplace for launching your first course

Udemy (Web, Android, iOS)

While the earliest massive open online courses (MOOCs) made learning accessible, Udemy took it a step further: It made teaching online possible. Today, the platform has over 40 million students enrolled in its courses and an instructor base of 50,000.

To create a paid course on Udemy, you first have to apply to become a premium instructor. Once approved, you'll see a series of easy-to-follow steps to help you create your first course. As you plan course content, keep in mind that all courses need at least 30 minutes of video and five lectures. You're also welcome to add quizzes, assignments, coding exercises, and discussion prompts.

Why launch your first course on Udemy? Because the platform offers loads of support for creating and marketing a course. For example, if you're not sure if your video lessons are up to snuff, you can submit a sample for review and get feedback on video and audio, along with suggestions for equipment. And for tutorials on planning a course, filming your first video, and related topics, Udemy offers the Teach Hub with tips and tricks.

If you're struggling to make your first few sales, Udemy's tailor-made marketing programs will offer support. Get your course featured in their email blasts, be a part of site-wide discounts, or opt for Udemy's affiliate marketing program. All of these programs are optional, and depending on the promotional channel you choose, Udemy takes a share of course sales.

Finally, Udemy's marketplace insights help you select the perfect course topic and see how it stacks up against other courses on the platform—which is important because of the size of the marketplace you're competing with. Similar to Google Analytics, this feature tells you how popular a topic is on Udemy, its search volume, and related keywords. You can also see the number of existing courses for a topic, top-earning courses in the category, monthly revenue earned, and best promotion channels (Udemy discovery, Udemy search, external sources, paid ads).

To put it simply, with Udemy, you're in good hands.

Udemy Price: Free for selling a premium course. Udemy charges 3% revenue share on course sales made by instructor coupons, 50% revenue share on courses found through organic search on Udemy or through a Udemy promotion, and 75% revenue share on course sales through Udemy's paid user acquisition channels. (Note: Revenue share does not include processing fees charged by PayPal or Payoneer, or mobile platform fees for mobile course sales.)

Best online course marketplace for teaching creative skills

Skillshare (Web, Android, iOS)

If you're an entrepreneur, designer, writer, photographer, or blogger looking to teach your craft online, Skillshare is great for teaching creative skills. You'll find courses on all kinds of topics, both popular and niche: marketing, photography, cooking, hand painting, doodling, and even wall hanging.

The platform offers a membership plan for students that gives them access to all of its 22,000+ premium courses. As for creators, it's free to sign up and publish a course, but if you want to get paid, it must be a part of Skillshare's premium catalog.

Free or premium, Skillshare classes have three major moving parts: video lessons, a project, and community discussion. Each class includes 20-60 minutes of video, broken down into 2-5-minute lessons. The practical project then ensures hands-on experience. For instance, a social media class project might require students to promote their Instagram account, or a writing class might require students to draft a pitch. Finally, the community portion of a class allows students to post their work.

Instead of favoring final outcomes, Skillshare encourages students to share their progress, garner feedback, and tweak their work accordingly—which is perfect for the creative topics you'll be teaching.

Skillshare Price: Free for creating a premium class. Skillshare pays instructors $10 for premium membership referrals and royalties for minutes watched in a premium class each month.

Online course creation software

Best online course creation software for building an online school with advanced marketing

Teachable (Web, iOS)

Teachable helps savvy course creators grow and nurture an online audience. To begin with, the platform offers various options to customize the look and feel of your course. Build a website that reflects your brand, create sales pages for launching your course, and if you happen to be tech-savvy, use the Power Editor to tinker with the code. If not, edit the templates available. Teachable's course builder accepts files from Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, among other content formats.

There's flexibility when pricing your course too: Offer courses on their own or in bundles, and choose between a one-time fee, a payment plan, or a subscription. When you're ready to launch, create coupon codes to see a quick boost in course sales. To build a sales team for your course, use the platform's built-in affiliate marketing option: Simply add affiliates and they will get a percentage of course sales. No third-party integration required.

Teachable's native email marketing tool lets you filter and message students when they enroll in a course, redeem a coupon, or complete a course. The platform also helps you collect student feedback and uncover insights about your course using Google Forms and surveys. If you'd like to keep in touch with students after they've completed your course, add them to your email list with Teachable's integrations. As they say, the money is in the list.

You can do more with Teachable when you connect it to your favorite apps through Zapier's automated workflows. Automatically add your students to your marketing campaign, track them in a Google Sheet, and more with one of these pre-made workflows.

Teachable Price: From $29/month for the Basic plan, which includes custom domain, email marketing, coupon codes, drip course content, and a 5% transaction fee.

Best online course creation software for selling digital products and memberships

Podia (Web)

Podia lets you build an online store for your digital content. Create online courses, digital downloads, and even membership sites, all as part of one digital storefront.

All Podia storefronts have a similar template, which is helpful if you find too many options overwhelming. Each store's landing page includes an overview, a "What's included" section, a content section, FAQs, and creator bios. And all courses, memberships, and digital downloads have a separate landing page.

Once you create an online course, you can publish it immediately or pre-launch it to collect emails. If you have additional resources to supplement your course—cheat sheets, eBooks, videos, audio, text, checklists—sell them as a digital download. You can also bundle and sell the two together.

Online content creators often try to nurture an online community on platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. This can work, but you're often at the mercy of algorithmic changes and the rules of the platform you choose. Podia allows you to create your own private membership site, with different membership plans, perks, and content for members. Share updates with your community, notify them about new products, and watch your business grow.

Connect Podia to the other apps you use most through Zapier's automated workflows. Automatically add your students to your marketing campaign, enroll new purchasers in your course, and more with one of these pre-made workflows.

Podia Price: From $39/month for the Mover plan for online courses, digital downloads, email marketing, and zero transaction fees.

Best online course creation software for building a course from scratch

Thinkific (Web)

Putting together your first online course can be daunting. How many lessons should you include? Where should you add assignments and quizzes? What other file types should you include? Thinkific takes the guesswork out of course creation with its simple and ready-to-use templates.

There are two parts to creating a course on Thinkific: course material and landing page. To get started, choose from the following templates: pre-sell, mini-course, flagship course, membership resource library, and webinar replay. Unlike other course builders, where you start with a blank slate, Thinkific templates provide helpful cues and tips to build a valuable course. Apart from video lessons, the templates are pre-populated with sample quizzes, downloads, surveys, and instructor messages, at regular intervals throughout the course. Add or remove content as you see fit, or follow the template as is.

Thinkific's website builder is one of the easiest to use. Choose the pages you want to include, add your copy, pick a theme, and you're done.

And by connecting Thinkific with Zapier, you can do things like automatically add your students to your marketing campaign, get an SMS message when a course is purchased, and more with one of these pre-made workflows.

Thinkific Price: Free for 1 course and unlimited students, course upsells, payment gateway, and no transaction fees; from $39/month for the Basic plan, which offers most features, including unlimited courses and students, marketing and email integrations via Zapier, and drip content.

Best online course creation software for marketing a course on autopilot

Kajabi (Web, iOS, Android)

Kajabi gives marketing superpowers to busy course creators. Its marketing blueprints, called Pipelines, help you create an entire marketing funnel—from landing page and opt-ins to emails to offers and course checkout—with just a few clicks.

Here's an example: The freebie pipeline consists of three touchpoints. The first is a landing page where you collect emails in exchange for a free downloadable, such as an eBook or cheatsheet. When a visitor enters their email, they're subscribed to your freebie email sequence, where you can thank them for signing up and upsell your course. If they choose to purchase, they're taken to a thank-you page. And that's it.

You can also choose what to do with the emails you collect. Add them to an email sequence, remind them about your special offer, or send them a thank-you note after they purchase. Kajabi has templates for all kinds of pages. Select a Pipeline, add your content, and your marketing machine is all set.

Templates can be handy, but if you want to create your own automations, Kajabi offers a number of if-then scenarios to choose from. When a student completes an assessment, fills a form, cancels a subscription, or has been inactive for a while, you can send them an email, register them for an event, or unsubscribe them from an email list. Given that email is at the core of all its features, Kajabi also has a native email provider that helps you track how many of your emails are opened.

You can do more with Kajabi when you connect it to your favorite apps through Zapier's automated workflows. Automatically get email notifications for new purchases, give new purchasers access to your product, and more with one of these pre-made workflows.

Kajabi Price: From $119/month for the Basic plan for one site, three products, three pipelines, and unlimited marketing emails and landing pages.

Best online course creation software for creating an online school

LearnWorlds (Web, Android, iOS)

Ever dreamt of starting your own school? Now you can. LearnWorlds helps you set up an online school website with multiple teachers and a course catalog. Add instructors and select the courses you want them to teach. While instructors can author courses, they cannot publish a new course or change general settings. As admin of your school, offer as many courses as you like, with various pricing options. For an added fee, you can even get a branded app for your school.

LearnWorlds' course builder has a number of unique tools. When adding content to your course, upload videos from your computer or Vimeo. Then, choose from a range of editing options such as adding text, images, pointers, logo, titles, and interactive buttons to your video. You can also add course content from SoundCloud and YouTube, among other formats.

LearnWorlds enables connections with students and teachers via an online community that accompanies every school. Most discussion forums focus on reviewing course-related material, but LearnWorlds' communities are designed for social interaction. While students are free to post questions about coursework, the idea is to foster engagement and exchange of ideas. To help students build their network, each student has a public profile that showcases their courses and achievements.

And by connecting LearnWorlds with Zapier, you can do things like automatically track new course purchases in a Google Sheet, send an email when a course is completed, and more, with one of these pre-made workflows.

LearnWorlds Price: From $24/month for the Starter plan for custom domain, unlimited paid courses, built-in community, coupons, 4 payment gateways, and $5 fee per course sale.

Best online course creation software for building a paid community

Mighty Networks (Web, Android, iOS)

Looking to build a vibrant, active paid community around your online course? Look no further than Mighty Networks. The app focuses broadly on community-building, which includes paid groups, events, and—you guessed it—online courses.

Users can sell individual courses, community membership, or bundle a combination of the two. Memberships can be priced as a one-time payment or subscription, and pricing is 100% custom. Each course can be priced separately or offered for free to paying members.

Every course comes with an Activity Feed built in that works to foster engagement and conversation as members complete your course. Members can share all kinds of content, too—from quick text posts to images and links. As the instructor, you can set topics to drive the conversation and build live events (both online and IRL) into your courses. Add icebreaker questions to get the ball rolling, and create polls to engage your audience and gather feedback.

Uniquely, the app offers a small but mighty feature (pun intended) that enables instructors to change the verbiage used in their community. For example, your table of contents can alternatively be called syllabus, course material, or any custom label you choose. Instructors can be professor, TA, teacher, or another custom name.

You can do more with Mighty Networks when you connect your favorite apps using the Zapier integration. Bring conversations across channels, automate new member invitations, sync events to your calendar, and more with these (and other) pre-made workflows.

Mighty Networks price: A free plan that does not include online courses is available; paid plans that include online courses start at $81/month for over 2,000 Zapier integrations and premium analytics.

Best online course creation software for building action-oriented courses

Pathwright (Web)

With Pathwright, you can launch an online course that's designed to be 100% actionable for learners. The app's course creator is one of the most fluid and intuitive of the software we tested—that action-oriented approach to course curriculum is no exception.

Start by building out the outline of your course syllabus, then add specific actions for students to complete. When you add each step, Pathwright enables you to choose the action students need to perform from a dropdown menu: watch, read, take, submit, attend, listen, or to-do. The result is a clear path (their term) that leads learners through the course material.

Once your syllabus and actions are outlined, Pathwright helpfully adds a "Needs content" note to each step. Another bonus: While quick design customization is limited, the sky's the limit for CSS-savvy users who want to code a completely customized look and feel for their courses.

And by connecting Pathwright with Zapier, you can do things like automatically add new students to your email list, send course invitations to new customers, notify students about new grades, and more.

Pathwright price: The Starter plan runs $99/month for up to 1,000 members, unlimited paid courses, and free course design classes.

Best online course creator for gamifying your online courses

Xperiencify (Web)

Online courses have a notoriously low completion rate across the board, with many learners abandoning the course long before they finish. That's what Xperiencify aims to remedy. By allowing instructors to gamify courses and turn learning into a more engaging experience, the app promises to boost your completion rates by as much as 10-30%.

For each module students complete, they earn experience points (called XPs). Instructors can set the XP value of each module and elements within it during the course creation process.

In addition to points, instructors can design their own celebrations marking key milestones in each course. A new beta feature also lets instructors automate course experience flows with event-triggered emails, SMS, and more.

While video content is Xperiencify's bread and butter, you can also add supporting resources to your lessons, which can include everything from PDFs to slides to MP3 files and more. And you can do even more with Xperiencify by connecting it with your favorite software using Zapier. 

Xperiencify pricing: Launch plan is $49/month for unlimited courses and students, 4.9% transaction fee, and Zapier integration.

Ready, set, teach

Whether you're passionate about teaching, want to grow your audience, or are just looking to earn an income from your courses, there's a platform to help you achieve your goals.

When picking a tool to launch your course, consider your budget, time constraints, current online following, and earning potential. If you're simply testing the waters, start with a course marketplace. Once you've validated your course topic and content, only then proceed to launch your own course website. Don't worry about migrating content from one platform to another. Most platforms support this, whether for free or for an added fee.

This article was written by kiera@kieraabbamonte.com (Kiera Abbamonte) and first appeared here: https://zapier.com/blog/online-course-platforms

For years, I've read books, viewed webinars, and been to conferences where the author or speaker touted the value of journaling. It's therapeutic. There's a legacy factor (leaving something behind for loved ones). Journaling helps compile ideas. And so on. So I would buy a journal and write in it one time or maybe two, never to be opened again. I've even tried different styles and formats—which simply means that I accumulated half a dozen (or eight!) nearly empty journals on my bookshelf.

There are three main problems for me:

• Some people like paper. I'm not one of them. In my mind, things on paper cannot be easily filed or categorized, they're not in the cloud (available wherever/whenever I want them), and they're not digital, which means they're not typewritten, easily cross-referenced, able to be cut and pasted, searchable, the list goes on.

• I have terrible handwriting, so my notes can usually only be read by me.

• More importantly, I never know what to write. If it's something lengthy, I want to use a word processor. If it's short, I question its value. Either way, I don't want to waste time putting words on paper simply for the sake of writing a journal. I want it to be purposeful. (I'm an organizational consultant, so that tracks.)

Yes, I tried things like journaling apps, handwriting apps, note-taking apps like Evernote (taking pictures of my journal entries), and even Rocketbook, a hybrid paper/digital journal. While each of these has its benefits, none of them got me journaling. Maybe these are only my issues; maybe your reasons for hating journaling are different. But maybe what helped me can help you too.

A system for journaling

To boil it down to a single word, what helped me start journaling was a system. I love systems. Systems are simply an organized group of processes or steps to help accomplish an objective. I actually created my own journaling system almost by accident. And using this system, I filled my first journal ever—and I'm now almost finished with my third one.

Before I get into the system, a caveat. In order for this to work, you need to want to begin journaling. You also need to value lifelong learning. This journaling system assumes that you'll be reading books, listening to podcasts, watching webinars, or learning from others in some capacity.

The system itself is pretty simple. 

1. If you don't have a journal, buy one. Pick one you like; the style or format really doesn't matter. Here's the one I most recently bought—inexpensive but with all the features I wanted, including a built-in pen holder.

2. If your journal doesn't have a pen holder, get some of these (or something like them). They remove the obstacle of not having a pen when you go to write something.

3. Take your journal with you everywhere. Have it nearby when you're reading, watching TED Talks, meeting with a mentor—anything where you might be learning.

4. Use the right-hand pages of your journal to take notes. This isn't college, so you don't need to write down everything. Write down important ideas, concepts you'd like to remember, innovative thoughts, or key points. Whatever jumps out at you in the moment—including your reactions to what you're learning—jot it down.

5. Reserve the left-hand pages of your journal for action items. These are things you want to do. They can be rough ideas or more detailed outlines. The beauty here is that you can quickly scan through the left-hand pages of your journal to find "to-dos" and reference your notes on the right-hand pages next to those action items for more clarity. Sometimes my action items are directly related to the notes on the right-hand side, and I'll usually draw an arrow or star to indicate that. Other times, the action items have no relationship to the notes. Although it's still a little chaotic, the left/right separation provides enough structure to keep journal entries organized without taking unnecessary time or complexity to do so. (Bonus tip: I also dog-ear pages with really important notes or ideas, so I can quickly find those later.)

6. When you fill a journal, label it. Give it a unique name or number. I use the date it was completed (e.g., "Journal 20201031"), but you can call them anything you like. Either write the name or use a label maker and stick it on the spine. This will make your journal name visible when it's on your bookshelf. The labeling will help for cross-referencing in step 7.

7. Take a few minutes to compile your action items (left-hand pages) from your completed journal into whatever you use for to-do lists (whether that's an app on your phone, a spreadsheet, a paper list… it doesn't matter). I've been using MeisterTask, and it's worked well for me. It's web-based but also has a mobile app, and there's a free version. Whatever you use, be sure to include the journal name or number in your task. That way, if you want to know where to find your notes about the task later, you'll easily be able to find the journal where it's written.

(You can also archive your journal by using your phone's camera and snapping photos of your important journal pages, or all of them, into Evernote, the Rocketbook app, CamScanner, Google Keep, or even the iOS Notes app.)

---

So that's the system I've been using. It's not perfect, but it's been highly effective for me (translated: I'm actually filling journals with useful and actionable information). It's also not complicated, and therein lies its beauty. Not only does it help bridge the gap between paper and digital, but it also provides purpose for my journaling that had been lacking.

This article was written by eric@beschinski.com (Eric Beschinski) and first appeared here: https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-start-journaling

Linking bases in Airtable is a true need for those who organize and share data to run business processes. 

From project managers structuring projects from an Airtable base to sales directors funneling leads to their reps, people have been discussing this issue for years on Airtable’s community site. 

A quick search shows that sending records from one base to another is vital to:

• Streamline projects involving multiple teams and/or professionals
• Share partial amounts of data with teammates, employees, and clients (manage data visibility and granularity across sectors)
• Automatically categorize and funnel data from one base to another (such as contacts and leads)
• Decentralize large databases into smaller, more manageable ones

It is clear that there is immense value in linking Airtable bases, and we are here to help you unlock it. 

In this article, we will show you how to send records from one base to another using Integromat. 

But before we get to that, we want to provide you with more information about this integration, as it is the first out of two solutions that we’ll be sharing to link Airtable bases.  

Let’s go!

Linking bases in Airtable: Two sequences of events

After researching the problem of how to link Airtable bases, we noticed there are two sequences of events to consider.

The first sequence is also the simplest one: in it, the main requirement is to copy records from one base into a different one. This process can be summarized in two steps:

• Person A creates or adds multiple records on base A
• Depending on a series of conditions, certain records from base A get automatically duplicated on base B

The conditions we are making reference to are set by the person who creates the integration between the bases. These conditions which records get copied into other bases, and why. 

For example, let’s imagine that you lead a project, and have a series of tasks listed on a main base (base A). However, you don’t want your teammates messing around with base A. 

To avoid this, you need to get the records/tasks assigned to your teammates copied from your base to your teammate’s base (base B).  

This can be done with Integromat, and it is precisely the subject that occupies us today. 

Keep in mind, this is just an example of a condition that can trigger the record-copying sequence. You can set up any kind of condition to get certain records copies to one or more bases, including: 

• Text or keywords
• Single select items
• Checkbox items
• Collaborator names
• Email addresses

As long as it makes sense to you and your workflow, it will be fine.   

The second sequence is an iteration of the first one, and requires records on the first/main base to be updated after they have been modified on the second one. In its simplest form, this sequence can be summarized as follows:

• Person A creates records on base A
• If certain conditions are met, certain records on base A get copied to base B
• Person B modifies or updates records on base B
• Base A updates the original records after they have been modified on base B

This calls for a more complex solution, but you don’t need to worry about it right now, as it will be the topic of our second post in this series. 

In this article, we will focus on the first sequence, as it is the easiest way to link Airtable bases. 

Before we start, please note that you will need an Integromat account to create the integration. If you don’t have one yet, please register for free.

Using a real-life example to link bases in Airtable

To show you how to link between bases, we are going to use a real-life example, consisting of two bases:

• Base 1: Social Media Content Calendar base
• Base 2 Designer’s base 

This is a fitting example, as countless companies use social media calendars to bring their content efforts forward. 

What’s most, these content calendars often pose a challenge: since creating content for social media requires the participation of several team members (managers, writers, designers), using one base involving everything and everyone is a recipe for chaos. 

To avoid this, the answer is having multiple Airtable bases instead of one:

• A main base, which will be run/organized by the manager / team lead
• Secondary bases for each team member (i.e. Writer’s base, Designer’s base, and so on)

With this setup, the team lead will be in charge of the main base, which will be used to create tasks. 

But most importantly, we will link the main base to a secondary one, and show you how you can use Integromat to automatically copy the records/tasks assigned to a team member into a secondary base. 

So, whenever a record/task requiring design gets added to the Social Media Content Calendar base, that exact record/task will be copied into the Designer’s base, automatically.

Note: our use case features two bases for simplicity, but you can connect as many as you want to the main base.

Step 1: Airtable bases

We start by setting up our two bases, which we named:

• Social Media Content Calendar (aka Base 1)
• Designer’s Base (aka Base 2)

Base 1 is pretty standard, and will be used by the team lead to create tasks and follow up on content creation efforts. This is what it looks like:

As you can see, it’s a simple content calendar, featuring columns for:

• Publication date
• Platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on)
• Type of content (i.e. Text, Text + image, Link + Image, and so on)
• Title of the post
• Copy
• Final version of copy
• Status
• Created time
• Last modified time
• Attachments / Image

Base 2, on the other hand, is an even simpler version of Base 1: it only features the columns that are relevant to the designer that has to complete tasks involving him/her. 

Since Base 2 is for the designer, it features the following columns:

• Publication date
• Platform (as different platforms demand different design specifications)
• Type of post
• Title of post
• Final version of copy
• Attachments / Image
• Last modified time

After the bases have been created, we are going to set up the Integromat scenario. 

Step 2: Creating the Integromat scenario

Now that you have an Integromat account, it’s time to put it to good use. 

From your dashboard, you will begin by creating a new scenario from scratch:

After you do this, please pick the app module that will trigger your scenario: the Airtable app. Then, click the “Continue” button on the upper right side of the screen.

Note: app modules define the way an app responds to a request. For more information about basic Integromat terms, please refer to this page. 

This will land you on the scenario builder (aka visual canvas) which is what you will use to link two (or more) Airtable bases. 

In the visual canvas, you will see that the Airtable app has been pre-loaded as your first option. Click on it, and select the “Watch records” module from your options. 

After you do this, it’s time to configure your first Integromat module. 

Step 3: Configuring the “Watch records” Airtable module

This module will watch the records in Base 1 (the Social Media Content Calendar), on a regular basis (this is called “scheduling”; more on it, below).  

We’ll break up the configuration of the module into two parts to make it easier. First, you will need to:

• Click on “Add” to connect your Airtable account to Integromat
• Select the main base (“Social Media Content Calendar”)
• Select the table containing such records (“SMM Content”)

Once you do this, you will have to configure the trigger field. 

Since we need Integromat to watch every record in disregard of the contents within, the best way to ensure this happens is by selecting “Created time” as the trigger to watch the records within this table. 

Note: if your bases do not feature “Created time” and “Last modified time” columns, make sure they do! It will make things easier to create Airtable integrations.

Now,  please select “Title” as the label field, and set the limit to 50. This means that you are telling Integromat to watch up to 50 new records during each “watch records” cycle. 

Of course, you can change this number to suit your needs; if you add 200 records a day on average, you might as well set that limit to 220 or 250 to ensure Integromat picks all the new records without missing anything. 

You can leave the “View” and “Formula” fields blank, as they don’t matter here. 

In case you are wondering how this scenario will pick up the records that need to be sent to the Designer’s base, please be patient. 

We will get there, but first we need to schedule our scenario. 

So, after you finish this, click “OK”.

Step 4: Scheduling your scenario

Once you click “OK”, the scheduling module should appear before your eyes. 

In case it doesn’t, please click on the little clock attached to the first module of your scenario. 

The scheduling feature defines how often the scenario will run. 

In this case, we are telling it to watch for new records every 15 minutes, but you can change this to suit your specific needs. 

Note: you can pick up records retroactively as well. If you need to do that, please select “Show advanced settings”, and select the date when you want Integromat to start watching the records. 

Step 5: Configuring the second Airtable module

Now that you have set up the first module, it’s time to configure the second (and last) module of this scenario: the “Create a record” Airtable module. 

To do this, please click on the “plus” sign next to the first module. 

You should now see Airtable as your predefined app choice: click on it, and then select the “Create a record” module. 

As you did in the first module, you will have to:

• Select the Airtable connection (should already be there)
• Select the secondary base (“Designer’s base”)
• Select the table within the Designer’s base (in our case, that’s “Table 1”)

To complete the setup of this module, you will need to select the record data that you want to copy from Base 1 to Base 2. 

Since our scenario will copy records/tasks for a designer, we are sending data that is relevant for the designer to complete design-related tasks, namely:

• Publication date
• Platforms
• Type of task (i.e. Link + image,  Text + image)
• Title 
• Final copy version

To do this, please click on each field, and select the corresponding option from the list you’ll see on screen. 

Now comes the interesting part: how does the scenario recognize which records need to be copied into the designer’s base? 

In the end, we only want to copy the records/tasks that need to be completed by the designer, and not other records/tasks. To achieve this, we will use a filter. 

Step 6: Configuring the filter

In a rather self-explanatory manner, the filter will prevent the scenario from copying every record into another base. 

In other words, it is a condition (or a series of conditions) that will allow the scenario to pick and copy only the records we want. 

To set it up, you will have to click on the little wrench icon that lies in between the modules, and select the “Set up a new filter” option. 

Here, you will define the conditions a record has to meet in order to be copied into another base. 

Since we want our scenario to only copy tasks that are meant for the designer to complete, we set our filter to pick up the following type of tasks:

• Text + image
• Link + image
• Infographic

By doing this, the scenario will only copy the records in which the “Type” column features the text above (“Text + image”, or “Link + image”, or “Infographic).

Note: When typing the text in the “Equal to” field, make sure it’s the exact same text featured on your “Type” record options. If, for example, you add a space after the last character, the filter will not recognize the condition. 

Step 7: Run the scenario

After you finish with the filter, it’s time to see how your scenario works. To do this, you will have to:

• Run the scenario
• If it works fine, turn it on
• Save the scenario

And that’s it! 

Now, the Integromat scenario will:

• Watch new records on Base 1
• Filter the records by “Type” (those that require design, in our case)
• Send the records that require design to Base 2

And this way, our designer gets tasks assigned on a separate Airtable base, automatically. Pretty neat, huh?

Conclusion

Linking bases in Airtable will provide your organization with greater efficiency and order, allowing you to:

• Organize tasks and workflows that involve several teams and professionals 
• Avoid copying and pasting data on a recurring basis
• Manage data visibility
• Categorize and copy data from one base to another 
• Decentralize large databases / avoid data siloing

As you can see, there’s a lot you can do by connecting Airtable bases, and it will be up to you to decide how to put this integration to its best use. 

More automation ideas

Improve your work and business with Integromat. For more automation ideas, please read our curated selection of use cases and app hacks articles. 

You can also create custom Airtable integrations, or check out the full list of project management integrations.

Happy automating!

This article was written by Martin Etchegaray and first appeared here: https://www.integromat.com/en/blog/link-bases-in-airtable