Skip to content

5 ways automation can help entertainers streamline work and maintain an online presence

By Tyler Robertson · June 30, 2021
A phone held horizontally in a tripod displaying an image of a man holding several peppers. He is recording a video of himself cooking something.

There's a sign down the street that just says "back to work." It's part of a larger campaign that's eager to get folks back into the office, and—as someone who happens to really like working from home—it's super annoying. 

As offices, shops, and performance venues begin welcoming everyone in person again, many who made the shift to working remotely are hesitant to go back. And why shouldn't they be? Switching to remote work when your whole job used to be in-person takes a huge effort, and it would be a shame to let that go to waste, especially for entertainers and speakers who have found new audiences online. 

If you've made the switch to providing remote services and want to keep it that way—either full-time or as a hybrid model that works for you—you're probably going to need automation. By having "the machine" take care of your menial tasks, you can get more done from anywhere you like, and help make the case that maybe you should stay home, at least for a little while longer. 

Subscribe patrons to your mailing list

Speakers, DJs, drag queens and more have had to make up for the lack of in-person events, and they're turning to apps like Patreon and Ko-Fi to help rebuild that relationship with their audience online. With a Zap, you can automatically subscribe new patrons and donors to your mailing list, so they're kept up-to-date on all your new content.

Add new Patreon members as Mailchimp subscribers

  • Patreon logo
  • Mailchimp logo
Patreon + Mailchimp
More details
    Congrats on all your new Patreon members! But now you'll have to move through your check list of next steps for each one. We can make that work flow a bit smoother for you with this integration. Just set it up and new Patreon members will be added as Mailchimp subscribers. Now you don't need to manually add them in yourself. More time for you to focus on your creative work.

    Add Mailchimp subscribers for new payments in Ko-fi

    • Ko-fi logo
    • Filter by Zapier logo
    • Mailchimp logo
    Ko-fi + Filter by Zapier + Mailchimp
    More details
      When supporters create monthly subscriptions to Ko-fi page, this automation adds the subscribers to Mailchimp subscriber lists. Use it to deliver custom content just for your Ko-fi subscribers.

      Let the world know when you go live

      As much as I miss in-person shows, watching my favorite band go live on Twitch, or my favorite comedian perform on Zoom helps remind me that I'm not alone. Plus, the food is usually cheaper, and my house smells better than most concert venues. 

      If you rely on streaming to get your face in front of your audience, these Zaps can help make sure that everyone knows exactly when you start broadcasting.

      Create detailed Google Calendar events from new Zoom meetings

      • Zoom logo
      • Google Calendar logo
      Zoom + Google Calendar
      More details
        Don't waste time creating Google Calendar events every time you schedule a new Zoom meeting—let this integration do it automatically! Every time a new Zoom meeting is created, Zapier will build a detailed Google Calendar event.

        Start building your own CRM with a spreadsheet

        A confession: I'm pretty good with faces, but absolutely terrible with names. Because of that, I started using spreadsheets to create my own form of customer relationship management (CRM) for friends, family, and people I work with! I use it to track names, birthdays, related tasks, who I owe money to, etc. And it's already saved me from the awkward "where do I know you from?" conversation more than once. 

        If you're building an audience, putting together an event online, or just trying to organize your friend group a bit more, these Zaps can help automatically keep track of the important information of everyone involved.

        Create Google Sheets spreadsheet rows from new payments in Ko-fi

        • Ko-fi logo
        • Google Sheets logo
        Ko-fi + Google Sheets
        More details
          Struggling to keep track of your Ko-fi payments? This integration creates spreadsheet rows for new payments you receive on Ko-fi. It includes all types of payments (donations, subscriptions, commissions and shop purchases).

          Create Google Sheets rows for new members in Patreon

          • Patreon logo
          • Google Sheets logo
          Patreon + Google Sheets
          More details
            When you have new members added to your membership tool, you may want to the details organized in your spreadsheet. This integration makes it easy by automatically creating a row in a Google Sheet with info from a new member record in Patreon. It's never been easier to organize your member info.

            Generate Google Sheets rows for new Zoom registrants

            • Zoom logo
            • Google Sheets logo
            Zoom + Google Sheets
            More details
              Looking for an easy way to organize and share details of who's signing up for your online meeting? Try this integration, which automatically generates a row in a specified Google Sheets spreadsheet as soon as a new Zoom registrant is created. Share the list with a teammate, or use it to prepare for your meeting.

              Share everything, everywhere

              One aspect of working in-person that I hear pretty often is, "when you're in-person, it's easier to share stories and build comradery." Which, as a person with a Zapier account, I think is a load of hooey. 

              With Zaps, any time you have a story, video, joke, or update to share, you only have to share it once. Zapier can take it from there, and re-post it to anywhere your audience is, letting you share and build community anywhere and everywhere at once.

              Upload recordings automatically

              OK, I'll bite. There's one part of working remotely that I still haven't gotten used to: I can't make it to every "live" event. There are either too many things going on, or I have other obligations, or I'm getting older and just want to sleep instead. And I know I'm not the only one—not everyone can make it to every Zoom call, no matter how much they might want to.

              Because of that, it's important to record everything, so folks in other timezones, or with other obligations, can get up-to-speed at their own pace. You guessed it: you can do that with a Zap.

              Send new Zoom recordings to Google Drive

              • Zoom logo
              • Google Drive logo
              Zoom + Google Drive
              More details
                Set up this integration to easily manage your recorded Zoom sessions. Once this is active, whenever a Zoom recording ends, the recording will be sent automatically to a folder in your Google Drive.

                You'll want to double-check your Zoom's privacy settings to make sure you can upload videos successfully—check out our guide to learn more!

                Can I automate even more of my work?

                Probably! Here are even more resources to get you started with automation so that you can keep working from anywhere you like (even the couch):

                Get productivity tips delivered straight to your inbox

                We’ll email you 1-3 times per week—and never share your information.

                Related articles

                Improve your productivity automatically. Use Zapier to get your apps working together.

                A Zap with the trigger 'When I get a new lead from Facebook,' and the action 'Notify my team in Slack'