“If This Then That will melt your face off.” – Gahlord Dehwald
Gahlord was right.
If This Then That (ifttt) just may be the most useful, well designed and sorely needed software ever written.
I am not kidding.
The way it works is simple. If this happens … then that happens. One example would be if I change my profile picture on Facebook, then I want to change it on Twitter, too. Another would be if it is going to rain, then send me an email in the morning at 6 a.m.
What makes this possible is that many popular online services have APIs that allow their data to be “pushed” to other services. Evernote, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, email, SMS, Dropbox, YouTube and more are all built right into the ifttt interface.
You can create your own “tasks” and actions, or you can search through the more than 400,000 “recipes,” which are tasks created by users who shared the task they designed! Sorting recipes by popularity is a breeze in ifttt’s whimsical user interface, which features huge fonts and simple buttons.
The only other element inside of ifttt to understand are “channels,” which is their way of saying services available to link up to ifttt. You will see most of your favorites already there, as I mentioned before, and I am confident there are more on the way. Can you imagine if multiple listing services and things like DocuSign were in here? If this listing goes pending, then …
When Gahlord first introduced me to ifttt I was actually hesitant to link my services because ifttt asks for the highest level of permissions when your social channels connect. On Twitter they need access to your direct messages, and on Facebook they need access to your private messages, as examples.
Now that I have spent some time with the program and set up many helpful tasks for myself, I am glad I got beyond my initial hesitations and would encourage you to all add this to your business today. The time and organizational ramifications seem to be limitless with a little thought and time setting up!
Now, when it is going to rain I get a text; when I change my profile photo they all change; and when I share a link on Facebook it saves it in Evernote.
Needless to say, I am impressed and excited to dive deeper into If This Then That!
Is ifttt new to you? If so, let me know below as well as how you can see yourself using this nifty and free service.
