I have appealed my suspension and hope to regain my channel. If this fails all of my tutorial videos will be lost. It’s such a shame that Google can change a policy and then suspend an account without warning. They don’t supply any reason and leave you with nothing.

Update 4/11/2022

My channel was apparently suspended because it violated the Harassment and Cyber Bullying policy. I’ve done no such thing as all my videos are Tutorial ones based around helping people setup Podio (and a few old videos about my dog).

Further digging found that because my videos contained addresses that I was flagged for “doxxing“. I would say almost all of the addresses I have in my videos are made up, at least to my knowledge. So at the end of the day I hope this is cleared up. Because being permanently banned from every creating a YouTube account is crazy harsh for absolutely not harassing or bullying someone.

Wish me luck!

Update 4/18/2022

GOOD NEWS! YouTube came to their senses and reactivated my account. The one video they had an issue with was one of my Podio and smrtPhone tutorial videos. The deleted that one from my account, but at least I get everything else back!

Communicating with leads and keeping track of each touch is always a challenge. I mean you can send an email, call someone on the phone, text them, leave them a ringless voicemail or even send regular snail mail. That is a lot of different medium to keep track of.

Note: To be upfront, I’m an affiliate for smrtPhone. So if you sign up with them using one of the links in this blog post they will contribute some money to help my blog grow.

smrtPhone

SmrtPhone is a phone and sms service that already has the Podio integration figured out and baked in. You don’t need Zapier, or any connector service, to do anything as it just works with your existing Podio setup.

It’s funny because I look for tools and services that the average person would need guides and tutorials to integrate into Podio. With smrtPhone I really don’t need to create one (though you know I will). Podio integration is a 2 step process that I will cover in the next section.

Once you have done that you are all set. Now to get a quick look at what you’ll be setting up in this tutorial, here are 2 videos (1) demonstrating making and receiving calls from Podio and (2) sending and receiving text messages from Podio using smrtPhone.

What you need for this Tutorial

For this tutorial you will need to have accounts at the following services.

Podio Account (Premium)

You probably already have one of these accounts if you are on my website, but just in case you can signup for one at the link below. 

For this tutorial, you’ll need access to Globiflow. This means that you will have to have a Premium account. If you are using Podio, Globiflow is a MUST HAVE. So to me it is a no brainer.

Cost: $24/mo
+ Globiflow: included in all Premium plans

Get smrtPhone Account

smrtPhone Account

This is the phone/sms service we will be using for this tutorial. We will be using it to make, receive and manage all our calls and sms text messages from Podio.

smrtPhone gives you a great free trial to test out their service. The only gotcha is that calls are limited to 15 seconds. SO that means the free trial is good for getting things setup and tested, but not for full use. But still, give it a try so you can do this tutorial!

There is a flat monthly cost for this service, plus additional costs per text and call that you make/receive through on of their numbers.

Cost: $50/mo
+Additional Users: $5/mo
+Phone Numbers: $5/mo
+SMS: $.01113 / sms
+Calls: $0.02 / minute

Get smrtPhone Free Trial

How the Podio Integration Works

SmrtPhone integrates into your existing Podio Workspace so you can be up and running with it in a matter of minutes. Well there is some further setting up to implement texting from Podio. I’ll get into that later in this post, but they have a tutorial which is easy to follow.

When you first setup your smrtPhone account, you’ll be asked for the following two things…

1. Location of your Contacts app and to identify the Phone, Name, Notes, Photo and Company Info fields within that app.
2. Permission to let smrtPhone create a Communications App in your workspace

Here is more information about the integration apps…

Contacts App

This is where smrtPhone will pull the recipients information from to make calls and for the caller id. While I have a dedicated contacts app for my leads, you may not. It is OK to use any app that contains the desired information.

During setup you’ll be asked to map your Podio App fields to the smrtPhone fields. These fields include Contact Name, Phone, a Photo Field, Contact’s position, Notes and a Company name field. See the smrtPhone form below.

As you can see I don’t have some of the fields in my Contacts app so I just left it blank, which was fine.

Communications App

The Communications App is an app that will be added to you workspace by smrtPhone. This is where all the calls and texts to a contact will be logged. It relates back to your Contacts App by a relationship field. Below are the fields for the full App.

Within the your Contacts App, all communication entries will be shown in the Related Items section at the bottom of the App, see below.

Chrome Extension

Another small piece that enhances the integration with Podio is the Chrome Extension. This simple extension allows you to click any number in a Podio Phone Field and call it through smrtPhone.

The image below is a screenshot of the Phone field in my Podio workspace. It adds a link next to the phone number that can be clicked to call the number besides it.

Below is a video showing you how to install the Chrome Extension…

One note, is that smrtPhone.io needs to be open on another Tab for this to work. A good thing though is that if it is not, you’ll be prompted to open up your smrtPhone dashboard.

After clicking Open smrtPhone, a new bookmarked tab will show up and then you can re-click the call link to make the call.

Here is a Demo of making a phone call through Podio

SMS from Podio Setup

One thing that really brings this integration to the next level is the ability to send SMS text messages from within your Podio App. With smrtPhone, and a little help from Globiflow, you can do this in two different ways.

SmrtPhone has a tutorial for setting this up: SMS API

This tutorial is pretty good, but I think it leaves some minor things out that might trip up some of you. I tried to fill in the gaps below.

Way #1: Using App Fields

Basically in this setup, you will select the FROM NUMBER, enter an SMS Message and click SEND. These fields will need to be added. The smrtPhone tutorial leaves out some info about this so I’ll go over each field you need to add below.

Label: From Number
Field Type: Category
Settings: Required Field; Single Choice, Drop-down list
Option(s): Add all your smrtPhone Numbers as options.

Use this field to select the smrtPhone number you wish to Send the SMS from.

Lable: Text Message
Field Type: Text
Settings: Single Line
Value(s): -no value-

Use this field to enter in the message you want to send in the SMS text. Once the text is sent this field will be reset to blank.

Label: Actions
Field Type: Category
Settings: Single Choice; Inline
Option(s): Send Text

This is the trigger field that will fire off the globiflow flow that sends the SMS Text message.

After adding these fields we have to create a simple Globiflow Flow to send out the Texts using smrtPhone. What we are doing here is using the smrtPhone API to send the message. This is about all the smrtPhone API can do right now, but its enough for our purposes.

Here is the Flow that I created

FORMULAS

Here are the formulas used in the above flow. If you see a field token like [(Contact) Phone], you’ll have to re-enter those by removing it then selecting the field token by clicking the list icon and selecting the field from the list.



Mobile: preg_match_gf(“/mobile:([^,]+)/”,[(Contact) Phone],1)

Header: X-Auth-smrtPhone:<your smrtPhone apiKey>

From Url: https://phone.smrt.studio/sms/send

POST Params: from=[(Contact) From Number]&to=[(Variable) mobile]&message=[(Contact) Text Message]

Here is a video walking you through the entire setup process…

Way #2: Using Comments

The other way is to use the comment field to send SMS text messages. This way seems a little more conversational and the way most people text. Though mechanically I don’t like the idea of having to type “SMS:” before sending it out. Not sure why that bugs me, but enough so that I chose to use WAY #1 to send out my texts.

This method only requires you to create a Globiflow FLOW and you are done. So in some ways this is easier to implement…Plus you don’t need to crowd your Contacts App with extra fields just to send messages ( I might be talking my way into using this method now HAHA).

Here is the Globiflow FLOW

FORMULAS

Here are the formulas used in the above flow. If you see a field token like [(Contact) Phone], you’ll have to re-enter those by removing it then selecting the field token by clicking the list icon and selecting the field from the list.



Message: str_replace(“sms:”,””, strtolower([Triggering Comment]))

Mobile: preg_match_gf(“/mobile:([^,]+)/”,[(Contact) Phone],1)

Header: X-Auth-smrtPhone:<your smrtPhone apiKey>

From Url: https://phone.smrt.studio/sms/send

POST Params: from=[(Contact) From Number]&to=[(Variable) mobile]&message=[(Contact) Text Message]

Add Comment: SMS Message (From: [(Variable) fromNumber])
To: [(Variable) mobile]
[(Variable) message]

Here is a step-by-step video on how to set this up…

Adding the Call and SMS Logs

An added bonus for me was having a field in my Contacts App where I can quickly see the last 5 or so calls and texts I had with the lead. While this isn’t necessary, I think it is a cool feature. Plus it looks pretty as well.

What do you think?

Let’s Do It…

SmrtPhone has a good tutorial for this. These two fields are just calculation fields that pull in the items from the smrtPhone Communications App which is your universal log that contains all your calls and texts for every lead.

One small note though, is that you need to add some fields to the Communications App. My first attempt at setting this up I skipped right to cutting and pasting the code and to my surprise it didn’t work. SOOO read this part (this quote comes from the smrtPhone tutorial)…

Before we discuss the history fields, we need a couple of additions to our Communications app to make this work. First, we installed a new calculation field and used the @Created On tag to store the date the record was created. Second, we are using a single line text field to store the “URL Link to Item” from Globiflow, and have written a flow that fires upon the creation of each new record to store the URL so it can be used elsewhere. Once you have made both of these changes, everything else in this next section will work.

Now you see the part that I crossed out about using Globiflow to create the URL Link? No need to do that, we just need to create a simple Podio calculation field. Much simpler! Here are the Podio fields you need to add to the Communications App.

Label: Created On
Field Type: Calculation
Settings: –

Formula
@Created On
This will just created a field to store the date and time that this communication took place.

Label: URL
Field Type: Calculation
Settings: –

Formula
“https://podio.com/<your org>/<your workspace>/apps/<your communication app name>/items/” + @Unique ID
** Please note that in the formula you must use your communication App’s base url. To get that….

1) navigate to an item in your communication app (if none exist, create a dummy item)

2) Copy the url up until and including the …/items/ part. You don’t need the number at the end. This is the Item ID.

3) Paste the url into the calculation field and surround it with quotes (” …url…”)
“https://podio.com/<your org>/<your workspace>/apps/communications-2/items/“
4) Concatenate + @Unique ID to the end. You will need to type this out and select it from the field tokens that show up when typing.
“https://podio.com/<your org>/<your workspace>/apps/communications-2/items/” + @Unique Id
This field will calculate the link url for the particular communication item. You’ll use this link in the SMS/Call log calculations.

Now we just need to create two calculation fields in your contacts app. These fields will be for the SMS LOG and the CALL LOG.

App: Contacts
Label: SMS History
Field Type: Calculation
Settings: –

Formula
NOTE: you must re-enter any field tokens you see in the calculations “@All of …” are field tokens. Make sure when re-entering you select the correct one with regards to “with nulls” as it makes a difference.

var table = ""; var type = @All of Type;
 var dt = @All of Created On;
 var text = @All of Text Message with nulls;
 var url = @All of Url with nulls;
 var smrt = @All of smrtPhone Number;
 var count = 0;
 var ints = [];
 for (var i = 0; i < type.length; i++)
 if (type[i] == "Incoming Text" || type[i] == "Outgoing Text") {
 ints[i] = {date: moment(dt[i]).format("MM/DD/YYYY h:mm A"),type: type[i],text: text[i], url: url[i], smrt: smrt[i]}; count++ };
 ints.sort(function(a,b){
 return new Date(b.date) - new Date(a.date);
 });
 var trunc = "";
 for (var j in ints) {
 if (j == 4) {
 trunc = "\n" + "![image](https://dabuttonfactory.com/button.png?t=" + (count-4) + "+Interactions+Not+Shown&f=Calibri-Bold&ts=16&tc=fff&tshs=1&tshc=000&hp=13&vp=3&c=5&bgt=gradient&bgc=3d85c6&ebgc=073763)";
 break;
 };
 if (ints[j].type == "Incoming Text") {
 table += "[![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/" + ints[j].date + "-INCOMING SMS-green.svg)](" + ints[j].url + ") " + "![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/smrtPhone Number-" + ints[j].smrt + "-blue.svg)" + "\n" + ints[j].text + "\n" + "\n" + "\n --- \n";
 };
 if (ints[j].type == "Outgoing Text") {
 table += "[![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/" + ints[j].date + "-OUTGOING SMS-red.svg)](" + ints[j].url + ") " + "![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/smrtPhone Number-" + ints[j].smrt + "-blue.svg)" + "\n " + ints[j].text + "\n" + "\n" + "\n --- \n";
 }};
 if (table == "") {
 table = "![image](https://dabuttonfactory.com/button.png?t=No+SMS+History&f=Overlock&ts=22&tc=fff&tshs=1&tshc=000&hp=20&vp=8&c=3&bgt=gradient&bgc=c00&ebgc=e06666)";
 };

App: Contacts
Label: Call History
Field Type: Calculation
Settings: –

Formula

NOTE: you must re-enter any field tokens you see in the calculations “@All of …” are field tokens. Make sure when re-entering you select the correct one with regards to “with nulls” as it makes a difference.

var table = "";
 var type = @All of Type;
 var dt = @All of Created On;
 var owner = @All of Call Owner with nulls;
 var url = @All of URL with nulls;
 var note = @All of Call Notes with nulls;
 var smrt = @All of smrtPhone Number;
 var count = 0;
 var ints = [];
 for (var i = 0; i < type.length; i++){
 if (type[i] == "Incoming Call" || type[i] == "Outgoing Call") {
 ints[i] = {date: moment(dt[i]).format("MM/DD/YYYY h:mm A"),type: type[i],owner: owner[i],url: url[i],note: note[i], smrt: smrt[i]}; 
count++
 }};
 ints.sort(function(a,b){
 return new Date(b.date) - new Date(a.date);
 });
 var trunc = "";
 for (var j in ints) {
 if (j == 4) {
 trunc = "\n" + "![image](https://dabuttonfactory.com/button.png?t=" + (count-4) + "+Interactions+Not+Shown&f=Calibri-Bold&ts=16&tc=fff&tshs=1&tshc=000&hp=13&vp=3&c=5&bgt=gradient&bgc=3d85c6&ebgc=073763)";
 break;
 };
 if (ints[j].type == "Incoming Call") {
 table += "[![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/" + ints[j].date + "-INCOMING CALL-green.svg)](" + ints[j].url + ") " + "![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/smrtPhone Number-" + smrt[j] + "-blue.svg)" + "\n" + ints[j].owner + ": " + ints[j].note + "\n " + "\n " + "\n";
 };
 if (ints[j].type == "Outgoing Call") {
 table += "[![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/" + ints[j].date + "-OUTGOING CALL-red.svg)](" + ints[j].url + ") " + "![image](https://img.shields.io/badge/smrtPhone Number-" + smrt[j] + "-blue.svg)" + "\n" + ints[j].owner + ": " + ints[j].note + "\n " + "\n " + "\n";
 }};
 if (table == "") { table = "![image](https://dabuttonfactory.com/button.png?t=No+Call+History&f=Overlock&ts=22&tc=fff&tshs=1&tshc=000&hp=20&vp=8&c=3&bgt=gradient&bgc=c00&ebgc=e06666)";
 };
 table + trunc

Here is a step-by-step walk through of adding the Call and SMS logs.

Multiple Phone Numbers

If I’m marketing to distinctly different markets like Probate and Foreclosures, I like to use different phone numbers so I can more easily keep track of statistics. I also like to have a local area code if I’m targeting different regions.

You can have multiple phone numbers with smrtPhone and call out using these different phone numbers using call Flows. Each number costs $5/mo.

Create CALL and SMS Flows

This tutorial is getting crazy long so I’m just going to mention this feature and give you my thoughts. I’ll create another tutorial on creating simple use cases for these flows later.

NOTE: I find this feature to be EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. You do not need it to simply make phone calls or send texts from Podio, but it is very powerful for handling incoming calls effectively.

The basic idea of call flows is to do things like this…

• Direct calls to a specific person (or phone number)
• Direct a call to a voicemail if after business hours
• Call multiple numbers at the same time
• Ring different numbers in a chain…if one doesn’t answer call the next
• Have a message said before dialing through to number
• Record a call
• What happens if nobody answers
• Setup an IVR menu (press 1 to talk to Scott, press 2 to ask about selling, press 3 to ask about buying, etc…)
• Hang up phone (not sure why you would need this, but it is there)
• Set caller ID number

There are almost unlimited options and controls here. You can also create flows that have multiple branches. Which means you can have many layers that direct a call to the proper person or entity. This is a must learn feature once you sign up.

Pricing

The cost of smrtPhone like everything else is a monthly fee. I’ll be honest, it’s not cheap by any measure at $50/mo, but it does offer a lot of useful features and nice interface.

It does have very straight forward pricing though, which is always good. I haven’t seen any hidden costs. So basically here is the cost breakdown…

Cost for smrtPhone: $50/mo (includes up to 10 users)
Additional Users: $5/mo
Phone Numbers: $5/mo
SMS: $.01113 / sms
Calls: $0.02 / minute

So if you are a small company with you and a couple other users (partner or Virtual Assistants) I can see this costing you about ~$80 to $90/mo. I’m assuming $10 for SMS and $10 to $20 for calls. For a full fledged phone system that sounds pretty good to me!

Mobile App (in Q2 of 2019 )

There is word of a phone app that will make calling out and receiving phone calls with smrtPhone even easier. I’m not quite sure how it will work or the true benefits, but I’ll be sure to update this section when I get more information.

smrtDialer

This is another service from smrtPhone. I was going to call it a feature, but it’s definitely a different service. I’ve never used it but wanted to mention it for those who’s business model might need something like this.

It looks like it is geared towards larger businesses to help create a mini call center. Here is a list of some of the features…

• Up to 4-Lines per Agent
• Unlimited Fully Integrated Call intake Forms
• Calls Recorded and Logged in Podio
• Helps you stay FCC Compliant
• Advanced automation capabilities
• Automated Voicemail & Call Back Drops
• Campaign reporting

Pricing is $50/mo for 1x Line Dialer and $90/mo for 4x Line Dialer. I’d love to hear someone’s review of this service, so if you use it let me know what you think.

Final Thoughts

I’ll get this out of the way quickly…I REALLY LIKE smrtPhone! If you have been reading my tutorials in the past, you know I’ve used a combination of Twilio, Zapier and Podio to allow for sending and receiving SMS Text messages through Podio. It worked great, but this is easier and also ads in calling and receiving calls from Podio. What is not to like about that???

So far the service has been problem free and has worked great. I haven’t fully tested out the FLOW system yet, but I will be in the near future.

Just like Globiflow, they have a Podio workspace where you can go to ask questions and search for answers already given to past questions. The owner Jordan Fleming is there all the time helping users out.

They are also actively adding features as they just released a feature called Call Carousel. This will allow incoming calls to be distributed evenly between your employees.

While the Podio integration is the main selling point for me, I think the service can stand on it’s own merits with or without Podio.

If you are interested in more information about smrtPhone or signing up for a FREE TRIAL, click the button below to go over to their site.

Got to smrtPhone

Useful Links

https://docs.smrtphone.io/
https://smrtPhone.io
https://podio.com/smrtphone/smrtphone-users

Full List of smrtPhone Features

• Instant Numbers
• Simple Number Management
• Team Management
• Click to Call in Podio
• Voicemail
• Internal Transfers
• Drag and Drop Comprehensive IVR
• Call tracking in Podio
• Call Recording
• Podio Customization
• Inbound & Outbound Text Messaging
• Mobile Phone Connection

The cool thing with ConvertKit is that we can trigger a Zapier Zap when someone unsubscribes from one of your email sequences. This means we can capture that in Podio and update a lead accordingly.

This tutorial will add the following to the process…

• Change status of Podio lead when they unsubscribe
• Add a log entry in Podio (field created in Tutorial #2) recording that the lead has unsubscribed and when.

Here is a demonstration of what the final process will look like.

What you will Need

One of the great things about Podio is it’s ability to be connected with other services. This process leverages that power to extend what your Lead Management workspace can do. Below is a list of the services you will need.

Podio Account

You probably already have one of these accounts if you are on my website, but just in case you can signup for one at the link below. 

Unfortunately Podio has recently adjusted their free accounts to 500 records or less. You can start out there but I’m certain you will need to get a paid account down the road.

Cost: $9/mo

Get Podio Account

ConvertKit Account

This is the email marketing service that will be sending the email sequences to the leads.  The service will cost you about $29/mo which is well worth it.

Cost: $29/mo

Get ConvertKit Account

Zapier Account

This is what allows Podio to communicate and pass information onto ConvertKit and Podio. Zapier has different pay tiers for account types, and for this tutorial you’ll need to signup for the Starter Account.

Sign up is free and gets you into the free trial of their premium features.  Once signed up you’ll then have the option to upgrade to one of their Paid Accounts.  Again the Starter is fine here.

Cost: $20/mo

Get Zapier Account

Previous Tutorials

This tutorial builds upon the previous posts in this series about email sequences and ConvertKit. You won’t technically need to have finished it to implement the ideas in this post. However if you are new to Zapier and ConvertKit it will help your learning curve greatly.

1. Email Marketing with Podio and ConvertKit: The Basic Process
2. Email Marketing with Podioi and ConvertKit: Multiple Sequences

What we need to do

To add this feature, all we have to do here is create a simple Zapier Zap. After all the hard work you put in to create the process in the prior tutorials, it’s great to be able to get some quick and easy wins.

Because Zapier needs some test data to properly setup a zap we need to get that part ready first. It’s not to bad (and I show you in the below video as well) as we will take advantage of the zap setup in Tutorial #2.

*** To see the Step-by-Step video scroll down to next section ***

0. Add Sample Data (0:00:00 in video)

• In ConvertKit: Make sure the first email in the Podio – New Lead sequence is set to send out immediately. Do this by putting a 0 (zero) in the time to send field for the email.
• In Podio: Add new Lead in Podio that triggers the Zap to create a new subscriber. Make sure the Lead contains Address, First Name, Last Name, Email (use your email address), Select Podio – New Lead option in the Select Sequences field.
• Email: Wait until you get an email from the sequence. This might take up to 10 minutes.
• Don’t press the “unsubscribe” link in the email just yet. You’ll wait till you add the trigger item in the new Zap below.

1. Trigger: ConvertKit Unsubscribe (3:41:18 in video)

• Select: ConvertKit
• Select: New Unsubscribe
• Connect ConvertKit Account
• Test this step

2. Search: Find Podio Item to Update (5:42:11 in video)

• Select: Podio
• Select: Find Item
• Connect your Podio Account
• Edit Options Select Organization: <your podio organization>
• Edit Options Select Workspace: <your podio workspace>
• Edit Options Select Application: <your podio application>
• Edit Options Select Search Field: ConvertKit Id
• Edit Options Select Search Field Value: Subscriber Id field Token
• Test this step

3. Action: Date/Time (7:59:03 in video)

• Select: Formatter by Zapier
• Select: Date/Time
• Edit Template – Transform: Format
• Edit Template – Values: {{zap_meta_edt_iso}}
• Edit Template – To Format: Use a Custome Value (advanced)
• Edit Template – Custom Value for To Format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss a
• Edit Template – From Timezone: <use your timezone>
• Test This Step

4. Action: Update Item (10:51:14 in video)

• Select: Podio
• Select: Update Item
• Connect Your Podio Account
• Edit Template – Select Organization: <your podio organization>
• Edit Template – Select Workspace: <your podio workspace>
• Edit Template – Select Application: <your podio application>
• Edit Template – Item to be updated: Use a Custom Value (advanced)
• Edit Template – Custom Value for Item to be updated item Id: <item id field token from step 1 >
• Edit Template – Address: <address field token from step 2>
• Edit Template – ConvertKit Log: copy text below

{{50283473__fields__convertkit-log__value}}<br>
<span style="color:lightgray;font-style:italic;">{{50283827__output}}:</span>Lead Unsubscribed

• Update 1st {{No Data}} field token to: <podio field for ConvertKit log>
• Update 2nd {{No Data}} field token to: <Date/Time output from step #5>
• Update 3rd {{No Data}} field token to: <podio field for Choose Email Sequence>
• Edit Template – Status: Dead
• Test This Step

Step-by-Step Video

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately it is required by law to allow people to easily unsubscribe from any email sequence. To do this we need to have the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails that come from ConvertKit. The good news is that we can take advantage of this.

Capturing the action and then updating a Podio Lead accordingly saves us time when dealing with motivated sellers. I think it is a good assumption that if a seller unsubscribes from an email sequence, they are not interested in selling to us.

The value of these email sequences are big though. I think if we assign a potential seller to the correct email sequence, that gives them great information about their situation, we can increase the likely hood that they will sell to us. If not now, then in the future when they are ready to sell.

This tutorial builds upon the Email Marketing with Podio and ConvertKit: The Basic Process tutorial that I recently posted. That tutorial convered the basic setup of Podio, Zapier and ConvertKit to get a basic process for adding new subscribers to an email sequence.

While it is great to have a process that automatically adds a lead to a specific sequence, it is even better to be able to select from a list of sequences. Each lead is different, and should be assigned to an email sequence that better aligns with their needs.

This tutorial will add the following to the process…

• Ability to select from a list of multiple sequences in Podio
• A log field to help keep track of what is happening

Here is a demonstration of what the final process will look like.

What you will Need

Before you get started with this tutorial there are a few things you will need if you don’t have them already. This is a little redundant for those coming from my previous tutorial, but just in case you found this post first I wanted to include this.

Podio Account

You probably already have one of these accounts if you are on my website, but just in case you can signup for one at the link below. 

Unfortunately Podio has recently adjusted their free accounts to 500 records or less. You can start out there but I’m certain you will need to get a paid account down the road.

Cost: $9/mo

Get Podio Account

ConvertKit Account

This is the email marketing service that will be sending the email sequences to the leads.  The service will cost you about $29/mo which is well worth it.

Cost: $29/mo

Get ConvertKit Account

Zapier Account

This is what allows Podio to communicate and pass information onto ConvertKit and Podio. Zapier has different pay tiers for account types, and for this tutorial you’ll need to signup for the Starter Account.

Sign up is free and gets you into the free trial of their premium features.  Once signed up you’ll then have the option to upgrade to one of their Paid Accounts.  Again the Starter is fine here.

Cost: $20/mo

Get Zapier Account

Previous Tutorial

This tutorial builds upon a previous post that I published a about a week ago. You won’t technically need to have finished it to implement the ideas in the post. However if you are new to Zapier and ConvertKit it will help your learning curve greatly.

Email Marketing with Podio and ConvertKit: The Basic Process

Podio Fields

In the previous tutorial this field was created with only the Podio – New Lead option. Now we are going to be updating this option with the tag id as well as adding 2 more options with their tag ids.

Field #1: Email Sequence (Category)

This field will list the Tags (and their Ids). These tags will link to the corresponding mailing sequence you want to assign a lead to. Each category option will have 2 bits of info (1) the Tag Name and (2) the Tag’s Id.

Field Label: Choose Email Sequence(s)
Settings: Single Choice; List
Options: <see below>

Podio New Lead – 600411

Response Follow Up – 740168

Sell House Quickly Info – 740169

The tag name is easy to get, however the Tag Id takes a little bit of digging. No worries though, I’ll show you exactly how to get it.

1. Go to your ConvertKit Dashboard (click on subscribers if not already there.
2. Scroll down until you see the TAGS area on the right side
3. Hover your mouse over the tag you want the ID for.
4. Look at the Status Bar at the bottom of your browser. The ID will be in this part ?subscribable_id=#########

Now we need to add the 3 options for the 3 Tags that we created for our different Mailing Sequences. What is important here is that the Tag Name does not contain any numbers. The reason for this is that the method we will use to pull the IDs for our selection will pull the numbers. So I like to have my Category Options setup like this…

Field #2: ConvertKit Log (text – multi-lined)

This field is going to be used to record the creation of the subscriber as well as which email sequences it has been added to. In the future this log will be used even more to record things such as unsubscribes and perhaps when emails are being sent.

Field Label: ConvertKit Log
Settings: Multi-Lined

ConvertKit Setup

What we need to do on the ConvertKit side of the process is to add 2 new email sequences and 2 new automations. Basically for each different email sequence you want to setup, you’ll need to have the following things…

• Sequence – The emails to be sent out and schedule
• Tag – This will be applied to the subscriber to trigger the automation
• Automation – This will assign the subscriber to the correct sequence based on the tag that is applied.
• Rules – These will remove a subscriber from a sequence when a tag is removed from a subscriber.

There is nothing complicated here, we are building off what we setup in the previous tutorial. So it is just duplicated what we already have 2 times and then making a tweak. The only part that isn’t quick or fun is coming up with the wording in the new emails.

The Email Sequences

In this tutorial we are going to have 3 email sequences that we can assign to a lead/subscriber. You can add as many as you like, you will just have to duplicate the steps for each sequence. Here are the 3 email sequence we will end up with.

Podio – New Lead. This is the sequence we already have from the previous tutorial. It’s designed to send out to new leads that are motivated and looking to get an offer on their house.

Podio – Sell House Quickly Info. This sequence is designed to be sent out to those prospects that kinda motivated but are kicking the tires. We want to send them information about selling quickly and the best ways to do it.

• 3 Advantages to Sell House Fast in New Jersey
• How does a cash home purchase work?
• 5 core questions to ask a cash home buyer
• Selling a House? What you need to know

Podio – Not Motivated. We want to use this sequence when we get someone who is not motivated at all just yet. Say they have 6 months or a year before they have to sell. These emails will be designed to help them with ways they can sell their house.

• Selling a House? What you need to know
• We Buy Houses Companies. Learn how to find an honest one
• How Costly Home Repairs are like a School Bully
• Here are 3 qualities to an honest home buyer

Adding Tags

Next thing we need to add are the 2 tags for the new sequences. Here are the steps to add the new tags.

Nothing special here, just go to the Subscribers dashboard, scroll down till you see the tag area.

1. Navigate to Subscribers Dashboard
2. Scroll down to the Tags area (it’s on the right)
3. Click Add Tag and add Podio – Sell House Quickly Info
4. Click Add Tag and Add Podio – Not Motivated

The Automations

These are simple two step automations that are triggered when you add one of the above tags to a subscriber. When setup correctly, they will look exactly like the image below.

Trigger Step: When Tag Sell House Quickly Info gets added to a subscriber
Action Step: Add subscriber to Sell House Quickly Info Email Sequence.

Rules

These rules are for removing a subscriber from an email sequence. They are triggered by the removal of a corresponding tag from that subscriber. Rules are the older version of Convert Kit’s Visual Automations that we used in the previous step. However we must use them because the feature we need doesn’t exist for visual automations just yet.

Zapier Setup

In the prior tutorial, the Zapier Zap that we create was fairly straight forward. This Zap however is going to be more complicated. The main culprit is the use of some Zapier Code Action steps that we must take advantage of. We will be using those to access the ConvertKit API to add and delete the appropriate tags.

We will need to create 2 Zaps for this process, (1) for when a new lead is created in Podio and (2) for when we update the selected sequence.

Zap #1: New Lead/Subscription

1.Trigger Step: When Lead gets added to Podio App (Starts at: 00:00:00)

We want this Zap to run when a new item gets added to your Podio leads app. In this step we will do the following.

• Select: Podio
• Select: New Action
• Connect Your Podio Account
• Select desired Podio Organization, Workspace, Application and Action Type (Item.Create)
• Test Trigger

2. Action: Add subscriber to form (Starts at: 05:23:16)

The first thing the process will do is add a new subscriber to your ConvertKit form.

• Select: ConvertKit
• Select: Add Subscriber to Form
• Connect your ConvertKit account to Zapier
• Assign Podio values to the ConvertKit form
• Test the setup

3. Action: Format Date (Starts at: 09:15:04)

This step simply creates a date variable that is formatted to YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss am/pm. We will use this in the Podio Log field we created as a way of time stamping when an action occurred.

• Select: Formatter
• Select: Date/Time
• Set Transform = Format
• Set Input = {{zap_meta_edt_iso}}
• Set To Format = Use Custom Value (advanced)
• Set Custom Value for To Format = YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss a
• Set To Timezone = <your timezone> I used US/Eastern
• Test this Setup

4. Get Tag Id (Starts at: 12:17:14)

The value of the Choose Email Sequence field will come into Zapier as something like Not Motivate – 783183. What we need to do is strip out the Tag id (ie 783183) from that value.

• Action Type: Formatter by Zapier
• Select Formatter: Text
• Select Transformer: Use a Custom Value (advanced)
• Select Custom Value for Transform Key: string.number_extract
• Set Values Input: <[podio field for choose email sequence>
• Test this step

5. Action: Add Tag to Subscriber (Starts at: 13:40:26)

We can only add tags once a subscriber has been created. We will use a ConvertKit Action here to simply add the tag to the subscriber.

• Action Type: ConvertKit
• Select: Add Tag to Subscriber
• Select: <your ConvertKit connection>
• Template value for Tag: Use a Custom Value (advanced)
• Template value for Custom Value for Tag Id: <output from action #4>
• Template value for Email: <podio field for email>
• Test this step

6. Action: Update Podio Item (Starts at: 15:14:15)

Lastly we need to update the Podio App Item that triggered this process. We will but sending back the ConvertKit subscriber id as well as the entries for the Log.

• Select: Podio
• Select: Update Item
• Select: Your Podio Account
• Select Organization: <your Podio org>
• Select Workspace: <to your workspace>
• Select Application: <to your application>
• Select Item to be Updated: Use a Custom Value (advanced)
• Set Custom Value for Item to be Updated Item Id: <Item Id field token>
• Set any fields marked required to the value from the triggering item (step #1)
• Set ConvertKit Log: code below

<span style="color:lightgray;font-style: italic;">{{52822202__output}}:</span> Subscriber Created in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Podio - New Leads</span><br><span style="color:lightgray;font-style: italic;">{{52822202__output}}:</span> Subscriber added to email sequence <span style="font-weight:bold; font-style:italic;"> {{52821736__fields__choose-email-sequence-2__value__text}}</span>

• Set ConvertKit Id/Subscriber Id: <the subscriber_id from step #2>
• Test this step

Name the Zap and Activate

The only things left to do is give this Zap a name and to turn it on. I’m going to name mine Add Subscriber and Tag. Hopefully you didn’t have any trouble with this tutorial, if so please feel free to email me at scott@strugglinginvestor.com or post a comment below.

Zap #2: Update Subscriber Tag

This Zap will be used to update or change the email sequence for a lead/subscriber. It is triggered on the change of the Choose Email Sequence Podio field value. When that happens the subscriber’s currently assigned sequence will be ended and they will be added to the new sequence.

Note: Once a subscriber’s sequence has been changed, it can not be changed back. ConvertKit does not allow for restarting of a sequence once unsubscribed from it.

1. Trigger: Podio Item Update (Starts at: 00:00:00)

We want this Zap to run when an existing Podio item is updated by changing the value of the Choose Email Sequence field. We do not want this Zap to run for every type of update, just this one field.

• Trigger App: Podio
• Select Type: New Action
• Connection: <your podio connection>
• Select desired Podio Organization, Workspace, Application
• Set Field: Choose Email Sequence
• Set Action Type: Item.Update

2. Action: Remove Existing Tags (Starts at: 02:00:13)

The first step in changing a tag is to remove the existing one. We could do a blanket “remove all” type command, but we might remove a tag placed for another reason. So we are going to hard code in 3 commands to remove only the 3 Email Sequence tags that we created (New Lead, Not Motivated and Sell House Quickly Info).

• Action App: Code by Zapier
• Selet Type: Run Python
• Template value for Input data variable name: email
• Template value for Input data value: <podio field for email>
• Template value for Code: <copy and paste code below and insert your api secret and tag_ids>

import requests

headers = {}
payload = {'api_secret': '<your convertkit api secret>','email':input.get('email')}
r1=requests.post("https://api.convertkit.com/v3/tags/<tag_id_1>/unsubscribe", data=payload, headers=headers)
r1=requests.post("https://api.convertkit.com/v3/tags/<tag_id_2>/unsubscribe", data=payload, headers=headers)
r1=requests.post("https://api.convertkit.com/v3/tags/<tag_id_3>/unsubscribe", data=payload, headers=headers)
output = [{'result':'yes'}]

• Test this step

3. Get Tag Id (Starts at: 05:36:22)

The value of the Choose Email Sequence field will come into Zapier as something like Not Motivate – 783183. What we need to do is strip out the Tag id (ie 783183) from that value.

• Action Type: Formatter by Zapier
• Select Formatter: Text
• Select Transformer: Use a Custom Value (advanced)
• Select Custom Value for Transform Key: string.number_extract
• Set Values Input: <podio field for choose email sequence>
• Test this step

4. Action: Add Tag to Subscriber (Starts at: 06:35:13)

We can only add tags once a subscriber has been created. We will use a ConvertKit Action here to simply add the tag to the subscriber.

• Action Type: ConvertKit
• Select: Add Tag to Subscriber
• Select: <your ConvertKit connection>
• Template value for Tag: Use a Custom Value (advanced)
• Template value for Custom Value for Tag Id: <output from action #3>
• Template value for Email: <podio field for email>
• Test this step

5. Action: Format Date (Starts at: 07:55:03)

This step simply creates a date variable that is formatted to YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss am/pm. We will use this in the Podio Log field we created as a way of time stamping when an action occurred.

• Select: Formatter
• Select: Date/Time
• Set Transform = Format
• Set Input = {{zap_meta_edt_iso}}
• Set To Format = Use Custom Value (advanced)
• Set Custom Value for To Format = YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss a
• Set To Timezone = <your timezone> I used US/Eastern
• Test this Setup

6. Action: Update Podio Item (Starts at: 09:29:11)

Lastly we need to update the Podio App Item that triggered this process. We will but sending back the ConvertKit subscriber id as well as the entries for the Log.

• Select: Podio
• Select: Update Item
• Select: Your Podio Account
• Select Organization: <your Podio org>
• Select Workspace: <to your workspace>
• Select Application: <to your application>
• Select Item to be Updated: Use a Custom Value (advanced)
• Set Custom Value for Item to be Updated Item Id: <Item Id field token>
• Set any fields marked required to the value from the triggering item (step #1)
• Set Email: <podio field for email>
• Set ConvertKit Log: code below

{{52823686__fields__convertkit-log__value}}<br>
<span style="color:lightgray;font-style:italic;">{{52829285__output}}: </span> Changed Email Sequence to <span style="font-weight:bold; font-style:italic"> {{52823686__fields__choose-email-sequence-2__value__text}}</span>

• Test this step

Name the Zap and Activate

The only things left to do is give this Zap a name and to turn it on. I’m going to name mine Update Subscriber Tag. Hopefully you didn’t have any trouble with this tutorial, if so please feel free to email me at scott@strugglinginvestor.com or post a comment below.

Summary

If you have implemented this tutorial as an add on to the previous one, you now have a pretty solid integration between Podio and ConvertKit. You’ll be able to pull in a lead and select which email sequence that will go out. You will also be able to update the email sequence in the future.

The only major thing missing is the ability to see if a recipient decides to stop receiving these emails (opts out). This is a fairly easy addition by creating a zap.

Final Thoughts and Findings

This is an updated version of the tutorial. My original process allowed you to assign multiple email sequences at once. In order to make it work I used a calculation field in Podio to store the selections, which were then passed onto Zapier.

This calculation field was needed because Zapier will only ever pull in the first value in a multi-select Podio category field. VERY FRUSTRATING! So i needed a work around.

The issue with the calculation field, where I put the Sequence Selections into a comma separated string (ie: 8484733,2029282,0292929), is that it does not get calculated fast enough by Podio. Sometimes this caused the Zap to run before the calculation happened. Meaning the Zap does not get the Tag Ids and thus doesn’t add the tags to the new subscriber. BUMMER!

Next Tutorial: Dealing with Unsubscribers

If you have gone through some of my tutorials in the past (Sending SMS with Twilio or Sending Voicemail with Slybroadcast) you’ll be familiar with how Zapier connects Podio and 3rd party services. You will get a little more of that in this series of tutorials, but I’m going to mainly focus on ConvertKit.

The first tutorial will start out with a simple and basic structure. Each subsequent tutorial will build off the previous ones by adding features until we have a kick ass process!

NOTE: Unfortunately this tutorial uses services that have a monthly cost. Most everyone will already have a Podio account so that cost won’t matter. Hopefully most of you already use Zapier and have a paid account there. The biggest cost will be ConvertKit, but it really is worth it. Below is the monthly cost break down of the 3 services.

Podio: $9.00/mo
Zapier: $20/mo
*ConvertKit: $29/mo

* I have an affiliate account with ConvertKit and will make a few bucks if you sign up through one of the links in this tutorial.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the process of sending out emails to your potential leads trying to get their business. Not only is it sending out emails, it is sending out a series of emails over a period of time. This is a great technique because it keeps your name in front of the prospects over and over again. That is a powerful thing.

While the concept of email marketing is simple, to do it correctly you really do need a tool to help you manage the leads, email sequences and sending of the emails. While Podio is a great tool for managing leads, it IS NOT the right tool for managing your email marketing.

However, Podio connected to an email marketing service is!

Because of my blog, I’ve used quite a few email marketing services over the last 12 years. I started out with Aweber and then tried out MailChimp. Over the past 6 years I have been using Drip for my blog which has worked out fairly well. Each of them has their problems ranging from complexity issues to lack of features or lack of 3rd party integrations.

For me the best email marketing service for what I’m trying to accomplish with my real estate investing is a service called ConvertKit.

What is ConvertKit?

ConvertKit is a subscriber based email marketing service to help you send out automated emails to your potential leads. Here is a quick rundown of what features it has.

Capture Forms: Create input forms that can be embedded onto websites or in landing pages. When filled out and submitted a subscriber will automatically be created.

Email Sequences: Setup unique email sequences to send out to different types of prospects. Have a sequence of emails for someone is just looking for information about your company. Another sequence for people who need to sell their house fast but not sure how to go about doing it. Or just have a 1 email follow up for someone looking to get a price quote on their house.

Tags: This is a powerful feature because it will help you organize your leads into different categories based off their actions. And based off these categories you can send them the best email that suits their needs.

Automations: These are powerful and awesome! Automations are used for doing things like assigning subscriber tags, adding subscribers to sequences or other things based off of an event. For example, if a subscriber fills out your “what is my property worth” form, you have an automation that Tags them with the Home Value Tag and then assign them to your follow up sequence that explains how you do your home valuations and asks them a few more questions.

Broadcasting: Use this feature if you need to send a one time email to a specific group of your leads. Let’s say you have a list of buyer subscribers, you can send out a broadcast of homes you have under contract to them.

3rd Party Integrations: ConvertKit has over a dozen direct integrations with shopping cart services (Sam Cart, Gumroad, etc..) and form builders (gravity forms, optin monster, etc..) it also has an integration with Zapier that opens it up to 100s of more services! That is the important one

I am not going to compare features with some of the other email marketing services in this tutorial, I’m just giving you my opinion as I’ve used many email marketing tools. Heck I’m still using Drip for my blog because it’s very time consuming to switch services once all the opt-ins and sequences were incorporated throughout my blog. When I have the time, I am going to move it all over to ConvertKit.

Go to ConvertKit.com to learn more

My Reasons for this Process

I have a few automated emails that get sent out to leads when they fill out my contact forms on my Investor Carrot websites. These emails are setup from the tools used by Investor Carrot. It’s nice but no where near what it can be. I want to be able to continually engage these prospects by sending them multiple emails over a period of time. Carrot couldn’t do that, but ConvertKit can.

As I said before this tutorial series is going to bring you through my process for developing one of my Podio integrations. I’ve done testing and have built some mock-ups already, but those are just to make sure ConvertKit and Zapier can handle what I want to do. From here on out I will be documenting how I’m building this process out.

The Process Overview

Now the fun part! Building this Podio to ConvertKit process. This is going to be the spec list of what I want to accomplish in this tutorial and also in the future.

THE BASICS

This is what we are going to create in this tutorial. It’ll consist of setting up Podio, ConvertKit and then Zapier to connect them.

• Gather Leads in a Podio App
• Trigger a Zapier Zap to run when a new Podio App item is created
• The Zap will create a new subscriber in ConvertKit
• A ConvertKit automation will assign this new Subscriber to an email sequence.
• The email sequence will start sending out emails to the lead

THE FUTURE

The upcoming tutorials will deal with adding these features to the process. Unlike in this first tutorial where we will have Podio updating ConvertKit, these tutorials will have ConvertKit updating Podio.

• Select which email sequence to subscribe lead to from Podio category field
• Adjust lead status if prospects Unsubscribes from email
• Have a ConvertKit log field in Podio to keep track of what is going on with the email sequences
• Have a direct link from Podio to the ConvertKit subscriber information
• Merge lead information into the ConvertKit emails to make them more personal

With any process that I setup I like having 2 way communications. I want to be able to control most everything from Podio and manage it from there. This isn’t always possible, but I try

What You Need Before Starting

Before we get started on any setup, let us make sure we have all the accounts created before. So here is a quick run down on what accounts you’ll need.

Podio Account

You probably already have one of these accounts if you are on my website, but just in case you can signup for one at the link below.  Unfortunately

Podio has recently adjusted their free accounts to 500 records or less. You can start out there but I’m certain you will need to get a paid account down the road.

Cost: $9/mo

Get Podio Account

ConvertKit Account

This is the email marketing service that will be sending the email sequences to the leads.  The service will cost you about $29/mo which is well worth it.

Cost: $29/mo

Get ConvertKit Account

Zapier Account

This is what allows Podio to communicate and pass information onto ConvertKit and Podio. Zapier has different pay tiers for account types, and for this tutorial you’ll need to signup for the Starter Account.

Sign up is free and gets you into the free trial of their premium features.  Once signed up you’ll then have the option to upgrade to one of their Paid Accounts.  Again the Starter is fine here.

Cost: $20/mo

Get Zapier Account

Setting Up Convert Kit

First I want to get this out of the way, there is a cost to ConvertKit. It is pretty much in line with all the other email marketing services out there. These services typically charge per number of subscribers in a tiered way. Here is the levels for ConvertKit.

For our purposes and for what most of you all will need is the first tier of 0 to 1000 subscribers. This should work perfectly fine as you can delete unsubscribed subscribers once a month to keep your numbers down. I set up an automation to do that for me.

Step #1: Sign Up

Okay, so lets get on with the setup. Click the button below to go sign up for ConvertKit (this is an affiliate link)…

Step #2: Quick Walk through of ConvertKit

This is not a step you have to do anything, I just wanted to show you around the interface so you have an idea where things are. It’s going to be very basic but should be helpful.

Step #3: Create a Form

Forms are your starting point for all new subscribers. They are the bucket where you collect the subscribers into and then decided what to do with them. If you want certain subscribers to go into one bucket and another set of subscribers into another bucket, you’ll create multiple forms.

You’ll create forms by adding fields, much like you do when creating a Podio App. Except we will not be using the input forms, we will just be using these as storage areas for leads that come from Podio.

In the video below I will walk you through creating a form, what you need and go over a few other points as well.

One last step before moving on is to Uncheck the form setting that sends out a confirmation email when a new subscriber gets added to the form. This confirmation email will require the recipient to click a “confirm” link before the email sequence will send out the first email. Here is a video showing you how to uncheck this setting.

Step #4: Create a Sequence

Sequences are just groupings of emails that you’ll send out to a subscriber. Some sequences will have 1 email, while some may have 10. It all depends on the purpose and your goal.

For this tutorial, we are going to create a sequence for new leads that has 3 emails. Here are the emails and when they will be sent.

Email #1: Thank you for requesting information (sent 30 minutes after subscriber created)

subject: re: {{ subscriber.address }}

Thank you for filing out the form on my website {{ subscriber.first_name }}. I am not in the office right now, but when I get in I will take a look at the property you are interested in selling. If I come up with a few more questions would it be ok to email them to you?

-Scott

Email #2: A few more questions (sent 1 day after subscriber created)

subject: A couple of questions about your property

Hey {{ subscriber.first_name }},

I actually do have a few more questions for you that’ll help me get an offer out to you more quickly.

Firstly, is there currently anyone living at the residence? This is important because it makes the process easier if the house is vacant. If not no big deal.

My next question is what do you need to get in order to help you out of your situation? I don’t want to waste your time if we can’t meet your needs. We have limits to what we can offer so if what we can offer aligns with what you need then we should be able to come to an agreement pretty quickly.

Lastly I’d like to ask about the condition of the property. Do you know of any needed repairs or maintenance items (like painting, landscaping, etc..) that might need to be done?

Again, I appreciate you contacting us and once we get the above information we will work on getting you an offer in the next 24 hours.

All my best,

-Scott

Email #3: Final email asking for least they would take (send 2 days after subscriber created)

subject: Offer on {{ subscriber.address }}

I was able to come up with what I believe is a fair offer that will work for both of us. Normally I like to give offers over the phone or in person. What is the best number to reach you and what time would work best for you?

-Scott

As you can see this is a short lived sequence designed to interact with the lead and get more information out of them. I like to keep these types of emails short and to the point.

There are times when the email exchange goes off script and I need to stop the automation for the lead and continue manually. Also if the lead clicks the “unsubscribe” link the sequence will also be stopped.

In the video below I’ll walk you through the process for creating these emails. It is straight forward and you can feel free to adjust the content, number of emails and even intervals as you think might work best.

Step #5: Create Automation

The final setup step is to create the automation that will assign a subscriber to a sequence based off a specific Tag added to that subscriber. This is just a 2 step automation so don’t worry it’s nothing like Globiflow.

The idea is that we set the automation to be triggered when the tag “Podio – New Lead” is added to a subscriber. If that happens, the subscriber will be assigned to the Podio – New Lead sequence. Here is a video walking you through how to set this up.

At this stage we can run a quick test to see if our ConvertKit portion of this process is working correctly. All we need to do to test is add the tag “Podio – New Lead” to the dummy subscriber we created in the first step.

Podio Setup

There really isn’t much to setup in Podio. We just need to add 7 fields to our properties (or leads) app. Nothing earth shattering here, just a couple text fields, location, email and 2 calculation fields.

What Fields Do We Need?

Like I said there are 6 fields (7 if you add in a header like me) that we need to make this all work. Below is video of me adding these fields if you want to watch, or you can jump down to read about which fields you should add.

Field #1: Header (calculation)

This field is used as a section break (more about section breaks) to help distinguish where the Email Sequence fields are going. I use a period (“.”) to fill the label value because I have to type in something, but I want it to be as small as possible. This helps emphasize the break more.

Calculation Code will be as follows.

var a = @Status; 
'| ![head](http://reiflow.com/podio/app_pack/images/header-convertkit.png) | [Back to Top](#description) | \n | ------- | -----------:| \n Assign and keep track of your email sequences here ';

NOTE: You can cut and paste the code above. However, field token @Status is a random field from my Property App. You’ll have to choose a field that exists on your app. It doesn’t matter as it is not used, so pick anything.

NOTE 2: The field to The web address you see is a link to an image file I created that looks like below. You can use a service like DummyImage.com to create headings.

Field #2: Address (field type: location)

If you are adding this process to an existing App you may already have an address field. If so just use that. If not, then you’ll have to add in a Location Field type.

Field #3: First Name (text – single line)

When sending emails, we usually like to reference a person’s first name. This is why it is a good idea to split up the leads name into separate first and last name fields.

Field #4: Last Name (text – single line)

Technically we don’t need this field, but I like to include it just in case I want to have a more official sounding email where I can use the recipients full name. It’s easy to combine the first and last name together.

Field #5: Email Sequence (Category)

I chose to use a category field here because I know in the future that I’m going to allow for choosing any number of sequences to assign a lead to. But for this example we will only have one option.

Field #6: ConvertKit Id (text – w/single line setting)

This field will store the Subscriber ID that gets assigned to the new Subscriber created in ConvertKit. This will come in handy when creating the link in the next field.

Field #7: Subscriber Link (calculation field)

Here we will create a link that brings you directly to the Subscriber’s dashboard on the ConvertKit site. We will use the ConvertKit Id and a base address to create it.

"[Subscriber Link](https://app.convertkit.com/subscribers/" + @ConvertKit Id + ")"

NOTE: You can cut and past the code above. However, field token @ConvertKit Id will need to be retyped.

Zapier Setup

Zapier is the connector.  It is what gets notified when a change occurs in Podio (by the webhook), pulls the Podio Item’s information and then sends all that to ConvertKit.  If you understand how globiflow works, it pretty much is the same thing.  You could technically do the same thing with Globiflow, but you would have to write your own ConvertKit interface in php or other web language.

We will be creating 1 Zap for adding the new subscriber in the Podio – New Lead form.

Zap to Create New Subscriber: This will be fairly basic 5 step zap. It will contain a Trigger, filter to make sure we should run zap, Create ConvertKit Subscriber action, update subscriber to add tag and finally an Update Podio Item action. Below are the videos for setting up each step.

Step #1: Trigger Step

The trigger step is were we tell zapier to run this zap when such and such happens. In our case, we want to run this zap when a new item is created in the Podio Properties App.

Step #2: Create Filter to make sure Podio – New Lead email sequence was selected.

If this field has been left unset in Podio because we don’t want to add a lead to an email sequence just yet, this filter will see that and not run the rest of the zap.

Step #3: Action to Create new ConvertKit Subscriber

In this step we will match up the Podio fields with the ConvertKit form fields so the subscriber gets setup properly.

Step #4: Add Tag to new Subscriber

The create subscriber action does not allow us to add a tag at the time of creation. So we need to use the Add Tag to Subscriber action.

Step #5: Update Podio Item with new Subscriber ID

Finally we will update the Podio item with the created Subscriber ID. We do this so we can create a Link to the Subscriber Dashboard.

Final Results

We are all done setting up the process. You should now have a Zapier Zap that creates a ConvertKit subscriber when you add a new lead to your Podio App. Here is the process working..

What’s Next?

In upcoming blog posts we will expand on this process by adding some more features. Here are a couple things that I will be convering…

Selecting one or more sequences: The idea here is that in Podio, when we are adding a new prospect, we can select from a list of email sequences to assign to the lead. Go to this tutorial now =>

Updating Podio if lead unsubscribes: If a subscriber/Lead decides to stop the emails from coming by clicking on “unsubscribe” then this will be reflected in the Podio App item for that lead.

Keep a Log of ConvertKit Activity In Podio: I’m not sure how far I can take this, but I want to include things like (1) when the subscriber was created, (2) what sequences they are apart of and (3) if they unsubscribe. Ideally I would LOVE to be able to see what emails were sent out, but I’m not sure if that is possible.