Heavy-duty automation tools

Hey everyone,

Welcome back to the Markfive newsletter, where we cover AI automation strategies you can add to your business in a day.

Last week, we talked about my favorite automation tool — Gumloop.

In that post we covered how powerful Gumloop is because of the no-code canvas where you automate things by building simple flowcharts.

This week, we’re gonna swing to the other side of the automation platform spectrum.

I’ve been diving deep into n8n, probably the most popular low-code automation platform right now, and a stark contrast to the intuitive feel Gumloop has.

I’ve been building automations on there to help a new client with their lead generation operations, and I’m gonna go over what you can expect if you decide to start automating on there.

n8n is a low-code automation platform that has been around for about 6 years. But it’s gained a ton of hype on Twitter in recent months because of how powerful the AI capabilities of the platform are.

A lot of people are trying to capitalize on its explosion in popularity right now:

But I don’t think it’s all hype. Here are my thoughts about n8n:

• It’s probably the most robust mainstream automation platform out right now.

• The more technical nature of it is enough to dissuade most people from using it.

The reason n8n is more powerful compared to say Zapier or Gumloop is because it gives you more granular control over how each node works under the hood, as well as with the other nodes, among other things.

If you’re a developer, n8n abstracts away a ton of the grunt-work needed to build an automation. That’s why it’s considered “low-code”. But, if you’re a non-technical person, and you don’t have an intuitive or pre-existing understanding of the following…

• Webhooks

• REST APIs

• JSON

• HTTP requests

• Data structures/types

• Authentication/Authorization

• Error handling

… it’s very easy to get stuck. I’m not saying it’s impossible, and everyone’s learning curve will look different. But if you’re starting from absolute zero, then n8n might not be the best choice for your 1st automation platform.

That being said, if you do understand all those things, it’s probably the best tool for building truly automated systems that are complex yet durable. If you’re finding a tool like Zapier to be too limited for your needs, definitely give n8n a shot. It might be scary at first, but just keep this in mind:

No-code automation is somewhat of a commodity skill. Technically, you could hire someone overseas for just a few dollars an hour to automate things for you. But you still need to know what should be automated in the first place to take advantage of that.

That’s why knowing what can and should be automated is more valuable than trying to master any one platform. Once you understand triggers, actions, and the flow of data, they all sort of blend into the same intuitive skill in your mind. After that point, you can move freely between platforms as you need them.

That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this one, consider forwarding it to a business owner you think would get value out of it.

Talk soon,

Momin

Book an automation strategy call »

PS: If have any questions regarding automation potential within your business, just reply to this email. I read and reply to every message.

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