17hats Bulk Actions: Why You Should be Using Them

Unlock the Power of 17hats Bulk Actions to Streamline Your Business Like a Pro

As a small business owner, you know how vital it is to keep things running smoothly, but let’s be real—managing tasks manually can quickly turn into a nightmare. That’s where 17hats’ Bulk Actions feature becomes your secret weapon. Whether you’re updating client projects, sending out new communications, or simply cleaning up your 17hats account, Bulk Actions will save you precious time and energy.

Let’s dive into how this feature can revolutionize your business operations.

What Can You Do with the 17hats Bulk Actions Feature?

The 17hats Bulk Actions feature offers a range of time-saving functions:

• Archive Projects: Perfect for cleaning up finalized projects. This feature can even be automated within workflows, ensuring your projects are neatly archived once completed.
• Add Tags: Easily categorize projects by adding relevant tags for better organization.
• Remove Tags: Quickly clean up old or irrelevant tags from multiple projects.
• Add a Workflow: By far the most powerful feature, it lets you add a sequence of tasks or communications to any existing project.
• Delete Projects: Permanently remove old projects and free up space in your account (just remember, this action is irreversible!).

How to Use Each Bulk Action

• Archive Projects: If you’re looking to tidy up your dashboard, this is your go-to. However, be mindful not to archive projects with ongoing workflows or unfinished tasks.  Once a project is archived all workflows and unfinished tasks will stop running.
• Add/Remove Tags: Tags are essential for grouping similar projects, making them easier to find when implementing pipelines or new services. This feature helps you manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Add a Workflow: This is where the magic happens. Whether you want to send a new email series, start a questionnaire, or update your process for clients already in progress, adding workflows in bulk saves you hours of manual work.
  • Use Cases:
    • Announce new services to specific client groups.
    • Add a new workflow to clients mid-project without adjusting each individually.
    • Send questionnaires or feedback requests to a targeted client base.
    • Communicate promotions like mini-sessions to past clients.  Please note, 17hats is not a substitute for an email marketing system like Flodesk, but bulk actions are a good way to communicate with groups of existing clients.
• Delete Projects: Be careful with this one. Deleting a project permanently removes all data associated with it, so archiving is often the better option.

How to Add a Workflow for Multiple Clients (My Favorite Feature in Bulk Actions!)

Let’s say you’re a photographer planning a one-day personal branding event. You want to notify everyone who’s had headshots done with you in the past about this exciting new opportunity. Instead of sending individual emails to each client (which would take forever), you can automate the entire process with a workflow. Here’s how:

1. Create a workflow: Plan out the emails or notifications you want to send in a sequence.
2. Search for your clients: Use the “Headshot” tag in your Projects dashboard to pull up the right clients.
3. Select Projects: Select all the projects you want to notify.
4. Activate Bulk Actions: Choose the “Add a Workflow” option.
5. Add a Workflow: Choose the workflow you just created, select the appropriate base date, and hit “Activate.”

And just like that, 17hats will handle the rest, saving you hours of manual communication. This feature is an absolute game-changer for anyone managing multiple clients or projects!

Limitations and My Cool Workaround

One limitation of the “Add a Workflow” bulk action is that it requires the workflow to be added to an existing project. You can’t create a brand-new project as part of the bulk action. If you like to keep your projects neat and separated by purpose, this could become a roadblock—but I’ve got a workaround for you! 😉

Here’s how you can get around this:

1. Export the clients you want to apply the new workflow to from 17hats.
2. Use the 17hats Contact Import sheet to re-import those clients with a new project name.
3. Once the new projects are created, go back to your Projects dashboard, filter by the new tag, and use Bulk Actions to apply the workflow to the new project.

Step by Step Instructions for the Workaround

Here are the step by step instructions, using the example of a photographer marketing an upcoming personal brand mini-session to former headshot clients:

1. Before you start, confirm your 17hats default calendar is set to your workflows and to do calendar because these projects will be added to whatever your default calendar is. 
2. Go to Contacts in 17hats
   1. Filter clients by the contact tag of clients you want to market to, in this case, Headshot.
   2. Export those clients to a .csv file.
      1. Choose Settings (gear icon)
      2. Select Export Contacts
      3. .csv file will be downloaded to your Downloads folder
      4. Open the file.
3. Open up the 17hats Contact Import google sheet template and Make a Copy.
   1. Copy and Paste the following fields from the exported document into the 17hats Contact Import Template.  The idea here is that you are going to grab the contacts from 17hats that you want to add the new workflow to (in the example, those contacts with a Headshot tag being exported to a .csv), and then add a new project (Personal Branding Mini-Session) to those same clients.  Once you have the new project in 17hats, you can use Bulk Actions to add the new workflow.
      1. First Name
      2. Last Name
      3. Email Address (make sure you copy the Email field from the export file to ensure that you don’t inadvertently create duplicate contacts)
      4. Type – Client, Lead, Other, etc.
   2. Add the following information to the template:
      1. Project Name – in this example, our new project will be named “Personal Branding Mini-Session”
      2. Project Tag – in this example, it might be “PB Mini Promo”
      3. Project Start Date – whatever date you want to select as your project date.  This is not super critical to the execution of your workflow because you will select the base date when you add the workflow through Bulk Actions.
      4. Download the updated 17hats Contact Import sheet as a .csv file.
4. Import the updated 17hats Contact Import sheet .csv file you just downloaded into 17hats.
   1. Choose Settings (gear icon)
   2. Select Import Contacts
   3. Click on the Select File button and browse to the location of your downloaded 17hats Contact Import sheet (most likely in your Downloads folder)
   4. Open the file
   5. Confirm that all contacts shown on the screen should be imported, then click Import button.  Each contact with the Headshot tag will now have the new Personal Branding Mini-Session project associated with it, along with a PB Mini Promo project tag.
5. Go back to your Projects dashboard and filter contacts by the PB Mini Promo tag.  You will see the list of contacts that you previously exported, but you will now see the new Personal Branding Mini-Session project.
6. Select all projects by clicking the box to the left of the Name column.
7. Add New Workflow to those projects using bulk actions.
   1. In Bulk Actions, select the Add a Workflow option.
   2. Choose the new workflow you created earlier, select the appropriate base date option, and click “Activate.”

Viola!  You’ve added the workflow to promote your personal branding mini-session to your former headshot clients AND you’ve created a new project, so the activities associated with this new workflow are not mixed in with your activities for the headshot project!  Your projects will still be neat, orderly, and separated by purpose, and you won’t have spent a ton of time making it happen! 

It sounds a bit complex at first, but once you walk through the steps, you’ll see just how efficient and easy this workaround is!  I’m always looking for the most efficient (and effective) ways to do things.  If you’ve ever worked with me, you’ve probably heard me say, “If you think there should be a better way to do something, there probably is – just ask.”.  That doesn’t mean I always have the answer, but if there is a better way, I’ve probably tried to find it! 😉  In the case of adding new workflows to new projects for multiple clients at once, THIS is the better way…you’re welcome! 🤣

Maximize Efficiency with 17hats Bulk Actions

By utilizing the 17hats Bulk Actions feature, you’re not just saving time—you’re working smarter.  If you’re ready to reclaim hours of your week and focus on growing your business, give this feature a try. Your future self will thank you!

If you need help, I’m here!

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or need help optimizing your 17hats system, let’s chat! As someone who specializes in 17hats setup, education, and implementation, I can guide you through the process to ensure you’re getting the most out of this tool. Schedule your consultation today, and let’s get your business running like a dream!

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If you want to see what 17hats is all about, click the image to link to a FREE 7 Day Trial, or if you’re ready to purchase, follow the link for 50% off your first year or use the code debmitzel at checkout!

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Deb Mitzel is Your 17hats Guide—an experienced Small Business Operations Consultant and Coach, as well as a 17hats Implementation Specialist. With a passion for empowering small business owners, Deb specializes in helping clients reclaim their time so they can focus on building businesses that support their personal and professional dreams. Deb believes in creating an Integrated Life—a harmony where your business and personal life work together to serve you best. She knows that with the right systems, strategies, and a little guidance, you can build a business that is a blessing, not a burden. If you’re ready to simplify your processes and maximize your impact with 17hats or other tailored strategies, Deb offers a Free Discovery Call to explore how she can help. Click below to schedule your call and take the first step toward turning your vision into reality.

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