Written by

Gina Conley, MS

January 21, 2026

How to Automate the Backend of Your Business (So You Can Focus on Your Clients)

Motherhood, Podcast

If you’ve ever felt like you’re spending more time answering emails, sending links, and managing DMs than actually supporting the clients in front of you—whether that’s in person or online—this episode is for you.

Today, I’m breaking down how you can start automating the backend of your business so there are fewer manual tasks pulling you away from the work that actually matters. Because the truth is, your time and energy are limited—and if you’re running everything manually, burnout is almost inevitable.

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Hey, my name is Gina. I’m a perinatal fitness trainer, birth doula, and the founder of MamasteFit.

I created MamasteFit about eight years ago, when I was newly postpartum with my first baby—which, honestly, may or may not have been the smartest decision at the time. But over the past eight years, I’ve learned a lot about what actually works when it comes to running a sustainable business, especially one in a service-based industry.

And one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is this:
You do not need to do everything manually.

Yes, there will always be parts of your business that require your personal presence and energy. But there are also so many things you can do once, set up properly, and then let them run in the background—without you having to constantly resend links, follow up on DMs, or manually deliver free resources.

Why Automation Matters

In this episode, I’m going to walk you through the main areas of your business that you can automate—things that will save you time, reduce overwhelm, and free up more space for you to actually support your clients.

Now, I want to be really clear about something upfront:
This process can feel overwhelming.

Automation often requires a lot of upfront work. And because of that, it’s really easy to say, “Never mind, I’ll just keep doing things the way I’ve been doing them.”

That’s actually why, inside our MamasteFit Professional Mentorship community, we break this process down across an entire year. We tackle one piece at a time so it doesn’t feel like too much all at once—and so it’s set up correctly the first time.

But today, I want to give you the big picture.

Step One: Build an Email List

The very first thing you need in order to automate your business is an email list.

I don’t care if you offer services, products, online programs, or in-person support—an email list is essential.

Social media is great, but we cannot rely on algorithms. We can’t rely on Instagram deciding to show our content. And we definitely can’t rely on word of mouth alone.

Your email list is the one place where you can communicate directly with your audience—no middleman, no algorithm.

To do this, you’ll need to choose an email platform. There are a lot of great options out there.

We used Flodesk for a long time because it was affordable, user-friendly, and had everything we needed when we were smaller. As our business grew, I wanted more analytics and more automation options, so we eventually switched to Kit.

The right platform for you will depend on your budget, how many subscribers you have, and how advanced you want your automation to be. As we keep going, you’ll get a clearer idea of what features actually matter.

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Step Two: Give People a Reason to Sign Up

Once you have an email list, the next question becomes:
Why would someone give you their email?

You need to clearly communicate:

What they’ll receive
How often they’ll hear from you
Why it’s worth it

For us, we send a weekly educational email. Our audience knows to expect helpful, actionable content every Tuesday or Wednesday.

Each week typically revolves around a theme—like pelvic floor health—and everything in that email connects back to that topic: videos, blogs, education, and gentle mentions of relevant programs.

There is some selling, but the focus is always on giving value first. I want people to leave our emails feeling like they learned something they can actually use.

Step Three: Create a Freebie

Another powerful way to grow your email list is by offering a freebie.

A freebie might be:

A short guide
A checklist
A video
A mini resource that solves a small, specific problem

I know the fear that comes up here:
“If I give away too much for free, will anyone actually buy from me?”

And the answer is yes.

Free education builds trust. It establishes authority. It shows people that you actually know how to help them.

At MamasteFit, one of our most popular freebies is our pelvic floor exercise guide. It’s 24 pages long. It took time to create, and technically, we probably could charge for it.

But it’s important to us that people can access support regardless of finances. And people feel that intention. They know when someone genuinely wants to help.

Your freebie doesn’t need to be perfect or long. It just needs to:

Solve a clear problem
Lead logically to the next way you can help someone

Step Four: Automate Delivery of Your Freebie

Now comes the automation part.

You don’t want to manually email every single person who asks for your free guide.

You can automate this in a few ways:

Signup forms on your website
Email integrations
Or, one of our favorite tools—ManyChat with Instagram

With ManyChat, someone can comment a keyword on a post, get automatically sent a DM, opt in, and receive your free guide without you touching a thing.

Once they submit their email, they’re added to your email list and instantly receive the freebie. If they don’t submit their email, they’re still prompted with a signup link.

This alone can save hours every week.

Step Five: Nurture With Email Workflows

Once someone downloads your freebie, the relationship doesn’t stop there.

This is where email workflows come in.

A workflow is a series of emails that automatically send over time. For example:

Email 1: Here’s your free guide
Email 2: Education from the first section
Email 3: More education + light storytelling
Email 4: How you can help them further

You’re nurturing the relationship, building trust, and showing them what’s possible when they work with you.

Not everyone will become a paying client—and that’s okay. We don’t need to gatekeep information that helps people feel better in their bodies.

What Content Should You Create?

If you’re ever stuck wondering what to include in emails, blogs, or freebies, here’s the simplest answer:

What questions do your clients ask you all the time?

Your content should come directly from:

DMs
In-person sessions
Client check-ins
FAQs you answer repeatedly

Those questions are your roadmap.

Final Thoughts

Automation takes time. It can feel overwhelming. And yes—it’s weeks or months of work upfront.

But once it’s set up, it runs in the background while you focus on what you actually love doing.

If you’re interested in going deeper, our professional mentorship walks through this entire process step-by-step over the course of a year. Be sure to use code YouTube10 for 10% off your monthly membership.