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#144 · Building a profitable AI agency cold email campaign in 40min

youtube ↗Agency Operations

Do clients always accept giving you their credentials (email/password or API keys) when you set up automation for them?

I never give my own credentials to others. When you ask if clients use their API keys on their account, yes—they do. Do they always accept giving me their credentials? No, not everyone does, but the vast majority do. I think this happens because I frame it matter‑of‑factly; I don’t make it a big deal. It’s simply how the service works: you give me your email and password (make sure it’s unique), I log in, set everything up, and then manage everything end‑to‑end. That’s the expectation. I don’t even mention it because it’s obvious to me, and I’ve rarely had issues. Occasionally a technical client prefers to give me their API keys instead, which works just as well since API keys grant the same authorization—I can do everything through the API without logging into their account. Logically, if they give me API keys, I can accomplish the same tasks. I’ve always assumed that if someone hires me for a technical purpose, they’ll accept sharing credentials because otherwise there’s no point. Of course there are exceptions: some platforms let you delegate sub‑accounts, and many are built exactly for that. In short, the simplest approach is to have the client provide a user password and then grant full access in one go.

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Related answers

youtube ↗AI & Automation

When a client doesn’t want to share their Gmail password for automation, should we ask for API access instead?

You can ask for API access, but it’s essentially the same as having their credentials—full API access lets you do everything the password would. It’s a bit of intellectual dishonesty to claim otherwise. If you go the API route, you can query sent emails, but you’re still controlling their account. I don’t recommend it; it’s better to get the password during the kickoff call.

gmail automationapicredentials
youtube ↗Client Acquisition

How do you onboard clients for an AR automation service?

I recommend doing a kickoff call right after receiving payment or closing the deal. On that call, your sole goal is to gain access to every account you’ll need for the service. It’s straightforward: just say, ‘Hey Pete, let’s get everything running for you.’ In my experience, the main hurdle with automation integration is two‑factor authentication and access requests. If you’ve worked with someone like this before, you know people constantly ask you to unlock accounts or set them up—which I dislike. Instead, I handle everything ahead of time on a brief 30‑minute call: we walk through signing up on each platform together, I get the necessary access, and after that we don’t need to talk again except for my daily updates you receive each morning. By the end of the call I’ll have all required platforms—say, platform one, two, and three. If occasional two‑factor authentication is needed later, it’s easy because I already have most access. From there, you’ll have full access to their accounts and never need to build anything on your device and transfer it over; I’ve already done everything directly in their accounts, so there’sno handoff. That’s my recommendation.

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youtube ↗Pricing

Nick, truly appreciate the value from your videos. I want to know how you'd set up the API keys, password, and payment methods when onboarding clients for a new project. Would you set the tools up yourself from your account, but for them, and then you charge them a monthly return? Do you set it up from their account, use their passwords, etc.? So, the billing and the data goes directly to them. I have the billing and the data and everything go directly through them, and then they just share me their username, password, email, everything that I need in order to access the account. So the account is doiciled on them if that makes sense.

The reason I do this is twofold. First, it makes handoffs really easy. If you're no longer working with someone on this thing, you can say, 'Hey, you have everything you need. Here's the documentation on projects I've already delivered. Good to go. Goodbye. I love you. See you never.' Second, when you get people to sign up to these platforms, you can use your own affiliate link, which adds 3 to 5% to your margins almost immediately. That's how I do it—I don't have them deal with API keys or anything; I handle it all myself.

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