How can I get back into my AI agency journey and start making money after pausing for exams, given I only tried cold calling a few days and built some basic automations?

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How can I get back into my AI agency journey and start making money after pausing for exams, given I only tried cold calling a few days and built some basic automations?

If you've only tried cold outreach a few times, you need to do it 100–1,000 times more to see results. When I started, I knocked on about 3,000 doors over three months with a friend and made only $7—roughly the same outcome as 5–15 cold calls that got zero replies. At the beginning, lacking experience means you need many reps to win. I wouldn’t recommend cold calling for selling automations today; instead, send custom Loom videos. They avoid synchronous timing issues and gatekeepers, letting your message sit in the prospect’s inbox, which is far more effective—likely three to four times better use of your time.

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Jordan Michael Jordan asks if I’ve considered recording a series that shows the journey of starting an AI agency from zero, similar to a Maker School methodology.

Sure, I get the idea of creating a series that shows the journey from zero. I’ve already built a lot of proof for my AI agency. Over the years I’ve recorded sales calls, kept bank statements, and documented everything. I’ve even done a project on Upwork that started with just a dozen cold‑email calls. After about 12 calls I closed a few clients who didn’t even know who I was, and that gave me real case studies. I’ve also tried cold‑email and community‑post outreach, but hiding your reputation there is hard, so I haven’t pursued it further.

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My cold‑email reply rate is 0 % and I lack case studies for my inbound AI voice solutions. How should I sell these offers and improve cold‑email performance?

First, revisit your cold‑email fundamentals. Make sure your emails actually land in the inbox, get opened, and are compelling enough to earn a reply. Test deliverability, subject lines, and copy. A good cold‑email sequence should: 1) land in the primary inbox, 2) achieve a decent open rate, 3) get clicks, and 4) provoke a reply. If you’re not seeing any replies, you likely have a problem at one of those earlier steps. Start by creating a simple campaign that feels personal—e.g., “Hey [Name], how’s it going? I’m working on …”—and iterate until you see engagement. Once you have a working email framework, you can begin gathering case studies by offering free or low‑cost pilots, which will later strengthen your outreach.

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What BD strategy would you recommend for an AI automation business? Should I rely on cold calling and cold email, or are there other lead‑generation avenues I’m missing?

Cold calling is extremely time‑inefficient: spending an hour on the phone typically yields only 10–15 minutes of actual conversation unless you use a power dialer, and most people don’t use even basic tools like Clearbit. This means you operate at about 25% efficiency—the opposite of leverage. Instead of cold calling, devote that time to sending high‑quality cold emails and direct messages. The outcome is similar: prospects get a high‑quality interaction, you can appear on video, and you gain the ability to automate follow‑ups, cut through gatekeepers, and eliminate dial and connect times. Essentially, a well‑crafted cold email functions as a high‑quality voicemail that scales far better than phone calls.

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If you had to start your AI agency from scratch, what channel would you focus on first? Cold email, LinkedIn DMs, Instagram, Facebook groups, or something else? Why and what would your first 30 days look like?

Don’t limit yourself to one channel; test several and match each to your existing skill set. For example, if you’re strong at aesthetics, branding, and the first five minutes of conversation, you’ll do well on Upwork but might struggle with cold email. Run both in parallel, track results, and after a month double down on the winner. Set a consistent goal (e.g., 10 LinkedIn DMs a day, 100 cold emails a day, 20 Facebook‑group messages a day) and treat the experiment like a scientific test.

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