Are automation workflow templates commoditized, and if so, what should I do next? How much revenue have you generated from them recently?

#151 · AI Automation is HORRIFICALLY commoditized...

Are automation workflow templates commoditized, and if so, what should I do next? How much revenue have you generated from them recently?

Even if automation workflow templates are commoditized, you can still make money—just not by selling the templates themselves. Your real value lies in delivering a white‑glove managed service: understanding the client’s problem, crafting the right solution, and handling everything so they get peace of mind. Think of designers who use templates but sell the experience and outcome, not the file. As long as you focus on the client relationship and results, commoditization doesn’t hurt your ability to earn.

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Related answers

youtube ↗AI & Automation

I find automation confusing because it feels vague and doesn't seem scalable — you're repetitively making workflows, right?

That mischaracterizes what automation actually is — it's by far the most scalable of service-based businesses, because you don't repetitively make workflows at all; you make them once and profit off them over and over. Example: normally, fulfilling a new client's project takes real ongoing labor — say a $1,000 project costs you $250 (25%) in labor every time, leaving 75% margin at best. With automation, that first project still costs you the full fulfillment effort, but it also produces a reusable template. The next time you land a similar client, instead of spending 25% on fulfillment again, you just copy the template and spend maybe 2% — so you're left with 98% after cost of goods sold. Over time you build up a whole library of templates you can pull from for any new client, which is what makes automation businesses so scalable compared to businesses that redo the fulfillment work from scratch every time.

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youtube ↗Offers

How should I package my template automation workflows into a service, what is a reasonable starting price, and which industry or low‑hanging fruit should I target?

You want to package your templated automation workflows into a service. I think all automation services should be templated because that gives you the biggest leverage on your time. By using templates you can collect the full fee—say $1,000—but only do a fraction of the work, maybe 20 % or less. That means you’re effectively 5× leveraged: you earn five times the money for the same amount of effort. For example, a proposal system that would normally take five hours to build from scratch can be turned into a template that you sell, copy‑paste the make.com blueprint, spend about 45 minutes on connections and 15 minutes recording a walkthrough video, and you’ve delivered the whole project in roughly one hour. Save each project as a blueprint, video, and documentation so you build an SOP for yourself and future team members. This templated approach lets you scale quickly and keep costs low while delivering high‑value automation services.

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youtube ↗AI & Automation

Do AI‑built automation templates affect the power and profitability of an AI agency business model, and is it worth the effort for a beginner?

AI‑generated automation templates will undercut builders who lack business skills, turning them into mere API endpoints and increasing competition while lowering the barrier to entry. My agency model remains profitable, and for someone just starting, it’s definitely worth the effort to learn and use these tools.

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youtube ↗AI & Automation

Are the complex automation flows promoted by creators practical and maintainable, or are they just for views?

The vast majority of those elaborate AI‑agent flows you see online are just for views—they don’t actually make money because the agents aren’t reliable enough to do real work. Businesses don’t want a model that can answer in a million different ways; they want a highly constrained output—maybe just five or six possible answers—so they can control most of the content. What they really want is for you to scrape a resource, run it through an LLM API to get a few rephrased versions (like icebreakers or paraphrased job titles), and then slot those into a templated email or document. The LLM fills in only the small, variable pieces while the rest stays fixed, giving them control and reducing unpredictability. In short, treat LLMs as APIs rather than autonomous agents; that’s where the money is right now.

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