#113 · The EXACT Loom Video Strategy That Made Me Over $250,000
I learned coding first. I started development back in 2020, right around the time the market collapsed and it decimated my business. I taught myself through a self‑taught computer science degree and then moved on to no‑code afterwards.
My tech background is basically nothing—I started with a PHP site built with absolute HTML/CSS positioning for a dementia assessment form, which crashed in front of an audience. After that I taught myself computer science using free courses like Harvard CS50, learning the fundamentals on my own. The takeaway is that you can learn faster by self‑studying than by formal schooling; focus on fundamentals and build projects to solidify concepts.
I don't have a formal coding background; I taught myself. My first project was PHP for website design during an internship—though it was poorly done. I later learned through platforms like Codecademy and was influenced by Traversy Media. For automation work, I'd recommend focusing on Node.js and JavaScript, as they offer high ROI for web-based automation.
I don't think coding skills are irrelevant—they let me get up and running much faster than most people. I had no‑code experience first, then learned coding around 2018‑2020 while experimenting with models, and quickly realized there was more money in no‑code tools and building my own business with them than in pure programming. That shift happened around mid‑2020, after which my one‑second‑copy project took off and I started the automation agency. While some say good coding skills are required, I actually think the value of coding skills is declining month by month because AI tools now let us do most of the work we want in natural language. Consequently, the value of no‑code tool skills is rising, but will eventually fall as well when everything can be done via natural language—it's a zero‑sum game. Coding did give me an unfair advantage early on, but I wouldn't recommend that someone starting today spend five or six months trying to earn a computer‑science‑level depth without a degree. Instead, spend a week learning the basics—JavaScript, JSON, dot notation, functions—enough to read and write simple code. In 2025, tools handle linting and formatting, and if you're using a no‑code platform, the exact syntax matters less; you just need to follow the platform's format. Four hours of fundamentals is enough to do 99% of what I can do; you don't need that extra 1%. That balance of learning and doing is ideal, and I highly recommend giving it a try.
Yes, I still recommend learning tools like Make and N8N. The simplest way to get work as a total newbie is to sign up on platforms like Upwork and apply for jobs that require those tools. Learning N8N instantly opens a massive pool of jobs—there are dozens posted every hour. The same goes for Make.com, and even Claude Code has a market. Once you know the basics, you can pitch N8N, Make, or any other automation in your proposals. It doesn’t take long to become fluent; a 4‑to‑6‑hour course can get you up to speed. Think of it like unlocking new areas in a video game—the fog of war lifts after you spend a few hours studying the visual workflow. These tools are visual, so your brain can grasp them faster than raw code, and they also train you to think in systems, which later helps you prompt AI models like Claude. You don’t need a CS degree—just a few focused hours and you’ll have a marketable skill that feeds directly into AI agency work.