#202 · 60min open Q&A on how I make $400k/mo
Don’t automate any client‑facing activities—calls, proposal videos, onboarding, strategy or upsell sessions—because white‑glove service brings in far more money. Automate everything else: lead capture, data handling, invoicing, reporting, and any backend tasks.
The core determinant of whether someone buys from you is the return on investment (ROI) you generate, how confident they are in your delivery, and how easy you make it to accept the transformation. This can be expressed as a formula: Value = (ROI * Social Proof) / Friction. Positioning automation as eliminating manual admin to free up time to eventually make money is indirect and circuitous. Instead of taking indirect steps, focus directly on generating revenue right away. This increases the clear ROI and makes social proof easier to establish. Revenue generation (marketing and sales) is standardized and needed across virtually all industries, whereas backend admin automation is often client-specific and difficult to replicate or scale. When you solve marketing and sales problems, your offer becomes much easier to sell.
Start with a kickoff call after the client pays, where you help them set up any needed platforms and possibly share your affiliate or partner codes for discounts or revenue. Then state that you’ll build everything in their environment so they retain full control if they stop working with you. Build using their tools (they give you credentials), and deliver the project with a video SOP that walks them through the system and serves as documentation for future maintenance. Use that video as a retention mechanism, then upsell related projects based on the knowledge gained from the current job. Mention that you can save them $500–$10,000 per month with a simple system, and invite them to a quick call if interested. The loop gets you in and prints money; you can pitch a monthly upsell or another one‑time project.
Focus on revenue‑proximate automations—sales, marketing, and lead generation—because they directly increase income. Upwork is the simplest and most accessible platform, though it costs more than alternatives; its ease of use makes it a good starting point.
All agencies share the same fundamental shape: lead generation at the top (via ads, cold emails, cold calls, etc.), which funnels into a sales event (typically a discovery or closing call). From there you onboard the client, fulfill the promised service, and manage the client—checking in on progress—before delivering the project, possibly with a revision cycle that leads to another transformation event where you resell them. I’ve documented this shape in the three automation agency sales flows and a roadmap to $25k/month automation that you can download for free. The real key to success isn’t becoming a top AI or automation specialist; it’s becoming a good business person who understands the container (the agency model) and what you put inside it. This mindset can be learned in a couple of weeks, and you don’t need to be expert at the specific service you’re offering.