I'm trying to grow my agency by using YouTube to capture the attention of decision makers at mid-size businesses and large corporations. Does YouTube work for a very small first-time automation agency?

#342 · why i'd hide my business on a resume

I'm trying to grow my agency by using YouTube to capture the attention of decision makers at mid-size businesses and large corporations. Does YouTube work for a very small first-time automation agency?

I don't think so. It takes way too long to get up and running. When you're starting something for the first time and try to monetize through a brand like a YouTube brand, it takes three steps: build the skill, use the skill to build the brand, then monetize the brand. That's a very long path from where you are to where you want to be. A much simpler, straighter path is to build the skill and sell the skill — two steps instead of three, and you can do it immediately. It takes maybe 10 hours to build the skill nowadays, to get to where you can do something valuable with AI even as a total newbie, and you can sell the skill in another 5 or 10 hours. Building a brand isn't like that; it could take months or years to pay off. So if you're starting a business for the first time, stay away from building a brand initially and just reach out directly to people struggling with problems you know how to solve. It's far easier and more straightforward.

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Related answers

youtube ↗Mindset

I'm finding that learning, implementing, and creating an AI automation agency is really time-consuming and slow. Is it actually true that this stuff takes time, or am I just slow?

These things take time. There is no shortcut in life — you have to sit down and do the work. You're not slow, or rather, we're all slow. People making a ton of money usually just started earlier and put in a lot more work than you have. You can genuinely predict a lot of someone's success just by how many hours they've spent on the thing: if someone started at the same time as you and is making four times as much money, they've usually put in two to four times as much time — there are exponential gains the more time you put in, so the more you put in, the less you need for the same results going forward. Look at my YouTube channel versus smaller channels and compare total minutes of content published — it's almost a one-to-one relationship. I have about four times as much content as another creator I know, and I'm about four times as big as he is. It really is mostly just a matter of how much time you put in.

time investmentpatienceconsistency

youtube ↗Mindset

I want to become a creator eventually — is it worth starting now even though I haven't started my agency business yet, or should I fully focus on building the business and getting results/clients first before starting a YouTube channel?

Ask yourself why you want to be a creator first. If it's for fame or the idea of people watching you, reconsider. But if it's because you're genuinely a great explainer, capable of educating people better than most, with some unique knack that fills a real market demand — then yes, go for it. If that's the goal, focus on becoming top 1% at whatever you want to talk about first. For me that was business, then I niched down hard into AI and automation because that's where my initial content did best and where I was genuinely strongest — I'd say I'm well beyond top 1% there. Achieve real results first, then talk about it — the world isn't short on people with opinions telling others what to do; what's rare is someone who's actually done it and can say 'here's my recommendation, and here's the proof that it worked for me.'

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youtube ↗Agency Operations

Can you make a video with practical steps to start an automation business for freelancers or solo agency owners? I’m confused by all the content out there.

I’ve actually recorded a video that answers that exact question, and I’ve been publishing a new video on the topic every day for the past six days. Right now I’m focused on funnel‑building and trying to reach as many people as possible, so you’ll see a lot of repeated content. Think of it as me consolidating the most important points you need to know to be successful in this niche, rather than just shouting at you. Check out the recent videos for a step‑by‑step guide on launching an automation business as a solo agency owner.

automation businesssolo agencypractical steps

youtube ↗Mindset

I want to start in AI automation but everything changes so fast — n8n, then agentic workflows, now AIOS — that I'm more confused after months of watching videos than when I started. If you were starting from scratch today, what would you learn first, when would you start offering services, and how would you get your first few clients?

This is basically the whole point of my channel — watching almost any video here for 5+ minutes probably answers this. When would I start offering services? Before I even know how to fulfill them — I don't consider it a real business until someone is interested and, ideally, has already paid or I have an account receivable with them. If starting from scratch today, I'd spend 4-6 hours learning n8n, because that alone gets you access to a big jobs network on bootstrappable freelancing platforms, then another 4-6 hours learning Claude Code and how to talk to Claude. I'd also join a community like Maker School — not just as a pitch, but because you get an immediate ROI from day one: discounts on the platforms I'm telling you about, reduced payment processing fees, and around $1,000 in API credits for things like Claude — that alone is worth it when you're broke starting out. Plus there's a 90-day client guarantee, so if it doesn't work you get your money back. It's a low-risk way to skip a lot of the confusion.

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