#191 · Four $5K+ Automation Systems You Can Sell Today

youtube ↗AI & Automation

In your 'how to start and sell an AI automation service in 12 hours' video, you mention you can batch-request the icebreaker automation to save on ops. Can you give a breakdown of that?

You can use what's called batch requests in OpenAI — they have a batch API where you feed in a giant list formatted with a custom ID (request-1, request-2, etc.), a method (POST), a URL (chat completions), and a body with your model and prompt. Your no-code system can build this list for you. Instead of making, say, 1,000-2,000 individual API calls, you make one call to the batch endpoint, and a few hours later you circle back and have access to all the results. The same idea applies to Google Sheets — they have a bulk API too, so instead of using 2,000 operations one at a time, you could batch them down to two calls. That said, operations cost tends not to be the actual bottleneck unless you're providing zero value to clients — if you're just starting out and trying to save every last dollar, 2,000 operations is only about $3, so honestly it's much easier to just start with a linear, non-batched system and not let that small cost be a barrier.

batch apiopenaiautomationcost optimization

Related answers

youtube ↗Cold Email

How long should a cold email campaign last, how can I minimize operations, and how can I make it run properly given long processing time?

The length of a cold email campaign depends on your email volume and number of leads. For example, sending 100 emails per day to 1,000 leads lasts about 10 days (or roughly six days a week adjusted). Campaigns can run as long as you want—I’ve run some on and off for about a year until the lead pool was depleted, so there’s no fixed rule. To minimize operations, note that the process scales linearly with the number of leads (O(N)). With 1,000 leads you’ll perform roughly a multiple of 1,000 operations. You can reduce ops by using Google Sheet scripts or App Scripts to handle personalization automatically, or by leveraging community hacks and tools such as bulk‑adding leads to a sheet or the OpenAI bulk endpoint (which takes about 24 hours). While custom solutions exist, I find the 80/20 approach with Make.com sufficient, spending only $10‑$15. To avoid Make.com’s 45‑minute timeout, split the workflow: instead of running the OpenAI call inside the main scenario, send the data via a webhook to a second scenario that processes it and returns the result. This way each scenario handles one lead at a time, keeping execution time low (e.g., ~45 seconds for 1,000 leads at 10 seconds each) rather than hitting the timeout.

cold emailcampaign lengthopsmake.com
youtube ↗Lead Generation

I work with a digital marketing agency that wants to add an AI chatbot to a client's website, but the site gets little organic traffic. Is it worth implementing the chatbot, or should we first focus on getting traffic to the site?

What a great question. This is more a consulting and strategy perspective than a building one. Naturally, if you're trying to make more money and thinking, 'Ooh, what's a way to make more money? I know AI is all the rage—maybe we'll add an AI chatbot to our website,' but if the chatbot doesn't talk to anybody, it won't make you more money. You've stumbled on a universal problem for many service businesses: they just don't have any leads. The real point of value, the bottleneck you could fix, is usually lead generation. I don't know how many people visit their site daily, monthly, or yearly, so it's hard to suggest exactly what to do next, but you're on the right track. The usual thinking is: get leads first, then worry about optimizing how you deal with them, nurture them, and improve conversion rates later. In your opinion, what's the best automation to sell? Could you make a video on it? The best automation to sell is something that increases or encourages lead generation, which we discussed. One of the main systems I sell is a cold outreach system where I build distribution for someone from scratch for about $200–$300 a month ongoing. They start with zero leads in their pipeline—usually an agency—and after the system is set up, they get roughly 30 leads per month that want to book calls. This is a game-changer and easy to justify as an investment for companies whose bottleneck is lead generation, like most businesses under $50k–$100k per month in revenue. Think of it this way: I'm solving their most dire problem—no leads entering the business. I charge them $3,000–$4,000 a month, which is fine because without me they wouldn't even have a business making more than $3k–$4k a month. In my experience, the best automations to sell for small to mid-sized businesses are those that help the top of the funnel. If they already have an outbound system but aren't getting many leads, I'd recommend a speed-to-lead system. Anything close to the top of the funnel—whether outbound or inbound—helps a lot, and that's what I'd recommend.

lead generationai chatbotcold outreach
youtube ↗AI & Automation

How do you use AI in sales systems, and how can I push AI to its limit in sales operations?

The clearest example is Clarevo, which combines proven best practices--especially speed-to-lead--with software to maximize every dollar of ad spend. Without it, spending $20k on ads might yield only $40k (a 2x return). With Clarevo, the same $20k generates $120k because we contact leads instantly--calling within a millisecond of form submission, sending immediate texts, and using opinion-based dispositions and routing that adjust based on how recent the lead is. We continuously optimize via call and number rotation, local area-code targeting, dial-pattern frequency, and automated lead allocation to the top performers on the team. Power dialing ensures no time is wasted waiting for a call to connect; the moment you pick up, you're already on a live conversation. All of this can be built now using cloud-based drag-and-drop builders; we've bundled it into a dedicated platform for call teams that works equally well for inbound and outbound. It's one of the most effective tools I've ever used.

AI salesspeed to leadClarevo
youtube ↗AI & Automation

How do you develop AI‑based automation systems that businesses will actually pay for, and what process do you use to identify and build them?

Lead‑generation and client‑onboarding systems make up roughly 70% of my revenue, so I focus on those bottlenecks first. The flow is: generate leads, close the sale, onboard the client, fulfill the work, then retain the client with follow‑up. AI agents are getting better, but the real money comes from solving concrete bottlenecks, not fancy chatbots. My process is simple: look at an average business’s pipeline, identify the biggest bottleneck, and ask how you can do that step faster or better. I often reference the Theory of Constraints (see "The Goal" by Eli Goldratt) to frame this. Most bottlenecks are at the top of the funnel—lead generation—so start there. For each bottleneck, map what’s currently being done and brainstorm ways to automate or accelerate it. Specific tools help, but the core is understanding the pipeline and continuously removing constraints.

ai automationsystemslead generationprocess