Can you walk through your workflow for creating the Marketing Startups courses?

#288 · stop giving away n8n templates, sell outcomes

Can you walk through your workflow for creating the Marketing Startups courses?

I start with a high‑level outline of what people need to produce economically valuable outcomes with the tool. I don’t dive deep into JSON, APIs, expressions, or functions—most of that isn’t used when building for clients. From first principles I ask what I actually need to deliver that makes people money; you barely need to know acronyms like HTTPS, HTML, CSS, or deep JavaScript. The outline becomes a simple high‑level view of the essentials that let people make money with the tool. If learners want to go deeper (they love “circle jerking” the tech), I point them to resources but don’t teach it myself. For the recent Claude Code marketing course I reviewed all marketing system deals signed over the last ~4.5 years, listed the systems, identified the bare‑bones knowledge needed to build them, ignored sub‑agents and complex permissions, and taught the 80/20 core, then pointed to other resources if needed.

course creationoutline80/20marketing

Related answers

youtube ↗AI & Automation

Max Krueger asks: How'd you learn automation if you had zero dollars to start?

Great question. I would watch all of my own tutorials—like the 'make money with make' playlist and the NAN full course playlists I've set up. Not exactly playlists, but compilations. The simplest and easiest way to get up and running with the technical skills is to watch those. I'd also watch a few of my business videos, like the 80/20 summary of automation basics in less than an hour. I watch that, and a prompt engineering video—those together form the 80/20 curriculum I'd recommend. Once you know that, you actually get out there and start making Upwork applications, sending emails, sending cold DMs, reactivating your network if you're running a previous business, making community posts, and so on. Basically, you need to put yourself in front of customers as much as humanly possible. It doesn't even matter what your skill levels are.

zero dollarslearning automationtutorialsupwork

youtube ↗Client Acquisition

I’m spending a lot of time learning automation and building systems while also trying to build an Upwork profile and create content. What should I focus on to get my first paying clients?

Focus on the need‑to‑know, not the nice‑to‑know. Get customers first, then let their feedback tell you where to invest your time. Apply for jobs on platforms like Upwork to start earning, and learn the tools you need by actually doing the work for a client. Prioritize outreach—cold email with personalized Loom videos works well initially—rather than spending endless hours learning theory. Once you land your first client, double down on delivering value and then scale from there.

upworkcold emailfocusfirst client

youtube ↗Client Acquisition

As a beginner with $5,000 to invest, which community should I join to learn the basics from scratch and stay highly connected to you?

I am the most active member in both Maker School and Make Money with Make, so you’ll get direct access to me through text‑based support (no one‑on‑one video calls). Maker School is purpose‑built for beginners, teaching foundations by doing—not just templates—and I plan to add exclusive automation tutorials soon. The paid tier covers business, accountability, networking, and higher‑level templates, while the free YouTube content handles automation basics. I’m also integrating automation into Maker School to make it a one‑stop shop. Beyond the community, I advise focusing on learning core business concepts rather than a specific business model, because those fundamentals let you succeed in any model, from waste management to junk removal.

maker-schoolmake-money-with-makebeginner5000

youtube ↗Client Acquisition

Assume I'm a complete newbie with barely anything, but motivated and eager to deliver value and change my life. Walk us through the process — building a portfolio, what workflows to make, everything — until landing my first client.

This is basically what my entire channel is about, so I don't think I can add much beyond what's already covered elsewhere in more depth. The one thing I'll emphasize: the most important thing for you is NOT technical understanding of the service — it's putting yourself in front of people who have a problem you're learning to solve. Do that enough, and your brain will organically learn what clients value and how to position it well. Focus on demand generation more than the service itself; you'll pick up the technical service skill over time just by watching videos like mine and reading documentation.

complete beginnerdemand generationfirst client