Do you remember the video where you explained what should or shouldn't be automated, or could you summarize it again?
I don’t recall the exact video, but the rule is: never automate the first touch points with prospects or clients—those are the moments closest to revenue. Automating lead responses can cut your close rate by about 5%, which compounds to a significant loss over time. Exceptions exist (e.g., time‑zone handling), but generally you should handle prospect questions yourself. Instead, apply human leverage at key onboarding steps; pure template‑selling leaves money on the table, whereas pairing templates with a white‑glove perception captures most value. Think 80/20: automate simple, procedural items like onboarding emails (if they sound human) or AI‑generated assets that look good, but keep the high‑touch, money‑close activities human.
It’s a great time to build personalization flows because new entrants in cold email are higher than ever. Cold email had a big renaissance, AI personalization hit, and it still outperforms other marketing methods when run competently. Personalization boosts ROI, but you need to go beyond simple icebreaker lines—constrain the AI output, use your copywriting to write templated bits like “I love that you’re doing X. It’s refreshing to see that you’re doing that. Figured I’d reach out.” If you don’t constrain, AI‑generated icebreakers feel flamboyant and are seen as AI‑written, hurting perceived personalization. Instead, personalize the specific high‑ROI parts of the email (not the whole thing or just one line). Examples: paraphrase three interesting things from a prospect’s podcast, or pull key quotes from their content. You can run thousands of these personalized emails a day at a token cost (~$20/month). There’s massive untapped potential—cold email volume will soon far exceed what most people are doing.
Nice job being almost 18. The delivery process is simple: REACH (get in front via cold email, PPC ads, communities, social media DMs/referrals/events), ACQUIRE (sales call), FULFILL (onboarding call, gain access to the client's account, build the system directly there—handoff is easy), EXPAND (upsell a bigger package later because you now know their business better, can deliver more value, charge more, and take larger jobs). This loop repeats, growing your business.
He explains that he always sells implementation rather than templates because implementation lets him move easily into strategy consulting and an operations context, whereas selling templates makes him just an API endpoint that builds and returns a spec. From a value‑creation view, templates are a simple input‑output process, while implementation involves discovery, scoping, proposal, payment, onboarding, building, and revisions—much more involved, which lets him charge far more. Raising the average order value means he makes more per client; since leads are scarce, he prefers to sell them something expensive to justify the acquisition cost. Selling templates is a high‑volume, low‑average‑order‑value approach that is risky because narrow specialization makes you vulnerable to automation. Implementation insulates risk and is more enjoyable; he’d rather close a $9,500 deal than sell a $350 template.
Not for beginners — if you already have a big brand, YouTube channel, and a working Instagram funnel, you could sell an AIOS, but as a total newbie, don't. Instead, pick a specific lane, ideally something tied to reach/acquisition: creative-generation systems (ad creative testing across Google, Facebook, TikTok, etc.), automated prospect research for cold email/LinkedIn icebreakers, and speed-to-lead systems (immediately following up with anyone who opts in from an ad, maximizing show/booking rate — even something as simple as calling a lead twice instead of once, or texting back a missed call automatically, can double conversion). Also strong: automated follow-up across SMS/email/DM for anyone who's expressed interest, and inbound lead-magnet systems (e.g. ManyChat-based funnels tied to a creator's content). The common thread: focus on a narrow, specific lane that produces a clearly measurable revenue outcome — that lets you proportionally scale a client's revenue in a way that's easy to prove and sell.
offer selectionspeed to leadlead follow-upniching down