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#79 · AI automation for young people (highschool, college, etc)

youtube ↗Agency Operations

How much software do I need for Maker School and do you use Go High Level?

I no longer use Go High Level (GHL). For software costs, the cheapest option is about $37 per month for an instant‑inbox style service. A low‑cost stack looks like this: $3 per mailbox (so five mailboxes cost $15/month) plus two domains at roughly $30 per year ($2.50/month when amortized), bringing mailbox‑related expenses to $17.50/month. Adding the $37/month inbox service brings the base to around $54.50/month. If you also purchase leads—say 4,000 leads per month at $120 per 1,000 leads—that adds $480/month, for a total of roughly $534.50/month for email outreach. For Upwork, expect to spend about $1.50 per application plus a refundable boost, averaging roughly $3 per app; sending 10 apps a day would cost about $30/day. Upwork is simple to start with because you can invest for just a few days, get paid quickly, and buy credits for the whole month rather than one‑off purchases.

softwarecostupwork

Related answers

youtube ↗Lead Generation

Hey Nick, after I joined Maker School, what would be the rough monthly budget that I should have considering all the tools and upper connects can add up quite a bit? Sorry, I didn't mean to down thumb you. If you give a specific number range, thanks a lot.

Your monthly budget varies mainly with outreach volume. Many people find sending 10 Loom videos daily overwhelming, but I never considered it hard when starting out. Think of it like coal miners who just accept mining as their job—your baseline for effort. Not everyone does 10 Upwork applications daily (my month‑one recommendation); we usually taper to 3‑2 per day later. Upwork connects average about $3 each; after boosting and view‑rate adjustments, assume roughly $4 per day if you send four applications daily, totaling ~$240 monthly if done 20 days a month. The idea is that by the time you’ve spent that amount, you’ll likely have landed a client who covers at least that cost, ideally 5‑10×. Add fixed beginner costs of $100‑$250 for Upwork. You’ll need a cold‑email system: I recommend services costing $55‑$60 for mailboxes/domains in month one, then $35/month thereafter (e.g., Instantly, Smartlead). Lead‑scraping services run about $1‑$1.50 per thousand leads; targeting 3,000 leads adds ~$5/month. Putting it together: ~$40 for cold‑email, $50‑$60 for mailboxes/domains, and $100‑$250 for Upwork connects, giving a realistic monthly range of $350‑$400 for a total beginner doing moderate outreach. The biggest variable is how much outreach you actually do.

outreach budgetUpwork connectscold email cost
youtube ↗Lead Generation

How should I spend $1,000 to start getting clients? I considered buying a bulk of inboxes and a premium instantly plan to increase sending volume, but do you have other suggestions?

If you haven’t had a client yet, allocate part of the $1,000 to Upwork to buy your first job—it’s the simplest way to get started. Also invest in Maker School to learn the automation framework and get the curriculum. With the remaining budget, buy a modest number of mailboxes (around 20–21) and domains (about $50 for domains plus $70 for mailboxes, totaling ~$120). Use leftover funds to purchase leads. This approach lets you cover education, outreach tools, and lead acquisition while positioning you to land your first client through Upwork, provided you stay consistent and follow the program’s advice.

budgetupworkmaker school
youtube ↗Client Acquisition

When I joined Maker School, I saw I might need to spend around $600 for tools on top of the subscription. Is that true? I'm from India, so even $50 is a lot for me — what should I save up before joining?

That $600 figure depends on how you actually implement it — my recommended approach (e.g. sending 10 Upwork applications a day, roughly 270 by the end of the first month at about $25 in Connects each) is genuinely a lot of money, but in practice very few people actually do that much volume; most people send 2-4 a day, landing around 60-90 for the month. Doing more is still better — Upwork applications don't just help your closing rate, the practice of writing proposals and recording videos also builds real skill, so it's not purely about landing that first client, it's skill-stacking too. But at minimum, if you're doing Upwork, expect to spend something like $150 just on Connects — you will need to budget some money for the platform itself.

maker schoolupwork connectsbudgettool costs
youtube ↗Cold Email

What setup do I need to start cold email outreach with a $120 budget?

Use a done-for-you mailbox provider; I recommend Zapmail (with affiliate code Nyx for 10% off). Get 9-12 mailboxes at about $3.50 each per month; with the discount that's roughly $33 total. Buy domains—one domain per three mailboxes—so about 3-4 domains at ~$10 each, adding ~$35. Set up Instantly: the $37 plan works if you're bottlenecked, bringing the total to about $105, leaving $15 for Make.com (or n8n) for personalization. You can also scrape leads for free using Apollo or Apify, then personalize them for a few dollars per thousand. Overall you can start with around $70.

cold emailsetupbudgettools