I've been binging Nick's stuff the past few days. Solve each problem step by step. But Nick, all this sounds too good to be true. Tell me about it. Like each automation only takes me an hour or two to build and does not cost that much. We're supposed to sell it to people at like $1,000 to $2,000 USD.
There is indeed a trade‑off. You can spend a lot of time on high‑effort, low‑reward tasks like demolition work, but you can also create automations that require a few hours of learning and then generate a high return on effort. While some claims sound too good to be true, most of what I talk about is simply easier ways to earn per‑unit income. The biggest stumbling block is getting to the point where you can build profitable systems. Non‑technical people can start making $3‑5 K a month within their first 30 days if they follow the process. Ultimately it’s just sales: learn the customer’s pain points, position your solution as the answer, and sell based on perceived value. When pitching retainer‑style automation work, you can charge a monthly fee for managing the automation, not just a one‑off payment.
Yeah, it's a great question. For those who don't know, I run Maker School community, and I'm currently number three on the revenue leaderboard with about $292k. My success comes from how I package the community. I position it as a B2B offer where members pay $184 a month to learn how to get their first paying customer for an AI or automation service. In 90 days they earn back the money they spent (not counting tool costs), effectively getting a customer that pays around $1,000, which feels like a five‑to‑six‑times ROI. While Jack's community and other AI automation groups were first movers just by being the go‑to place for AI talk, I took a sniper‑rifle approach: I niche down to teaching how to build a business, not just how to use AI. Now I'm integrating AI and automation curriculum directly into Maker School—I've finished a make.com and an NAN accelerator and just need to record the videos. We also still do Q&A and similar offerings. Most other automation communities stay broad and less differentiated; I solve the specific problem of wanting to sell something with AI/automation and then actually doing it.
Accept any and all work on Upwork—think of it as an elevator that instantly connects you to large businesses you’d never meet otherwise. Even as a total newbie, you can land a client doing $10–$20 million a year within a week, giving you a powerful case study like 'I helped a $10 million/year business achieve X, Y, Z.' At this stage, don’t worry about qualifying or tightening the funnel; go broad to bootstrap experience, collect case studies, and start making money. The creator shares a personal example: a friend who jumped on Upwork while he was door‑to‑door went from zero to a legitimate $30 000/month income in three‑to‑four months by maximizing opportunity and landing a big‑ticket client whose needs matched his skill set—something the creator missed while grinding door‑to‑door for $5 000/month.
I started with Harvard CS50, then taught myself computer science from the ground up, excluding languages and compilers, distributed systems, and operating systems. I completed nanotech to Tetris, building a computer from scratch. After that, I learned AI from scratch via a course that just listed introductory material, then I began training models—first a TensorFlow model called Stalan 2 that generated faces, then Gwarn's 'This Wu Does Not Exist' which I turned into an anime face generator, which I found hilarious and turned into a business called One Second Painting. I scaled that to about $3,500 per month by selling AI-generated art, but Midjourney's release destroyed that business. I had been selling NFTs, which gave me hands‑on AI experience. I then used that experience to freelance write while aiming for $10k/month, employing GPT‑3 for content. I also spent six months to a year locked in my room learning make.com and Zapier, building automations for my One Second Painting business and later for a second venture with a business partner. Eventually the money came from disproportionate time invested, leading to a compressed business model: get your first customer quickly, then worry about everything later. I realized most of the low‑level AI skills I learned aren’t used today, but the practical experience with automation platforms like make.com and Zapier, plus building info products, allowed me to scale to $100k/month through a blend of an AI automation agency and information products.
First, keep your current income streams (barbering, ATV repair) while you allocate a small portion—maybe $300 a month—to learning one automation tool, such as Make.com or Zapier. Focus on mastering a single tool rather than juggling many; think of it as a pickaxe you can use for everything. Spend a few days watching a comprehensive course (e.g., my 6‑hour Make.com course) until you’re comfortable. Then take three concrete steps: 1) Choose a niche you want to serve. 2) Build an Upwork profile targeting that niche. 3) Start cold‑email outreach using the formula I described earlier. 4) Join relevant communities to network and share content. Keep the niche practical—look for markets where people are already spending money. Follow this five‑step plan, reinvest earnings into tools and education, and you’ll gradually shift from time‑for‑money work to a remote, AI‑enhanced business.