Client 1. Invoice automation. Built it perfectly. Tested it thoroughly. Went live. Day 3 it broke. Client furious. I panicked. Fixed in 15 minutes. Learned the most important lesson about automation. THE BUILD: Email trigger → PDF parsing → Data extraction → Post to QuickBooks → Done Tested with 10 sample invoices. All worked perfectly. Deployed confidently. DAY 3 DISASTER: Client calls: "The automation isn't working. Nothing posted to QuickBooks today." Checked workflow. Processing fine. Data extracting fine. Then I saw it. QuickBooks authentication expired. THE MISTAKE: I built workflow assuming perfect conditions. Never planned for failure modes. API tokens expire. Internet disconnects. Services go down. Formats change. My automation had zero error handling. THE 15-MINUTE FIX: Added error catching: If QuickBooks post fails → retry 3 times with 5-minute delays If still fails → send me Slack alert with details Quarantine failed invoices in separate sheet for manual review 15 minutes of setup. Never broke again. THE LESSON: Perfect automation doesn't exist. Resilient automation does. Build for failure modes, not just success paths. ERROR HANDLING CHECKLIST: API AUTHENTICATION: - Check before processing - Graceful reconnection - Alert when auth expires RETRY LOGIC: - 3 attempts with delays - Different error types - Exponential backoff ALERT SYSTEM: - Slack or email when fails - Include error details - Link to failed item MANUAL REVIEW QUEUE: - Separate location for failures - Easy to reprocess - Track resolution My workflows now include all four. Takes 20 extra minutes building. Saves hours troubleshooting. WHAT ACTUALLY BREAKS: APIs rate limit or go down temporarily Authentication tokens expire Document formats change slightly Internet hiccups during processing Services update and break integrations Plan for all of it. THE MONITORING SETUP: Daily health check email showing: - Successful processing count - Failed items count - Error types encountered

Sent 15 cold messages on LinkedIn. 3 responded. 1 became my second client. $1,500 in my account 8 days later. Here's the exact message. THE PROBLEM WITH MOST COLD MESSAGES: "Hi! I build AI automation solutions that can transform your business. Would love to chat!" Generic. Salesy. Instant delete. THE MESSAGE THAT WORKED: "Hi [Name] - saw your post about spending hours on invoice processing. I actually just automated this exact workflow for a similar company. Curious if you'd be open to seeing how it works? No pitch, just showing what's possible. 10 minutes on Zoom?" Sent to 15 operations managers who posted about manual document work. 3 responded within 24 hours. WHY THIS WORKED: Specific pain reference - mentioned their actual problem Social proof - "just automated this for similar company" Low commitment ask - "10 minutes, no pitch" Show don't tell - "see how it works" beats explanations THE 3 RESPONSES: "Yeah actually, this is killing us. When can you show me?" "Interesting. What's the cost?" "We tried automation before, didn't work. What makes yours different?" Booked calls with all 3. Closed 1. Other 2 weren't ready but asked to stay in touch. THE CALL STRUCTURE: Minute 1-3: Asked about their current process Minute 4-7: Showed live demo of working automation Minute 8-10: Walked through implementation timeline Client signed same day. $1,500 setup + $250/month. WHERE TO FIND TARGETS: LinkedIn search: "[industry] operations manager" Filter posts by "past week" Look for complaints about manual work, data entry, document processing Found mine searching: "invoice" "manual" "time consuming" 15 relevant posts in 30 minutes. THE DEMO THAT CLOSED: Had working invoice automation ready. Used Make.com plus PDF Vector parsing. Showed email arriving, data extracted, posted to spreadsheet. Real-time. "This exact workflow could be processing your invoices by next week." Seeing it work beat any explanation. REJECTION HANDLING: Most said "not ready right now." I replied: "No problem. Mind if I check back in 30 days?"

Recorded a simple Loom video. Sent to prospects instead of long emails. Booking rate jumped from 12% to 64%. THE SETUP: Loom free account (no cost) Screen recording + webcam One template video Personalize intro for each prospect THE VIDEO STRUCTURE: SECONDS 0-10: Personal intro "Hey [Name], saw you're processing invoices manually at [Company]" SECONDS 10-40: Show the magic Screen recording of automation working Real invoice → Extracted data → QuickBooks No explanation. Just show it working. SECONDS 40-70: Paint their future "Imagine this running for every invoice you receive" "No more manual data entry" "Get those 8 hours back weekly" SECONDS 70-90: Clear next step "If this solves your problem, book 15 minutes here" Show calendar link on screen "If not, no worries" SECONDS 90-120: End with context "I've built this for 23 similar businesses" "Most are live within a week" "Looking forward to showing you more" Total time: 2 minutes max THE TEMPLATE VIDEO: Record once with generic example Re-record just the personal intro (10 seconds) for each prospect Keep the demo portion same Change company name in closing THE LOOM BENEFITS: They see your face (builds trust) They see it working (visual proof) They watch on their schedule (convenient) They can replay (process information) You track if they watched (qualify interest) THE OUTREACH SEQUENCE: Day 1: Send personalized 2-minute Loom Subject: "Quick video for [Company]" Day 3: Follow up if they watched "Saw you watched the video. Thoughts?" Day 5: Follow up if they didn't watch "Might have missed this. 2-min video showing how we eliminate invoice entry for [industry] companies" THE RESULTS: Videos sent: 37 Videos watched: 31 (84% view rate) Discovery calls booked: 14 Conversion rate: 45% of viewers book OLD EMAIL APPROACH: Emails sent: 37 Response rate: 12% Calls booked: 4 NEW VIDEO APPROACH: Videos sent: 37 Response rate: 45% Calls booked: 14 THE MESSAGES I SEND: "Hi [Name], noticed you're handling [pain point] manually. Made you a quick 2-min video showing how we've solved this for [similar companies]. Link: [Loom]"

Hi there! I am excited to go this journey. I am currently adjusting my schedule and routine so I can learn AI skills and get clients. I will post my progress. I hope we connect and support each other on the way.

Hi all, Hope everyone is doing well. Just sent out another cold outreach video to try and get my first customer. This time it's a large accounting firm. If anyone would like to provide feedback, I would gratefully appreciate it. Hi David, How are you? Just seen your article on taking on new trainees. Exciting times! I help businesses like yours automate their invoice processing, saving them 10+ hours/week to focus on strategic work instead of data entry. I created this 5-min video for you showing how: Let me know if you would like to explore further.