6 months in. Time for honest update. THE NUMBERS: Active clients: 5 Monthly recurring revenue: $3,200 Setup revenue (total): $8,400 Hours per week: 20 Hourly rate: $40/hour (ongoing) Not quitting my day job yet. But real progress. THE BREAKDOWN: Client 1: $200/month (invoice automation) Client 2: $300/month (invoice + form automation) Client 3: $250/month (invoice automation) Client 4: $400/month (invoice + data sync) Client 5: $300/month (invoice automation) Plus scattered one-time setup projects. THE TIMELINE: Month 1: Built samples, no clients Month 2: First client closed ($1,200) Month 3: Clients 2 & 3 ($2,600 total) Month 4: Client 4 ($1,400) Month 5: Client 5 ($1,500) Month 6: Focus on delivery, no new clients THE WINS: ✅ Proven I can get clients ✅ All 5 clients still active ✅ Built template library ✅ Positive cash flow ✅ Learning constantly THE MISTAKES: ❌ Overbuilt first 2 clients (wasted time) ❌ Undercharged clients 1 & 3 ❌ Didn't ask for referrals early enough ❌ No systematic outreach (inconsistent pipeline) ❌ Said yes to one bad client (fired them) THE HONEST STRUGGLES: Some weeks: No new leads, scared Some clients: Unclear needs, frustrating Some builds: Took 3x longer than quoted Imposter syndrome: Still hitting hard THE UNEXPECTED POSITIVES: Client relationships: Actually enjoy them Problem solving: So satisfying when it works Learning curve: Faster than expected Flexibility: Work when/where I want THE TOOL COSTS: Make.com: $47/month PDF Vector: $97/month (Pro plan for all clients) Airtable: Free tier Notion: Free tier Total: $144/month Margin: $3,056/month (after tools) THE HOURLY REALITY: $3,200/month ÷ 80 hours = $40/hour Not amazing. But: - Working 20 hours/week (not 40) - Learning valuable skills - Building asset (recurring revenue) - Room to scale THE NEXT 6 MONTHS: Goal: 10 clients, $6,000 MRR Strategy: Systematic LinkedIn outreach, referrals Pricing: Increase to $1,800-2,200 setups Second service: Add data syncing to upsell existing clients

Been building document workflows for 10 months. Realized I was rebuilding similar patterns repeatedly. Created n8n template library. Now new client workflows take 45 minutes instead of 4 hours. MY TEMPLATE LIBRARY: TEMPLATE 1: Email Attachment Processing Email trigger → Extract attachments → Parse Document → Extract Structured → Post to database → Send confirmation Used for: Invoices, quotes, applications, claims TEMPLATE 2: Folder Monitoring with Batch Processing Drive/Dropbox trigger → Split Into Batches → Parse per batch → Merge results → Bulk upload Used for: High-volume document processing TEMPLATE 3: Webhook Form Submission Webhook trigger → Download files → Parse and extract → Validation logic → Multi-path routing Used for: Application forms, registration, submissions TEMPLATE 4: Scheduled Document Reports Schedule trigger → Fetch documents → Parse multiple PDFs → Aggregate data → Email report Used for: Client reporting, compliance summaries HOW I USE TEMPLATES: Client request: "Process supplier invoices from email" Process: 1. Copy Template 1 (Email Attachment Processing) 2. Update email address in trigger 3. Modify JSON Schema for their invoice fields 4. Change database credentials to their system 5. Test with 3 sample invoices 6. Deploy Time: 32-45 minutes average. Before templates: 3-4 hours building from scratch. THE n8n ADVANTAGE: Workflows export/import as JSON. I keep library of base templates. Import → Modify parameters → Deploy. Found additional template examples at here that had common schemas already configured. RESULTS AFTER TEMPLATES: Month 1-4 (before templates): 4 clients built, 16 hours total Month 5-8 (with templates): 11 clients built, 14 hours total Month 9-10: 7 clients built, 6 hours total Same pricing to clients. Drastically reduced delivery time. CUSTOMIZATION BREAKDOWN: - 70% of template stays exactly the same - 20% parameter changes (emails, credentials, field names)

Why Enterprise Clients Actually Want Your $25/Month Solution Call with regional hospital network last month. They were paying $22,400 annually for "enterprise medical records processing solution" from big vendor. Custom installation. Dedicated support. The whole package. Showed them my n8n workflow. Cost: $97/month. Does exact same thing. They switched. THE ENTERPRISE ILLUSION: Big companies assume expensive equals better. They pay premium prices for "enterprise solutions" that are often just: - Basic document parsing and data extraction - Simple workflow automation - 47 layers of unnecessary enterprise packaging - Sales team justifying their commissions THE REALITY: Most enterprise document processing needs are straightforward: 1. Receive document 2. Extract specific data 3. Post to internal system 4. Send notification You can build this with commodity tools and charge enterprise prices without enterprise overhead. HOSPITAL CLIENT BREAKDOWN: Old system cost: $22,400/year My system cost: $97/month n8n + $50/month PDF Vector = $1,764/year Their savings: $20,636 annually My revenue: $3,500 setup + $1,800/year maintenance = $5,300 first year Everyone wins except overpriced vendor. THE WORKFLOW: HL7 messages arrive → PDF Vector parses medical documents with structured extraction → Extract patient demographics and procedure codes → Post to EHR system → Compliance logging for audit trail. Build time: 6 hours Deployment: 2 days (mostly waiting for IT security approval) The document extraction handles medical forms reliably. Confidence scoring above 0.92 for standard forms. Lower confidence routes to review queue automatically. Template here. PRICING PSYCHOLOGY: Didn't say "$97/month solution." Said "Custom medical records automation platform with ongoing monitoring and support - $3,500 setup, $150/month." Same technology. Different packaging. KEY LESSON: Enterprises aren't looking for cheap. They're looking for:

I need to share something that's been bothering me for months. I've been part of 10+ automation groups. Posted hundreds of times trying to help people. And I keep getting the same result: deleted posts, warnings, and eventually... banned. Here's what gets me removed: When someone asks "How do I find my first client?" and I share the EXACT messages that worked for me - DELETED. When someone struggles with pricing and I show my actual invoices with real numbers - WARNING. When someone needs templates and I share my Google Drive folder freely - BANNED. The reasons they give? "Too promotional." "Against community guidelines." "Not appropriate content." But here's what I think is really happening: These group owners built their communities to sell courses, not create success stories. They want you consuming content forever, not competing in the marketplace. They're protecting their client base, not helping you build yours. Think about it - if everyone in their 50,000 person group actually started landing clients, who would buy their next course? Who would pay for their "advanced masterclass"? Who would stay dependent on them? That's why I created AI First Client Formula with different rules: ✅ Share everything - templates, contracts, exact pricing ✅ Show real numbers - what you charge, what you earned ✅ Help others compete - even if they become your competition ✅ Celebrate client wins - the bigger the better ✅ No gatekeeping - everything free and open I WANT you to take my methods. I WANT you to land clients. Hell, I want you to charge more than me and build something bigger. Because here's the truth: The automation market is massive. We could have 10,000 successful builders and barely scratch the surface. There's room for everyone. But some groups would rather keep you as a student than see you as a peer. Not here. This is for builders who want to BUILD. For people ready to earn, not just learn. If you've ever had your helpful post deleted, been warned for sharing too much value, or felt like groups want to keep you small - you belong here.

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]"