If you’re an AI automation or cold email geek trying to break out of the Upwork grind-->or just tired of sending campaigns and hoping for the best-->this post is for you. 🚀 Where I Started I’m build AI-powered outbound systems for B2B SaaS and tech companies. But up till now, my only clients came through Upwork, and my first cold email campaign (1,300 sent!) got me… crickets. Reply rate? Under 1%. Positive leads? Zero. I realized I was running my business on hope, not a system. 💡 What My Clarity Call with Ian Unlocked 1. Differentiate or Disappear Ian challenged me with the “Kevin O’Leary elevator test.” If you can’t explain what makes you different from every other automation specialist on Fiverr/Upwork, you’ll get ignored. My new focus: - Real experience in the trenches (not just theory) - A clear promise, plan, and proof-->so I’m not just another “me too” offer 2. Stop Automating What Isn’t Working I was ready to scale up with automations and tools, but Ian showed me why you have to test your offer and messaging manually first. If you’re not getting replies, it’s not a volume problem-->it’s a message problem. 3. Lead With Value-->Reciprocity Wins Instead of pitching or asking for a call, I’m now sending a simple value-driven first message (e.g., “Here’s a free AI agent template-->can you tell me if it’s on point?”). When people reply, I can ask about their real pain points and start a conversation-->not a pitch fest. 4. Track, Test, and Tweak Don’t just hope for results. - 100 DMs = ~10 replies - 10 replies = 1 booked call (if your copy is right)If you’re not hitting those numbers, fix the copy or targeting before you scale. 5. Community Is a Shortcut Ian pointed me to masterclasses, copy review threads, and Friday coaching calls inside the group. Why guess alone when you can get real feedback, faster? 🛠️ My Next Steps - Practice my new offer and outreach copy manually (not just with automation) - Post my draft emails in the community for feedback from real copy pros - Engage more on LinkedIn (and groups where my ideal clients hang out) - Show up to Friday calls with my biggest questions

Hey guys I just made a post on my LinkedIn of a demo if my voice agent. Please show some support if you can I’ll appreciate it and reply to any comments! I’m also open to hearing any feedback and what you think about the agent! Here’s the link to the post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thabangzulu_ai-voice-agent-in-real-time-in-this-demo-activity-7227683739185618944-jSGz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

For those of you building voice agents feeling stuck at certain steps. I’ve been there so I want to share some videos that helped me finish building my own and some YouTubers that actually take you step by step to help you build your agents: 1. https://youtu.be/jDPXWMUVUPE?si=935wWEc0ultcbqiy 2. https://youtu.be/RMOHpWAPan8?si=WZAjZ_uNM1i9YKM6 3. https://youtu.be/l6yDtXfIarM?si=4eQTLyJLlX_lcO9E 4. https://youtu.be/IbgPEG8l09Y?si=kcvvU_w_WjWFVgSb

I see a lot of people struggle with json and a lot of other code within their make automations. Don’t underestimate the power of chatgpt. Your automation/https requests might not be working and you could be trying everything to figure out what’s wrong and it might be in the json string more often than not. To easily fix this just tell chatgpt to format it correctly for you. I always recommend using postman to get the json string. After you make any of your own configurations to it. Put it into chatgpt to format it correctly.

Hey there guys, I'd like to propose something interesting. This will easily be mutually beneficial for all of us. I'd like to propose that we all share our LinkedIn profiles and connect with one another on there. This will help all of us grow our network and our reach. Let's comment our links down below! I'll start, here's mine: www.linkedin.com/in/thabangzulu