Just hit $1,000/month recurring from automation clients. 2 local businesses at $400/month each for maintenance. 1 appointment system at $200/month. Took me 4 months to understand and figure out stuff. Not impressive, but it's steady. 𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 $10k/month in the next 6 months. Realistic? Maybe. Aggressive? Probably. But if I got 3 clients, I can find 10 more doing the same thing. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈'𝐦 𝐀𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 I want to know where people actually are, not what sounds good. Because when I see someone at $3k/month, I know it's possible. When I see someone stuck at $0 for months, I know I'm not alone. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 1. Current monthly recurring: (mine: $1k) 2. Next target: (mine: $10k in 6 months) 3. Long-term goal: (mine: $25k/month, then hire help) Drop real numbers below. 👇 No judgment. Just trying to see where everyone stands and who's a few steps ahead worth learning from.

I used to think any client was a good client. Took on projects that dragged for months. Built complex workflows for people who ghosted after delivery. Spent hours explaining automation basics to folks who "just wanted to see what's possible." Then I noticed something The clients who paid the most asked the clearest questions. Not "can you build me an AI thing?" More like "I'm losing 15 leads per week because my sales team can't follow up in under 2 hours. Can you fix that?" So I started pre-qualifying everyone before even hopping on a call. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟑 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐬𝐤 (𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐃𝐌 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥) 1. "What specific task are you doing manually right now that you wish would just... happen?" This reveals if they understand their own problem. If they can't name ONE specific task, they're not ready. They want magic, not automation. 2. "How much time per week does this take you or your team?" Numbers = real pain. If they say "not sure" or "whenever we remember," there's no urgency. No urgency = no budget = painful project. 3. "What happens if this doesn't get solved in the next 30 days?" This is the killer question. If they say "nothing really" or hesitate, they're not a buyer. They're a researcher. And researchers don't pay they collect quotes. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 - My close rate increased 2x - Average project value nearly doubled - Zero scope creep drama (clear problem = clear solution) - Clients actually implement what I build The weird part? I started having fewer calls & discovery meetings but more signed contracts. Because the people who make it through these 3 questions are already halfway sold. They know their pain. They know the cost. They just need someone to build the solution. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 You're not trying to convince everyone you're great. You're trying to find the people who already know they need what you do. Pre-qualifying isn't gatekeeping. It's respecting your time AND theirs. 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 What's the #1 red flag you've learned to spot in potential clients?

This one hurt to realize. Spent last few months building impressive stuff: - Multi-step agent workflows - Complex API integrations - Beautiful dashboards nobody asked for Got reactions like "wow, that's cool" but bank account stayed at $0. Then I built something embarrassingly simple for a local gym owner. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 New member signs up -> Send welcome email -> Add to WhatsApp group -> Schedule first check-in -> Done. 4 nodes Took 90 minutes He paid me $600 Not because it was complex. Because it solved the ONE thing keeping him up at night: new members ghosting after week 1. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟑 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 1. Solved a problem the client felt that morning 2. Took less than 5 days to build 3. Client could explain the value to someone else in one sentence 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝟒 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬? Cool demos. No urgency. No clear pain point. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 Stop building to impress other builders. Start building to relieve one person's specific daily headache. The simpler, the better. 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 How many workflows have you built that nobody paid for? No judgment. I'm at 44. Just trying to figure out if this is normal or if I'm the only one who learned the hard way. Drop your number below 👇

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠: Me: "So tell me about your business and what you need automated" Them: 15-minute rambling monologue about everything Me: "Cool, I can definitely build that. Want to see my portfolio?" Them: "Let me think about it" (never responds) 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐰: Me: "What's one task you did this morning that you wish just... handled itself?" Them: "Oh, I spent 45 minutes copying data from emails into our CRM" Me: "How often does that happen?" Them: "Every single day" Me: "So that's 3.75 hours a week. What would you do with that time back?" Them: (realizes the actual cost) "When can you start?" 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭: Don't ask about their business. Ask about their morning. One specific task. One pain point. One relief. That's the conversation that closes. 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: What's the first question you ask on a discovery call? Drop it below 👇 Let's see what's working.

They're better at something else entirely. I spent 2 weeks analyzing multiple automation builders who consistently land clients. Expected to find: Advanced workflows, complex integrations, years of experience. Actually found: Most of them use the same 5-7 nodes for 80% of their paid work. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 They don't sell "automation." They sell "you never have to think about this again." 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 Builder A (making $2-3K/month): - Portfolio: 15 complex workflows - Pitch: "I can build any automation you need" - Client response: "Interesting, let me think about it" Builder B (making $8-12K/month): - Portfolio: 3 simple case studies with specific results - Pitch: "I noticed you're manually doing X. That's costing you Y hours/week. I can eliminate that in 3 days." - Client response: "When can we start?" 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞? Builder A is selling their skills. Builder B is selling the END of a specific pain. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 The builders closing consistent clients do this: 𝟏. 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 (lead follow-up, appointment booking, invoice processing) 𝟐. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 for themselves or a free client 𝟑. 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐓 (not the process): - "Reduced response time from 4 hours to 4 minutes" - "Eliminated 12 hours of manual data entry per week" - "Zero missed leads, even at 2am" 𝟒. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟎 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 with the exact same pain 𝟓. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 someone else got This is not about being the best builder. It's about being the person who understands their specific problem deeply enough to explain the relief they'll feel when it's gone. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩 Everyone's debating Lovable vs Bolt vs n8n vs Make. Meanwhile, businesses are bleeding money on: - Leads going cold because response time is 6 hours - Appointments being double-booked manually - Data living in 5 different places with no connection They don't care what you build it in. They care that Monday morning, the problem doesn't exist anymore. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞