A real estate agent spent 2 hours every night copying leads from email to a spreadsheet. I built her a system in 20 minutes. She cried.
Category: Monetization Guide
Excerpt:
Zapier and Make let you connect apps and automate workflows without coding. Most businesses are drowning in manual tasks—copying data between systems, sending repetitive emails, updating multiple spreadsheets—that could be eliminated entirely. You're not selling software; you're selling hours back to people's lives. Here's how to identify opportunities, build automations, and price your services.
Stack: Zapier (6000+ app connections) + Make (visual workflow builder)
The Pain: tasks that should've been automated years ago
E-commerce owner: Gets orders in Shopify. Manually copies customer info into a Google Sheet for the fulfillment team. Then manually sends a confirmation email. 50 orders per day. 2 hours of daily copy-paste.
Marketing manager: New Typeform submissions come in. She manually adds each respondent to Mailchimp, then creates a Trello card for follow-up, then sends a welcome email. Per lead: 5 minutes. Per campaign: hours.
Recruiter: Receives resumes via email. Saves attachments to Dropbox. Adds candidate info to Airtable. Sends acknowledgment email. Logs activity in their CRM. Per resume: 10 minutes. They process 20 per day.
Accountant: Invoices come in through various channels. She downloads, renames, uploads to client folders, logs in a tracking sheet, and sends receipt confirmations. This is literally days of her month.
Tool Breakdown: when to use which
Best for: straightforward "when this happens, do that" automations. Quick setup, huge app library, easy for clients to understand.
- 6000+ app integrations — basically every SaaS tool exists
- Linear workflows — trigger → action(s) in sequence
- Templates — thousands of pre-built Zaps you can copy
- Easy handoff — clients can actually use the dashboard
- AI features — built-in ChatGPT actions, AI assistants
Best for: complex workflows with branching logic, data transformation, and multiple trigger points. Visual builder with more control.
- Visual scenario builder — drag and drop, see the whole flow
- Complex branching — if/then/else, loops, iterators
- Data manipulation — transform, filter, aggregate data
- Multiple triggers — one workflow can have multiple entry points
- Scheduling control — run at specific times, intervals, or on demand
Use Make when: You need conditional logic, data transformation, or the client has complex requirements that would require 10+ Zaps chained together.
My approach: I default to Zapier for client work (easier handoff, lower support burden). Make is for my own automations or clients who specifically want more control.
The Workflow: from discovery to delivery
Actions: What needs to happen? (Create record, send email, add to list, create task)
E-commerce: New Shopify order → Create invoice → Add to spreadsheet → Send receipt
Content: New blog post → Post to social media → Add to newsletter queue → Log in content tracker
Support: New support email → Create ticket → Assign to team → Send acknowledgment
Pricing: what to charge
| Service | What's Included | Your Time | Price Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Zap (2-3 steps) | Single trigger, 2-3 actions, basic setup, documentation | 20-40 min | $75-150 |
| Standard Workflow ⭐ | 5-8 steps, multiple apps, filters, edge case handling | 1-2 hours | $200-350 |
| Complex System | Multiple workflows connected, branching logic, data transformation | 3-6 hours | $500-1,000 |
| Automation Audit | Review current processes, identify opportunities, prioritize recommendations | 1-2 hours | $150-300 |
| Monthly Support | Monitor automations, fix breaks, minor updates, priority response | As needed | $100-300/month |
Consultants charge $100-500/hour for automation work. You're not at that level yet, but you're also not competing with them. You're serving businesses that can't afford enterprise consultants but still have automation needs.
If an automation saves someone 5 hours per week, that's 260 hours per year. At $30/hour, that's $7,800 in value. Charging $200 for the setup isn't expensive — it's a steal. Communicate the value, not the minutes.
Offer a support retainer: "I'll monitor your automations and fix any issues for $150/month." For clients with 5+ workflows, this is insurance they'll pay for. You get recurring revenue for occasional work.
First Client: where the opportunities are
Offer a free 15-minute "automation audit." Ask them to share their screen and show you their workflow. You'll spot 3-5 automatable tasks in minutes.
The audit is free. The implementation is paid. Most people will want you to just do it rather than learn themselves.
Subject: Quick automation question Hi [name], I noticed [specific observation about their business — e.g., "you're running webinars regularly" or "you have a Typeform on your site for lead capture"]. Quick question: how are you handling [the manual process — e.g., "follow-up after webinars" or "getting form responses into your CRM"]? I build automations that handle exactly this kind of thing — basically connecting your apps so tasks happen automatically instead of manually. Happy to do a free 15-minute audit call where I look at your current setup and identify what could be automated. No pitch, just value. If you want help implementing after that, we can discuss. — [your name]
Send 10 personalized versions. Expect 3-4 calls. Close 1-2 projects. That's your first $200-500.
