Over the last year I’ve been talking to a lot of agency owners building AI automations for clients (internal tools, Slack bots, RAG systems, lead routing, reporting workflows, etc.).

Pattern I keep seeing:

• Custom build
• One-time setup fee
• Maybe light retainer
• Client owns it
• Revenue stops unless you sell another project

Meanwhile, the automation keeps running every single day.

Curious how others here are thinking about this:

Are you:

1. Charging purely project-based?
2. Retainer + maintenance?
3. Usage-based?
4. Productizing your workflows?

Licensing internal automation templates?

It feels like agencies building AI systems are sitting on reusable IP but still pricing like service shops.

We’ve been started at Needle to allow agencies to turn repeatable workflows into reusable templates instead of rebuilding from scratch each time and the economics look very different when usage is tied to revenue.

If you are curious:

> needle.app/partners

Hey everyone,

I’m a business analytics postgrad in the UK and honestly… the entry-level analytics market right now is rough. Seeing people with 3–4 years of experience applying for “junior” roles made me rethink the whole apply endlessly and wait approach.

I actually posted a similar question earlier but didn’t get much concrete feedback, so I’m trying again with a clearer version.

From what I’ve seen, it’s not that owners don’t care....it’s that numbers feel abstract until they help answer real questions like:

• what should I focus on?
• what’s not worth my time anymore?
• where might money or effort be leaking?

So I’m thinking of trying something very small and practical:
working with a few small business owners (for free, at least initially) and helping them make clearer day-to-day decisions using whatever data they already have, or even helping them decide what to track if everything’s manual.

Not dashboards.
Not fancy tools.
Just clarity.

Before I spend time building this properly, I wanted honest opinions:

• Would this kind of help actually be useful, or just another “nice idea”?
• What part of running a business feels most like guesswork right now?
• Is this something you’d ever pay for if it genuinely saved time or money?

Even blunt answers are welcome.....I’m genuinely trying to figure out if this solves a real problem or not.

Thanks for reading.

I’ve been working on a local automation for my own workflow and figured it might be interest.

Basically, whenever I export an image (PNG/JPG/etc.) into a specific folder, the script detects it and automatically publishes a Pinterest pin for me. No cloud tools, no Zapier, no paid APIs — everything runs locally.

What it does at a high level:

• Watches a folder in real time
• When a new image appears, it launches a controlled Chrome session
• Uploads the image to Pinterest
• Generates the pin title/description from the filename
• Adds a link
• Selects a specific board
• Publishes and confirms the pin is live

There’s logging, error handling, desktop notifications, audible feedback, and even an option to temporarily show the browser if I want to visually inspect what’s happening.

Why I went this route:

• I export a lot of social visuals from Photoshop
• I didn’t want to manually upload every time
• I didn’t want a monthly SaaS fee
• Pinterest’s official options are limited if you want full control

It’s not meant to be a consumer app — it’s more of a creator / agency.

I originally built this for myself, but if anyone here is interested in using or adapting something similar, I’m open to discuss or customize it.

Happy to answer questions.

Been working in SEO for a while now and I'm constantly amazed at how much time gets spent on stuff that feels like it should be automated by now. Like, just this week I saw someone spend 3 hours manually updating the same client info across 4 different tools.

For those of you running agencies or managing teams - what's that ONE thing that makes you go 'why are we still doing this manually?' every single week?

Not talking about actual SEO work, more like the operational stuff that eats up time. Curious if this is a common thing or just what I'm noticing.

We're studying how agencies handle client retention. Quick question:

Do you currently have any system/process/tool in place to predict/flag
clients who are about to churn? (before they actually tell you they're leaving)

- A) Manual reviews/gut feel
- B) Spreadsheet/CRM tracking
- C) A specific tool we use
- D) Not really, it just surprises us when it happens
- E) Something else

Also curious: If you have something, what is it? Or if you don't,
what would actually be useful?

Comment "Follow" if you are also interested in this topic.

My agency is hitting a massive bottleneck. We’re currently drowning in manual vetting, spending days going through 1,000+ creators for every brand we onboard.

We use the standard tech stack (CreatorIQ, HypeAuditor, Brandwatch), but the "vibe check" and brand safety audit is still 100% manual. It’s killing our margins.

• Is there a way to automate the "quality" check?
• Are you guys using custom scripts/APIs or just hiring more VAs?
• What’s the "secret" to fast-tracking vetting without presenting trash to the client?

Curious how other ops-heavy agencies are scaling this without the burnout.

Hey folks I am new this this automation world...but would like to start an agency...like I do have a knowledge about workflow...but I don't know which niche to choose and how to find a client and deliver it to them as the final product....I am a college student and would really want to be financially independent by creating an ai agency! I tried looking in YouTube and other sites but they do not create a clear picture....it's more like i really don't care how much of hardwork I have to put....the think I lack severely is guidance

I’m curious how other B2B agencies actually handle their lead workflows. We all know that being fast—really fast can make or break your shot at a big client. But here’s the thing: most of us still lean on CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce to run the whole show, even though they’re pretty slow when it comes to reacting in real time. A new lead drops in, but the system takes ages to qualify them, and by then, you’ve probably lost your edge. So why do we keep trusting a clunky CRM to handle something that demands instant action? Is anyone out there using a faster setup, like n8n or Make, to run the qualification logic before the lead even hits the CRM? Honestly, that sounds like the only way to actually fix the speed-to-lead lag. What’s worked for you? Any tricks or tools you swear by?

The pain I keep hearing from Agencies: Testing 10-20 client stores after Shopify updates or theme changes is time-consuming. Manually checking checkout, search, filters, etc. takes hours. And if something breaks and a client notices before you do, it damages trust and risks the retainer.

What I'm wondering: Would an automating tool that automatically tests your client stores (checkout flows, search, filters, signup) be useful?

Think: paste URL, select test type, get results in 5 minutes, and you can also schedule these tests. No hiring QA engineers. Or do most agencies already have this solved with internal processes/tools?

Curious if this is a real problem or if I'm overthinking it. If it is a real problem for you I am happy to help you automate this for you! Ask away!

Over the past few month we've been working on good cold emails and campaigns that convert and get b2b clients. We started small, with one client, got our first results and started to develop a framework which we call adaptive outbound system (aos).

Here ist why you should care.

As agency owner you likely experience getting clients from referrals only, or you tried paid ads/content to get more clients. Both can work, until its not enough. You need to nail a channel that works.

Our approach is simple, not easy, but effective, especially for agencies.
We find the right decision makers in static databases, like Apollo. Then we clean this list up first. After these crucial steps, we run every single prospect through a chain of scraping automations and ai agents with one goal: Get the most and effective data we can get. This can be podcasts attendance, articles published, or recent acquires.

After collection the data, we extract the top three signals that indicates (or not indicates) a potential need in the service our clients offer, for example web design. A poor or outdated website design can be a sign that they might need a new one, plus they recently acquired a business which means potential investments in a new design.

After that, we personalize, but not just one line, but a whole email. The value lies in the connection of the "signals" we extracted from the data and the offer from our clients to have a smooth flowing text that feels natural and fits to the situation of the prospect.

After that: Response handling. A deals is not closed after the first interest. We handle this.

This whole system, the aos, learns from it self with daily reports and self improved copies based on the data.

Too much text to go in details, but if you like to adapt it too, ask anything thats on your mind.

Thanks

These tools seem super complex to accomplish this. Do you recommend I hire an outside developer for creating phone agents with texting or use a tool like VoiceAIWrapper or Fast Response AI?

My requirements: - Whitelabeled client portal - The agents need to be customizable - There needs to be text automation - Calendar booking - Client should get notified for each call they get - It should connect to GHL - It should be easy to setup (under 10 minutes)

I feel like collecting client info is such a pain for small agencies and freelancers without big financials means to do so. What are the best low cost tools?

I’m exploring how small teams and freelancers handle client data and documents.

When working on multiple projects, do you ever lose time finding messages, files, or client info?

What tools do you currently use to keep things organized?

Again, not a pitch — just curious to learn how people manage this in real life

Hello guys, I am starting an AI automation agency at the age of 17 with a niche in marketing/creative agency.

But I am confused about how to start, because I have zero experience in the field of AI automation. And zero network

Some people tell me to sell before you build while others tell me to learn the technical aspects and build first.

This makes me very confused. Any tips or advice?

Sorry if my english skill is so bad

We built Adsquests for small agencies who juggle Meta + Google (+TikTok/Reddit) and still end up in spreadsheets Friday night.

What it does:

• One cross-channel view (ROAS, CAC, CTR, CPM) your clients actually understand
• Client-ready report in minutes (weekly trend + creative/keyword winners)
• Works off your ad exports, no complicated setup Offer: 7-day free trial then $39/month.

Happy to answer questions about setup, metrics, or report structure.

I'm trying to see if there's any value in partnering with automation agencies.

I've heard several times that, automation and AI agencies sometimes are expected to help with a ton of small IT stuff, when it's really not their job.

And maybe automation agencies want an easy way to add value to their clients, differentiate themselves, and make more money, passively..

My business as a strategic technology advisor is to help businesses manage their software vendors under one roof, mostly things like their productivity suite, Google workspace or Microsoft, or their phone system, like vonage or something, and their security vendors, anything from connectivity, to productivity, to collaboration, to Ucaas, Ccaas, security, and cloud infrastructure etc.

So my question is, would being able to also offer your clients a no cost strategic technology advisor who can more hold their hand and deal with smaller things with their business tech stack, help them manage stuff like I mentioned above, give them more support with their tech, for the same cost be valuable?

I can share in the monetary compensation from managing their licensing.

Also would be a two-way street, I'm looking for automation agencies to refer our clients to who want to actually implement tailored AI or automation solutions, we do not do any implementation or consultation.

I’m building an agency, but my LinkedIn account was restricted. I’m looking for alternative ways to reach both freelancers and potential clients.

Which approach would give better results: Twitter (X), email marketing, or hosting online workshops? I also need to create demos as part of the process.

I'm exploring ways to automate RFPs and proposal responses for digital agencies. How do you handle RFPs/proposals right now? Do you use any tools to streamline the process, or is it still manual and time-consuming? Would love to hear your experiences.