Hey friends —
You’ve probably heard the term:
“AI agents.”
It sounds expensive.
It sounds technical.
It sounds like something built for Silicon Valley.
It’s not.
If you can copy, paste, and click a button — you can use one.
Let’s strip this down to what matters:
An AI agent is just AI that runs a small repeat job for you without needing new instructions every time.
That’s it.
No coding.
No engineering degree.
No servers in your basement.
Just fewer repetitive tasks on your plate.
First: What an Agent Is NOT
It’s not:
A robot running your business
A fully automated company
A replacement for your judgment
It is:
A repeatable assistant
A saved workflow
A structured prompt that runs on demand (or automatically)
Think of it like this:
If you’ve ever said,
“Why am I doing this again?”
That’s probably an agent opportunity.
1️⃣ The Follow-Up Agent (Revenue Saver)
How many estimates are sitting in your inbox right now?
Here’s a simple version anyone can set up:
Step 1: Save this as a Custom GPT (or inside Claude Projects).
Prompt:
You are my follow-up assistant for my Main Street [type of business].
When I paste an estimate or proposal, write:
A friendly 2-day follow-up
A 7-day “just checking in” message
A final nudge that keeps the door open
Keep the tone professional, confident, and not pushy.
Now?
Every time you paste an estimate — it generates the sequence.
No staring at the screen.
No rewriting the same message 50 times.
That’s an agent.
Time saved: 1–2 hours a week.
Revenue impact: Significant.
2️⃣ The Weekly Review Agent (Clarity Saver)
Most owners don’t need more dashboards.
You need perspective.
Set up a “Weekly CEO Review” agent:
Prompt:
You are a practical business advisor for a Main Street owner.
Every time I give you weekly numbers and a short summary, you will:
Identify what improved
Identify what slipped
Point out potential margin issues
Ask me 3 hard questions
Recommend one priority for next week
Save it.
Now every Friday, you drop in your numbers.
You don’t rethink the instructions.
It just runs.
That’s an agent.
Time saved: Mental load.
Impact: Better decisions.
3️⃣ The Content Repurposing Agent (Marketing Saver)
You record a 2-minute video in your shop.
Instead of manually turning it into 5 posts, use this:
Prompt:
You are my marketing repurposing assistant.
I will paste a transcript from a short video filmed inside my business.
Turn it into:
One Facebook post
One email to customers
One short caption
One FAQ-style answer I can reuse later
Keep it authentic to a Main Street audience.
Drop in transcript.
Output done.
That’s an agent.
What This Really Means
You don’t need automation software.
You don’t need Zapier.
You don’t need a tech consultant.
Start with this definition:
If you give AI the same instructions more than twice, turn it into an agent.
Save it. Reuse it. Refine it.
That’s how normal business owners win with this stuff.
🧩 Prompt of the Week
If you want to find your first agent opportunity:
“Here are 10 tasks I repeat every week in my business: [list them]. Which of these could be turned into simple AI workflows or agents?”
It will surprise you.
AI doesn’t need to transform your entire operation.
If it saves you 3–5 hours a week?
That’s 150–250 hours a year.
That’s real.
Next week, we’ll go deeper into building a simple follow-up system that runs quietly in the background.
If you build your first agent this week, hit reply and tell me what you automated.
Let’s keep Main Street strong.
— Ryan