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Free Course Β· Module 3

Automating Your
Business with AI

Build simple automations using Zapier, Make, and AI tools to eliminate repetitive tasks and free up 5–15 hours every week.

πŸ“„ 14 slides ⏱ ~50 min 🎯 Intermediate 🌍 English

Created by Anna Lauber Β· Lucala Group

FREE
No sign-up required Β· Start instantly
β–Ά Start the Course ← All Courses
  • βœ…14 interactive slides
  • βœ…Zapier & Make.com walkthrough
  • βœ…8 ready-to-use automation templates
  • βœ…AI-in-automation workflow guide
  • βœ…Common mistakes to avoid
What you'll learn

By the end of this course you'll know:

βœ“
What automation is and which tasks are worth automating first
βœ“
Build a Zapier or Make.com workflow in under 15 minutes
βœ“
Connect AI tools to your existing apps β€” Gmail, Sheets, Slack
βœ“
Automate lead follow-up, invoicing reminders, and reporting
βœ“
Save 5–15 hours per week with practical, simple automations
βœ“
Common automation mistakes and exactly how to avoid them
Course Materials

Automating Your Business with AI β€” 14 Slides

Click through all 14 slides. Use the arrows or keyboard ← β†’ to navigate.

Slide 1 of 14
Module 3 Β· Introduction
Automating Your Business with AI
Stop doing the same tasks every day. This module shows you how to set up automations that run 24/7 β€” so you can focus on what actually grows your business.
  • 14 slides covering automation tools, real workflows, and AI integration
  • No coding required β€” all tools have simple visual builders
  • Estimated time saved: 5–15 hours per week
πŸ’‘ Automation is not about replacing people β€” it's about removing the tasks that drain your time and energy.
Slide 2 Β· The Problem
The Real Cost of Manual Work
  • Most businesses spend 30–40% of their time on repetitive, low-value tasks
  • Common offenders: copy-pasting data, sending reminder emails, generating weekly reports
  • Every hour on manual tasks = lost revenue, or lost rest
  • Automation payback: typically 1–4 hours saved per day once set up
Real example: A business owner was spending 2 hours daily copying leads from a web form into a spreadsheet and emailing each one manually. One Zapier automation eliminated this entirely β€” in 20 minutes of setup.
Slide 3 Β· Foundation
What Is Automation?
  • Automation = a set of rules that run automatically when triggered
  • Format: Trigger β†’ Action (When X happens β†’ do Y)
  • Example: New form submission β†’ Add row to Google Sheets β†’ Send welcome email
  • You build it once. It runs forever. No manual effort required.
πŸ’‘ Think of automation like hiring an invisible assistant who works 24/7, never makes mistakes, and never takes a break.
Slide 4 Β· Strategy
What's Worth Automating?

βœ… Automate these

  • Repetitive: same steps every time
  • Frequent: happens 3+ times per week
  • Rule-based: clear if/then logic
  • Low-risk: mistakes are easy to catch

❌ Don't automate these

  • Creative or strategic decisions
  • Sensitive client conversations
  • Complex, judgment-based tasks
  • Broken processes (fix first!)
Slide 5 Β· Tools
Automation Tools Overview
  • Zapier: Most popular, easiest to start. Free plan available. 6,000+ app integrations. Best for beginners.
  • Make.com (formerly Integromat): More powerful. Visual flowchart builder. Better for complex, multi-step automations.
  • n8n: Open-source, self-hosted option. More technical but highly customisable. Free to self-host.
  • Microsoft Power Automate: Best if you already use Office 365 / Microsoft tools.
πŸ’‘ Start with Zapier. It's the easiest and has the most tutorials online. You can switch tools later if needed.
Slide 6 Β· Your First Automation
Your First Zapier Workflow
  • Trigger: New form submission on your website (Typeform, Gravity Forms, Tally, etc.)
  • Action 1: Add the contact to a Google Sheet (name, email, date, source)
  • Action 2: Send a personalised welcome email via Gmail
  • Setup time: ~15 minutes. Result: every lead captured and welcomed automatically.
Step-by-step: 1. Sign up at zapier.com (free) β†’ 2. Click "Create Zap" β†’ 3. Choose trigger app β†’ 4. Add action steps β†’ 5. Test and turn on. Done.
Slide 7 Β· AI + Automation
Adding AI to Your Automations
  • AI becomes a step inside your automation workflow β€” not just a separate tool
  • Zapier has built-in "AI by Zapier" action β€” no extra API setup needed
  • Make.com connects directly to OpenAI (ChatGPT) and other AI tools
  • Example: New customer review β†’ AI summarises and scores sentiment β†’ saves to tracker β†’ notifies you if negative
πŸ’‘ AI steps can: write email replies, summarise text, classify content, extract data from documents, and translate languages β€” all automatically.
Slide 8 Β· Templates
8 Automations to Build First
  • Lead capture form β†’ CRM entry + welcome email
  • Invoice sent β†’ calendar reminder to follow up in 7 days
  • New booking β†’ confirmation email + calendar block + task created
  • Social post published β†’ logged automatically in content tracker
  • Customer enquiry β†’ AI draft reply sent to your inbox for approval
  • New Google review β†’ alert + AI-written response draft
  • Receipt emailed β†’ data extracted + logged in expense sheet
  • Weekly: revenue summary pulled from Stripe/Square β†’ emailed to you every Monday
Slide 9 Β· Marketing
Marketing Automations
  • Social scheduling: Buffer or Later + AI-written captions on a weekly schedule
  • Email sequences: New subscriber β†’ 3-email welcome series sends automatically over 7 days
  • Content repurposing: 1 blog post β†’ AI generates 5 social posts β†’ added to scheduling queue
  • Review monitoring: New Google review detected β†’ alert sent + AI draft response created instantly
πŸ’‘ A basic email welcome sequence alone can increase customer retention by 20–40%. Set it up once, run forever.
Slide 10 Β· Customer Service
Customer Service Automations
  • FAQ chatbot: handles 60–80% of routine questions instantly, 24/7
  • After-hours response: AI auto-reply with expected response time β€” no customer left waiting
  • Ticket routing: customer message β†’ AI categorises β†’ sent to right person automatically
  • Follow-up: 3 days after purchase β†’ check-in email sent automatically
Slide 11 Β· Reporting
Reporting & Tracking Automations
  • Weekly revenue summary β€” pulled from Stripe or Square, emailed to you every Monday
  • Lead tracking β€” new leads auto-logged with source, date, and status
  • Social analytics β€” weekly summary emailed each Monday morning
  • Expense tracking β€” receipts forwarded by email β†’ data extracted β†’ logged in sheet
πŸ’‘ If you're not measuring it, you can't improve it. Automation makes data collection effortless.
Slide 12 Β· Mistakes
Common Automation Mistakes
  • ❌ Automating a broken process β€” fix the process first, then automate it
  • ❌ Not testing before going live β€” always test with real data
  • ❌ No error notifications β€” set up alerts so you know when something breaks
  • ❌ Over-engineering on the first attempt β€” start simple, add complexity later
  • βœ… Build one automation at a time and measure its impact before moving on
Slide 13 Β· Roadmap
Building Your Automation Stack
  • Month 1: Pick 2–3 high-frequency manual tasks. Automate them in Zapier.
  • Month 2: Add AI steps to your existing automations (summarise, classify, draft).
  • Month 3: Build reporting and monitoring automations for your key metrics.
  • Goal: 5+ hours saved per week by the end of month 3.
πŸ’‘ Most business owners who complete this process say it's the single highest-ROI thing they've done for their business.
Slide 14 Β· Your Action Plan
Your Next Steps
  • This week: Sign up for Zapier (free) and list your 5 most repetitive daily tasks
  • This month: Build your first 3-step automation and test it with real data
  • Bonus: Add an AI step inside one of your automations
  • Next module: AI for Sales & Customer Service β†’
Course Outline

What's inside β€” 14 slides

1
Introduction & Overview
What this module covers and what you'll achieve
~2 min
2
The Real Cost of Manual Work
How much time and money repetitive tasks are costing your business
~4 min
3
What Is Automation?
Triggers, actions, and the core logic behind every automation
~4 min
4
What's Worth Automating?
The framework for identifying your best automation opportunities
~4 min
5
Automation Tools Overview
Zapier vs Make.com vs n8n vs Power Automate β€” which to use
~4 min
6
Your First Zapier Workflow
Step-by-step: build a lead capture + welcome email automation
~6 min
7
Adding AI to Your Automations
How to add an AI step inside Zapier or Make for smarter workflows
~6 min
8–14
Templates, Mistakes & Action Plan
8 ready-to-use templates, marketing & CS automations, reporting, roadmap
~20 min

Ready to automate your business?

Continue to Module 4, or book a free call and we'll map out your automation opportunities together.

Next: Module 4 β€” Sales & Customer Service β†’ Book a Free Call