Your first email automation — no code, one afternoon
Email is where small-business hours go to die, and it's the best first automation because the safety valve is built in: let AI draft, you send.
- Collect 10 emails you've actually sent that you're proud of — they define your voice.
- Write a half-page instruction: who you are, what you sell, tone rules, and what the AI should never do (promise dates, give discounts).
- For each incoming email, have the AI produce a draft reply plus a one-line summary and an urgency flag. (Claude in the browser works; connected email via extensions or assistants makes it seamless.)
- Review each draft for two weeks. Track how many you send unedited.
When 80% of drafts in a category ship untouched, that category is ready for full automation — and you'll trust it, because you watched it earn that trust. Expect to reclaim 3–5 hours in week one.