I'm a growth marketer running paid ads at bootstrap businesses spending six figures a month, with AI agents doing more of the work every week. Every Wednesday I share what I built, what broke, and what actually made money.
Free. One email per week. Unsubscribe anytime.
I haven't logged into Google Ads in three weeks. Claude Code is running three accounts for me through a local MCP server hooked into a Google Ads manager account. One OAuth, every sub-account underneath, push changes and pull reports from a chat prompt. Here's how it works, why it matters even if you don't run ads, and the safety harness I built so the AI doesn't torch five grand in a day.
Ninety days ago I made my marketing GitHub public. The thing that surprised me wasn't the time I saved on my own work. It was the email from a stranger who cloned one of my skills and shipped his first stakeholder report with it in 20 minutes. That email reframed what GitHub actually is for a marketer.
AppSumo grew from $7M to $90M after we figured out 10% of our buyers were driving half the revenue. Here's the AI workflow I now use to find your Matt, plus the ads it produces with no designer and no copywriter.
Meta dropped an official CLI and MCP server for the Marketing API. Twenty-nine tools, OAuth auth, no Developer App required. Here's what it means for anyone running ads with AI, and the workflows I'm rebuilding around it.
Most people assume Claude remembers everything between sessions. It doesn't. Here's the two-layer system I built so nothing gets lost, no matter what.
Everything I actually use to run my blog, my newsletter, my paid ads, and my automations. One app, no terminal, no command line. If you read this start to finish, you'll have the same setup I do.
After months of babysitting auth failures and gateway errors, Anthropic made the decision easier. Here's exactly how I replaced every core OpenClaw task with Claude Code, dispatch, routines, scheduled tasks, WhatsApp, and a Mac Mini running 24/7.
Google Ads told me I made $541K. My own data said $420K. Here's the exact n8n workflow, Google Ads MCP setup, and AI agent system I built at AppSumo to get the real numbers, plus the honest limitations of letting agents run your ads.
I still use multiple AI agents every day. But for major scheduled jobs, I'm shifting the backbone to Claude Code. The reason is simple: I got tired of babysitting automations that should have just quietly worked.
We were already backing up our agent files to GitHub every day. That was good for disaster recovery. It was not good enough for operating and improving the system.
Uses a personal Google Cloud project (not org-managed), creates OAuth consent and a Desktop OAuth client, enables Gmail API, auths from terminal and stores token locally.
Most agent failures aren't model failures. They're operating-system failures. Our agent was technically capable, but execution was inconsistent.
If you want Clay-level outcomes without building a fragile pile of zaps, this is the workflow. We run lead scraping, email verification, and outreach from one operating loop.
If you keep your AI agent skills inside one local folder, you are basically managing configuration drift on purpose. That setup works until it doesn't.
If you just bought a Mac Mini and want a reliable AI assistant running 24/7, this is the setup. This guide is built from real mistakes, real fixes, and real operating experience.
I run a thermal hunting repost page (@zerodarktactical, 28K followers) that posts thermal hog hunting content daily. For months I was manually curating, downloading, captioning, and posting videos every morning.
I run an AI agent 24/7 on a Mac Mini. It manages my Instagram, monitors Google Ads, books tennis courts, drafts newsletters, and a bunch of other stuff I used to do manually. Cool, right? Until I looked at the bill.
Things got out of hand fast. Two weeks ago I set up an AI agent on a Mac Mini. Just a simple assistant. Read my emails, maybe manage my calendar. Normal stuff.
AI agents forget everything between sessions. You already know this. But the real problem isn't just memory. It's learned helplessness.
I have an AI agent running 24/7 on a headless Mac Mini. It books tee times, posts to Instagram, reads my work email, tracks action items from meetings. To do any of that, it needs credentials.
I run an AI agent on a Mac Mini in my house. It has access to my shell, my WhatsApp, my Gmail, my calendar, my files. If you just read that and thought 'that sounds dangerous,' good. You're paying attention.
I had a moment yesterday that I can't stop thinking about. I was setting up content automation for an Instagram page I run.
I launched a Shopify store tonight. The whole thing. Product page, checkout, connected to a custom frontend. Took a few hours.
So you want your AI agent to read your email and know your schedule. Yeah, you do. Once you set this up you'll wonder how you ever functioned without it.
If you've ever worked with an AI agent (ChatGPT, Claude, OpenClaw, whatever) you've probably noticed something frustrating. It forgets things.
I've used Granola in meetings for a while. Wiring it into my AI agent is what finally unlocked it.