https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWtljkmt5jI

Hey everyone, I could really use some advice from people who have actually built and scaled AI agencies. My partner and I recently started an AI automation agency in India focused on real estate. We're both strong on the technical side and build custom AI systems ourselves. Our main offers are: - A WhatsApp AI agent that qualifies leads, answers property queries, recommends properties, and books site visits. - A complete AI agentic system with Voice AI for follow-ups, appointment scheduling, customer support, and other automations. We've tried a lot of local outreach, especially door-to-door visits, but the results have been disappointing. Most SMEs here either don't understand the value of AI yet or expect everything to be extremely cheap. I even tried lowering my price to just $50 for some offers, but that still didn't generate much interest. From what I know about international markets, these same solutions can easily sell for $1,000+ when positioned correctly. The good news is we aren't starting from zero: - We signed a large real estate client who's currently on a one-month free trial. - We're also in discussions with a quick-commerce company (through a referral) for a WhatsApp AI customer support system worth around $500 if the deal closes. The challenge is that I don't think staying focused only on the local market is the right long-term move. I want to start getting international clients. The problem is: - We have no budget for paid ads right now. - Door-to-door obviously isn't possible internationally. - I'm much stronger at building AI systems than I am at sales calls, and I'm not very confident on cold calls in English. - I do have experience with digital marketing, especially Meta ads, but that's not an option without a budget. So my question is: If you were starting from scratch today with solid technical skills but no ad budget, how would you land your first 5-10 international AI automation clients? Would you focus on cold email, LinkedIn, X, Loom videos, Upwork, partnerships, communities, content, or something else?

Hi everyone, I run an agency in the remodeling niche and we are looking to split test our first message that we send to leads that submitted our clients form. Ive noticed that when we send a message some times they dont respond but they will respond to our clients message. So im looking to split test a few that look more authentic and like its coming from a real person rather than automated. Here is what we are currently running: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, this is Matt from {{custom_values.company_name}}, I noticed that you just filled out our online form. Could you tell me a bit more about what work you'd like to get done?" would love to hear any suggestions or see what other people are using.

https://youtu.be/nqBq-s_6fNw

Landscaping/Contractor Client, Meta lead ads, €20/day. Got 4 leads in the first day at €4-6/lead, all converted to booked jobs. Since then, yesterday got 0 leads and will see today hoping for 1-3. Reach/impressions still climbing normally, frequency’s only 1.8, nothing obviously broken. Normal variance on a small daily budget, or worth digging into? Also curious what you’d realistically expect lead-wise over a full week at €20/day for local trade services. Also currently running a static that’s converted a bit but. Heard video ads tend to perform better in general, curious if that holds true for this niche specifically, anyone had good results? Thinking of testing one after the static’s had a solid 7-10 days running, don’t want to confuse it too early. If I do split the €20/day budget between static and video, any thoughts on the right split so I don’t tank either one? First time running a live client account, want to calibrate expectations properly. Appreciate any input 🙏