HR team was drowning in resumes. Manually reviewing 50 applications took 8 hours. Built automated screening workflow. Now takes 10 minutes. THE PROBLEM: Startup hiring for 3 positions. Received 150 applications in one week. Each resume needed: skills extracted, experience calculated, fit assessment written. Manual process: 10 minutes per resume × 150 = 25 hours of work. THE SOLUTION (N8N WORKFLOW): Manual Trigger → Start batch processing Google Drive node → Retrieves resume files from folder PDF Vector Parse node → Extracts all candidate information Function node → Calculates years of experience per skill PDF Vector AI node → Evaluates candidate fit and seniority HTTP Request node → Posts to Airtable candidate database Slack node → Notifies team with top candidates Total workflow: 6 nodes. Processes any resume format - PDF, Word, even phone photos. WHAT IT EXTRACTS: Personal info: name, email, phone, location, LinkedIn Work history: companies, dates, technologies used per role Education: degrees, institutions, graduation dates Skills: technical and soft skills with experience levels Certifications: current and relevant to role Calculated metrics: total experience, skill proficiency scores THE SCORING LOGIC: Built custom scoring in Function node: ```javascript // Calculate experience score per skill const skillScores = {}; workHistory.forEach(job => { job.technologies.forEach(tech => { if (!skillScores[tech]) skillScores[tech] = 0; skillScores[tech] += job.durationYears; }); }); // Weighted ranking const rankingScore = (totalYears * 0.3) + (skillCount * 0.2) + (certCount * 0.1) + (requirementMatch * 0.4); ``` Assigns tier: A (interview immediately), B (strong candidate), C (consider), D (pass). THE AI ASSESSMENT: PDF Vector AI node writes custom assessment for each candidate: "Evaluates technical depth, leadership experience, culture fit. Determines if candidate is junior, mid-level, senior, or lead material based on scope of past projects."

Found a client drowning in 80 invoices monthly. Different vendors. Different formats. Digital PDFs, scanned documents, even phone photos of paper invoices. Their bookkeeper spending 12 hours monthly just typing invoice data into QuickBooks. Built them an automation that extracts everything automatically. $2,200 setup + $180 monthly. They signed in 3 days. THE PAIN POINT: Local construction company gets invoices from 15+ different suppliers. Every format imaginable. Home Depot emails PDF. Local lumber yard faxes (yes, still faxing in 2025). Subcontractors text photos of handwritten invoices. Bookkeeper manually typing: Invoice numbers, dates, vendor info, line items, totals. Every. Single. One. 12 hours monthly of pure data entry. At $35/hour = $420 monthly waste. Plus errors. Typos in amounts. Wrong dates. Missing invoice numbers. MY SOLUTION: Built n8n workflow that watches their invoice folder in Google Drive. When new invoice arrives - any format - automatically extracts all the data and saves it structured. THE FLOW: Invoice arrives in Drive → Gets parsed automatically → Data validated → Saved to database → Ready for accounting system Works with typed PDFs, scanned documents, even terrible phone photos. THE DEMO THAT CLOSED IT: Took their worst invoice - blurry photo of handwritten subcontractor invoice. Uploaded it. Watched data extract in real-time. Vendor name, date, line items, total - all captured perfectly. "Wait, it can read handwriting?" "Yeah, even messy handwriting." Signed the contract right there. THE RESULTS 3 MONTHS IN: 80 invoices monthly processed automatically. Bookkeeper reviews extracted data instead of typing. 12 hours → 2 hours monthly. Error rate dropped to basically zero. Client referred me to another contractor. THE SETUP: This workflow took me about 90 minutes to build initially. Now I can deploy it for new clients in 20 minutes. Full template in my classroom here

"30 days to first client" sounds good. Reality? 47 days for me. And that's fast. Here's the actual timeline with real expectations. THE HONEST JOURNEY: WEEK 1-2: Learning phase Built demo workflows. Joined communities. Figured out tools. Zero clients. Normal. WEEK 3-4: Outreach begins Started DMing. Lots of rejection. No responses. Discouraging. Normal. WEEK 5-6: First conversations Got 3 discovery calls. 2 ghosted after. 1 said "too expensive." Frustrating. Normal. WEEK 7: First close Finally found right fit. Proposal sent Friday. Signed Monday. $1,200 deposit. Finally. 47 days total. Not 30. Still faster than most. REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS: Fast: 30-45 days to first client Average: 45-75 days to first client Slow: 90+ days (usually because stopped trying weeks 4-6) Most quit around day 30-40. Right before breakthrough. THE COMPOUND EFFECT: Month 1: Learning + outreach = 0 clients Month 2: First client + keep outreach = 1 client Month 3: Deliver + keep outreach = 2 more clients Month 4: 3 active clients + pipeline full Momentum takes time to build. WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS: Not how fast you get first client. But whether you KEEP GOING when it feels slow. THE NUMBERS: My first 90 days: - 73 LinkedIn DMs sent - 18 responses - 9 discovery calls - 3 clients closed That's 24 DMs per client. 3 calls per client. 30 days per client. Your numbers will vary. But volume produces results. WHEN TO WORRY: If you've sent 100+ messages and zero responses - messaging is bad If you've had 10+ calls and zero closes - pitch is weak If you haven't sent messages at all - motivation is the issue Most problems are volume problems. REALISTIC MONTH 1 GOALS: Join 15 communities where clients hang out Send 50 DMs to prospects Get 3 discovery calls booked Build 1 working demo Send 1 proposal If you hit those numbers, client will come. THE TRUTH: This isn't get-rich-quick. It's build-sustainable-business. First client proves it works. Second proves it wasn't luck. Third proves it's a system.

invoice automation. tested perfectly. deployed confidently. day 3: "nothing is processing" the problem: gmail auth expired. workflow silently failed. no alerts. no retries. nothing. client discovered it when invoices piled up. i discovered it when client messaged me. so embarrassing. THE FIX added error handling in 20 minutes: - retry 3 times if extraction fails - slack alert if still broken - failed invoices go to review sheet also added daily summary: "processed 47 invoices, 2 failed" so i know before client does lesson: test for success. build for failure. anyone else learn error handling the hard way?

Proposal sent. Client said "Looks good, let me review." Two weeks silence. Assumed dead. Sent one follow-up message. Client signed same day. THE MESSAGE: "Hi [Name] - circling back on the invoice automation proposal. Totally understand if timing shifted. Just wanted to check - is this still a priority, or should I follow up next quarter?" Give out. Easy no. THEIR RESPONSE: "Oh man, sorry! Got buried. Yes absolutely still want this. Can we start next week?" Deal wasn't dead. Just forgotten. THE FOLLOW-UP FRAMEWORK: SEND PROPOSAL: Friday afternoon FOLLOW-UP 1 (Monday +2 days): "Just checking if you had questions about the proposal. Happy to jump on quick call to walk through anything." Friendly. Assumes they're considering. FOLLOW-UP 2 (Friday +4 days): "Wanted to check in on timeline. Are you still looking to implement this month? Or would next month work better?" Offers options. Doesn't pressure. FOLLOW-UP 3 (Tuesday +5 days): "Hey [Name] - totally understand if priorities shifted. Should I follow up next quarter, or is this not the right fit?" Permission to say no. Respectful exit. MY CLOSE RATES: After initial proposal: 20% After follow-up 1: 45% After follow-up 2: 65% After follow-up 3: 75% Most deals close on follow-up, not initial send. WHY PEOPLE DON'T RESPOND: Actually busy (80%) Need to discuss with partner (15%) Actually not interested (5%) Don't assume silence = rejection. THE TONE THAT WORKS: Not: "Just checking if you got my proposal?" But: "Wanted to see if you had questions." Not: "Have you made a decision?" But: "What questions can I answer?" Not: "Are you still interested?" But: "Is this still a priority, or check back later?" Assumes positive intent. Gives easy outs. THE ONE THAT RECOVERED 3 DEALS: "I'm closing my project intake for this month. Have one slot left if you want to move forward. Otherwise happy to plan for next month." Scarcity + option. Works surprisingly well. WHEN TO STOP: After follow-up 3, if no response, move to "quarterly check-in" list.