AI for Agency Owners Checklist

I keep getting the same question from agency owners: "Okay, I get it. AI is a thing. But what do I actually do first?"

So I put together a checklist. Not theory. Not a pitch deck. Just the actual steps, in order, to go from zero to running Claude Code as a real part of your agency workflow.

Some of these take five minutes. Some take an afternoon. But they build on each other, and by the end you will have a setup that handles work you used to do manually.

Phase 1 — Get Set Up

1. Get a paid Claude Code account.

This is the starting line. Go to claude.ai, sign up, and get on the Max plan. The Max plan gives you access to Claude Code in the terminal, which is where the real work happens. The web chat is fine for one-off questions, but the terminal version reads your files, writes code, runs commands, and builds things.

2. Create or log into a GitHub account.

If you do not have a GitHub account, make one. This is where all your projects live. Think of it like Google Drive, but for code. Every project gets its own folder (called a repository), and GitHub tracks every change so you can always go back.

3. Install the GitHub CLI.

Once you have Claude Code running, your first task is to ask it to install the GitHub CLI tool on your machine. Open Claude Code and tell it:

Install the GitHub CLI and help me log in to my GitHub account.

It will walk you through the whole thing. The GitHub CLI is how your computer talks to GitHub from the terminal — pushing code, pulling updates, creating projects. You will use it constantly.

4. Create an apps folder.

This is your workspace. Every project gets its own subfolder inside it. Tell Claude Code:

Create a folder called apps in my home directory.

That is it. One folder. Every repo you create from here on out goes inside it.

Phase 2 — Build Three Things

This is where it gets fun. You are going to create three separate projects to prove to yourself that this works. Each one is its own GitHub repository inside your apps folder.

5. Build a simple website.

Tell Claude Code to scaffold a basic website. A landing page, an about page, a contact form. It does not matter what the site is about — pick a client, pick a side project, pick something made up. The point is to watch Claude Code create a full project structure, write the HTML, set up the styling, and give you something you can open in a browser.

If you have never done this before, the first time might take 20 to 30 minutes. Once you have done it, the next site takes five.

6. Create an image with AI.

This one is not strictly a Claude Code task, but it fits the pattern. Use an AI image tool — Google's AI Studio, Midjourney, whatever you have access to — and generate a hero image or a logo for the website you just built. Drop it into the project. Now you have a site with custom visuals that did not come from a stock photo library.

7. Write and publish a blog post.

Create a separate project for a blog. Tell Claude Code to set up a simple blog with Markdown files for content. Write your first post — about anything. The combination of a website, an image, and a blog post across three repositories gives you the muscle memory of creating, committing, and pushing code. That is the foundation everything else builds on.

Phase 3 — Add Connectors

Okay. So now you have Claude Code running, you have GitHub set up, and you have built a few things. The next step is connecting it to the tools your agency already uses. Each one of these turns Claude Code from a coding assistant into something closer to a business operating system.

8. Connect Google Drive.

Google Drive is where most agency owners keep their documents, SOPs, and client files. Set up an MCP server — that is a connector that lets Claude Code read and write files in Google Drive from the terminal. Once it is connected, you can say things like "find the proposal I wrote for that roofing company last month" and it will go look.

If it is your first time setting up an MCP server, budget an afternoon. The OAuth setup (logging in to Google through the terminal) is the part that takes the most patience. After the first one, every other connector goes faster.

9. Connect Cloudflare.

If you manage client domains, DNS, or websites, Cloudflare is probably already in your stack. Connect it to Claude Code and you can manage DNS records, check domain status, and deploy sites from the terminal. No more logging into dashboards to add a CNAME record.

10. Connect your CRM.

If you are on HighLevel, this is a big one. Set up an MCP server that wraps the HighLevel API. Now Claude Code can look up contacts, read conversations, check pipeline stages, and pull reports — all from the same terminal where you are building things. You stop context-switching between five browser tabs.

11. Connect Google Calendar.

Link your calendar so Claude Code can check your schedule, find open slots, and eventually automate booking. "What do I have today?" becomes a question you ask in the terminal instead of opening a browser tab.

12. Connect Gmail.

Set up a Gmail MCP server so you can read, search, and draft emails from Claude Code. This one is super useful when you are already deep in a project and someone emails you a question — you can read and reply without leaving what you are doing.

Phase 4 — Automate Real Work

This is where the checklist stops being about setup and starts being about replacing manual work with systems. Each of these is a project you can tackle one at a time, whenever the need comes up.

13. Write a CLAUDE.md file for your agency.

A CLAUDE.md file is like an SOP that Claude Code reads every time it opens a project. It remembers your preferences, your conventions, your brand voice, your client list — whatever you tell it. Write one at the top level of your apps folder with the basics: your agency name, what you do, who your clients are, what tools you use. Your First Day With Claude Code has a walkthrough.

14. Automate your onboarding flow.

Every agency has some version of "new client signs up, send welcome email, create folders, set up accounts, schedule kickoff call." Map out those steps and tell Claude Code to build a script that does as many of them as possible automatically. Even automating three out of ten steps saves hours over a year.

15. Build a client reporting dashboard.

Instead of pulling data from five platforms and pasting it into a Google Doc every month, build a dashboard that pulls the data automatically. Claude Code can build a simple HTML page with charts and tables that reads from your CRM, your analytics, your ad platform — whatever your clients care about.

16. Set up a webhook receiver.

A webhook is when one tool sends a notification to another tool in real time. "A new lead just came in" or "a payment just processed." Tell Claude Code to build a simple webhook receiver that listens for these events and does something with them — log them, forward them, trigger an automation. This is the plumbing that connects everything else.

17. Build a Chrome extension for a repetitive task.

Think about something you do in the browser over and over. Copying data from one tab to another. Filling in the same form fields. Scoring leads in a Facebook group. Whatever it is, tell Claude Code to build a Chrome extension that handles it. These are surprisingly quick to build — sometimes 15 minutes — and they save you that task forever.

18. Set up an MCP server for your business data.

If you went through the connector steps above, you already have a few of these. But think broader. What data does your agency touch every day? Accounting software? Project management? Ad platforms? Each one can become a connector that Claude Code reads natively.

19. Build a content pipeline.

Record a video. Pull the transcript. Turn it into a blog post, social media captions, an email, and a YouTube description — all from one piece of source material. Claude Code handles the transformation. You record the video and approve the output.

20. Automate invoice creation.

If you use a CRM or accounting tool with an API, Claude Code can generate and send invoices. "Invoice the Smith account for June, same as last month" becomes a one-liner instead of logging into a billing dashboard.

21. Set up scheduled tasks.

Some things need to happen on a schedule. "Every Monday, pull last week's leads and email me a summary." "Every morning, check for new Google reviews." Claude Code can create cron jobs — automated tasks that run on a timer without you touching anything.

22. Build an internal wiki for your team.

A shared knowledge base where your SOPs, client notes, and process docs live. Claude Code can scaffold one in about 20 minutes using Astro Starlight, host it on Cloudflare for free, and gate it with Zero Trust so only your team can access it. Every time you update a process, push the change and it goes live.

23. Create custom slash commands.

Claude Code supports custom commands — shortcuts you build yourself. If you find yourself typing the same instructions over and over ("check my CRM for hot leads," "draft a follow-up email for this contact"), wrap them into a slash command. Type the command, get the result. No re-explaining.

24. Set up hooks for quality control.

Hooks are scripts that run automatically before or after Claude Code takes certain actions. "Before you push code, run the tests." "After you write a blog post, check it against my brand voice." They are guardrails that catch mistakes before they go live.

25. Automate social media posting.

Connect your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram accounts and build a posting pipeline. Draft a post, attach an image, pick your targets, and hit send — all from the terminal. Or schedule them. Or have Claude Code generate variations from one piece of content.

Phase 5 — Level Up

At this point you have a real system. The next steps are about making it smarter and more autonomous.

26. Connect your ad platform.

Facebook Ads, Google Ads — whatever you run. Pull performance data into Claude Code so you can ask "how did the roofing campaign do last week?" and get an answer without opening Ads Manager.

27. Build a lead scoring system.

Use your CRM data to automatically score incoming leads. How quickly did they respond? What is their birthday proximity? Did they open the last three emails? Claude Code can build a scoring algorithm based on the signals that matter to your business.

28. Set up voice commands.

Build a voice assistant layer on top of Claude Code. Dictate tasks instead of typing them. "Check my calendar, then draft a follow-up email for the Johnson account." This sounds futuristic but it is surprisingly straightforward with Wispr Flow handling the dictation.

29. Build a proposal generator.

Feed Claude Code your past proposals, your pricing, your service descriptions. When a new lead comes in, generate a custom proposal in minutes instead of hours. The AI writes the first draft. You review and send.

30. Create a client-facing change request system.

Build a simple form where clients submit change requests. The requests go into a queue. Claude Code triages them — what is a quick fix, what needs discussion, what is out of scope. You review the queue instead of reading through email threads.

Where This Is Heading

Okay so here is why you are building all of this.

Imagine you just finished a two-hour Zoom call — a coaching session, a client workshop, an interview, whatever. Before all of this, here is what happens next: you download the recording. You open an editing tool. You manually cut the dead air, the "can you hear me" intro, the bathroom breaks. You find the good clips. You export them. You open a captioning tool and upload each one. You design a thumbnail. You write a title and description. You upload to YouTube. You pull the transcript and turn it into a blog post. You write social media captions. You email your list. That is an entire day of work for one recording.

Now here is what that looks like when the pipeline is built:

Publish the Zoom call from today. Edit it, transcribe it, cut it into shorts, add karaoke captions, generate a thumbnail, upload it to YouTube, write the blog post, email the list, and post to socials.

One instruction. The system touches your local files, your video editor, your transcription tool, your image generator, YouTube, your blog, your email platform, and your social accounts. Each connector you set up in Phase 3 is a link in that chain. The more you connect, the more of that pipeline runs without you manually touching each step.

That is a content pipeline. But the same pattern applies everywhere in an agency:

Lead follow-up pipeline. "Check Gmail for new leads, look them up in the CRM, enrich their profile with a web search, draft a personalized follow-up, and schedule a reminder on my calendar." Gmail plus CRM plus web search plus Google Calendar — five systems, one sentence.

Meeting prep pipeline. "Check my calendar for tomorrow, find the clients I am meeting with, pull their latest CRM activity and any open invoices, and give me a one-page prep sheet for each one." You walk into every meeting knowing what happened since the last conversation.

Client health check pipeline. "Check all five client websites for downtime, broken links, and SSL issues. Pull their ad performance for the week. Flag anyone overdue on an invoice. Put it all in one report and email it to me." That is your Monday morning briefing, and it runs while you are making breakfast.

Promise tracker. "Go through my sent emails from this month. Find every promise I made — every 'I will send you,' every 'let me follow up on' — and check whether I actually did it." This one catches the things that fall through the cracks. Gmail plus CRM plus task tracking.

Content repurposing pipeline. "Take the blog post I just published, create three social media variations, generate a thumbnail image for each one, and schedule them across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram over the next week." One piece of content becomes a week of distribution.

Friday recap pipeline. "Pull this week's wins from the CRM. Grab the best Google review we got. Draft a recap post with real numbers and real quotes." Sourced from actual data, not made up from memory.

The pattern is always the same. One instruction. Multiple systems. Real output you can act on. Every connector you add in Phase 3 makes these compound commands possible. Every automation you build in Phase 4 makes them faster. And the Zoom-to-everything pipeline at the top? That is just the most visible version of what every agency workflow eventually looks like when the pieces are connected.

What I Am Working On Right Now

So that is the checklist. And the pipelines show you where the connectors lead. But I am further down this road than the checklist, and I figured I would share what the next layer looks like — not to show off, but because this is where the whole thing is heading for anyone who sticks with it.

A full video publishing pipeline. I record a Zoom call or a screen share. One command processes the recording — edits out the dead air, transcribes it, pulls the best clips for shorts, adds karaoke-style closed captions, generates a thumbnail, uploads the full episode to YouTube, writes the blog post, emails my list, and posts across my social accounts. That is not a wish list. That is a pipeline I am actively building and using. Some steps still need a human review checkpoint, but the bones are there.

An AI voice assistant. I have an always-on voice pipeline running on my machine. I can speak a task out loud and it routes to Claude Code, which executes it and speaks the result back. "What is on my calendar today?" "Check my CRM for hot leads." "Draft a follow-up for the Johnson account." Hands-free, no typing, no browser tabs.

Scheduled agents that run without me. Every morning at 6 AM, a routine checks my Google reviews, scans my inbox for anything urgent, pulls my calendar, and sends me a briefing. I did not ask it to do that. It just runs. Other routines check for website downtime, flag overdue invoices, and monitor Facebook groups for leads. These are cron jobs — automated schedules — that fire on their own.

A Zoom avatar. This one is experimental. An AI version of me that can join Zoom calls, listen, respond, and carry a conversation using my voice and my knowledge base. It is not production-ready, but the prototype works. The idea is that a client can schedule a quick check-in and the avatar handles routine questions without me being in the chair.

Multi-agent orchestration. Instead of one Claude Code session doing everything sequentially, I have setups where multiple agents work in parallel. One agent edits video while another writes the blog post while another generates social media captions. They each do their piece and the results merge. That is how a single recording becomes a dozen deliverables without waiting for each step to finish before starting the next one.

A personal bookkeeping app. I replaced QuickBooks with a custom app that Claude Code built from scratch. It reads my transactions, categorizes them, tracks expenses by client, and generates reports. No monthly fee. No wrestling with someone else's interface. Just my data, organized the way I think about it.

The gap between the checklist and this section is not talent or technical skill. It is just time and iteration. Every one of these started as a simple version of something on the checklist. The voice assistant started as step 28. The video pipeline started as step 19. The scheduled agents started as step 21. You build the simple version, use it, notice what is missing, and improve it. That is the whole game.

The Honest Version

Not all 30 of these will be relevant to your agency. Some of them you will knock out in a sitting. Some of them you will circle back to in six months when the need actually comes up. That is fine.

The point is not to do all 30 in a week. The point is to have the list so you know what is possible and you can pick the next thing that saves you the most time right now.

So start at number one. Get Claude Code running. Build something. Connect something. Automate something. Each one makes the next one easier.