Make $1,000 This Weekend With Claude

Small business owners have heard about AI for two years, and almost none have time to learn it. They don’t need a course. They need someone to set it up and show them how to use it. That’s you.

You don’t need to be a developer. You need to be able to build a Claude Project, write good instructions and connect Gmail or Google Drive. If you can’t yet, do my Set Up Claude in 1 Day guide first.

Don’t sell "AI consulting." Sell one specific workflow at a fixed price, done in two weeks.

The Custom Claude Project Package

A 30-minute intake call. One Claude Project on their account, written in their voice and connected to their tools. A few short how-to videos. A follow-up call a week later. Done in 10 business days.

Projects and the Google connectors work on every Claude plan, including Free. (Projects, Google connectors)

Your pitch is one line. "I’ll set up an AI assistant that takes [the task you hate] off your plate in two weeks, for a fixed price."

Client 1 is free

Build it for someone who already trusts you. In return you get a written testimonial, a case study you can share and 2 referrals if they’re happy.

Clients 2 and 3 pay $500

Cheap on purpose. You’re getting faster and collecting proof.

Clients 4 to 10 pay $1,000 to $1,500 + $500 a month

The retainer covers monthly tweaks, updates and one new mini-workflow per quarter. Five retainer clients is $2,500 a month before any new builds.

After 10 case studies, $2,500 to $3,500 + $750 to $1,500 a month

Now you’re a productized service with proof. Raise prices until you stop closing every pitch.

The Math

Five retainer clients at $750 a month is $3,750. Add one new $2,500 build a month and you’re at $6,250. Past that, you’re running an agency.

Salon: booking and upsell helper

The pain: evenings spent texting clients back and rebooking regulars. The build: they paste a booking text and Claude drafts the reply with the right service, one add-on and a rebook reminder.

Dental office: front desk FAQ helper

The pain: the same insurance and aftercare questions all week. The build: Claude drafts answers from the practice’s FAQs, typical cost ranges and post-op templates. The front desk reviews and sends.

Careful: regular Claude plans don’t come with the HIPAA agreement (BAA) a practice needs for patient data. Only HIPAA-ready Enterprise plans and Anthropic’s API do. Keep this Project to general FAQs and templates, and never paste in patient names or records. (Anthropic on HIPAA)

Coffee shop: staff manager on call

The pain: re-explaining recipes and checklists to every new hire. The build: a Project new hires ask on a tablet at the counter. It holds the recipes and checklists, vendor contacts and the owner’s answers to the 10 things staff always text about.

Real estate agent: listing and showing helper

The pain: long listing write-ups and open house follow-ups that never get sent. The build: Claude drafts listings in the agent’s voice, one-page showing briefs and follow-up emails.

Load it with 5 to 10 past listings they liked, neighborhood notes, buyer types and follow-up templates. Add fair housing rules so it describes the home, never who should live there.

Boutique: product copy and customer email engine

The pain: hand-written product descriptions and endless "does this run small?" emails. The build: on-brand product copy, customer replies with the right fit details and a post-purchase email sequence.

Once you have the client’s files, this prompt writes the Project instructions and the tests for you.

Write The Client’s Project Instructions

You are an expert at setting up Claude Projects for small businesses. Help me write the Project instructions for a client. CLIENT: - Business type: [salon / dental office / cafe / real estate agent / boutique / other] - Business name and location: [ ] - The one weekly task we're fixing: [e.g. answering booking texts] - Who will use the Project: [owner / front desk / new hires] WHAT I'M ATTACHING (I'll upload these to the Project knowledge too): - [service menu and prices / FAQs / recipes and checklists / past listings / product catalog] - [3 to 10 examples of their real messages or writing that they like] - [any rules they gave me on the intake call] STEPS: 1. Read everything and list the 5 most common requests this Project will get. 2. Write the Project instructions with these sections: Role, Who You Help, Voice (with 3 do's and 3 don'ts pulled from their real examples), How To Handle Each Common Request, Hard Rules, and When To Say "Check with [owner name]." 3. Write 5 realistic test inputs I can paste in to check it, and what a good answer to each should include. 4. List anything missing that I should ask the client for. HARD RULES TO BUILD IN: - Claude drafts. A person reviews and sends. Never promise prices, availability, coverage or outcomes; say "estimated, please confirm with us." - Use only the facts in the attached files. If something isn't there, say so instead of guessing. - [Dental or health clients] No patient names, records or health details go into this Project. - [Real estate clients] Follow fair housing rules: describe the property, never the kind of person who should live there. OUTPUT: The instructions in a single copy-ready block, then the tests, then the missing-info list.

Skip mass cold email. Pick 5 local businesses you actually go to. You’re a regular offering to fix one specific thing, which lands very differently from a stranger selling software.

Email Template

Subject: Quick AI question for [Business Name] Hi [Owner Name], I'm a regular at [Business Name] and I've been thinking about how AI could save you a few hours a week on the stuff that's probably eating your evenings, like [one specific thing: booking confirmations / patient FAQs / new staff training / listing descriptions / customer emails]. I set up custom AI assistants for small businesses, and I'd love to build one for you for free in exchange for using it as a case study. It takes me about a weekend. You get an assistant set up with your voice and your workflows. Your team stays in charge of everything it drafts. I get a testimonial if you love it. Worth a 20-minute coffee to figure out which task it would help with most? I'm free [2 specific times], or grab a slot here: [calendar link]. [Your name] [Optional one line of proof: "I built one for [past client] and it cut their [task] from [X] to [Y]."]

Walk-In Script (60 Seconds)

"Hey [Owner Name], quick question, not a sales thing. I set up custom AI assistants for small businesses, and I've been coming here for [X months/years]. I'm looking for one or two local businesses to build a free assistant for, in exchange for using it as a case study. For a [salon / dental office / coffee shop] like yours, the obvious one would be [specific workflow]. It takes me about a weekend, and your team would get those hours back every week after that. You'd be the only [business type] I'm building one for. Want to grab 20 minutes this week to see if it's a fit?" IF THEY SAY YES: get on their calendar before you walk out. Don't leave with "I'll email you." IF THEY SAY MAYBE LATER: "Totally. Who do you know who's drowning in [the workflow] and would say yes today?" IF THEY SAY NO: "No worries. What would have made this a yes?" (Their answer sharpens your next pitch.)

Friday, 30-minute intake. Ask three things. What’s the one weekly task you wish someone else did? Walk me through how you do it today. Show me 3 to 5 examples you’ve written that you like.
Saturday, build it (3 to 4 hours). Set up the Project on their Claude account, write the instructions, upload their docs, connect their tools and test it 5 to 10 times with real inputs.
Sunday, record the walkthrough. How to open it, the 3 most common uses, what to do if something looks off. Loom’s free plan caps each video at 5 minutes, so record a few short ones. (Loom limits)
Monday, send the handoff. The videos, the Project link, a one-page cheat sheet with the 3 best prompts and a link to book the follow-up.
Next week, let them use it. On day 5, ask what to adjust.
Follow-up call. Fix what isn’t working, then offer the retainer.

A $500 a month retainer for 12 months is $6,000 per client. It covers a monthly check-in, keeping the Project current and one new mini-workflow per quarter.

Put this in the agreement: the Project lives on their account, so it keeps working if they cancel. Give them a copy of the instructions too.

"I don’t want AI replying to my customers."

It doesn’t. Claude drafts and your team reviews and sends. The time saved is in the drafting. Say it up front.

"That’s expensive for a small business."

Show the math. "Your front desk spends 8 hours a week on this. At $25 an hour that’s over $800 a month. The retainer is $500." Use their real numbers.

Saturday morning. Text one person in your network who runs a business like the five above. "If I built you a custom AI assistant for free in exchange for a case study, would that help? Takes me a weekend."
Sunday. If they say yes, do the intake, build it and record the videos. They’re live Monday.
By Friday. Get the testimonial, then walk into 3 local businesses with it. "I just built one of these for [name]. Want one for $500?"

It all starts with one client.

Make $1,000This WeekendWith Claude

Make $1,000
This Weekend
With Claude