Long post, because this thing got a little out of hand.

TL;DR: I built an email marketing operating system that handles almost the entire workflow, from client onboarding and monthly strategy to drafting, revisions, design handoff, segmentation and scheduling. At one point it helped me manage up to 16 client accounts at the same time while cutting a lot of repetitive operational work.

Over time I built an workflow around almost the entire email marketing delivery process.

At this point it handles almost everything from onboarding a new client to having approved scheduled campaigns.

The only production step that still remains manual is the actual email design, although I’m already working on that.

The reason was simple. I was managing a lot of accounts at once and the bottleneck wasn’t writing copy, but keeping all the context, rules, approvals, products, offers, reviews, segments and campaign logic in my head, so I started turning all of that into a system.

What the workflow actually does

- Client onboarding
Scrapes the client website, builds the brand guide, product catalog, current offers, product descriptions, reviews/social proof, links, pricing and other brand-specific knowledge.

- Monthly brief
I input whatever the client gives me for the month. Detailed brief, a few product priorities, a promotion, launch, or even nothing.

- Strategy
Checks previous campaigns and performance (connected to ESP), historical angles, subject lines, products, current offers, holidays, seasonal relevance, previous months’ drafts and what has already been pushed recently.

- Product + angle selection
Chooses products and messaging angles based on historical performance, seasonality, offer relevance, product context and the rest of the monthly campaign plan.

- Drafting
Creates the monthly email drafts using the strategy, brand guide, product data, offers, real customer reviews and client-specific copy rules.

- Client review
Exports the drafts into a normal human-readable format for client approval and feedback.

- Editor / revisions
Takes client comments, changes only what needs changing, and re-checks the updated email against all brand and copy rules.

- Design handoff
Creates/updates task management system and sends approved copy to the correct designer.

- Designed email review
Pulls the completed ESP drafts and creates a client-facing table with web-view links for review.

- Corrections
If the client requests visual changes, the workflow routes the feedback back to the designer through task management system and brings the campaign back into review once completed.

- Segmentation + exclusions
Applies client-specific audience rules, target segments, engagement windows and exclusions.

- Follow-ups, campaign variants or different types of sending
Duplicates campaigns when needed, creates follow-up sends and prepares different audience versions. Can send first to the most engaged audience, then progressively broader segments while excluding everyone already targeted in previous tiers.

- Scheduling
Once approved, schedules the campaigns through the API using the client-specific sending rules.

So the actual flow is basically:

brief > strategy > drafts > client review > revisions > design > review > corrections > segmentation > scheduling

Under the hood this became pretty big.

There are a lot of scripts, skills, markdown files, APIs, client-specific rules and handoffs behind it.

At some point it stopped feeling like a bunch of automations and started feeling more like an email marketing operating system.

Generating copy is easy. The harder part is knowing what was previously sent, what performed, which product makes sense currently, what offer is active, which review supports the message, how the brand talks, who should receive the email, who needs to be excluded, what the client approved and what still needs fixing.

The impact on my workload was pretty significant. New client onboarding went from a working day to roughly 30 minutes. Creating around 8 monthly email drafts for an established client went from roughly 3–4 hours to around 20 minutes for the initial draft set.

But the biggest result was capacity. At one point I was managing up to 16 client accounts simultaneously, because most of the repetitive operational work was no longer being done manually.

For me, the real breakthrough was turning a large part of the delivery process into a system. That’s what actually created leverage. I got less repetitive work, more capacity, and fewer things falling through the cracks.

Long post, because this thing got a little out of hand.

TL;DR: I built an AI-assisted email marketing operating system that handles almost the entire workflow, from client onboarding and monthly strategy to drafting, revisions, design handoff, segmentation and scheduling. It helped me manage up to 16 client accounts at the same time while cutting a lot of repetitive operational work.

Over time I built an AI-assisted workflow around almost the entire email marketing delivery process.

At this point it handles almost everything from onboarding a new client to having approved campaigns scheduled in Klaviyo.

The only production step that still remains manual is the actual email design, although I’m already working on that.

The reason I built it was simple: I was managing a lot of accounts at once and the real bottleneck wasn’t writing emails. It was keeping all the context, rules, approvals, products, offers, reviews, segments and campaign logic in my head.

So I started turning all of that into a system.

What the workflow actually does

- Client onboarding
Scrapes the client website, builds the brand guide, product catalog, current offers, product descriptions, reviews/social proof, links, pricing and other brand-specific knowledge.

- Monthly brief
I input whatever the client gives me for the month. Detailed brief, a few product priorities, a promotion, launch, or even nothing.

- Strategy
Checks previous campaigns and performance (connected to ESP), historical angles, subject lines, products, current offers, holidays, seasonal relevance, previous months’ drafts and what has already been pushed recently.

- Product + angle selection
Chooses products and messaging angles based on historical performance, seasonality, offer relevance, product context and the rest of the monthly campaign plan.

- Drafting
Creates the monthly email drafts using the strategy, brand guide, product data, offers, real customer reviews and client-specific copy rules.

- Client review
Exports the drafts into a normal human-readable format for client approval and feedback.

- Editor / revisions
Takes client comments, changes only what needs changing, and re-checks the updated email against all brand and copy rules.

- Design handoff
Creates/updates task scheduler and sends approved copy to the correct designer.

- Designed email review
Pulls the completed Klaviyo drafts and creates a client-facing table with web-view links for review.

- Corrections
If the client requests visual changes, the workflow routes the feedback back to the designer through task scheduler and brings the campaign back into review once completed.

- Segmentation + exclusions
Applies client-specific audience rules, target segments, engagement windows and exclusions.

- Follow-ups, campaign variants or different types of sending
Duplicates campaigns when needed, creates follow-up sends and prepares different audience versions. Can send first to the most engaged audience, then progressively broader segments while excluding everyone already targeted in previous tiers.

- Scheduling
Once approved, schedules the campaigns through the API using the client-specific sending rules.

So the actual flow is basically:

brief > strategy > drafts > client review > revisions > design > review > corrections > segmentation > scheduling

Under the hood this became pretty big.

There are a lot of scripts, skills, markdown files, APIs, client-specific rules and handoffs behind it. Most of it currently runs through Claude Code. At some point it stopped feeling like a bunch of automations and started feeling more like an email marketing operating system.

Generating copy is actually the easy part now. To me, it was more difficult knowing what was already sent, what performed, which product makes sense now, what offer is active, which review supports the message, how the brand talks, who should receive the email, who needs to be excluded, what the client approved and what still needs fixing.

That context is where most of the value is. The impact on my workload was pretty significant.

New client onboarding went from most of a working day to roughly 30 minutes.

Creating around 8 monthly email drafts for an established client went from roughly 3–4 hours to around 20 minutes for the initial draft set.

But the biggest result was capacity. At one point I was managing up to 16 client accounts simultaneously, because most of the repetitive operational work was no longer being done manually.

I still think there should be a human behind the strategy and final decisions. AI is a tool, not a replacement. But I think the more interesting question now isn’t Can AI write an email, but how much of the entire email marketing operation can actually be systemized.

If anyone needs help with something like this, happy to share what I learned or point you in the right direction.

Hey guys,

A long-term agency partnership I had recently ended, and now I'm back doing the part I'm not great at, selling myself.

I'm pretty introverted. I'm much better at doing the work than constantly promoting myself. That's why agency setups have always suited me well.

I'm looking for a marketing agency that needs someone to own the email marketing side.

I specialize in e-commerce and mainstream ESPs, and I handle end-to-end email marketing: strategy, campaigns, flows, segmentation, deliverability, reporting, and technical setup.

I'm comfortable starting from zero and growing with a brand, but I've also worked with businesses doing $6M+ per year.

I've worked across a pretty wide range of e-commerce niches, including apparel, wellness, animal health, beauty, supplements, food and beverage, with some experience in SaaS and service businesses as well.

One thing that might be different is how heavy I am on AI automation. I've built my own AI workflow that has let me handle up to 16 client accounts in parallel, and I'm constantly building new automations to make the work faster and more consistent.

Before focusing on email, I also built WooCommerce and Shopify sites, so I'm comfortable with the broader e-commerce stack and with technical issues when something needs troubleshooting.

I'm not trying to build an agency that competes with anyone or take any clients. I actually prefer to be the person behind the scenes who gets the work done.

I've got a family to feed, so stability matters.

I'd rather build a long-term agency relationship than hop between one-off clients.

If this sounds useful for your agency, send me a message. Happy to share results and examples.

Hey guys,

After a few years of working with an agency doing email marketing, that collaboration recently ended and I’m honestly a bit lost right now.

I’ve realized that freelancing just isn’t really for me. I’m pretty introverted and I’m much better at doing the actual work than constantly putting myself out there, promoting myself and trying to sell myself to new clients.

That’s also why I’ve always preferred working with agencies or as a subcontractor for other freelancers. I like being the person behind the scenes, handling the email marketing, campaigns, flows, strategy and all the actual work.

For those of you running agencies, how do you usually find people you trust enough to bring into client work? And for freelancers or subcontractors, how did you find solid longterm agency partnerships?

I've got a lot of experience, so doing the actual work isn't the part I'm struggling with. Finding the right long term partnerships is the main problem.

I have a family to feed, and right now it feels like things are starting to fall apart, so I’m definitely feeling the pressure.

I’m not used to writing posts like this or asking strangers for help, but I figured there’s no shame in trying.

Any advice or experiences from people who've been through something similar would mean a lot.

Thanks.

Hey guys,

After a few years of working with an agency doing email marketing, that collaboration recently ended and I’m honestly a bit lost right now.

I’ve realized that freelancing just isn’t really for me. I’m pretty introverted and I’m much better at doing the actual work than constantly putting myself out there, promoting myself and trying to sell myself to new clients.

That’s also why I’ve always preferred working with agencies or as a subcontractor for other freelancers. I like being the person behind the scenes, handling the email marketing, campaigns, flows, strategy and all the actual work.

I tried finding clients, but self-promotion just isn't my strongest skill, so it hasn’t really worked out for me.

So I figured I’d do something I normally wouldn’t do and just ask for help.

If anyone here knows an agency that needs someone for email marketing, Klaviyo, campaigns, flows, strategy, or similar work, I’d really appreciate an intro or even just pointing me in the right direction.

I’ve got a lot of experience and can show the stats and results from my work. Finding the work is the part I’m struggling with.

I have a family to feed, and right now it feels like things are starting to fall apart a little, so I’m definitely feeling the pressure.

I’m not used to writing posts like this or asking strangers for help, but I figured there’s no shame in trying.

Even if you don’t know anyone hiring, a bit of advice or encouragement would mean a lot right now.

Thanks.

I am slowly moving back to Codex from Claude Code. Not because Codex is smarter.

I do not sit at desk all day. I move around. I use phone dispatch or codex phone feature. I check things from phone. I jump between client projects 20 times a day.

In Codex I can open exact project and session, and continue fast. The context is just there. I know where I am.

For me, the bottleneck in Claude Code is not the model. It is the workflow around it.

One dispatch session for everything gets messy fast. You need to remember which session already exists, which folder is attached to it, and how to get back into the right context. On desktop it's fine. On mobile it becomes friction very fast.

The dispatch layer was supposed to help. But when I send voice prompt, dispatch interprets it before it reaches the real session. Sometimes that interpretation misses the detail I actually cared about.

Nobody talks about workflow tax. Everyone talks about which model writes cleaner code.

For someone managing one project with full attention at desktop, Claude Code probably feels great. I get it.

If your tool requires the right setup, session, folder, and the right device to work properly, it is not a tool. It is a dependency.

I am not saying switch. I still use both on the same projects. I am just saying check what the tool actually costs you in attention before you say it is better.