How I Would Start AI Consulting in 2026 (If I could start over)

🔥 Join Maker School & get customer #1 guaranteed: https://skool.com/makerschool/about 📚 Watch my NEW 2026 Claude Code course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQBzR1NIqI 💼 Work with my team: https://dub.sh/work-with-me-dlf 💎 All macros, replies, & templates: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ir44boVEdRnzWcWzzssUVhZhx19dSz4YI1FxxUmmkJo/edit 📚 Free multi-hour courses → Claude Code (4hr full course): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQBzR1NIqI → Vibe Coding w/ Antigravity (6hr full course): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcuR_-rzlDw → Agentic Workflows (6hr full course): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxyRjL7NG18 → N8N (6hr full course, 890K+ views): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GZ2SNXWK-c Summary ⤵️ This video is a complete beginner’s blueprint for starting an AI consulting business in 2026, with copy-and-paste templates, scripts, and SOPs for every stage of the client journey. It walks through five pillars—marketing, sales, onboarding, fulfillment, and retention—using proven systems that have scaled agencies to $25K/month and beyond. Viewers get a plug-and-play toolkit including Upwork profiles, cold email formulas, sales call scripts, automation templates, and a full workflow library. My software, tools, & deals (some give me kickbacks—thank you!) 🚀 Instantly: https://link.nicksaraev.com/instantly-short 📧 Anymailfinder: https://link.nicksaraev.com/amf-short 🤖 Apify: https://console.apify.com/sign-up (30% off with code 30NICKSARAEV) 🧑🏽‍💻 n8n: https://n8n.partnerlinks.io/h372ujv8cw80 📈 Rize: https://link.nicksaraev.com/rize-short (25% off with promo code NICK) Follow me on other platforms 😈 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nick_saraev 🕊️ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/nicksaraev 🤙 Blog: https://nicksaraev.com Why watch? If this is your first view—hi, I’m Nick! TLDR: I spent six years building automated businesses with Make.com (most notably 1SecondCopy, a content company that hit 7 figures). Today a lot of people talk about automation, but I’ve noticed that very few have practical, real world success making money with it. So this channel is me chiming in and showing you what *real* systems that make *real* revenue look like. Hopefully I can help you improve your business, and in doing so, the rest of your life 🙏 Like, subscribe, and leave me a comment if you have a specific request! Thanks. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:51 Marketing 08:17 Sales 18:21 Onboarding 23:12 Fulfillment 26:46 Retention 28:35 Outro