DEV Community: Lee Brower

Delegating Busywork to AI Agents: What They Do Well, What They Do Badly

Lee Brower — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 08:47:36 +0000

Everybody who runs a small operation has the same problem: the work that matters keeps getting pushed aside by the work that is merely urgent.

Research you need but have no time to do. Drafts that need a first pass. Lists to sort, notes to organize, options to compare. None of it is hard. All of it eats the hours you were supposed to spend on the work only you can do.

That is the honest case for AI agents — not robots replacing people, but a way to hand off the busywork in an organized way and get back drafts you can review. Here is what that actually looks like when a normal person, not a tech company, sets it up.

What a Multi-Agent Setup Actually Is

Forget the science-fiction version. In practice, it works like a small crew:

A goal comes in — one clear outcome, stated in plain words.

A coordinator breaks that goal into tasks. Not one giant instruction, but a list: research this, draft that, compare these, summarize those.

Specialist agents each take one kind of task. One is set up for research, one for writing, one for organizing and summarizing, one for checking work against a list of rules. Each has its own instructions for its one job, the same way you would rather have a framer frame and an electrician wire.

A person reviews the results before anything leaves the building.

Goal, tasks, specialists, review. That loop is the whole idea. The fancy name is "multi-agent system." The plain name is delegation, with the same rules delegation has always had.

What Agents Do Well

First drafts. A rough draft of a product description, an email, a summary — produced in minutes instead of an evening. It will need your edit. Everything does. Starting from a draft instead of a blank page is the win.

Research gathering. Pulling together options, prices, features, and sources into one summary you can read. The agent does the legwork; you do the deciding.

Repetitive sorting and summarizing. Long notes into short briefs. A pile of customer questions into a list of the five that keep coming up. Work that is mostly patience, not judgment.

Consistency checks. Did every item on the checklist get done? Does this draft follow the format? Tireless, boring checking is where agents quietly earn their keep.

What Agents Do Badly

Be just as clear about this half, because this is where people get burned.

They do not know what is true. An agent can state a wrong fact in a confident tone. Anything that matters — prices, dates, claims about your business — gets verified by a person. No exceptions.

They should never be the final sender. An agent drafting an email is fine. An agent sending it without a human read is how you apologize to a customer at midnight. Keep a person on every send, post, and purchase.

They cannot judge people. Tone with an angry customer, reading between the lines of a negotiation, knowing when a job is more trouble than it is worth — that is experience, and you cannot prompt your way to thirty years of it.

They drift without clear tasks. "Handle my marketing" gets you mush. "Draft three versions of a follow-up email for bids sent last week, under 80 words each" gets you something usable. Vague in, vague out.

How a Normal Person Starts

You do not start by building a fleet. You start with one loop, on one kind of busywork.

Pick one recurring task that eats your time but not your judgment — weekly research, first drafts, summarizing your notes.
Write the goal and the rules down, including what the agent must never do. Mine, for anything public: no sending, no posting, no spending, no inventing numbers. Drafts only.
Give it one task at a time until you trust the routine. Then let it run the routine on a schedule.
Review everything at first. As the results prove out, review gets faster — but it never disappears.

A simple starter instruction, the kind you would give any agent or assistant, looks like this:

You are my research assistant. Goal: [one clear outcome].

Do:
- Break the goal into a short task list before you start
- Complete one task at a time and show me the result of each
- Cite where facts came from; if you cannot verify a fact, label it unverified

Never:
- Send, post, publish, or buy anything
- Invent numbers, reviews, or results
- Move to the next task if the current one failed — tell me why instead

That "tell me why instead" line matters. A helper — human or AI — that hides its failures will cost you more than one that admits them early.

The Point of All of It

Delegation is not about being lazy. It is about spending your judgment where judgment is the product — the estimate, the customer, the call on the jobsite — and letting everything else arrive at your desk as a draft instead of a demand.

Start small, keep the review step, and write your rules down where the system can see them every single run.

More of the tools I build for contractors and working people are on my storefront: https://wadebrower792.github.io/lee-brower-storefront/products/ai-delegation-loop.html

If you want the working version instead of building your own from scratch, the AI Delegation Loop (platform edition) is the multi-agent setup I run — goal in, tasks split across specialist agents, results back for your review — for $149: https://wadebrower.gumroad.com/l/sytsi

How to Build an Offer With AI Prompts: Idea, Sales Page, and Launch Emails

Lee Brower — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:58:51 +0000

Plenty of working people have something they could sell online. Knowledge from twenty years on a job. A system they built for themselves. A skill people already ask them about for free.

What stops most of them is not the idea. It is the blank page after the idea — shaping it into an offer, writing the page that sells it, and sending the emails that announce it. That is three different kinds of writing, and most of us were never taught any of them.

AI prompts will not build the product for you. What they will do is get you from rough notes to a clear offer, a readable sales page, and a short launch sequence — in an evening instead of a month. Here is the order that works, with prompts for each step.

Step 1: Find the Idea Hiding in Your Day Job

Do not start with “what is trending.” Start with what people already ask you.

I have [number] years of experience in [your trade or skill]. List 15 problems people in this field pay to solve, or waste hours on every week.

For each problem, tell me:
- Who has it worst
- What it costs them in time or money
- Whether a digital product (guide, template, checklist, or prompt pack) could realistically help

Rank them by how painful the problem is, not by how big the market sounds.

Then apply the only test that matters: have you actually solved this problem for yourself, more than once? If yes, you have something real to sell. If no, keep moving down the list.

Step 2: Shape It Into an Offer

An idea is not an offer. An offer says who it is for, what they get, and what changes when they use it.

Turn this product idea into a clear offer.

Idea: [describe it in 2-3 sentences]
Who it is for: [specific person, e.g. one-truck contractors doing their own estimates]

Give me:
- A product name a buyer would understand in 3 seconds
- The main promise, in one plain sentence, with no hype words
- A list of exactly what is inside, item by item
- What it is NOT, so buyers do not expect the wrong thing
- A fair price range and your reasoning

Do not invent results, testimonials, or sales numbers. If you do not know something, say so.

That last rule is not decoration. Tell the AI plainly not to invent proof, because left alone, it will dress your offer up with claims you cannot back up. Your name goes on this thing. Keep it honest.

Step 3: Write the Sales Page

A sales page is not poetry. It is a conversation with a person who has a problem, in the order they would ask their questions.

Write a sales page for this product using my offer details below.

Structure:
1. Headline naming the problem or the outcome
2. Three short paragraphs on the problem and why it persists
3. What the product is and exactly what is inside
4. Who it is for — and who it is NOT for
5. Price and what happens right after they buy
6. A simple closing with one call to action

Voice: plainspoken, short sentences, like one working person talking to another. No hype, no countdown timers in words, no invented testimonials or income claims.

Offer details: [paste from Step 2]

The “who it is not for” section earns its space. Telling the wrong buyer to walk away makes the right buyer trust you faster, and it cuts your refund headaches down to near nothing.

Step 4: Write the Launch Emails

You do not need a funnel with twelve steps. You need three honest emails.

Write a 3-email launch sequence for my product.

Product: [name and one-sentence promise]
Price: [price]
Link placeholder: [LINK]

Email 1 — The story: why I built this, in my own situation. No selling until the last two lines.
Email 2 — The teaching: one useful tip from inside the product, given away free, then a plain mention that the full thing exists.
Email 3 — The close: who this is for, what is inside, the price, and the link. Short.

Each email under 200 words. Plainspoken. Subject lines included. No fake urgency and no claims I cannot prove.

Send them a day or two apart. Then stop and go back to work. A product that exists, honestly described, beats a perfect launch that never happens.

The Part AI Cannot Do

AI can draft. It cannot know your customer, and it cannot stand behind your work.

So price it yourself. Read every word before it goes out. And build the thing first — or at least build enough of it that you know the promise on the page is true. Prompts speed up the writing. They are not a substitute for having something worth selling.

If you want a head start on the writing side, PromptCraft Business & Monetization Prompt Pack collects the offer-shaping, sales-page, email, and product-idea prompts I use, ready to copy for $19: https://wadebrower.gumroad.com/l/arexxg

AI Prompts for Follow-Ups, Late Payments, and 5-Star Review Requests

Lee Brower — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:58:49 +0000

AI Prompts for Follow-Ups, Late Payments, and 5-Star Review Requests

The hardest messages in this business are not long. They are short, awkward, and easy to put off.

The follow-up you should have sent Tuesday. The payment reminder that has to be firm without burning the relationship. The review request you keep meaning to send. The apology when a job runs two days late and it is, in fact, your fault.

So they sit. And sitting messages cost real money — in bids that go cold, invoices that age, and good work nobody ever hears about.

This is exactly the kind of writing AI is good at. Not the building. The wording. Here are prompts for the four messages contractors hate writing most, with the actual text you can use today.

The Follow-Up That Does Not Sound Desperate

The trick with a follow-up is tone. Too soft and it gets ignored. Too pushy and you talk yourself out of the job.

Write a follow-up message to a customer who has not replied to my proposal.

Facts:
- Customer first name: [name]
- Job: [job type]
- Days since I sent the proposal: [number]
- One detail from our conversation I can mention: [detail]

Rules: Under 80 words. Mention the detail so it does not sound like a mass message. Give them an easy out — a polite way to say no is fine. End with one clear next step.

That "easy out" line matters more than people think. Customers ignore messages they feel trapped by. Give them a clean no, and a surprising number of them answer with a yes and a date instead.

The Late-Payment Nudge

Money owed is money owed, but the customer you squeeze today is the referral you lose tomorrow. Escalate in stages, and let each message match the stage.

Stage one — friendly reminder, a few days past due:

Write a friendly payment reminder. Invoice [#] for [$ amount] was due [date]. Assume it was an oversight. Under 50 words. Thank them for the work, attach no threats, and tell them exactly how to pay: [payment method].

Stage two — firm, two to three weeks past due:

Write a firm but professional payment message. Invoice [#] for [$ amount] is now [number] days overdue. I have sent one reminder already. State the balance clearly, ask for a payment date this week, and say plainly that remaining or future work is paused until the account is current. Polite. No insults. No legal threats I have not actually discussed with anyone.

Notice what is not in there: fake legal language. Never let a tool write threats you would not back up. Firm and true beats loud and empty, every time.

The 5-Star Review Request

Timing beats wording here. Ask within a day of finishing, while the customer is still walking past the finished work and smiling about it.

Write a review request I can text to a customer the day after we finish.

Facts:
- Customer first name: [name]
- Work we completed: [job type]
- What they said they liked most: [their words, if you remember them]
- Review link: [link]

Under 60 words. Thank them by name. Mention the specific job, not "your recent project." Make the ask once, clearly, with the link. No begging, no incentives, no guilt.

One warning from experience: do not offer anything in exchange for a review — no discount, no gift card. Review platforms and the law both frown on it, and honest reviews from happy customers carry more weight anyway.

And ask every time, not just when you remember. A simple system beats motivation.

The Apology for a Delay

Jobs run late. Weather, backorders, a crew member's truck breaking down — and sometimes just bad scheduling on your end. Customers can forgive a delay. What they do not forgive is silence.

Write an apology message to a customer because their job is delayed.

Facts:
- Customer first name: [name]
- Original expected date: [date]
- New realistic date: [date]
- Honest reason, in one sentence: [reason]
- What I am doing about it: [action]

Rules: Apologize once, plainly, in the first two lines. No excuses stacked on excuses. Give the new date only if I truly believe it. Under 100 words. End by telling them when they will hear from me next — and make it a day I will actually contact them.

"When you will hear from me next" is the line that saves the relationship. Then you have to keep it. A second broken promise does more damage than the delay ever did.

Build the Habit, Not the Perfect Message

None of these messages needs to be perfect. They need to be sent.

Keep the prompts where you can reach them — in your notes app, in a document, anywhere you will actually open at 9 p.m. when the day's paperwork is waiting. Fill in the brackets, read it once out loud, fix anything that does not sound like you, and hit send.

The contractors who stay booked are rarely the ones with the fanciest marketing. They are the ones who follow up, ask, remind, and own their mistakes — consistently, in writing, on time.

If you want these already built out for your trade, the Trade Prompt Bundle pulls together 450 prompts across concrete, excavation, and carpentry — follow-ups, reviews, estimates, and the rest — for $29: https://wadebrower.gumroad.com/l/xwqtvr

5 ChatGPT Prompts Every Contractor Should Copy and Use Today

Lee Brower — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:37:27 +0000

5 ChatGPT Prompts Every Contractor Should Copy and Use Today

You did not get into contracting to sit at a desk and write emails.

You got into it to build things. But the job does not end when the tools go back on the truck. There is an estimate to write up, a customer who has gone quiet, a price objection to answer, and a crew that needs to know where to be at 6 a.m.

That paperwork is where most small contractors lose time and money. Not on the jobsite. At the kitchen table, after supper, staring at a blank screen.

You do not need to become a writer. You need a few good prompts you can copy, paste, and use. Here are five that cover the work you do every week.

1. The Estimate Writer

A rough list of numbers is not an estimate a customer can say yes to. A clear scope, in plain language, is.

You are helping a contractor write a customer estimate. Turn my rough notes below into a clear, professional estimate.

Rules:
- Break the work into sections with a short heading for each
- List what is included and what is NOT included
- Use plain language a homeowner can understand, no trade jargon
- Leave [BRACKETS] anywhere I need to fill in a price or date
- End with payment terms and how long the price is good for

My rough notes: [paste your notes here]

Fill in real numbers yourself. The AI handles the wording. You handle the pricing — that part is still your job, and it should be.

2. The Bid Follow-Up

Most bids are not lost. They are forgotten. The customer got busy, the kids got sick, another contractor called back first. A short follow-up, sent at the right time, wins work you already earned.

Write a short follow-up message to a customer I sent a bid to 4 days ago. They have not replied.

Details:
- Job: [type of job, e.g. bathroom remodel]
- Bid amount: [$ amount]
- Customer name: [first name]

Keep it under 75 words. Friendly, no pressure, no discount. Remind them of one benefit of getting it scheduled now, and end with a simple question they can answer with yes or no.

Send one at four days, one at ten days. Then stop. Chasing past that makes you look hungry, and hungry looks expensive in the wrong way.

3. The Price-Objection Reply

"Your price is higher than the other guy."

You will hear it on almost every job. Do not drop your price in a panic, and do not bad-mouth the other contractor. Explain what your price covers.

A customer told me my price is higher than another bid. Help me write a calm reply.

My price includes: [list what you include — permits, cleanup, warranty, materials grade, licensed crew]
The other bid, as far as I know, does not include: [list gaps, if you know them]

Write a reply under 120 words. Do not lower the price. Do not criticize the other contractor. Explain the difference in what is covered, and invite the customer to compare both bids line by line.

Half the time, the cheaper bid was cheaper because it left things out. Your job is to make that easy to see, without sounding bitter about it.

4. The Review Request

Happy customers rarely leave reviews on their own. Not because they do not want to — because nobody asked at the right moment, in a way that was easy to answer.

Ask right after the final walkthrough, while the work still looks good in their mind.

Write a short text message asking a happy customer for an online review.

Details:
- Customer name: [first name]
- Job we just finished: [job type]
- Review link: [paste your link]

Keep it under 60 words. Thank them first. Make it clear the link takes less than a minute. Sound like a real person texting, not a marketing email.

Reviews compound. Ten honest five-star reviews will do more for your phone ringing than any ad you can buy at this size.

5. The Crew Text

Half of jobsite confusion is just unclear instructions the night before. Who, where, when, what to bring. Four things, one text.

Turn my notes into a clear crew text for tomorrow morning.

Include only:
- Who is reporting
- Job address
- Start time
- What tools or material to bring
- One thing to watch out for on site

My notes: [paste notes here]

Keep it short enough to read in 10 seconds. No extra words.

Clear crew texts mean fewer 5:45 a.m. phone calls asking where everybody is supposed to be. That alone is worth the habit.

How To Make Any Prompt Work Better

Three rules, learned the hard way:

Give it the facts. A prompt with real job details beats a clever prompt with none. Paste your rough notes in, every time.

Set a length. "Under 100 words" stops the rambling. Most customer messages should be short enough to read standing up.

Read it before you send it. AI drafts. You decide. Check names, numbers, and dates like you would check a cut before you make it — because once it is sent, you cannot uncut it.

Start with one prompt. Use it for a week. Then add the next one. That is how a tool becomes a habit instead of another app you forgot you downloaded.

If you want the full set instead of building it one prompt at a time, I put together the Contractor's AI Prompt Playbook for $19 — the prompts I use for estimates, bids, follow-ups, and crew communication, ready to copy and paste: https://wadebrower.gumroad.com/l/axqqo