Build Your AI Stack

The exact AI tools and workflows to run a one-person content business

You Don't Need a Team. You Need a Stack.

Most creators hire before they automate. They bring on editors, writers, and VAs before they test whether AI can do 80% of the job. That's backwards.

The right AI stack replaces $3,000-5,000/month in contractor costs. It handles your writing, editing, research, scheduling, and repurposing. You focus on the one thing AI can't fake: being you on camera and in conversations.

This guide breaks down the exact tools I use to run Building Leverage as a one-person operation. Every tool here earned its spot. I tested dozens and cut anything that added complexity without saving real time.

Key Takeaway

Your AI stack should do three things: eliminate repetitive work, speed up creative work, and remove the need to hire for tasks that don't require a human brain.

The Content Engine: Scripts, Newsletters, and Captions

Claude Code is the backbone. I use it to write video scripts, generate newsletter drafts from podcast transcripts, build landing pages, and create lead magnets like the one you're reading right now.

The key is custom skills. Claude Code lets you build reusable workflows that know your voice, your brand, and your format. My script skill loads my inspiration library, my hook patterns, and my brand voice before writing a single word. The output sounds like me, not like a chatbot.

The Writing Stack

Claude Code (Anthropic) — Long-form writing, scripts, newsletters, code generation. $20/month.
Substack — Newsletter hosting and delivery. Free tier handles everything up to 10,000+ subscribers.
Notion — Content calendar, episode tracking, script library. Free for personal use.

Build skills, not prompts. A prompt is a one-off request. A skill is a repeatable workflow with your voice baked in. One good skill saves you 30+ minutes every time you use it. I have skills for scripts, newsletters, landing pages, and email triage.

Filming and Editing Without a Production Team

I shoot talking-head videos on an iPhone with a $30 lapel mic and natural window light. The footage goes straight into editing software. No studio. No camera crew.

AI handles the tedious parts: cutting silence, generating captions, removing filler words, and suggesting clip cuts. The creative decisions stay with me. AI does the labor.

The Video Stack

CapCut — Auto-captions, silence removal, basic editing. Free tier covers most needs.
Descript — Edit video by editing text. Filler word removal. Studio Sound for audio cleanup. $24/month.
Riverside — Remote podcast recording in 4K. Separate audio tracks per guest. $15/month.

Film in batches. Block one morning per week. Shoot 3-4 videos back to back. Change your shirt between takes. You now have a week of content from 2 hours of work. AI editing tools turn raw footage into polished clips the same afternoon.

Key Takeaway

Your phone shoots better video than most cameras from 5 years ago. The bottleneck is editing time, and AI cuts that by 70%. Stop waiting for perfect gear.

Getting Your Content in Front of People

Creating content is half the job. The other half is making sure people see it. AI helps you repurpose one piece of content into five formats, schedule posts across platforms, and capture leads while you sleep.

The Distribution Stack

ManyChat — Automated DMs on Instagram. Someone comments a keyword, they get a link. This is how I deliver lead magnets without touching my phone. $15/month starter plan.
Vercel — Free hosting for landing pages. Push code, page goes live. No server management.
Buffer or Later — Schedule posts across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. $6-15/month.

The lead capture loop: you post a video. Your CTA says "comment STACK for the free guide." ManyChat sends them a DM with your landing page. They enter their email. They get the PDF. They're on your list. That loop runs 24/7 without you doing anything after the initial setup.

ManyChat requires an Instagram Business account linked to a Facebook Page. Set this up before you try to connect. It takes 10 minutes but will block you if you skip it.

The Invisible Work That Eats Your Time

Email, scheduling, invoicing, file management. None of it shows up in your content, but it takes hours every week. AI handles the busywork so you can spend that time creating.

The Ops Stack

Claude Code (Inbox Manager skill) — Scans Gmail every hour, categorizes as urgent/needs reply/FYI/junk, drafts responses in my tone. I review and send. Saves 45 minutes per day.
Notion — Project management, episode tracking, sponsor pipeline. One workspace for everything.
Stripe — Payments for digital products and consulting. Auto-invoicing. Free until you make money.
Cal.com — Scheduling without the back-and-forth emails. Free tier covers solo creators.

Audit your week before you automate. Track every task for 5 days. Write down what you did and how long it took. You'll find 5-10 hours of work that AI or automation can eliminate. Start with the most repetitive task. Automate that first.

Key Takeaway

The goal isn't to automate everything. It's to automate the tasks that don't require your judgment, so you can spend more time on the tasks that do.

Set Up Your Stack This Week

You don't need to adopt everything at once. Here's the order that gets you results fastest.

Get Claude Code running

Install Claude Code. Write your first custom skill (start with a script writer). This is the foundation everything else builds on. Takes 30 minutes.

Set up your content pipeline

Connect Substack (free). Create a Notion workspace for tracking. Write your first newsletter or script using Claude Code. Takes 1 hour.

Film your first batch

Block 2 hours. Shoot 3 talking-head videos on your phone. Edit with CapCut or Descript. Post one per day for three days. Takes 2 hours total.

Build your lead capture loop

Create a lead magnet with Claude Code. Generate a landing page. Set up ManyChat. Add the CTA to your next video. This is where email subscribers start coming in. Takes 1 hour with the 10K Email Agent.

Automate the boring stuff

Set up inbox management. Connect your scheduling tool. Audit your week and automate the next biggest time sink. This compounds every week. Takes 30 minutes to start.

Total setup time: about 5 hours spread across a week. After that, the stack runs in the background. You spend your time creating, not managing tools.

Keep reading

Get the rest of “Build Your AI Stack” + the PDF — free.

Drop your email to unlock the full guide and download it.