Bonus Session (Day 3): No-Code Automation in Make.com - Form to Sheet to Email, the 7-Step Process, and a Daily AI Image-and-Caption Poster for Instagram and LinkedIn

Every automation is a trigger and actions (an Amazon order -> confirmation email). Ritesh's PROCEDURE for any workflow: (1) capture it in writing; (2) map where information originates and must go (form -> sheet -> email -> Slack/CRM); (3) identify decision points ('automation consulting' vs 'web app' branches); (4) pinpoint the manual pain (sending emails, sales not knowing a lead came in, CRM re-keying); (5) define triggers and actions explicitly; (6) pick the platform that has the integrations; (7) implement, test, monitor, optimise - weekly at first, then monthly. Cross-platform chains are possible over webhooks but add cost.

PROCEDURE: forms.new with name, email and a multiple-choice source question; publish 'anyone with the link'; link responses to a new Sheet. In Make: new scenario -> Google Sheets 'Watch new rows' (OAuth; spreadsheet ID is the string between /d/ and /edit; header range A1:D1; row limit) -> Outlook (or Gmail) 'Create and send a message', subject 'Registration Successful', drag name and email into the body. Paste the body into ChatGPT for HTML so line breaks render; re-test. Scheduling: 'every 15 minutes' on the free plan (per-minute on paid), fetch limit per cycle queues the rest, processed rows are tracked so nothing sends twice.

Zapier: the most integrations (~8,000), most mature, least generous free tier. Make: ~3,000 integrations, ~1,000 free credits a month, the demo platform. n8n: fewer native integrations but strongest for AI and agentic automation, and self-hostable. Chain platforms only when one lacks an integration; each hop costs. And the coding question: no-code wins on speed; code wins when every detail must be controlled.

PROCEDURE: connect OpenAI in Make (API key from platform.openai.com, billing credits added, organisation ID); 'Generate an image' with DALL-E 3 from 'a motivational quote for entrepreneurs, shareable on Instagram'; pass the image URL to 'Analyze the image' with a caption prompt that forbids meta text; 'Create a photo post' on Instagram (business account connected via Facebook login). Convert the start into a daily schedule (6 PM) and the pipeline runs unattended; per run 'probably less than a dollar', usage visible per step. OpenAI API billing is separate from a ChatGPT subscription.

A Router module splits one flow into parallel branches so the same image feeds an Instagram caption and a LinkedIn post without regenerating; filters on a branch route by a field (e.g. service type). The LinkedIn 'Create a user image post' module failed repeatedly until an HTTP 'Get a file' module fetched the image URL into binary data - LinkedIn's API needs the file, Instagram's accepts a link. Per-branch delays and schedules (Instagram at noon, LinkedIn two hours later) are set with a Delay module.

Attendance bonuses: Day 1 a 3,000-prompt library, Day 2 a 'make money with AI' kit, Day 3 a personalised AI toolkit; a combined link; recordings, certificate, roadmap and workbook by email the next day. The Accelerator (14 days, five levels, weekday and weekend live sessions, discounted 'from 9,995 to 2,995', cohort Oct 25) and the Fellowship (six months, weekends, interview entry, 5,995, Klarna instalments, Nov 30). Prices spoken digit-by-digit; treat as approximate and expired.