Connected workflows
Your tools pass work to each other. A form entry becomes a client record, a calendar hold, a Slack message and a follow-up email, and nobody copies anything.
Hand off the busywork.
I build AI and automation for small teams. The copying, retyping, sorting and report-building your people do by hand each week gets done by the tools you already pay for, at a fixed price, and nothing reaches a customer without a person’s OK.
- Dana R. fills in your website form asking for a quote on a 40-person retreat.
- Sorted as a new client, events, high priority, checked against your rules.AI draft
- Added to your client list with her details filled in.
- Reply drafted in your voice, with the event price sheet attached.AI draft
- Slack message to you: “Approve the reply to Dana?”Needs you
9 seconds, start to finish. Nobody retyped anything, and nothing went out without you.
- Last week’s sales, website traffic and email replies pulled from three systems.
- Lined up in one sheet, in the same columns as every other week.
- Summary written: what moved, what didn’t, and the two numbers worth a look.AI draft
- One source came back empty, so it’s flagged for a person instead of guessed.Needs you
- Report lands in everyone’s inbox before the first meeting.
Built Sunday night, read Monday morning. The flag means a person checks it, instead of a wrong number going out.
- An editor drags a story card to “Ready” on the assignment board.
- Website draft created with headline, byline, tags and photo filled in.
- Search title and summary drafted for the editor to approve.AI draft
- Slack: “Story ready for copy edit,” with the link.Needs you
- The day’s published stories gathered into tomorrow’s newsletter draft.
The headline was typed once. Every other system got it automatically.
What I take off your plate
If someone on your team moves information from one screen to another, there’s usually a better way. Sometimes it’s a two-hour fix. Sometimes it isn’t worth doing, and I’ll tell you that too.
- Copying web-form entries into a spreadsheet, then into a second system
- Typing the same details into the website, the newsletter and three social accounts
- Building the same weekly report by hand from three dashboards
- Sorting a shared inbox and forwarding things to the right person
- Chasing status updates a tool could post on its own
- Writing first replies and summaries from a blank page, every time
Price out one chore
Pick a task your team repeats every week. Rough numbers are fine.
a year in staff time on this work
10 hours × $35 × 52 weeks
If automation took over 70% of it, a single build would pay for itself in 8 to 19 weeks.
Estimates from your numbers. The free call turns them into a fixed quote.
Get a fixed quoteWhat I build
Practical systems on tools you already use, set up so your team can run them without me.
AI that drafts and sorts
First drafts of replies, summaries of long documents and calls, tagging and routing, cleanup of messy data. People review instead of rewriting, and nothing goes out until someone approves it.
Simple internal apps
For the point where a spreadsheet stops working: one screen for your schedule, intake queue, inventory or freelancer payments, built on data you already have.
- Reports and alerts:
- numbers from your site, email, sales and books gathered into one sheet every night, with a message when something breaks or moves.
- Private AI:
- for client files and anything you can’t paste into a chatbot, run on your own hardware or in a locked-down account.
- Training:
- lessons and workshops so your people can get real work out of AI tools on their own.
Usually built with n8n, Make or Zapier, Retool or Airtable, and whichever AI model fits the job. Tutoring and workshops are on their own page.
Where I’d usually start
Teams of 5 to 50 people with no engineer to spare. Every shop is different; these are common first builds.
If you runI’d usually start with
A publication or newsletterStories that go from the assignment board to the website and into tomorrow’s newsletter without being retyped.
A nonprofitDonor and volunteer forms that land in your CRM with a thank-you already drafted, and grant deadlines that remind the right person.
A law, accounting or other professional officeIntake that gathers what you need before the first meeting, and long documents summarized privately for review.
An inn, shop, boatyard or trade businessInquiries answered within minutes by a drafted reply you approve, and job updates sent without a phone call.
An agency or consultancyClient reports that assemble themselves from each platform, and tracked time that turns into invoice drafts.
From first call to a working system
- Day one
Free 30-minute call
Bring the one process that wastes the most time each week. I’ll sketch how it would run, what it would cost, and whether it’s worth doing.
- Two business days later
A fixed quote
One page with a price and a start date. Teams weighing several projects can start with the audit instead.
- Within two weeks
A working version
You try it on real work, and I adjust it until it fits how your team actually works.
- The 30 days after
Fixes included, then it’s yours
Everything runs in your accounts with your logins, a plain-English guide and a recorded walkthrough.
Rates
Effective October 2026. Every project starts with a free call and a fixed quote.
Projects
- Workflow audit1 week
A map of every hand-off in your process, the five automations that would save the most hours, and a fixed quote for each.
$750Credited against your first build - Single build2–3 weeks
One workflow, end to end, documented, with a recorded walkthrough and 30 days of fixes.
$1,800–$4,500Depends on the systems involved - Operations system4–8 weeks
Three to five connected workflows plus a simple internal app for your schedule, queue or tracker.
$6,000–$12,000
Ongoing
- Care retainerMonthly
Monitoring, fixes when an app or API changes, small additions and a monthly check-in. Up to 6 hours.
$650/mo - Ops retainerMonthly
Everything in Care, plus one new workflow or AI feature each month. Up to 15 hours.
$1,400/mo - Hourly
Anything outside the packages, billed in 15-minute increments.
$125/hr
Learning
- 1:1 AI tutoring
Hour-long lessons over video, built around your own work.
$95/hrOr 3 sessions for $255 - Team workshop
A half-day, hands-on session for your team using your own documents and tools. Remote, or on site in Maine and New England.
From $1,200
- Nonprofits get 15% off builds.
- Once I quote a price, it doesn’t move. If a build runs long on my estimate, that’s on me.
Who’s behind Tidemill
I’m Nelson Ireson, and I’ve spent two decades in digital publishing. As executive editor of Automobile Magazine, I planned, permitted and produced multimillion-dollar events hosting dozens of people, launched a new content category, and helped build the content planning system for the magazine’s 25-person team. More recently, I built the publishing system a 30-journalist newsroom runs on every day. I’ve been CTO of a small media company since 2015, and I run my own automation and AI systems from home in Brooklin, Maine.
How I work
A person approves anything that reaches a customer or the public. Everything runs in your accounts, with your logins, so nothing breaks if we stop working together. You get a short written guide and a recorded walkthrough. If something isn’t worth automating, I’ll say so on the first call.
More about meSome of what’s running now
- A publishing platform for that newsroom. Assignment cards become website drafts, status changes post to Slack, and editors see one calendar instead of three.
- A production automation server. Its nightly jobs include one that gathers new listings, removes duplicates and files them in a shared sheet for review.
- AI content pipelines built on the Anthropic API, including a multi-agent marketing system.
- Open AI models on local hardware, for work that shouldn’t leave the building.
Common questions
- Do I need to be technical?
- No. If you can describe how the work gets done today, that’s enough. I handle the setup and leave you with a guide written for the people who’ll use it.
- Which tools do you work with?
- Most of what small teams use: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, WordPress, Monday.com, Asana, Airtable, HubSpot, Mailchimp, beehiiv and more. If a tool has an API or a decent export, it can usually be connected.
- Which AI do you use?
- Whichever fits the job and your rules: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or an open model running privately when the material is sensitive. You pay the AI provider directly, usually a few dollars to a few tens of dollars a month at small-team volumes.
- Will this replace people on my team?
- That isn’t the goal. The point is to take the repetitive part of their week away so they can do the work you hired them for.
- What happens when one of my apps changes and something breaks?
- Every build includes 30 days of fixes. After that, the Care retainer covers monitoring and repairs, or you can call on me by the hour.
- Is my data safe?
- I work inside your accounts with the least access the job needs, and everything runs under your ownership. For sensitive material, the AI can run on your own hardware so nothing leaves the building.
- What does it cost to keep running?
- Usually just the subscriptions you already pay for, plus AI usage billed by the provider. If a build needs a new tool, the quote names it and what it costs.
- Do you only work in Maine?
- No. Most work happens remotely for teams anywhere in the US. I’m glad to come on site in Maine and New England.
Bring me the chore your team hates most
Tell me what eats the time. I’ll reply by email to set up a free 30-minute call, and you’ll leave it knowing what a fix would cost, or that you don’t need one.