AI Automation for Chikuho SMEs

Iizuka LinkedIn Network · Fukuoka Prefecture · Japan

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Connect AI to your business processes to automate repetitive work.

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What Is AI Automation?

AI automation means connecting AI tools to your existing workflows so that tasks happen automatically — without you doing them manually each time.

Example: Instead of manually checking for new customer emails, writing a response, and saving it to Notion every morning — automation does it while you sleep.

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The Free Automation Stack

Tool	Role	Cost
n8n	Workflow orchestrator (self-hosted = free)	Free
Zapier	No-code automation (100 tasks/month free)	Free tier
Make	Visual automation builder	Free tier
Claude API	AI brain for automations	Pay-per-use
Google Sheets	Simple data storage	Free
Notion	Task management output	Free

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5 Automations You Can Build Today

1. Customer Email → AI Response Draft

Gmail receives email → n8n triggers → Claude drafts reply → 
saves to Google Docs for review → notification in Slack

Time saved: 30 min/day for busy inboxes

2. LinkedIn Post Generator

You write 1 sentence in Notion → n8n triggers → Claude expands to 
full post with hashtags → saves draft → you review and post

Time saved: 45 min/week

3. Job Application Screener

Applications arrive in email → n8n extracts text → Claude scores 
against criteria → summary added to Notion → top candidates flagged

Time saved: 2–4 hours per hiring round

4. Weekly Business Report

Every Monday 8AM → n8n pulls Sheets data → Claude writes summary 
report → sent to owner via email

Time saved: 1 hour/week

5. Social Media Monitor

Daily → n8n searches for mentions of your business or keywords → 
Claude summarizes → digest sent to your inbox

Time saved: 30 min/day

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Getting Started with n8n

n8n is the recommended tool for Chikuho Region businesses because it is free when self-hosted and handles Japanese text well.

Option A: n8n Cloud (Easiest)

1. Sign up at n8n.io
2. Free trial, then ~$20/month
3. No server setup required

Option B: Self-Hosted (Free)

1. Install on a local computer or ¥1,000/month VPS
2. Access via browser
3. Completely free, your data stays local

Your First n8n Workflow

1. Open n8n
2. Create a new workflow
3. Add trigger: “Schedule” (every day at 8AM)
4. Add node: “HTTP Request” → call Claude API
5. Add node: “Gmail” → send result to your email
6. Save and activate

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Claude API for Automation

For automation, you use the Claude API (not claude.ai). It costs approximately ¥0.2–2 per request depending on length.

// Example API call
const response = await fetch("https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "anthropic-version": "2023-06-01",
    "content-type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens: 1000,
    messages: [{
      role: "user",
      content: "Summarize this customer email in 3 bullet points: [email]"
    }]
  })
});

→ Get your API key at console.anthropic.com

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Resources

• n8n documentation (English)
• Zapier Help Center (Japanese available)
• Claude API documentation

→ Attend an AI Workshop to build your first automation live

Iizuka LinkedIn Network · Chikuho Region · Fukuoka Prefecture · Japan