Case study 04 · Content System · AI · Multi-Platform
The Content Automation System Behind Optimal Operations
One topic in. Full multi-platform content suite out. Built on Airtable, Make.com, Claude API, and a custom dashboard.
Why I built this
Most content systems for small businesses are spread across half a dozen tools and still need the founder to sit down for hours every week. I wanted the opposite. One central hub, AI doing the heavy lifting, multi-platform output, and about 30 seconds of human input per piece of content.
I built it for my own business first. It runs all of the Optimal Operations content now. Same system is what I package as a product for other small business owners.
What I built
Airtable as the content hub
Every piece of content lives in one Airtable base. Topic, target keyword, status, generated copy across every platform, image URLs, scheduled date, post performance. One record, full lifecycle.
Make.com as the trigger and generator
Make watches Airtable for a status change. When a record is marked Ready for Claude, Make fires a single Claude API call with a structured prompt and writes the full content suite back to Airtable as one JSON response.
Claude API doing the writing
One prompt, one call, returns the lot: carousel slides, Pinterest title and description, Instagram caption and hashtags, LinkedIn post and newsletter, blog title and outline, newsletter subject and body, SEO page title, meta description, slug, and image alt text. All written in my voice, with all my banned words excluded.
AI image generation
From the dashboard, one button kicks off AI image generation. A unique background image is generated for each carousel slide based on the topic, and brand-styled text is overlaid programmatically. Permanent URLs save back to Airtable. Every post has a unique visual, no stock photos repeating across the feed.
Custom Kanban dashboard
A Netlify-hosted dashboard that pulls live from Airtable. Content moves through columns: Idea, Ready for Claude, Generated, Approved to Post, Posted. Each card opens a preview panel with the copy, images, and a schedule picker. Edit, approve, schedule, all from one screen. Clients never touch Airtable.
GoHighLevel for publishing
Approved content with a scheduled date flows from the dashboard to GoHighLevel. GHL posts to Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, the blog, and the newsletter on the scheduled date. Status updates to Posted automatically.
Analytics loop back to Airtable
Performance data on each post (reach, saves, engagement) flows back to Airtable against the original record. The next round of topic decisions is informed by what is actually working.
How it runs, step by step
- 1
Input (about 30 seconds)
- Type a topic and target keyword into Airtable
- Set the status to Ready for Claude
- 2
Automated generation
- Make.com triggers
- One Claude API call returns the full content suite
- Airtable is populated (6 carousel slides, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, blog outline, newsletter, SEO fields)
- Status set to Generated
- 3
Dashboard
- Open the dashboard
- Generate images
- Preview and edit
- Pick a date
- Status set to Approved to Post
- 4
Publishing
- GoHighLevel publishes on the date to Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, the blog and the newsletter
- 5
Analytics
- Reach, saves and engagement flow back to Airtable and feed the next round of topics
The full process map
Input at the top, automated content generation in the middle, the dashboard review layer, then publishing fanning out across five platforms with analytics feeding back to the start.
What this system delivers
30s
Human input per content piece (topic, keyword, status)
5
Platforms posted to from a single topic input
20+
Discrete pieces of copy generated per content topic
1
Dashboard to run the whole pipeline (no need to ever open Airtable)
Without it
Sit down at the start of every week. Brainstorm topics. Write the blog. Re-cut for Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest. Design slides in Canva. Schedule each one separately in each platform. Several hours per content piece across the platforms. Easy to skip a week when the work gets heavy.
With it
Type one topic and one keyword. Set status. Walk away. Come back to the dashboard, click Generate Images, preview, edit if needed, hit Approve and Schedule. The system writes for every platform, generates the visuals, queues the posts, publishes on the date, and tracks performance. Weekly content output becomes a 10 minute task.
How it's productised
The same system is offered to other small business owners across three tiers, depending on how much help they want with implementation.
DIY tier
Airtable base template plus a short video series walking through how to connect Make.com, the Claude API, and the dashboard inside their own accounts.
Done with you tier
Template plus a 90 minute live build session where the system is set up inside their accounts on a shared screen.
Done for you tier
Full build inside their accounts: Airtable, Make.com scenarios, Claude API, dashboard, GoHighLevel connection, brand voice document, tested and handed over with an SOP.
If your content output is suffering because the manual work to produce it just keeps stacking up, this is solvable. Book an Ops Review and we'll work out which tier fits.
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