shift the layout, I just cut and paste cells. The system is fully modular. I rarely log into Mailchimp anymore. I click a custom menu right inside Google Sheets to send a test, and, if it looks good, I click “send final.” With AI’s help, the result is a custom-built market- ing engine for zero dollars. We never had time to create product emails before this, but last week, we sold a Martin Custom Shop guitar directly from one of them. 2. THE “HASSLE-FREE” OPERATIONS GUIDE Does anyone actually read your Operations Guide? When was the last time you even reviewed it? In the past, we tried setting calendar reminders to manually email sections of the guide to our staff. It was a mess. If the table of contents changed, the calendar system broke. My fix was simple. I asked AI for a solution, and together we
built a script that “reads” our Operations Guide to automate the process. I added the phrase “section break” throughout the document where it made sense. Now, the script grabs one section per week and emails it to the staff. When it reaches the end, it loops back to the beginning. It runs on autopilot. No one has to remember to send the email. 3. THE “POOR MAN’S API” FOR FINANCIAL REPORTING Enterprise businesses have APIs (Application Programming Inter- faces) connecting their inventory systems to reporting dashboards. That usually requires a developer, dedicated hardware and a large budget. We built the “poor man’s version.” We set our Windows Sched- uler to auto-export reports from our inventory system — which is Tri-Tech — and email them to
a Gmail account. From there, an AI-written script intercepts those attachments and pumps the raw data straight into Google Sheets. Every morning, I wake up to a dashboard populated with in- ventory on hand, or what’s been received, sold, returned, and lost/ stolen; purchasing targets, or POs needed to hit free freight mini- mums; cash requirements, or to- tal outstanding dollars needed for those POs; and financial health, or accounts receivable, payable aging reports and aged inventory. People used to manually popu- late these reports, which was a waste of time. Now, the data flows effortlessly. YOU’RE THE ARCHITECT I’m not a technical person. But I’m curious, and I’m persistent. If you want to reach “level four,” a great place to start is Google Apps Script. It’s free and sitting right there in the “extensions”
menu of every Google Doc and Sheet. If you pay for Google Workspace, you already have pro-level access and run times. You don’t need to know how to write the code — you just need to know how to ask for it. Talk to your favorite AI, tell it what you want to build and start with something simple. If the idea of coding feels intimidating, try Google Workspace Studio. It’s a free, no-code setup for Workspace users with a powerful hidden perk: it also allows you to use AI as an agent, moving beyond workflows. It’s not always easy, and it requires patience. But the mo- ment you watch your first au- tomation run on its own, that’s when you’ll finally understand the addiction. What will you do with the time you save? MI
Peter Dods is the owner of Honolulu-based Easy
JUNE 2026 I MUSIC INC. I 23
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