With technology comes possibilities. And with endless possibilities comes overwhelm.
Where do you start?
It’s a great question, and one I can’t answer—where you start is up to you. But what I can do is give you a whole bunch of ideas to work with.
I’m lumping AI, agents, and automation together because they all involve a tool executing a directive without human intervention. Plus, they often feed into each other for an even more efficient workflow.
These suggestions are aimed at making your content workflows more efficient.
Ideas for Content Development
Consider your existing process rather than changing how you operate.
For people who handwrite their content
The basic concept here is to turn your handwritten notes into digital text.
- Take a photo of handwritten notes on your phone. Send yourself the image files (email, Slack). Upload to AI and prompt it to convert images into text.
- Instead of sending yourself the image, save the image files on a cloud drive (OneDrive, Google Drive). Use Claude Desktop to grab the files and convert images to text.
- Automate the workflow by creating a prompt or agent that sends (via MCP) the transcribed text to a new Word or Google Doc, or another draft system, like Notion.
- If you don’t have or can’t access an MCP, have AI create a new file you can save in your doc of choice. Or, have it create a markdown file (good for Notion).
- Use a prompt to take the transcribed text and create a draft based on voice context files.
For people who like dictating or have podcasts
Most genAI tools don’t transcribe audio files. There are dedicated ones, though I’m not going to touch on those here. If you work in-house, inquire about dictation/transcription tech—you may already have the technology to do this.
First thing is to capture the audio, of course. Make sure that you know how long you can talk for, otherwise you’ll be in the middle of a thought when it cuts out.
- If you have Zoom, you can use its AI to transcribe the meeting audio.
- Use your phone’s voice memo app.
- Use the voice function on Claude.
- You could create a prompt or agent that interviews you, then respond via voice.
If you need to transcribe the audio, convert it using a free tool like AudioConvert.
You can automate pushing the transcribed audio content into another system (Word, Google Doc, Notion) by using a tool like Zapier. For example:
- When Zoom renders a new transcript, use Zapier to automate: a new transcript file triggers the creation of a new page in Notion, then adds the transcript for easy drafting/editing.
- Take the automation further by adding a step where the content is run through an AI prompt before landing in a doc for review.
Podcasts
- If you post your podcast videos to YouTube, Zapier can automate the transcription using Gemini. The flow would be: new video posted on your YouTube channel, use Zapier’s AI function to transcribe the file, then send the text to a doc.
- Zapier also allows you to pull in a new podcast from Spotify, and then you can run it through AI transcription.
Ideas for Content Processes & Workflows
How you go about managing your process will depend on your existing tech stack.
For people with an existing project/content management tool
First, you’ll want to figure out what your options are.
- Look at direct integrations from/to your PM tool.
- Check to see if the tool connects via an MCP. Tools like monday.com, Asana, Todoist, and ClickUp have connections to Claude.
- Head to your favorite automation tool (Zapier, make, n8n) to see if your tool connects and what you can do with it (check triggers and actions).
For people without a content management tool
It’s easy to create one, particularly if you use MCPs to do it.
It doesn’t have to be complex, either. It can be a place where you keep your content drafts. Mine sits in Notion. It’s on the simplistic side: draft content, last edited date, target publication date, status. And I like Notion because I can use AI fields and agents in the tool itself, plus the MCP with Claude.
You can also explore direct connections to your website CMS. Proprietary systems will likely be more difficult, but WordPress is one that connects with most tools in some way.
Now, for the ideas
Ask for reports
- Manually query using AI or MCP: What did I work on this week? What’s due this week? Give me a summary of what’s open.
- Automate these reports with in-tool agents (Notion has them), AI with agents, or even an automation tool like Zapier. These can be run on a schedule (e.g., every week) or trigger (e.g., status changes).
Automate draft processes
Let’s say you finished a draft and want to send it off to the next person.
- Use an MCP to connect to your Gmail to send the content draft alongside email copy. Create a prompt or agent that triggers the process of sending it out (asks for the draft URL, asks for the email copy, asks for the contact).
- If there’s not an MCP available, create the same process using automation. Automation tools allow for manual input if you don’t want to rely on full automation.
When drafts come back, use automation to update your content system.
- Set up an automation where a change triggers adding email content and documents to your content system. For example, create a Gmail label where you manually move the email to that label, which triggers an automation to push that content into Notion.
- If you have a dedicated email address, use incoming emails as the trigger.
- Use AI as part of the automation to more accurately put content in the right places.
Run agents for review
- Develop a “Brand Bot” (agent) that reviews content for brand voice and standards. This can be done manually or automatically based on something like a status trigger.
- If you have particular words, phrases, or other details that you’re looking for, you can create an agent that flags problematic areas. For example, it flags any version of “specialize,” or it flags company names other than your firm name, and then sends you a report.
Ideas for Post-Publication
The content process doesn’t end with publication.
Once it’s published, I usually like to keep the published URL alongside the draft content.
- If you have a draft system, create an automation that monitors a site feed via RSS, which is the trigger to look up the same title, and then append that item with the publication URL.
- If you don’t have a draft system, create an automation that monitors an RSS feed for new items, then creates new database items with the URL and content.
- You can create these automations for any website, blog, or even syndicated content (like JD Supra).
Distribute your content on social media
- Create automation triggers that send the published content to your social media management tool. Example: new RSS item pushes URL and title to Buffer.
- Add AI to the automation that suggests post content based on the article.
- Give it a prompt that you run without intervention: new RSS item > content goes through prompt > output in Buffer.
- Instead of a direct push to your social management app, send the output to your email or a field in your content system. Example: new RSS item > content goes through prompt > title lookup to match the content draft in Notion > output goes into a text field in that content draft.
- Use an in-tool AI field to auto-populate social post suggestions. In Notion, for example, you can create a field with a prompt that reads the content within the page/item, and the output shows up in that field. So: new RSS item > creates a new database item in your content tracker > field auto-populates social post suggestions per your prompt.
Encourage your folks to share content
- Use an RSS automation to send new content internally for folks to share on their own social media with a static message.
- Add an AI component into the automation where the new post is run through a prompt, and the output becomes a new email draft.
If you want more control over the process or have different processes, use a database structure to do it.
One way: create a new database in Notion (or have an MCP do it). Use an automation to pull new RSS feed items into the database (content, URL). Create fields that manage the process, like a status field and text fields for the content you’ll send. The text fields could be prompt-based or blank for your own input. So it could look like: new RSS item into Notion > the content is run through an AI prompt and output into a specific field > after editing, a status change triggers an email to a list.
Now, let’s say your content includes important “alerts” that get a different internal treatment. Add a select field in your Notion database that triggers a select prompt. A new RSS item appears in your database > you get an email to set the prompt > the field selection of the prompt type triggers an automation that runs the post content through a particular AI prompt > the output appears in a Notion text field > after editing, a status change triggers an email to a list.
Ideas for Utilizing All That Content
Make use of having your content in one location.
- Query AI for RFPs, pitches, or even outreach: prompt AI to review content for a topic or in answer to a question. Example: “we’re pitching [this type of client in this industry] with [these types of issues], surface content relevant to this audience.”
- Ask AI to generate ideas: “review content published in 2026 and suggest article ideas that align with [this industry’s] appetite.” Use an MCP or content files to reference relevant documentation (e.g., industry research, survey results, practice group plans).
- Audit your SEO/GEO/AIO using prompts or agents.
- If it’s in a database structure, use the content database to export yearly reports for attorney end-of-year reviews. This would require that the RSS automation into the database include the author(s).
Why stop at your own content?
- Use RSS automation to pull in your competitors’ content. Analyze their content using AI to help you position your own content or discover trends.
- Do it with publications (that aren’t behind a paywall). Use AI to surface topic ideas or ways to pitch a particular publication or journalist.
- Pull in key topics from JD Supra and use agents/AI to identify patterns or hot topics. Use prompts to suggest where your firm can fit into the conversation.
- Do this with your clients! Have AI/agents flag certain issues that align with your firm’s services.