MBD108: Automate the Boring Stuff w/MCPs

07 September 2025 | Issue #108

In this issue:

Automate the Boring Stuff with MCPs
Modern Marketing Tools Can't Compete in the Age of AI
The Most Human Marketing I've Ever Seen
Imposter Syndrome Affects Everyone
CEX recap
Digital version of The Visual Marketer on sale now
Design Quote of the Week

Midjourney prompt: a marketer is sitting in the middle of the room. From a birds-eye view, we can see the marketer surrounded by silos. A vibrant, high-contrast illustration using flat vector-style shading with neon and duotone color blocking. The characters are stylized with exaggerated lighting in cyan and yellow tones, set against a magenta background. There’s a strong use of shadow and highlight to create depth without using gradients. It uses clean lines and a minimal background to keep focus on the figures and objects. --ar 16:9

I spent the past week connecting my marketing stack to Claude via MCP (Model Context Protocol). Here's what I learned about the future of marketing operations.

The Boring Stuff Problem

Think about how much time you spend doing the boring stuff. Administrative tasks that time time and effort away from the job you were hired to do.

I've been working with a few clients lately so I've been increasing my reliance on tools to keep track of tasks, communications, billing, etc. Then I went to CEX and a couple of people opened my eyes.

I've been a big proponent of ChatGPT. That's where I've been building my custom GPTs to help my business. But after talking to Dan Nestle and Mark Shust, I realized I needed to explore Claude more. Then, when Wil Reynolds was on stage, he basically yelled at all of us who aren't using MCPs to streamline our business.

Well, now I had to look into this.

I read that the average marketer uses 10-15 tools per day. Thinking about what information belongs in which tool takes a strain. And if there is information that lives in one tool, but not in another, that only further hampers productivity. By the end of the day, anyone will feel like a browser with 47 tabs open ... and they're all playing music.

If you have to manually transfer information or data from one tool to another, there's the chance of human error. (Not you, of course, but your less-than-attentive co-workers could transpose a number somewhere). All it takes is one fat-fingered digit in HubSpot, and suddenly your $10k deal looks like $100.

With my own business, I was using:

Notion for task management
HubSpot for customer/prospect info
Gmail for communication
Slack for some other communication
Apple Calendar for meetings and time blocking

Plus using plenty of other tools like PowerPoint, Figma, Canva, Creative Cloud, Cursor, and others for different tasks.

Enter MCPs: The AI Integration Layer You Haven't Heard Of

First, I had to figure out what an MCP (Model Context Protocol) was. Let's let AI explain it for you:

MCP, or Model Context Protocol, is an open-source standard that allows AI agents to easily connect with external data sources and tools by providing a standardized way for them to communicate, rather than having to directly manage complex APIs or credentials themselves. The protocol uses a client-server model, where an AI agent (client) can query an MCP server to access various tools or data, like databases or APIs, and receive results back. Key components include the MCP client (the AI agent), the MCP server (which acts as an intermediary to data sources), and the MCP protocol itself (the communication rules)

TLDR: It's a host (Claude) that connects to a server that connects to a data source.

I spent a few hours connecting my most used tools together in Claude. I know a little more than the average bear when it comes to the technical side of things, but I am far from a hardcore developer. With Claude's help, I was able to connect these different systems in an hour or two. Some are as easy as clicking a button and authenticating. Others require you to use Google Cloud Console and Terminal to make the connections.

Now, I had Notion and HubSpot synced. Inbox checked. Calendar blocked. Prospect nudged. Proposal updated. All without me lifting more than a few fingers. By 10 am, I felt like I had an entire ops department living inside Claude.

The Workflow That Really Mattered

The first thing I wanted to do was make sure Notion and HubSpot had the correct data. So I, in normal language, asked Claude to ensure that Notion and HubSpot have their information synched.

Once that was done, I asked Claude if there was anything in my inbox that that applies to any of my clients that I may have missed.

There was.

Claude pointed out that I was overdue to follow up with a prospect about a proposal.

I'm not at the stage where I have Claude write client emails. I don't trust it that much. But, because it was after working hours, I asked Claude to block 15 minutes on my calendar the next morning to write and send the email.

After I sent the email, that was recorded in HubSpot (via the HubSpot/Gmail connector), I then told Claude to set up a new "next steps" update for this prospect in Notion.

The Results: What Actually Moved the Needle

I've just started using MCPs so I'm sure I'll fine tune this and add more tools to this process. But I'm already seeing time savings. And I'm sure that clients are/will be happy that I'm more responsive to their needs. I had a pretty strong workflow to ensure emails and other communications don't fall through the cracks, but this is an even more stable system for ensuring nothing gets missed.

data organization — keep your data organized

If you noticed, the first thing I had to do was get my data straightened out first before I could start taking actions with it. I've never worked for a company that has all of its data in a single place and everything is perfectly synched. Using different tools as a company grows is a normal situation.

The Brand Strategy Connection

It's often said that every touchpoint either adds or subtracts from your brand. Since my goal is to build a powerful brand, I want to ensure that every interaction with me is a positive experience. Not only am I automating some of these touchpoints to ensure it's a psoitive experience for the client/prospect, but automating the "boring stuff" allows me to spend time and effort on the areas of the business that really matter.

I only have so many hours in the day, and fuel in the tank, so I'd rather spend that on the work.

Your Next Steps

What can you automate? Where do you get hung up? Have you started working with MCPs?

These MCP connections are available on the Claude Pro plan ($20/mo). Now I'm watching videos and reading articles to think of other ways I can automate my business. The work will always be the work, and that's the fun part for me, so it's unlikely I'll try to automate any of that.

The other day I was asked why I write this newsletter. The reality is that it forces me to learn new things and try different tools. But I can only think of what I can think of. I'd love to hear how you're using AI to automate your processes.

Together, we can build amazing systems by sharing these ideas.

TOOLS

Last year, I switched from Calendly to TidyCal, and it's one of the best decisions I made for my business. Instead of paying Calendly every month, I paid a one-time price to get lifetime access to TidyCal. It ties into my calendars and my video conferencing systems. It's all automated at this point.

TidyCal books appointments, sends reminders, and has all of the info I need to manage my calendar. Highly recommended!

NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF MARKETING, DESIGN, & AI

Modern Marketing Tools Can't Compete in the Age of AI

Speaking of new ways of doing old things, Marketo co-founder Jon Miller discusses what's wrong with today's MarTech stack. Brand will save us.

Read now

The Most Human Marketing I’ve Ever Seen

I contributed to Mark Schaefer's article on the most human marketing. I made someone cry with my example (sorry Valentina)

Even the Best Have Imposter Syndrome

Public speaking/storytelling advisor, Jay Acunzo, recently highlighted how he feels like he's falling behind others. And he gets great advice from Ann Handley.

Learn more

The Happiest Place on Earth

Becky Achen wrote up the key pieces of information she learned at this year's CEX (and she went home with some impressive books). Disclaimer: I designed the cover for two of these books and the visual identity for Becky's newsletter.

THE VISUAL MARKETER

I'm still running my CEX/birthday sales.

For the digital version, use promo code: CEX25 to get the digital edition for $1.99 at my site.
Or, if you’re interested in the paperback, use promo code FreeS to get free shipping on the paperback.

Offer good until Sept 12th, 2025.

RECENT AND UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS

I talked to a few folks at CEX and will be on a handful of podcasts in the near future. If you have a podcast and you're looking for a guest, let me know!

DESIGN QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs

My AI disclaimer: I wrote all the copy this week, and then used ChatGPT for proofing. If AI generates the images, I include the prompt so you can see how I got to that image.