# How to Automate Lead Generation in 10 Minutes Using 100% Free AI

> **The Problem:** Manually finding leads and writing outreach messages wastes 10+ hours a week. Hiring an assistant is expensive.
> **The Solution:** A simple, automated workflow combining free automation tools and an AI text generator that runs completely on autopilot—and doesn’t cost a single dollar to set up.

## What You Need (The Free Tech Stack)
Before we begin, open accounts on these free platforms:
1. **n8n (Community Edition):** For building the core automation logic.
2. **Groq API:** For ultra-fast, free AI text generation.
3. **Google Sheets:** To store and manage your data.

## Step 1: Set Up Your Data Source
Create a new Google Sheet with two columns: “Name” and “Company Name”. Add 3 rows of fake test data so you have something to work with.

## Step 2: Connect the AI Brain
Set up your automation block to pull data from your Google Sheet and send it to your AI model using this copy-paste prompt:

> **Copy-Paste Prompt to use:**
> “Act as an expert copywriter. Take the incoming company name and write a personalized cold email following this structure: 1) A friendly opening, 2) One specific compliment about the company, 3) A clear call-to-action question. Keep it under 50 words.”

## Step 3: Test and Automate
Run a manual test inside your automation builder to make sure the AI successfully generates the text and writes it back to your sheet. Turn on the active toggle switch to run it live.

## Summary & Next Steps
By setting up this pipeline, you’ve completely automated your outreach messaging without spending money on expensive software subscriptions.

👉 **Ready to scale?** If you want to run this workflow 24/7 in the cloud without keeping your computer on, check out a cloud hosting plan using our partner link to get started for free.