Here’s what an AI-powered content production + distribution system looks like in action

If you’re wondering how an AI-powered content system works, I created this article + video as a demo of my AI Content System in action (and yes, I used the system to create this article and all the supporting content that goes with it). 

So, I wanted to show you:

• My general approach to creating and distributing content across multiple channels
• How the AI system fits into the process and how it works
• A bit of the technical side of what brings the system to life + how it maintains brand, quality, and strategic alignment

It’s worth noting that the below is how my AI system is set up for my content. It includes my platforms and the tools I use. 

Everyone’s system will be unique, accounting for your platforms, tools, brand, and voice. But sharing how I use it is the clearest way to make it make sense.

So, with that all being said, let’s get into it. 

My content process at a high level 

My content approach is pretty straightforward: 

• I record a video like this one on Riverside FM
• I edit it, then create a full-length video, full-length audio, and use Riverside's built-in AI features plus my own judgment to clip out shorter pieces for Instagram and LinkedIn
• Then I create supporting assets and distribute everything from there

To get specific:

• The video goes on YouTube
• I create a blog article with the YouTube video embedded
• I create a series of evergreen LinkedIn and Instagram posts to go with my clips + thumbnails for each platform
• I turn it into an email in Kit
• I upload the audio to Transistor, which pushes the podcast version out to Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and about 30 smaller platforms I'm pretty sure nobody actually uses

That's my content production and distribution approach.

The AI-powered system I've built takes my video transcript, applies all the parameters and training I've baked in, writes all the content, generates the creative assets (like thumbnails), and publishes it across every channel.

My core toolkit for content creation + distribution 

When it comes to my content toolkit, I have six go-tos:

• I record and edit videos in RiversideFM.
• Everything lives in Google Drive. That's my content management system. Yours might be SharePoint or something else, but the principle is the same: you need a central hub where all your assets live, and where the AI system pulls from.
• I use Canva for creatives. All the thumbnails you see on my blog, Instagram, and YouTube get created there. 
• For scheduling social media content, I use Publer, but there are tons of options, like Later, Buffer, and HubSpot. Pick one that works with your setup.
• I run the entire system through Trello. This is where I plan and manage content and track everything's progress. It’s also how I control the AI system.
• I live on Slack, so I want updates from my system as things progress. Everything syncs up.

That’s the full stack. 

How the AI content system works + how it fits into my content stack

Here's where it gets interesting. 

There are a few ways to trigger this system, depending on your content approach:

• Maybe you're interviewing a member, and you have a transcript
• Maybe you've got notes about a topic
• Maybe you've got a voice note of stream-of-consciousness thoughts

Regardless, I'd build you a Claude Skill that turns that asks you questions and turns your source material (I call it "Asset Zero") into a creative brief. Then, you'd plug that into the system.

For me, my starting point is a transcript. Since I have hundreds of previous articles to use as examples, I don't bother with a brief, but I'd always recommend it for others.

Within my transcript, I bake in an episode slug, a title, an angle, and the clip angles for each of my evergreen social media clips.

Everything gets managed in a Google Drive folder with a few subfolders (my Talemaker Content Pipeline):

• Inbox: This is where I drop my transcript (or where you’d put your brief). The AI system pulls the raw info from here.
• Media: This is where I upload all my various social media clips + the full video and audio versions of my recording. The AI system pulls from here. 
• Screenshots: I like to use real photos or screenshots for my thumbnails on YouTube, blog, etc. So, I clip those and drop them here. The AI system pulls them from here and turns them into thumbnails. 
• In Progress: Once the system kicks off, the transcript is moved to this folder.
• Drafts: Once the system’s got drafts ready, it pings me on Slack and creates a draft content doc here. I review and make edits in the document. 
• Approved: Once content is approved, the system moves the doc here while it works.
• Assets: Once the system has created thumbnails, it adds them to this folder.
• Published: This is where content goes once it’s published, so you don’t get overwhelmed by too many docs sitting in your various folders. 
• Processed: Once the system has worked through a transcript, it discards it here. 

From a user perspective, the system works like this: 

• I drop the transcript into Inbox
• I upload all the media (social clips, audio recording, full YouTube video) into Media
• I add my screenshots to Screenshots
• I drag my Trello card from the Pipeline list to the Inbox list, and this triggers the AI system to get to work
• The system pings me on Slack to let me know it’s working, then drags the card to an In Progress list 
• In the background, the system creates all the written + creative assets I need for all platforms
• The system gives me another Slack message to let me know my content is ready for review, gives me the doc link, and moves the card from the In Progress list to In Review, so I can easily keep track of where the project stands
• I review the content and edit as needed in the draft document
• Once I’m happy with it, I go to Trello, open the card, and click a button (Ready for Distribution)
• This triggers the system to ping me on Slack, letting me know publication is underway, then it uploads drafts on my blog, in Kit, in Publer, on YouTube, and in Transistor 
• I get one final ping on Slack letting me know everything’s been uploaded
• I go into each platform to manually review + schedule content (you can make this automatic, I’m just a control freak and like to have the final say)

The system cuts down production and distribution time significantly. 

One big note: This is how the system works for me. When creating one for you, we'd look at all your priority platforms and systems, then custom build it to spec. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for you. So, every system is custom.

The review process is always essential

The AI Content System ultimately only has three main human touchpoints:

1. Creating your “asset zero” and dropping all the elements into the Google Drive folder
2. Reviewing and editing the content drafts + pushing the Trello button
3. Giving a final once-over on all channels before publishing

But that second step is still super, super important. 

If I’m being honest (and it may sound weird for me to say this, considering I'm promoting the value of an AI content system):

AI isn’t perfect (far from it).

So, the system generally gets you about 75% of the way there.

I spend 30 minutes reviewing everything to make sure it sounds brand-aligned, accurate, and not like generic AI garbage.

I'm not kidding about this part. 

Even with all the customization and strategy work that goes into it, it’s still AI content. 

If you skip the review, you risk having content that doesn’t sound perfectly like your brand.

The human element is what makes the system worth using.

Ultimately, AI is an output multiplier, not a magic button. So, my system doesn’t eliminate the human element. Human input is still critical.

This is by design. No matter how smart the AI system is, nobody’s going to know your brand and voice better than you.

So, I spend a good chunk of time fine-tuning the drafts, and you should too. 

A quick glimpse at the technical side (without boring you to death) 

I use Make.com to build the system. It lets you create mini AI agents that automate everything. There are other tools like Relay, but I like Make because it's more in-depth.

I have two scenarios: 

One for content generation:

And one for content distribution:

Across both, there are about 100 modules, all custom-coded with my specific parameters baked in.

The content generation scenario hooks up with Claude (not ChatGPT, which I don't recommend for this). 

Every module is a specific instruction. Some of them are customized prompts:

• Create a blog article
• Write a YouTube description
• Draft Transistor show notes
• Build individual LinkedIn posts, Instagram posts, and YouTube Shorts

They're all connected to Trello and Slack.

This is where quality gets baked in.

Each module has a custom system prompt that includes: 

• My voice rules
• Brand guidelines
• Formatting preferences
• Approximate word count
• Ultra-specific and granular writing instructions
• Approximate word count
• CTA
• Example hooks, and even previous content of mine
• Best practices for each platform 

This is comprehensive.

Over time, these prompts evolve. The system looks at past work, so every time you use it, the first draft gets closer to perfect. Maybe it goes from 70% accurate to 80% to 90%.

The distribution scenario is the heavy lift. 

Once I click "approve for distribution" in Trello, the system does all the work of getting content onto Publr, YouTube, ConvertKit, Canva, my blog, and everything else.

Why the system is built around the 40-20-40 Rule

I always say AI is 40-20-40. 

The first 40% is the upfront work: 

• Setting up the systems
• Coming up with ideas
• Getting the right inputs.

The middle 20% is what the system does (which happens to be the most time-consuming part). 

The remaining 40% is the back end: making sure everything is brand-aligned and looks good.

The system doesn't take the human element out. 

If you remove the human, you get the AI garbage flooding the internet right now. 

But when you use a tool like this to augment outputs and speed up execution while maintaining quality, brand alignment, and strategy, you can cut production and distribution time drastically.