# The free estimator quoted $360 for a bedroom. Dana charges $633. > A painter's new website calculator quoted $360 for a bedroom she prices at $632.70, and hid the answer behind an email form. We tested a How I AI workflow for building small lead-magnet tools and rewrote it to start from your real price sheet. By Elie Mendlow · Published October 27, 2026 Section: Brokers & Harassment › From the Notebook · Series: AI Prompts, Reviewed (https://mcafax.com/notebook/prompts) Canonical: https://mcafax.com/notebook/ai-prompt-review-lead-magnet-tools Source: MCAFax, The Broker's Notebook (https://mcafax.com/notebook). MCAFax is not a lender or a law firm. --- "Just tell me what a bedroom costs. Your website said $360." That's the text **Dana** got from a homeowner a week after her new website tool went live. **Dana owns Copperline Painting (a made-up business)**, a three-person interior painting crew. Her real price for that bedroom is $632.70, or about $633. A free tool on your website is a price you've already promised. **AI Prompts, Reviewed** takes one prompt or workflow from How I AI, Claire Vo's show where guests share their screens and walk through how they really use AI. We run it on a small-business job, score it, and tell you what we'd change. **Credit:** Based on "Build Free Marketing Tools as Lead Magnets Using AI Code Assistants," a workflow from How I AI (hosted by Claire Vo, written up by the ChatPRD team), shown by Jason Levin of Memelord in the episode "How I AI: Jason Levin's Workflows for Agentic Memes, Vibe Coding, and Hardware Hacking." [Read the original workflow on How I AI](https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/build-free-marketing-tools-as-lead-magnets-using-ai-code-assistants). [Watch the full episode](https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/jason-levins-workflows-for-agentic-memes-vibe-coding-and-hardware-hacking). Guest site: none listed on the How I AI workflow page. ## What the original does Jason's marketing team builds small public tools in Cursor, an AI code editor, instead of waiting on engineers. Each tool solves one tiny problem for the same people who buy the paid product. In the episode, he says Memelord's free tools section brought in hundreds of thousands of email sign-ups. The written workflow has 4 steps: - List small tools that solve a repeated problem for your audience. - Pick the idea with one input, an instant result and little upkeep. - Ask the AI code assistant to build it, with a mobile layout, analytics and a call to action after the result. - Test the live page with real inputs, fix what breaks and ship the smallest version. The line we'd tape to the monitor: **"Deliver the useful result before asking for conversion."** ## The test Everything here is made up. Dana's price sheet: - Walls only, two coats: **$1.90** per Square foot of wall - Doors (21 Square feet each) and windows (15 Square feet each) come off the wall area - Ceilings, trim and repairs are quoted after a walk-through Her test room is a 12 by 12 foot bedroom with 8 foot ceilings, one door and two windows. **Run 1, the shortcut:** "Build me a free paint cost calculator for my painting company website that collects emails." The AI built a clean page in minutes. It also did two things Dana never asked for. It hid the price behind an email form, so visitors had to sign up before they saw anything. And it priced by floor area at a made-up **$2.50** a Square foot. For her test room that's 144 x $2.50 = **$360**, with no line saying it was an estimate. That's the trap. Ask for "a calculator" and the AI fills in a price that sounds right. Your customers read it as your price. ## The rerun **Run 2:** same tool, our prompt below. It starts with Dana's price sheet, shows the math, puts the result before the email box and labels it an estimate. The wall area: the room's perimeter is 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 48 feet, and 48 x 8 = **384** Square feet. Minus one door and two windows, 384 - 21 - 30 = **333** Square feet. At $1.90, that's **$632.70**. Before writing any code, it asked Dana to check three rooms she had already quoted by hand. All three matched to the cent. Then it built the page with the estimate first, a "final price after a free walk-through" note, and an optional email box under the result. Now the stakes. In the made-up first week, 41 people used the shortcut version. Nine asked to book at the $360 price. The gap is $632.70 - $360 = $272.70 a room, so honoring all 9 would have cost Dana **9 x $272.70 = $2,454.30**. Arguing about it would have cost her the jobs. ## Verdict: 7/10 **Strengths:** The idea is right for small businesses. A tiny tool that answers a real question beats a PDF nobody reads. The "useful result first" rule keeps it from turning into a signup wall. And the runbook warns about broken forms and analytics. **Weakness:** It never tells the AI to use your real numbers. For a software company, a rough result is fine. For a business that quotes prices, a wrong number on a public page is a promise people screenshot. It also assumes a code editor and hosting, which many owners don't have. **Founder tweak:** Give the AI your price sheet, make it show the math, test it against three jobs you already quoted, and label every result as an estimate. ## Copy the MCAFax version This is our own rewrite, not the original. [**Copy the original from Jason Levin on How I AI**](https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/build-free-marketing-tools-as-lead-magnets-using-ai-code-assistants)**.** I own [business type] and I want a small tool on my website. It helps [type of customer] answer this question: [the question customers ask most]. MY REAL NUMBERS (use only these, never invent a price or rate): Prices and rates: [paste your price sheet] What is included: [list]. What needs a visit or a call: [list]. Step 1. Before writing any code, restate my pricing rules as a short formula. Run 3 sample jobs I quoted by hand and show the math for each: [Job 1 details and my price], [job 2], [job 3]. Stop and ask me if any result doesn't match my price. Step 2. Build one simple web page with: A few inputs a customer can fill in on a phone. The result, shown right away. A line saying "Estimate only. Final price after [walk-through / call]." An optional email box or booking link AFTER the result. Step 3. Never require an email, phone number or account to see the result. Collect only what I list here: [fields]. Add a short note on how I'll use it. Step 4. Give me the full code as one file. Add plain steps to put it on [my website builder or host]. Step 5. List 5 test inputs, including silly ones like zero or a huge number. Say what the page should show for each. Paste into any AI chat or code tool, then check every number before the page goes live. ## Before you ship it 1. Pick the one question customers ask before they call you. 2. Write down your real prices and what is not included. 3. Test the tool against three jobs you already quoted. 4. Show the result before you ask for anything. 5. When the leads come in, answer them fast with our [lead follow-up prompt](https://mcafax.com/notebook/prompts/lead-follow-up-automation). More owner prompts: [browse the MCAFax prompt library](https://mcafax.com/notebook/prompts). Want your AI to do this better? [Get the MCAFax Finance skill](https://mcafax.com/skills?utm_source=notebook&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=skill-install&utm_content=ai-prompt-review-lead-magnet-tools) and add it to your AI. ## Questions readers ask **What tool does the original workflow use?** Cursor, an AI code editor. Jason's marketers describe the tool in plain language and the assistant writes and debugs the code. **Do I need to know how to code?** No. Ask the AI for one self-contained page and plain steps for your website builder. Have someone check anything that takes payments or personal data. **Why not ask for an email before showing the result?** Because the tool then becomes a signup form in disguise. The original workflow warns against this too, and people trust a result they got without a catch. **What is a good first tool for a service business?** A rough price estimate, a "how many do I need" calculator or a quick checklist that answers the question people ask before they call you. **How do I stop the tool from promising the wrong price?** Use your own price sheet, test it on jobs you already quoted, and label every result as an estimate with what the final price depends on. **Is there a downloadable version of the original?** Yes. The How I AI workflow page offers a downloadable skill version of the workflow. Copy it from the original link above.