Ad Slots Platform Help
Step 1 — Gather context
If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.
Ask the user:
-
What's your Ad Slots situation?
- A) Evaluating Ad Slots — haven't signed up yet
- B) Setting up Ad Slots — configuring sponsors, calendar, or Stripe
- C) Using Ad Slots — troubleshooting or optimizing workflows
- D) Comparing Ad Slots to Sponsy or other ad management tools -
Which plan are you on (or considering)?
- A) Starter (free — 5 active sponsors, 25 AI ads/month)
- B) Growth ($49/mo — unlimited sponsors, Stripe integration, unlimited AI)
- C) Not sure yet -
What's your newsletter setup?
- How many sponsors do you typically manage?
- Which ESP do you use (Beehiiv, Substack, Ghost, etc.)?
- Are you currently using spreadsheets to track sponsors?
Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.
Step 2 — Route or answer directly
| If the question is about... | Route to... |
|---|---|
| Newsletter monetization strategy (pricing, models, which revenue streams) | /sales-newsletter [user's question] |
| Finding sponsors to pitch | /sales-sponsorgap [user's question] or /sales-paved [user's question] |
| Sponsorship operations with advertiser portals and Zapier automation | /sales-sponsy [user's question] |
| Growing your subscriber list | /sales-audience-growth [user's question] |
| Email deliverability or spam issues | /sales-deliverability [user's question] |
When routing to another skill, provide the exact command.
If the question is about Ad Slots itself (setup, configuration, Stripe, AI copy, calendar management), continue to Step 3.
Step 3 — Ad Slots platform reference
Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — capabilities, pricing, Stripe integration, AI copy generator, and workflow guidance.
Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.
Step 4 — Actionable guidance
Focus on the user's specific situation:
- Evaluating: Compare Ad Slots vs Sponsy vs spreadsheets based on sponsor count, budget, and automation needs
- Setting up: Walk through sponsor entry, calendar configuration, and Stripe connection
- Optimizing: Help with AI copy workflows, fulfillment tracking, and revenue reporting
- Migrating: Guide spreadsheet-to-Ad Slots transition
If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.
Gotchas
> Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.
- Stripe is Growth-plan only — the free Starter plan doesn't include Stripe integration. You can track sponsors but can't automate invoicing until $49/mo.
- No ESP integration yet — Ad Slots doesn't auto-insert ads into Beehiiv, Substack, or any ESP. You copy-paste the AI-generated ad copy manually. Direct ESP integrations are on the roadmap.
- No API, no webhooks, no Zapier — there's no programmatic access. Everything is UI-driven. If you need automation, consider Sponsy instead.
- AI copy limit on free plan — Starter plan caps AI ad generation at 25 per month. Growth plan is unlimited.
- Manual workflow beyond scheduling — Ad Slots handles the calendar and invoicing, but ad creative delivery, performance reporting, and sponsor communication still happen outside the tool.
Related skills
/sales-sponsy— Sponsy platform help (sponsorship operations — ad inventory calendar, sponsor CRM, advertiser portals, automated reporting, Zapier)/sales-newsletter— Newsletter monetization strategy (paid subscriptions, sponsorships, ad sales, pricing)/sales-sponsorgap— SponsorGap sponsor intelligence (38K+ brands, verified contacts, competitor monitoring)/sales-paved— Paved newsletter sponsorship marketplace (Ad Network, Booker, Radar)/sales-hecto— Hecto self-serve newsletter advertising marketplace/sales-adlynews— adly.news two-sided newsletter advertising marketplace/sales-audience-growth— Growing your subscriber list/sales-do— Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install:npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do
Examples
Example 1: Evaluating Ad Slots vs Sponsy
User says: "I manage 3 newsletter sponsors in a spreadsheet and it's getting messy. Should I use Ad Slots or Sponsy?"
Skill does: Reads platform guide, compares pricing (free/$49 vs $79+), features (Ad Slots is simpler calendar+invoicing; Sponsy adds portals, Zapier, API), and recommends Ad Slots for simple sponsor tracking or Sponsy for full ops automation
Result: User has a clear decision framework based on sponsor count and automation needs
Example 2: Setting up Stripe invoicing
User says: "How do I connect Stripe to Ad Slots so invoices go out automatically when I book a sponsor?"
Skill does: Reads platform guide Stripe section, walks through one-click Stripe connection on Growth plan, explains webhook-based payment tracking
Result: User has Stripe connected and understands how invoice status updates automatically
Example 3: AI ad copy workflow
User says: "A sponsor gave me bullet points about their product. How do I use Ad Slots to turn that into newsletter ad copy?"
Skill does: Reads platform guide AI copy section, explains how to input sponsor details and generate multiple copy variations, recommends editing for newsletter voice
Result: User generates 3-4 ad copy variations and picks the best fit for their newsletter tone
Troubleshooting
Stripe invoices not syncing
Symptom: You booked a sponsor but the payment status isn't updating in Ad Slots
Cause: Stripe webhook connection may be interrupted, or you're on the Starter plan which doesn't include Stripe
Solution: Verify you're on the Growth plan ($49/mo). Check that Stripe is connected in Settings. Disconnect and reconnect Stripe if the webhook stopped firing. Check Stripe dashboard directly to confirm invoice was sent.
Hit the 5-sponsor limit on free plan
Symptom: Can't add more sponsors on the Starter plan
Cause: The free plan caps at 5 active sponsors
Solution: Upgrade to Growth ($49/mo) for unlimited sponsors. Alternatively, mark completed sponsors as fulfilled to free up slots if you're managing sponsors sequentially rather than concurrently.
Ad copy doesn't match newsletter voice
Symptom: AI-generated copy sounds generic or off-brand
Cause: The AI generator creates copy from sponsor details alone — it doesn't know your newsletter's tone
Solution: Use the generated copy as a starting draft, not final copy. Generate multiple variations and edit the closest one to match your voice. Include tone notes in the sponsor details you input (e.g., "casual, first-person, conversational").
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