A Better Lemonade Stand #282

Insights, trends & tools to build a better online business.

Author

Richard Lazazzera
February 27, 2024

AI fixed my garage door and saved me $200.

The implications are much, much bigger, though.

This weekend, my garage door broke.

I was on my way home from Home Depot.

I pressed the button to open it and…

Schreeeeeechhhhhhhh, bang, shreck, bang, bang, clunk. (Transcribed by voice-to-text AI with me acting the sounds out).

Ugh.

Now, most people (myself included) would normally give it a few kicks, a little looky-loo around the thingamajig, and then proceed to Google “Garage Door Repairs.”

But, as I’ve mentioned in this newsletter a few times now.

We’re living in the future.

Garage Door Repairman Job - Obsolete(ish).

And this wasn’t the first use of ChatGPT that saved me hundreds of dollars. I used it a few months ago as well to help me with some plumbing work.

While I don’t think all trades and services will or can be replaced by AI, it is eye-opening, exciting, and somewhat unsettling as you begin to connect more dots on how this all plays out over the next few years.

Here’s what I’ve got on the ticket for you this week:

  • 🗞️ TDLR’s Strategic Growth: Get insights into TLDR’s growth through paid advertising, experimentation, and leveraging other audiences.

  • 👩‍💻 Olive's Journey To 52 Paying Users With A No-code App: 

  • 🌍 Building an Automated Empire: How to focus on system-building and automation, so you can create a business tailored to your lifestyle.

Let's go!

 💡 Insights

🗞️ How Dan Ni Built A Million-Dollar Newsletter Empire

Growth In Reverse analyzes how Dan Ni’s TLDR Newsletter turned a 30-minute daily content commitment into a thriving multimillion-dollar enterprise with minimal team management.

  • Dan's Background: Discover Dan's transition from a stock trader to the creator of Scraper API, laying the groundwork for his entrepreneurial venture.

  • Revenue Strategy: Explore how the TLDR Newsletter relies on lucrative sponsorships, with Dan securing rates of up to $15,000 per issue.

  • Growth Tactics: Read about Dan's strategic growth approach through paid advertising, meticulous experimentation, and leveraging targeted audiences.

🔢 The $80K/Year Success Of The ‘Data Fetcher’ Plugin

Discover the success story of Andy Cloke, creator of the Data Fetcher plugin for Airtable, a tool that hit $6500 in monthly recurring revenue within just over a year of launching.

  • Innovative Solution: Discover how Data Fetcher simplifies importing data from various sources into Airtable, revolutionizing workflow efficiency.

  • Strategic Growth: How Data Fetcher achieved 190 paying customers and $6500 MRR within one year of launch.

  • Lessons Learned: Gain insights into Andy's importance of patience, proper user testing, and seeking mentorship.

  • Diverse Customer Base: Explore the wide range of industries and use cases benefiting from Data Fetcher, from financial data management to niche applications like sewing patterns.

🌍 Unlock Your Way To Freedom With Autopreneurship

Matt Gray discusses the power of autopreneurship, and how you can create automations to develop your personal and professional freedom.

  • Autopreneurship Principles: How you should create timeless principles to guide your journey towards creating a self-sustaining business.

  • Building an Automated Empire: Start with small steps, focus on building systems, and hire intentionally to create a business that works for you.

  • Freedom: Achieve time, financial, and location freedom by taking control of your business and lifestyle with automations.

📨 The Power Of Email Marketing: Beehiiv’s Key Statistics For 2024

Beehiiv shares their insights into email marketing statistics in 2024. Dive into crucial statistics, trends, and strategies to optimize your email campaigns.

  • Current Email Landscape: Explore the latest statistics on email marketing, including exponential growth and consumer engagement trends.

  • Effectiveness Metrics: Learn about email deliverability rates, consumer preferences, and daily engagement habits, highlighting email's enduring relevance.

  • ROI Insights: Gain valuable insights into the ROI of email marketing and debunk common myths about success rates.

📩 Email Marketing Open Rate Trends For 2024: Is Your Newsletter Making the Cut?

Check out the latest insights into email marketing open rates for 2024 and learn how your newsletter stacks up against industry benchmarks.

  • Benchmarking Good Open Rates: Explore industry averages and global benchmarks to gauge the success of your email marketing efforts.

  • Industry-Specific Insights: Dive into detailed open rate statistics across various industries and niches to identify areas for improvement.

  • Strategies for Improvement: Discover practical tips for boosting open rates, including segmentation, A/B testing, mobile optimization, and re-engagement campaigns.

👩‍💻 Olive's Journey To 52 Paying Users With A No-code App

When Olive launched her Airtable Productivity App, Punch Time Tracker on Product Hunt, I knew I wanted to do an interview with her to share with you.

But I also knew if I waited, Katt Risen from NoCode Exits, a much more talented interviewer would do it, and I could just share that.

It happened!

Dive into the inspiring success story of Olive and her journey with Punch, a time-tracking and personal scheduling app for Airtable. Learn how she transformed personal pain points into intuitive solutions and attracted 52 paying users.

  • Background: Meet Olive, a web and brand designer turned app developer.

  • From Pain Points to Solutions: Discover how Olive used Airtable to streamline workflows and create custom apps.

  • Finding Users: Learn about Olive's user acquisition strategies, including Product Hunt launches and community engagement.

  • Advice for Beginners: Olive shares insights for aspiring no-code entrepreneurs.

🧰 Apps & Tools

🧈 ButterDocs - The Google Docs alternative for serious writers and teams.

✈️ Jet Admin - Easily create internal tools, partner, and customer apps without code.

📑 Slite - Free up your team from the burdens of creating, managing, and finding trusted company information.

🧑‍💻 Aeropage - A no-code builder that enables the publication of webpages, apps, and portals by connecting data from Airtable, Smartsuite, Notion, and APIs.

✍️ Ottio - Summarise and chat with your documents and links.

🪄 MagicPattern - With a few clicks, create original visuals for landing pages, social media posts, and branding.

🎙️ GuestLab - A podcaster's best friend for finishing research in a matter of minutes.

🗣️ Folk - All-in-one CRM for your business relationships. Including sales, recruiting, fundraising, partnerships and Investing.

folk - the All-in-one CRM

www.folk.app

🗞️ News

🎨 Musk Teases Potential Midjourney Partnership

Elon Musk's recent talk during a live Spaces appearance hints at a potential partnership between X and Midjourney.

  • Partnership Speculation: Musk suggests a potential collaboration between X and Midjourney, with speculation that Midjourney's image generator could be integrated into X's Grok chatbot.

  • Grok 1.5 Update: Grok 1.5 is slated for release soon, featuring a 'Grok Analysis' button for post summaries and writing support.

  • AI-Generated Images: X may start labeling AI-generated images on its feed.

🫂 Reddit and Google Create A Deeper Alliance For Enhanced Content Discovery

Reddit and Google have announced an expansion of their longstanding partnership to revolutionize content discovery and accessibility across the digital landscape.

  • Cloud Partnership: Reddit will utilize Google's Vertex AI to integrate new AI-powered capabilities, enhancing search and other features on the Reddit platform.

  • Facilitated Content Access: Google now has access to Reddit's Data API, enabling efficient access to real-time, structured content from Reddit's dynamic platform.

  • Elevated Content Integration: This collaboration will enable Google to present Reddit content in more content-forward displays across its products, making it easier for users to engage with Reddit communities and conversations.

That's it this week!

As always, just hit reply and fill me in on the cool projects you're tackling, any hurdles you're overcoming, or any awesome tools you've stumbled upon lately.

Until next week, stay curious and connected.

Richard 👊🏼

This newsletter is for informational and entertainment purposes only, not as business advice. Revenue may come from sponsorships, affiliate links, and sales of digital products.