A Better Lemonade Stand #329

📈 Trends

🌍 Vibe Code Ugly Local Websites into $500 Wins

Most people are talking about vibe coding MVP apps, but it turns out vibe coding is actually a decent solution to rebuild ugly local business websites… fast.

Justin Brooke shared this idea on X, and it’s got a lot of people’s attention.

If you had to start from scratch with $50, he'd open up Lovable/Replit, scrape local business emails, vibe code their ugly one-page websites into sleek new ones, and send them a Loom video.

But there's an even better way:

Email them first, and ask if they want to see a brand-new version.
If they reply "Yes," THEN you build it.

That way:

✅ No cold calls.
✅ No wasted time.
✅ Only warm leads.
✅ You’re offering insane value (they think you already made it).

All they have to say is yes.

And they do — because when you catch a CPA, detailer, or dentist with a 2006 Microsoft Word-looking website, they know it's ugly.

They just didn’t have the time or energy to fix it.

You make it effortless.

Bonus: If they ghost after you say you're sending it... you lost nothing.

The Step-By-Step Blueprint:

📧 1. Scrape Emails + Send Cold DMs:

Use Apify to scrape emails from Google Maps listings.

The best ones to target:

• Service businesses (CPA firms, dentists, car detailing, home repair)

• Not tech-savvy (clues: old websites, no blog, no SSL lock 🔒)

• Visible on Google Maps (so you can scrape email easily)

• Actively spending on ads (bonus — check if they have FB/Google ads running)

You want small businesses that care about their image but don’t have time to fix it.

Send a short email:

"Hey [Name], I built you a new website. Want me to send it over?"

🛠 2. Vibe Code the New Site:

If they say yes..

Check out their current site. If it’s ugly, outdated, or missing basics like recent blog posts — good. That’s your green light.

Rule of thumb:
If they haven’t touched their website in years, they probably don’t care about fancy CRM tools or endless design tweaks.

You’re not looking for the perfectionist who wants 20 A/B tests.
You want the dentist who says, "Looks great, thanks!" and pays without drama.

It’s faster, easier, and leaves you with happy (not high-maintenance) clients.

💻 3. Create the Site:

Feed it the business info from their original site and a simple prompt like:

"Build me a sleek one-page website for [business] with Home, About, Services, Contact."

🎥 4. Show, Don’t Tell:

Record a quick Loom video touring the new site.

Keep it casual.

One minute max.

💸 5. Close Fast:

Pricing?

Justin Brooke mentioned that:

• $500 is fair.

• $250 if you’re desperate.

• $100 minimum (still like $100/hr work).

Once they’re in you can always add:

• Hosting: "I’ll keep your site live for $29–$79/month."

• Maintenance: "Need any quick updates or changes? $49/month retainer."

• Local SEO Starter Pack: "I’ll list your business in 20+ local directories for $199 one-time."

⚡ Why This Trend Is Blowing Up:

This model actually isn’t new — GoHighLevel agencies have been doing it for years: They’d slap together a templated site, cold email businesses, and try to sell first, build later.

But here's the problem:

It still took a lot of manual setup.

You had to be decent at web design.

You needed to know your way around GoHighLevel CRM and all the settings.

It worked... but it was slow, clunky, and tech-heavy.

• AI Builders = Magic: You don’t have to be a dev anymore. You prompt, tweak, and it spits out a cool looking site.

• Zero Risk Sales: You only build for businesses after spotting obvious opportunity.

• Stickiness: Once they pay for hosting through your link or a $50/month maintenance plan, you’ve got recurring revenue.

In 5 hours, you could send 5 sites and land your first $500-$1,000 client if you target the right users.

💡 Insights

🖼️ Using OpenAI’s New Image Model to Launch in a Day

GPT’s new image model is looking good right now — especially at text — and therefore more perfect than ever for generating static ads.

Nico saw this opportunity to launch GenerateAds.ai in 24 hours with over 1,000+ ads generated already.

What We Can Learn From This Launch:

• API Costs = Real Pain: Usage caps are a must with this model right now unless you want to go broke in your sleep if it goes viral, as Nico spent over $730 on api fees.

• Own the Pipeline: Future plans include a possible FB Ads Manager integration + a “Buy Ads” button — turning a simple generator into an all you need tool to launch Facebook Ads fast.

Why Would People Pay For This?

The tech (GPT-image) is free for everyone now, however ChatGPT gives you a model to work with — and wrappers like GenerateAds gives you a full workflow.

Input → Ad creative → Save → Ready to upload. No manual editing. No cleaning up.

🛡️ Your Vibe Coded App Could Become a Security Disaster

Vibe coding lets you spin up apps insanely fast...

But if you skip security basics, your project could get destroyed — stolen API keys, hacked user data, or runaway bills. There is quite a few horror stories out there.

• Never expose API keys in frontend: Use secret storage — treat keys like passwords.

• Validate all user inputs: Never trust user data blindly. Protect against injection and XSS attacks.

• Use HTTPS everywhere: Encrypt all data transfers. Most modern frameworks like Lovable and Replit handle this by default.

👉 Get the Full Guide Here

⛳ Using Vibe Coding and Cold Calling to Build an App Idea

Most people take weeks to launch an MVP, then maybe ask customers for feedback.

Now vibe coding has allowed these guys to clone GolfNow — a $750M+ a year business — while the prototype was still cooking...

And cold-called golf courses live to help shape the product.

What They Learned:

• Positioning Matters: Selling against the big player (GolfNow) was hard — pitching as a friendly bolt-on worked way better.

• Weekday Revenue Is the Unlock: Golf courses are full on weekends. The real money is helping them fill weekdays.

• The Market Is Ready: Half the golf world loves GolfNow. Half hates it. Find the ones who hate it and sell to them.

👉 Use This Strategy to Build an App Idea

🔥 Old Marketing Channels Are Broke

It’s not just your ads, SEO, or email list.

Every big marketing channel is flooded, fatigued, and decaying.

And that’s exactly where the next wave of breakout products will win — by ignoring them.

Here’s real playbook now:

• Little Channels = Big Wins: Facebook groups, niche forums, micro-communities. Where early traction lives.

• One-Shot Launches Work: 500 real users > waiting forever for perfect scalability.

• New Tech = Fresh Angles: Use AI to create marketing no one else dares to try yet.

• Product Still Rules: Good marketing can’t save a bad product. Nail the offer first.

👉 Get the Full Breakdown Here 

🧰 Apps & Tools

📝 Fireflies Adds 200+ AI Mini Apps: Fireflies is rolling out over 200 mini apps to help extract insights from meetings.

🔵 Freckle: The Clay alternative built for non-technical teams to clean up people and company data.

🎨 Hana: A next-generation platform for creating interactive 2D experiences to design, animate, and deliver polished interfaces.

🧩 Weavely: Weavely turns your ideas into fully built forms just from describing what you need.

📊 ExcelMatic: Upload your Excel file, chat about it, and uncover instant insights and trends.

🏢 TinyStartups: Now a launchpad platform like Product Hunt that is gaining a lot of traction.

🤖 Product Updates

🎨 OpenAI’s New Image API Is Powering the Next Wave

The new gpt-image-1 model isn’t just another AI toy — it’s unlocking real products, new revenue streams, and shipping SaaS projects faster than ever.

Beyond the Facebook Ads generator we covered earlier..

Here’s how other builders are already using it:

• Automated Product Photography: Upload a URL → scrape product details → generate 4 professional images → auto-upload to Google Drive.

• Wix, Figma, and Adobe Integrations: Create banners, UI elements, and hero images inside your favorite tools with simple prompts.

• Dynamic Social Edits: Upload a selfie, prompt “cyberpunk city background” — get a polished Instagram-ready edit in seconds.

• Real SaaS Ideas Launching:

  • StageSnap 2.0: Virtual home staging in 3 styles.

  • HeroShot: Turn rough product pics into polished e-comm shots.

  • MenuBoard AI: Animated restaurant menus on the fly.

• Early Build Examples:

  • Starter story goes through this AI thumbnail maker and how he plans to make $100kMRR

  • Image Styler for PropertyDescriptionAI.com — matching photo styles almost perfectly with gpt-image-1.

  • This guy built an app to try on clothes using OpenAI’s image API.

🛠️ Lovable 2.0: Smarter, Multiplayer, More Secure

Lovable just dropped their biggest update yet

• workspaces so you can build with your friends

• chat agent that actually helps you plan and debug without breaking stuff

• security scan to catch issues before you push live

• buy and connect domains inside the app now (already 10k+ set up)

👉 See What’s New

🚀 Prototype and Launch Full Apps with Firebase Studio

Google quietly dropped Firebase Studio — a free vibe-coding app builder powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro.

You can build full-stack apps in minutes without writing real code.

Here’s Why It’s a Game-Changer:

• AI-Powered Prototyping: Describe your app in plain English. Firebase Studio builds the frontend, backend, and basic flows automatically.

• Full Code Access: Switch to the code editor and tweak anything manually if you want more control.

• Gemini 2.5 Pro Integration: Tap into Google's best AI model for bug fixes, feature updates, and rapid iteration.

• One-Click Deployment: Host and launch your app using Firebase’s backend infrastructure — no servers or setup needed.

👉 Try Firebase Studio Here

🖇️ Everything Else

📍 ChatGPT o3 Can Find You From Almost Any Photo: ChatGPT o3 can geo-locate your photos using only visual clues. (👉 See How It Works)

📩 Try This High-Converting Newsletter Welcome Sequence: The first 5–7 days after someone joins your list are critical. (👉 Setup This 5-Email Sequence)

🔍 Google’s AI Search Is Quietly Taking Over: Google’s AI Overviews now reach over 1.5 billion users every month. (👉 See How It’s Becoming the Default)

🤖 Hyundai’s Robot Army Is Taking Over Factories: Hyundai is rolling out tens of thousands of Boston Dynamics robots across its plants, starting with Spot and soon Atlas. (👉 See the Future of Manufacturing)

📬 Built a Newsletter, Sold It for €19K in 10 Months: Started with zero marketing skills. Curated AI news + tools weekly. Grew to 25K subs and gated content for €25/mo (👉 Learn Why Newsletters Still Print Money)

🧠 Find Real Conversations Fast: Reddit Answers will be a new way to get human perspectives, real recommendations, and honest advice. (👉 Get Updated Here)