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- Cody Schneider's Secrets to Capitalizing on Market Trends
Cody Schneider's Secrets to Capitalizing on Market Trends
PLUS: Use Variables in Prompts with Claude (HACK)
Cody Schneider's Secrets to Capitalizing on Market Trends
Cody Schneider, a data analyst turned growth hacker turned entrepreneur, has a knack for taking businesses from $0 to $100k ARR in record speed.
He has mastered the art of building successful businesses on top of rising trends. His data-driven approach allows him to quickly identify opportunities, launch products, and scale businesses.
The $9K/Month Chrome Extension
Back in 2015, Cody entered the business world by selling print-on-demand products on platforms like Etsy, Amazon, and Redbubble.
Drawing on his data analytics background, he developed a tool to scrape data from these platforms.
This tool helped him identify best-selling products and analyze customer behavior to target recurring purchases.
Cody's innovation caught attention when he wrote a blog post about it and someone on Facebook reached out, wanting to use the tool.
Realizing its potential, Cody quickly developed a basic version within a week and secured his first paying customer.
This marked his entry into the world of software and recurring revenue.
What started as a personal tool for print-on-demand business analysis turned into a passive income stream generating $8-9K monthly, spiking to $14-15K during holiday (November-January) seasons.
"It is literally a data extraction tool, helps you just pull data out that exists on the web", Cody explains.
It still funds his monthly rent.
The Chrome Extension success opened his eyes to a crucial insight: "If you have just a small tool that solves a huge problem, people will pay for that."
Rupa Health Stint
Cody worked as an early employee at Rupa Health, a marketplace for lab test ordering.
He contributed to the company's growth by developing content strategies, including podcasts and live classes, leading to a significant increase in valuation.
He also launched DraftHorse AI as an internal tool, which quickly gained traction on X (formerly Twitter) so he quickly launched it as a product.
DraftHorse generated $10k MRR within 30 days through cold email and paid ads.
LandingCat's 4-Week Sprint to $100K ARR
LandingCat is a testament to Cody’s strategy of leveraging relationships and solving clear market problems.
The service automatically generates collection landing pages for Shopify and WordPress sites based on product catalogs.
The launch strategy was straightforward:
Reached out to existing e-commerce connections (and his network over the years)
Run initial tests to validate the concept
Leverage relationships to scale rapidly
Target companies struggling with traffic generation using cold emails
The 3% Success Rule
Cody's approach differs from perfectionists: "I'm going to try 100 things, we're going to see that 3% of that worked, and I'm going to put all of our resources - time, money, and mental energy - into those things."
Understanding Customer Motivation
Cody says people only buy 3 core things:
Time back
Money back
Status
Riding Market Waves by Identifying Trends
The first step in Cody's process is identifying trends with high demand.
He emphasizes the importance of market validation, stating that the worst thing you can do is try to invent something new. Instead, look for existing trends with high search volume, indicating strong demand.
He recommends to utilize tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to identify long-tail keywords related to your target market.
For example, if you're interested in building Chrome extensions, you can use these tools to find keywords like "chrome extension for data extraction" or "chrome extension for e-commerce."
"Our job as founders, especially if you're bootstrapping or self-funding, is to scope waves and be like 'cool that one looks good.'"
Rather than trying to create new markets, Cody advocates for executing better in existing ones.
Once you've identified a trend, the next step is to build a business on top of it.
Cody focuses on building simple solutions to complex problems.
He believes that people are primarily buying three things: time, money, or status.
Cody recommends starting with small bets to test your ideas. Once you've identified a winning concept, you can double down on it and scale it up.
Cody has 2 quick win opportunities:
1. Google Ads for Service Businesses
One of the easiest paths to $10k MRR is offering product-based services powered by AI tools.
Focus on a skill that's not geographically limited, like Google Ads management for a specific niche (e.g., automotive shops).
Create daily YouTube videos showcasing your expertise and offer your services directly.
3-4 clients at $3k per month get you to your target of $10k MRR.
Cody says it won't take more than 90 days to get to $10k MRR from YouTube.
He recommends these YouTube channels to learn from:
Surfside PPC (PPC channel)
Loves Data (Analytics channel)
Analytics Mania (Reporting tutorials)
2. B2B Content Repurposing Service
Cody has a brillant $5K/month service opportunity:
Target: B2B companies (80% do webinars)
Offering: Unlimited webinar repurposing
Deliverables:
Ebooks
White papers
Blog posts
Marketing materials
The focus would be on resurrecting existing content archives as all B2B companies have 500+ backlog of content that's just sitting there.
3. Targeting High-Networth Individuals
Cody's strategy is to look up ZIP codes of the wealthiest areas in any city.
And simply target businesses that serve wealthy clients like CrossFit Gyms, Estheticians, and High-end service businesses.
"Solve rich people's problems. They pay better."
When you work with a $1M e-commerce store & increase 10%, it's a $100K impact. But with a $100M store, the same work adds $10M. Same work, 10x the return.
You can leverage success by working with rich people.
Influencers with real-world influence have similar exponential returns like getting $35M in sales in just 12 months.
Cody's Toolbox
Supermetrics: This data pipeline tool aggregates data from various sources like Facebook, Google Ads, and LinkedIn Ads into a single dashboard, providing a comprehensive view of your business performance.
Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio): A free tool that allows you to visualize and analyze data pulled from various sources, helping you tell compelling stories with your data.
Keywords Everywhere: A cost-effective Chrome extension that provides valuable keyword data and insights for SEO and content marketing.
SEMrush: Offers a powerful keyword research feature called Keyword Magic Tool, helping you uncover long-tail keywords to target.
Cody's Cold Email Campaign Blueprint
Cody uses the following detailed process for reaching 25,000 prospects monthly.
1. Infrastructure:
Buy 30 domains through Porkbun, 5 inboxes per domain (150 total.)
Use tools like Mailreef or Smartlead to connect inboxes and send emails.
The budget for this operation is ~$400/month for 50,000 emails using Mailreef.
2. Data Collection:
First, scrape a list of potential clients' URLs using Fiverr ($20 for 100,000 listings) or tools like Outscraper for keyword-based targeting.
Then, use Hunter for email discovery or Phantombuster for website scraping to extract emails from these websites.
Validate the emails using services like ZeroBounce or MillionVerifier to ensure deliverability.
"All these bets also compound on each other. These things can limp along too, they don't have to be these massive successes."
His Chrome extension began making just $300 monthly but grew significantly over 6 years of consistent operation.
Cody's approach is about maintaining momentum through multiple small bets while staying ready for larger opportunities, the once in a bluemoon Black Swan event.
As he aptly puts it, "Atrophy is actually how things die - if you just keep moving, you are 100% going to figure something out."
Today, Cody has over 20 profitable businesses generating millions in revenue.
And the best part is these businesses are all simple offerings built on top of huge market demand.
Full credits to Cody Schneider x Appsumo crossover.
Top Tweets of the day
1/
if you have $ on robinhood or interactive, short SAVA now
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli)
3:22 AM • Nov 25, 2024
SAVA was $30 and now its $4.
This kind of alpha is only available when you follow the right people.
Cassava's Alzheimer's drug failed a phase III trial today but you'd only know if you were into pharma and had 10+ years of experience.
Or you could follow Shkreli.
He actually said it a month ago when it was $32 peak.
This is yet another way to get rich in a short amount of time. However, the risk appetite is higher on this one. But so are the rewards.
Not financial advice.
2/
Started paying for my girlfriend's Pilates classes, and it has significantly improved our quality of life.
1. When she's upset about something at work, she goes to Pilates and works it out.
2. Her skin is glowing from the hot yoga she does in the mornings.
3. The hot yoga… x.com/i/web/status/1…— jason liu (@jxnlco)
7:40 PM • Jul 10, 2024
Secret to good night's sleep is doing any kind of sport or workout 2x per day.
If you don't sleep within 10 minutes, you are not tired enough. Work more. Go out more.
Ironically, this helps with creative problem solving. The more tired your brain gets, the more your subconscious works in the background to solve a problem. Programmers and copywriters know this when they solve their problem after a sleep. Its your brain doing the work when you sleep. A brilliant article that covers this phenomenon visually.
3/
I've honestly been milking the punchy tweet one.
i had a script take all of my rag articles, and use the punchy tweet one to promote it getting like 20-30k page views!
— jason liu (@jxnlco)
2:19 PM • Nov 26, 2024
Spiral is going to be a big business. Content repurposing is the biggest AI usecase that is useful in saving time and money.
This newsletter is proof. You cannot write a daily newsletter without AI unless you're cracked like Isaac Asimov. AI turns this newsletter from 4-6 hours of work to 1-2 hours of work.
Mr. Asimov would've published 10x more volume with AI if he was alive.
Rabbit Holes
$40,000 a month writing Youtube Scripts by Cody Schneider
Anatomy of a Tweet by Jason Liu
Pro Tip: Using Variables in Prompts Made Claude Follow My Instructions PERFECTLY by /r/ClaudeAI
What’d ya think of today’s masterpiece? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know—don’t hold back, I can take it (probably). 😜
First time here? Join the cool kids’ club.
Also, I’m on X because apparently, tweeting is still a thing.
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