Build & automation stack

Sonic, Codex, the Tue/Fri publish automation, and direct-mail prospecting.

The tooling layer that makes the on-page + content side fast.

Sonic (AI web builder)

Ravik's Sonic (he also makes MapPack Toolbox) hooks Claude into the terminal, interviews you about the brand, ships a base design, then you talk it into fixes. (Clint's invite: https://sonic.saasperity.com/signup?code=CB-HC8P.)

• ~$1K. Clint rebuilt his agency site (with WooCommerce) in 3 days and made it back on the first client rebuild.
• 200-page builds possible but not shoehorned — tell it more or less. Exports WordPress themes, works with Elementor, Shopify coming.
• Out of the box it's weak at content + CRO. Clint added his own skills/prompts to make it good at content, CRO, SEO.
• Don't make 200-page sites for a network — you can't link all those pages well.
• Margins improve only if you already know what "right" looks like; the public can make sites, but not sites that convert.

Codex over Claude Code

Clint's preferred coding agent. Reasoning extra high, build in stages (never one-shot — see Entities + schema). On the cheap plan he's hit limits ~twice.

Clint's publish automation (reference architecture)

Runs from PyCharm, Tue/Fri: topic research → API analyzes relation to the customer → write article → generate images → set up SEOPress Pro fields → he reviews + publishes → button builds internal links from older content to the new post. 1 hour/client → 5 minutes/client. On review he checks the SEOPress Pro fields are actually filled (Yoast→SEOPress migrations leave shortcode fields empty) and sets the featured image.

Secrets handling

Never paste API keys inline — use a .env. Spearleaf shares keys to the team over CLI via Doppler so no one sees raw values. Site-wide schema injection on WordPress via WP Code.

Direct-mail prospecting

Joshua's pipeline: scrape company site + GBP → rebuild the page → auto-screenshot old vs new hero (mobile + desktop) → postcard template → email the rebuilt site + mail a postcard + phone follow-up. Lob.com sends ~500 postcards for ~$500 with no monthly sub. James Slattery closed clients on a single Dan-Kennedy-style mailed packet (grid map + screenshots), no follow-up. Clint's advice: pick local businesses in the $1,500–$2,500 range and stop there; higher-touch (email + phone) needs a higher base price to justify the work.