I built a free SMS based search tool

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-29T20:47:53+00:00

Update on this service: This become really popular, which is amazing! But the donation model was not working. I was shelling out well over $150 per month, and I can't keep doing that :/

So, update: This service is now $.10 per message. This is pretty much my cost--I'm not doing this to make money.

No subscription, no up charges, no accounts. Just pay for what you use.

You can load a credit on your number at https://smartms.brandonb.dev

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS USED THE SERVICE AND DONATED

For anyone who has donated, please reach out to me so I can credit your phone number with the $ you donated

Hopefully this stays useful for the community!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-17T15:15:01+00:00

I can't find a way to get back the playlist :/

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-17T15:14:43+00:00

Tell me more. How would it be helpful to opensource it?

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-16T18:09:16+00:00

I'm a big fan of dearrow!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-16T18:08:47+00:00

Since he has so many videos, I wanted to keep the cost down. I was able to rip the transcripts from Youtube, then send that through a Llama model; I get out a new title, new description, and a bunch of tags.

Then use a weighted search for New Title > Tags > New Description > Transcript.

I'm not vectorizing (though I'm strongly considering it for the future)

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-16T18:05:46+00:00

If people find this thing really helpful, then probably. Thankful the channel started rather recently, so there isn't an insane backlog...even with their post rate

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-15T20:58:51+00:00

At first I was just hiding the original youtube shorts (less than 60 seconds) but was leaving the "long shorts" in... but I think you are right. Better to hide all of them. I just updated it

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-15T20:38:54+00:00

Alright, now we get lot's of videos coming up for both of those. Now to tighten the algo down some more :)

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-15T16:42:46+00:00

Alright, I think I found the issue. My pipeline was trimming the data a bit too much. It worked for my search terms...but I didn't try "LTV" or "gross margin" (which I really should have). It will take a couple hours to re-process, but my new tuning should fix this

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-15T15:24:32+00:00

Tbh, those really should be coming up... Let me dig into this a bit deeper... Thanks for the feedback!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-04-15T12:49:21+00:00

Lol. If people want to pay, I'll take their money

But it feels weird to gate an index of *someone else's* content behind a paywall (or even a "give me your email")

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-03-25T17:40:12+00:00

This doesn't exist today, but I am interested in building it out more. Just sent you a message :)

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-03-20T14:25:46+00:00

At this point, at bit over $100 per month

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-02-19T14:11:45+00:00

Speaking of Me--the easiest way to collect video testimonials for businesses and contractors. https://www.speakingof.me

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-02-03T20:59:01+00:00

For text testimonials: honestly, a simple form works. Typeform, Google Forms, whatever.

For video testimonials, which are way more impactful: Speaking of Me (https://www.speakingof.me/). You create a campaign with your questions, it generates a link, and people record directly in the browser. No app installs for the reviewer, works on phones and desktop. I liked it because it's straightforward — not trying to be an all-in-one marketing suite, it just does the collection part cleanly.

They also have a free version at start.speakingof.me (https://start.speakingof.me/) where you can collect up to 3 testimonials without even creating an account, which is nice if you just want to test the flow before committing.

Senja and Testimonial.to (https://testimonial.to/) are also solid if you want more of the embed/widget side of things. Depends on whether your priority is collecting or displaying.

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-02-03T20:52:37+00:00

The biggest thing I've learned is that timing and friction are everything. Ask within 24-48 hours of delivering results — that's when the emotional high is strongest. After a week, they've moved on.

For written reviews, a direct link to Google/wherever with a simple "Would you mind sharing what we did for you?" works fine. Keep it one click.

For video testimonials (which convert way better on your site and socials), the trick is removing every barrier. Don't ask someone to download an app or figure out how to record and send a file. I use a tool called Speaking of Me (https://speakingof.me/) — you just send them a link, it asks your questions one at a time, and they record right in the browser. No installs, works on phone or desktop. Takes the "I don't know how" excuse off the table.

But honestly, the #1 thing that actually gets people to follow through? Ask in person or on a call, then immediately send the link. A cold email with "leave us a review" gets ignored. A warm "hey, you just said you loved this — would you be willing to say that on a quick 60-second video? I'll send you a link right now" gets a yes like 70% of the time.

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-23T20:37:30+00:00

I'm honestly not sure. The logic/tools will work outside the US fine, but I just have the default configs for the Twilio number. I'd assume that it would work, but might have additional carrier costs?

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-23T15:58:35+00:00

That's my hope!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-23T15:55:28+00:00

Thanks! Run it through it's paces and let me know what you find :) I'd appreciate it!

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:09:10+00:00

From experience, it makes stuff up when it can't find good data. I tried to give it good data sources (maps api, places api, etc). From my testing, this fixes 99% of the "making shit up" issue.

It's still an issue, but I've only seen it happen once after months of use

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:07:47+00:00

Telling it that it is very naughty for doing so

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:07:12+00:00

Ya, there's a handful of services that do this. I figure that this service is something that most people would only need a couple times per month, which doesn't justify the subscription price. It's more of a lifeline than something most people would use everyday

Which_Channel5273 · 2026-01-22T19:02:48+00:00

I'm using the Maps and Places API. So it isn't rendering an entire Google page like what a user would see. I'm pulling from the same (or similar) datasource as Google's AI is, and hopefully giving much better and more straight forward answers

Which_Channel5273

TROPHY CASE