# Deploy Guide — Going Live in 20 Minutes

Two things to do, in order:
1. **Create Stripe Payment Links** (10 min) and paste into each site's CONFIG
2. **Deploy to Vercel** (10 min) via drag-and-drop or CLI

---

## Step 1 — Create Your Stripe Payment Links

The 4 directories use 12 total Payment Links (3 tiers × 4 sites). You can use fewer if multiple sites share the same price.

### 1a. Create a Stripe account (if you don't have one)
Go to [stripe.com](https://stripe.com) → sign up. Activation takes ~5 minutes.

### 1b. Create each Payment Link
Go to [dashboard.stripe.com/payment-links](https://dashboard.stripe.com/payment-links) → click **+ New** for each:

| Site | Tier | Price | Name it |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Tools Vault | Basic | $49 | "AI Tools Vault — Basic Listing" |
| AI Tools Vault | Featured | $149 | "AI Tools Vault — Featured Listing" |
| AI Tools Vault | Sponsor | $299/week | "AI Tools Vault — Sponsor Slot" |
| NoCode Nook | Basic | $49 | "NoCode Nook — Basic Listing" |
| NoCode Nook | Featured | $149 | "NoCode Nook — Featured Listing" |
| NoCode Nook | Sponsor | $249/week | "NoCode Nook — Sponsor Slot" |
| Notion Stash | Basic | $39 | "Notion Stash — Basic Listing" |
| Notion Stash | Featured | $129 | "Notion Stash — Featured Listing" |
| Notion Stash | Sponsor | $199/week | "Notion Stash — Sponsor Slot" |
| Chrome Gems | Basic | $39 | "Chrome Gems — Basic Listing" |
| Chrome Gems | Featured | $129 | "Chrome Gems — Featured Listing" |
| Chrome Gems | Sponsor | $229/week | "Chrome Gems — Sponsor Slot" |

**For each link, configure:**
- **Product name:** use the name above
- **Price:** one-time for Basic/Featured, recurring weekly for Sponsor
- **Collect customer info** → enable Email (required)
- **After payment** → redirect to a "Thank you" URL (you can just use your directory's URL for now)
- **Custom fields** (optional but recommended):
  - "Tool/Template name" (text, required)
  - "Website URL" (text, required)
  - "Short description" (text, required, max 180 chars)

Click **Create link** → Stripe gives you a URL like `https://buy.stripe.com/test_xxxxx` (test mode) or `https://buy.stripe.com/xxxxx` (live mode).

### 1c. Paste links into each site
Open each site's `index.html` and find this block near the top:

```js
stripe: {
  basic:    "REPLACE_WITH_STRIPE_LINK_49",
  featured: "REPLACE_WITH_STRIPE_LINK_149",
  sponsor:  "REPLACE_WITH_STRIPE_LINK_299"
},
```

Replace each `REPLACE_WITH_...` with your actual Stripe URL. Save the file. Done — that site is monetized.

Files to edit:
- `ai-tools-vault/index.html`
- `nocode-nook/index.html`
- `notion-stash/index.html`
- `chrome-gems/index.html`

**Note:** When a submission hits Stripe Checkout, the form data (tool name, URL, category) is passed in the `client_reference_id` field so you can decode it server-side via a Stripe webhook later. For now, you'll see submissions in your Stripe dashboard.

---

## Step 2 — Deploy to Vercel

### Option A — Drag & Drop (easiest)
1. Go to [vercel.com/new](https://vercel.com/new)
2. Click **Import** → scroll down to **"Deploy a static file"** or just drag-drop
3. Drag the **entire `cowork homebase` folder** onto the page
4. Click **Deploy**
5. Vercel gives you a URL like `directory-network-xyz.vercel.app` in 30 seconds

### Option B — Vercel CLI
```bash
cd "cowork homebase"
npx vercel
# Follow the prompts (accept defaults)
# Then for production:
npx vercel --prod
```

### Option C — GitHub (best for iteration)
1. Create a new GitHub repo
2. Push the `cowork homebase` folder contents
3. [vercel.com/new](https://vercel.com/new) → Import the repo → Deploy
4. Every git push auto-deploys

### Connect a custom domain
- Buy one on [cloudflare.com/registrar](https://cloudflare.com/registrar) (~$10/yr)
- In Vercel project → Settings → Domains → add your domain
- Vercel auto-configures SSL and CDN

You can point a single root domain at the landing page, or use subdomains:
- `yourdomain.com` → landing
- `ai.yourdomain.com` → AI Tools Vault
- `nocode.yourdomain.com` → NoCode Nook
- etc.

---

## Step 3 — Wire Up the Newsletter (5 min)

Each site has a newsletter form. Pick one service:

### Beehiiv (recommended — free tier, great analytics)
1. Sign up at [beehiiv.com](https://beehiiv.com)
2. Go to Audience → Embed → Copy the "action" URL
3. In each `index.html`, set `newsletterAction: "YOUR_BEEHIIV_URL"`

### ConvertKit
1. Sign up at [convertkit.com](https://convertkit.com)
2. Create a form → Get the form's API endpoint
3. Paste into `newsletterAction`

### Just email collection
If you want to skip this for now, leave `newsletterAction: ""` — the form will show a success alert but won't actually save the email.

---

## Step 4 — After Launch: The First 30 Days

Follow `150-per-day-playbook.md`:

**Week 1:** Add 50+ listings to each directory by hand. Launch on Product Hunt / Reddit / Hacker News.

**Week 2:** Email every listed tool/template creator — "You're listed, upgrade to Featured for $X." First sales roll in.

**Week 3:** Write 3 pillar SEO articles per site ("Best X tools of 2026", "Tool A vs Tool B", etc.). Start ranking.

**Week 4:** Pitch first sponsor slot. Start newsletter.

**Month 2:** Compound. Featured upgrade conversions climb. Affiliate revenue starts.

**Month 3:** First sites hit $150/day.

---

## Files & Structure

```
cowork homebase/
├── index.html                    ← Landing page (directory network)
├── assets/
│   ├── style.css                 ← Shared styles for all 4 sites
│   └── app.js                    ← Template engine (renders from CONFIG)
├── ai-tools-vault/
│   └── index.html                ← AI Tools directory
├── nocode-nook/
│   └── index.html                ← No-code tools directory
├── notion-stash/
│   └── index.html                ← Notion templates directory
├── chrome-gems/
│   └── index.html                ← Chrome extensions directory
├── 150-per-day-playbook.md       ← Business playbook
└── DEPLOY.md                     ← This file
```

To add a 5th niche, just copy any folder, rename it, and edit the CONFIG block. Same template, new listings.

---

## Troubleshooting

**"The submit button just shows an alert"** — You haven't pasted your Stripe Payment Link yet. Check the CONFIG block in that site's `index.html`.

**"Stripe payment works but I don't see the form data"** — Stripe Payment Links store custom form data in `client_reference_id` (base64 JSON). In your Stripe dashboard, each payment has this field. Set up a Stripe webhook later for automatic listing creation.

**"Vercel deploy shows the landing page but directories return 404"** — Make sure each sub-folder was deployed (Vercel should handle this automatically with drag-and-drop). The URL structure is `yourdomain.com/ai-tools-vault/`, `/nocode-nook/`, etc.

**"I want to test without going live"** — Stripe has Test Mode links (URLs start with `buy.stripe.com/test_`). Paste those first to test, swap for live links when ready.

---

**Total time to go live:** 20 minutes. Total cost: $0 (Vercel + Stripe both free until you start selling).