I Scraped the Web with Claude

OVERVIEW

1. Finding tasks to automate

2. Using screenshots to make prompting manageable

3. 5-minute test

RESOURCES

Some tools to make life easier. You’re welcome :)

• beehiiv - my choice for a newsletter operating system

• Coefficient - Live connections to 60+ business systems

• Lido - Automate your spreadsheets; accurately extract date from PDFs

• TransactionPro - quickly import, export or delete data in Quickbooks

• Perspective - Build high-converting lead funnel microsites

• Gamma - AI designer for presentations, websites, social posts, and more

• Gratitude Plus - social gratitude journal

• Senja - collect and display testimonials

• OpusClip - turn long videos into short clips

• Carrd - free one-page website builder

• Notion - notetaking + project management + database

• Transistor - my favorite podcast host

• Fathom - AI-powered notetaking app

MAIN ARTICLE

I just spent 16 minutes making a video (linked below) about work that took me 5 minutes to complete.

Why? Because it was fun. You’re welcome. 😀

I continue to be impressed by the bits of coding I can generate with AI to do small but helpful tasks like scrape web data.

Scraping for Data

I needed contact information from 11 different church websites. Name, email, phone number for each location. The old me would have opened 11 tabs, copied and pasted for 30+ minutes, probably made a few typos, and called it done.

Instead, I asked AI to do it for me.

Now I concede that for small tasks, AI is still overkill. But it’s well worth learning how to do some of these small things so that when a big problem comes around, we know how to knock it out.

Web Scraping with Claude Video

Step 1: Can This Be Automated?

If there’s a pattern or repetition in the steps I’m taking, there’s a good chance it can be automated in part or in whole.

I was looking for the same info on the same type of webpage, with the same data fields, and the same format.

Yes, there’s a way to automate rather than copy/paste.

Step 2: Speak the Language (Even When You Don't Know It)

I'm not a programmer. But I know enough to mess around and break things.

I opened the browser's developer tools (F12), found the HTML structure I needed, took a screenshot, and fed it to Claude with this prompt:

"I've got a list of URLs. Each represents a listing page with name, email, and phone number. Here's a screenshot of the HTML structure. Write me a script that visits each URL and saves the contact info to a CSV file."

That's it. And it worked pretty well on the first try.

The key insight: You don't need to know how to code. You need to know how to describe what you want clearly and show the AI what you're working with.

These AI systems are highly dependent on the specificity we give them. And they’re only trained on what we’ve already created. Be detailed. Be precise. And use screenshots - that saved me a ton of time.

Step 3: Iterate When Needed

The first script worked but missed one piece of data I wanted - the church name itself.

So I took another screenshot, pointed out what was missing, and asked Claude to modify the code.

30 seconds later, I had a perfect script that grabbed everything I needed.

Don't expect perfection on the first try, and don’t give up at the first mistakes.

The Bigger Picture

Every time I find a piece of my workflow that can be chiseled off and automated, it makes me giddy.

Think about your own work:

• Copying data between systems

• Formatting reports the same way every month

• Sending similar emails to different people

• Updating spreadsheets with predictable information

Each of these follows a pattern. And patterns can be automated.

Your 5-Minute Automation Test

Before you start any repetitive task this week, ask yourself:

1. Am I about to do the same thing multiple times?

2. Is there a clear pattern or structure to follow?

3. Would saving this time be worth 5 minutes of setup?

If yes to all three, try asking AI to help.

I put off automating some invoicing procedures for literally years. When I finally took the time, it took about a week’s worth of work. But the payoff has been tenfold ever since.

Once you build the automation mindset, you start seeing opportunities everywhere.

P.S. - Still don’t know where to start? I am available for consulting projects. Reach out and let’s chat. Reply directly to this email or book a time here.

NEXT STEPS

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help:

1. Work with me
   I am available for consulting projects. Reach out and let’s chat.

2. Business tech stack (FREE)
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3. Sponsor Got Sheet
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4. Personal budget tool
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5. YouTube

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HAPPY SPREADSHEETING!

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Cheers, Eamonn
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