Earning $173 in 3 Days with Niche Reddit Comments and an Auto-Reply Bot

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General Overview

  • Character/Brand: Webrekas (BlackHatWorld member, experienced in technical development, especially automation and affiliate marketing).
  • Timeline: 3-day experiment reported on May 11, 2025 (per “Yesterday at 1:54 PM” post on BlackHatWorld).
  • Geography: Not specified; targets international Reddit communities, especially r/SmallBusiness, r/Notion, r/SaaS, r/WorkOnline, and r/EmailMarketing.

Monetization Model

  • Primary method: Affiliate marketing via automated Reddit comments that include links to SaaS products/services with affiliate programs.
  • How revenue is generated:
    • Use a bot to find and reply to “help-seeking” comments in niche subreddits with helpful suggestions plus an affiliate link.
    • Prioritize SaaS with free trials or long affiliate cookies (30+ days) to lift clicks and conversions without immediate payment friction.
    • Each signup yields commission; total $173.08 from 16 signups in 3 days.
    • Low operating cost (~$10–20/month for API, VPS, proxies) but requires coding skill and initial setup time.
    • Notable: Precise targeting via automation, low cost, scalable. Risks include Reddit account bans if rules aren’t followed and reliance on AI copy quality to avoid spam flags.

Tools Used

  • GPT-4 (OpenAI API):
    • Role: Generate short, friendly, context-aware replies; also help classify “help-seeking” comments using regex + AI checks.
    • Notes: API cost ~$0.03–$0.06/1K tokens; requires a “sanitizer” step to prevent hallucinations.
  • Regex + GPT Check:
    • Role: Filter “help-seeking” comments (“What should I use…”, “Any tool for…”) to ensure targeted replies.
    • Notes: Combining regex with GPT improves precision at scale and reduces mistargeted replies.
  • n8n:
    • Role: Schedule and orchestrate automation (scrape → analyze → reply).
    • Notes: Open-source, flexible, low-cost for complex workflows.
  • Python + PRAW (Reddit API wrapper):
    • Role: Ingest new comments from selected subreddits and post replies via Reddit API.
    • Notes: Free, straightforward; needs careful throttling, random headers to avoid rate limits/blocks.
  • Link Shortener (Rebrandly, Bitly):
    • Role: Shorten and track affiliate links; hide source URL and generate click analytics.
    • Notes: Rebrandly allows custom domains (trust); Bitly is cheaper (~$8/month).
  • Headless Browser Wrapper:
    • Role: Simulate user behavior when posting (random headers, realistic delays) to avoid bot detection.
    • Notes: Lighter than Puppeteer; still needs engineering effort.
  • Proxies:
    • Role: Rotate Reddit accounts, reduce ban risk; use phone-verified, aged accounts for trust.

Implementation Process

  • Phase 1: System setup (pre–Day 1)
    • Configure PRAW to ingest comments from five subreddits (r/SmallBusiness, r/Notion, r/SaaS, r/WorkOnline, r/EmailMarketing).
    • Pipeline: PRAW → Regex/GPT → n8n → Headless Browser for full automation.
    • Prepare three phone-verified, aged Reddit accounts with legitimate history.
    • Integrate Rebrandly for link shortening and click tracking.
    • Detail: Target only “help-seeking” comments to deliver value and avoid spam reports. Use JSON batching (10 comments/batch) to reduce GPT-4 API cost.
    • Result: Ready system capacity ~50–100 comments/day.
  • Phase 2: Test and optimize (Days 1–3)
    • Bot posted 127 replies over 3 days, at 2–3 replies/day/account, staggered across time zones and subreddits.
    • GPT-4 replies are “help-first,” adding affiliate link only when contextually relevant (“I used [tool] for this—saved hours: [link]”).
    • Tracked clicks with Rebrandly, upvotes on Reddit, and affiliate signups.
    • Manually adjusted GPT output when tone/context missed the mark.
    • Details: Replies spaced by hours with random delays; used aged accounts; avoided older threads (>24h) to reduce reports.
    • Results: 127 replies, 45+ upvotes, 182 clicks, 16 signups, $173.08 earned; click→signup conversion ≈ 8.8%.
  • Phase 3: Review and scale plan (post–Day 3)
    • Analysis: r/SaaS and r/Notion produced higher CTR; refine targeting list.
    • Consider 100% automation by adding an approval/reject queue to minimize manual checks.
    • Plan to add more accounts and proxies to scale without bans.
    • Details: Day-1 replies continued to get clicks by Day 5 via organic upvotes (compounding). Implemented content sanitizer for hallucinations.
    • Result: Stable system, no account bans, foundations laid for scaling.

Results

  • Revenue: $173.08 in 3 days from 16 affiliate signups.
  • Volume: 127 replies (~42/day), 45+ upvotes, 182 clicks (≈1.43 clicks/reply), ~8.8% click→signup conversion.
  • Other achievements: 80–85% automation at low cost, identified high-performing subreddits and “help-first” strategy, no bans due to quality accounts and slow posting.
  • Challenges: GPT-4 hallucinations increased review workload; ban risk when scaling without more accounts/proxies; only 3 accounts limited daily throughput.

Lessons Learned

  • Success drivers: Help-first content (real value, no ad tone) increased upvotes and comment lifetime; quality, phone-verified aged accounts; smart automation with PRAW, GPT-4, n8n, headless browser.
  • Creative elements: JSON batching to cut GPT costs/time; sanitizer to curb hallucinations; precise targeting of “help-seeking” comments in niche subreddits.
  • Challenges/solutions:
    • Hallucinations → build sanitizer + manual tone/context checks.
    • Ban risk → aged accounts, 2–3 replies/day/account, user-like delays/headers.
    • Marketing gaps → focus on value content; let upvotes and organic clicks compound.

Suggestions for Beginners

  • Start small: 1 subreddit + 1 verified Reddit account (~$5–10 proxy/VPS). Use PRAW + GPT-3.5 to lower costs.
  • System:
    • Install PRAW and n8n on a $5 VPS (DigitalOcean/Linode).
    • Use free Bitly for link shortener and click tracking.
    • Draft help-first templates with GPT; e.g., “I found [tool] super helpful for [problem]. It’s free to try: [link].”
    • Pre-filter with simple regex (“tool for”, “software to”) before GPT.
  • Marketing: Target solopreneur/productivity niches (r/SaaS, r/Notion). Prefer SaaS with long cookies (ClickBank, ShareASale). Keep replies <100 words, friendly, useful.
  • Cost: ~$20–50 initial (VPS, proxy, GPT-3.5 API, Rebrandly). You can trial with a personal account first.
  • Learning: Watch PRAW tutorials, read OpenAI docs, and browse BlackHatWorld for ban-avoidance tips.
  • Compliance: Respect Reddit API rules, avoid repetitive comments, always add value, and accept ban risk if scaling too fast.

Source/Link

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