How non-techies are building the internet (and how you can, too)

There was a time (not that long ago) when building something on the internet required either (a) a team of highly skilled developers or (b) the patience of a saint and 600 hours of YouTube tutorials.

If you didn’t speak fluent Python? You stayed in your lane. Maybe wrote a blog. Maybe managed a Mailchimp list. But building a slick product or launching a platform? That was for the “technical” folks. You know, the ones with GitHub profiles and MacBooks covered in stickers that say things like “fail fast, ship faster.”

Well, those days are over. Because the rise of no-code tools has made one thing very clear: creativity is the new technical skill.

No-code platforms like Webflow, Framer, Zapier, Tally, and Glide have quietly (and not so quietly) kicked down the doors to what used to be a very exclusive club.

And they’re giving regular humans the power to build things that used to require entire dev teams. You want to launch a landing page? Done baby. Create a gated course? Easy money. Automate your lead gen? Sure, here’s a workflow. Spin up an entire productised service? Welcome to your new stack. All without writing a single line of code.

And no, it’s not “cheating.” It’s liberation. Like taking off your bra after a long ass day. The no-code movement goes beyond nifty productivity hacks and pretty dashboards. It’s a big ol’ middle finger to gatekeeping in tech.

It’s about access. Equity. Autonomy. Agency. And giving people tools they can actually use without needing a Computer Science degree or $10K/month in dev retainers. No-code is democratising tech (woooo!) And baby, the revolution will be drag-and-dropped.

So, you might be wondering, “What tf does this have to do with me, as a marketer?” Glad you asked. Because no-code tools are basically a cheat code for marketing efficiency, experimentation, and scale.

So, here's how to wield them like the badass marketer you are:

1. Build or test a landing page in a day! Use Webflow, Framer, or Carrd to create high-converting pages without waiting 6 weeks for dev. A/B test copy. Swap CTAs. Move fast. Iterate faster.

2. Automate lead gen and nurture work flows. Zapier + Tally + Notion = a self-updating CRM and follow-up system. You can route leads, trigger emails, and even notify yourself on Slack when a hot lead fills out your form. Sexy, no?

3. Create content hubs or resources. Use Notion or Softr to build searchable libraries, digital resources, or client portals. No dev. No stress. Just good UX.

4. Launch MVPs without breaking the bloody bank. Test an idea without building the whole damn thing. Use Glide or Bravo Studio to create lightweight apps and see if anyone bites. Validate first. Then scale.

5. Set up airtight reporting dashboards. Use Airtable or Notion databases connected with Make/Zapier to auto-pull data into clean, shareable dashboards for your boss, your client, or just your own Type A brain.

No-code doesn’t mean “no effort.”

You still need ideas. Taste. Strategy. But what it removes is friction. Dependency. Red tape. Now you don’t have to beg dev to update a form or build out a new idea. You just do it yourself. It’s not about skipping steps. It’s about owning the process. And for marketers, creators, and small business owners - that’s the freaking dream.

So, is no-code “real tech” ?

Yes. And if anyone tells you otherwise, ask them how long it took to build their last product. Then show them what you did in 48 hours with Notion, Zapier, and a playlist of early 2000s bangers xo

-Sophie Randell, Writer