Sam from Government Worker Fi recently posted a HUGE win in our private community (Online Impact ).

He had set a quarterly goal for SEO traffic…

And crushed it a full SIX WEEKS early.

He did this through a combination of…

• Finding keywords using the “golden ratio,”
• Taking a spreadsheet-based analytical approach
• and more.

He’s also been selected as one of Ezoic’s featured partners (meaning he’s driving some traffic and making the money!)

In this episode, we’re sitting down to chat about exactly what he did to grow his personal finance site.

Enjoy this chat with Sam, and consider joining us in Online Impact?

We’d love to have you

The post [SEO Traffic Case Study] Sam’s “Golden Keyword Ratio” appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

This is my brutally honest Jasper AI review (formerly Jarvis) for bloggers, copywriters, and creators.

As a 13-year veteran blogger, I have been REALLY skeptical of these AI tools, and I’ve tried just about all of them over the past 2 years.

Out of all of those, Jasper.ai is the tool I keep coming back to, and the only AI tool I can officially recommend!

It took some tinkering, but I finally “figured Jasper out” a few months ago, and OMG has it changed my content production for the BETTER. I’m even Jarvis certified now!

Table of Contents:

• My overall experience & recommendation
• Jasper AI product overview
• Jasper Pricing
• Features & tour
• How does Jasper.ai work? Tutorial & Best Practices
• Jasper AI examples & demo
• Jasper Alternatives
• F.A.Q.

Do you think a robot can write better than you? Is Jasper worth it for YOU? Keep reading!

Who is Jasper a good fit for? Overall thoughts:

• If you’re willing to learn how to use Jasper a bit, it’s absolutely worth it.
• The Starter Plan would be perfect for copywriters since you still have access to the templates and don’t need a ton of words each month.
• However, bloggers and SEOs will get the most use from the Jasper Boss Mode plan! You get a lot more content each month and the long-form editor is WORTH IT.

Final Verdict: Is Jasper.ai worth the price?

All-in-all, I can fully recommend Jasper.ai for anybody who is willing to accept the fact that it’s an assistant, not a 1-click solution! If you produce a lot of content and want that process to go faster, Jasper CAN and WILL help.

Jasper.ai Pros and Cons

PROS	CONS
Easily the best AI writing tool I’ve tested (out of 5 competitors)	There is a small learning curve to “figure it out”
Faster content production	A bit pricey for beginners (but it works better at least)
A surprisingly great text editor (the long-form editor)	You definitely need to fact-check all content produced.
GREAT integrations with SurferSEO, Grammarly, and even a Copyscape plagiarism checker
The copywriting templates & blogging recipes work, and work well!
They are constantly releasing updates and improving the AI
INSANELY good support. Like, literally the best I’ve seen in a long time

What is Jasper AI? Product Overview

Jasper is an AI-powered writing assistant.

It helps creators, bloggers, writers, etc, get past writer’s block and get their ideas on paper, faster!

It uses a technology called GPT-3 (from OpenAI). Not to get TOO technical, but GPT-3 is basically artificial intelligence software that has been “trained” on a large amount of data.

Here’s how it works (the simple version):

1. You give Jasper basic info on what to create.
2. Jasper takes your info & analyzes its huge database of internet content
3. Jasper writes some outputs for you to review and edit

That’s the basic technology of GPT-3, but Jasper takes it several steps further, allowing you to customize the outputs for certain tasks like blogging, copywriting frameworks (like AIDA & PAS), and even tone of voice!

You input instructions for what type of content you’re creating, and Jasper spit out content for you to edit.

Who is the team behind Jasper?

Jasper was actually developed by the same company behind Proof (a long-time player in the digital marketing world). They aren’t strangers to creating helpful Saas products for creators & marketers.

Pricing: How much does Jasper AI cost?

There are 2 main plans for Jasper:

Starter Plan – starts at $29/month

• $29/month gets you 20,000 words generated per month
• Full access to AI copywriting skills & templates
• Full access to 25+ languages
• Full access to trainings, Jasper FB group

The starter plan is probably best for anybody who produces short-form content, like social media posts, emails, or copywriting assets (sales pages, landing pages, etc).

Yes, long-form creators (bloggers & SEOs) can make use of the starter plan, but there are a few key features they’d be missing…

Boss Mode Plan – starts at $59/month

• $59/month gets you 50,000 words generated per month
• Access to everything in the starter plan
• Long-form document editor
• Integrations with SurferSEO, Grammarly, and a plagiarism checker
• A much longer “content-lookback”
• Jasper “commands.”
• Priority support

Personally, I’m on the $59/month Boss Mode plan, as I sincerely believe the long-form editor, integrations, and “content lookback” are WORTH IT.

Boss Mode is a must-have for long-form content creators, and the good news is they lowered their prices! (it used to start at $119/month. Whew!)

For more info on those boss mode features, see our features section below!

How do the credits work?

When Jasper outputs a word, 1 credit is used up. (using the long-form editor or short-form templates, skills, etc!).

The starter plan gets 20k credits every month, and if you go over, you can either upgrade your plan OR buy a one-time bonus pack!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The plagiarism check isn’t free (but it’s absurdly cheap).

The plagiarism check uses a popular tool called Copyscape, and it costs you a few cents for each blog post. You can simply add a “balance” of $10 or so to your account, and that will last you a LOT of words.

A 1,900-word article costs me $0.19 to run.

The bottom line is this:

If you’re somebody who creates A LOT of content, then Jasper can be a HUGE time-saver for you (and help you produce better content).

If you don’t create a lot of content, then Jasper might not be worth it… at least not yet.

Want to go deeper into how Jasper works? Check out my full Jasper AI Tutorial here!

Jasper.ai Features: A Full Tour

Let’s take a look around the different features & benefits that Jasper has to offer.

Jasper Templates:

Jasper templates are specific use-cases for creating content!

• Need to write a compelling Facebook Ad?
• Need to whip up a quick outline for your next YouTube video?
• Want to tell a fun and creative story for your next blog post?

Choose the template, and Jaster walks you through, step-by-step!

The outputs of these templates are mostly short-form content (obviously except for the “long-form assistant.”

Here are some of the more popular templates in Jasper:

Blogging Templates:

• Paragraph Generator (NEW in April 2022): You give an idea of what to write, and Jasper will spit out a paragraph (or more) of content for you to use!
• Long-form assistant: This templates walks you through, step-by-step, of what to include in your blog post (introduction, conclusion, etc).
• Blog Post Outline: This is just what it sounds like…Jasper will help you create an outline for your blog post!
• Blog Post Topic Ideas: Jasper will help you brainstorm ideas for your next blog post.
• Blog Post Intro: Jasper writes an intro to your blog post
• Blog Post Conclusion Paragraph: Jasper writes a nice little summary conclusion.
• Creative Story: You’ll give Jasper some inputs, and the AI will write a story that engages readers.

There are more to help you create blog posts, but those are the bigger ones.

Copywriting Templates:

• AIDA Framework: AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Give Jasper info about your product, and it’ll output the framework used by copywriters around the world to write effective sales pages, landing pages, etc.
• PAS Framework: A similar framework to give sales copy, PAS stands for Problem, Agitation, Solution.
• Facebook Ad: You’ll give Jasper info about your product and target market, and it’ll write ad copy! THIS IS GOLD for FB ad people–mostly due to the fact you generally need SEVERAL ads to test.
• Google Ads: Same thing, but for Google Ads!
• Product Description: You’ll give Jasper info about your product, and it writes a description for you to use on e-commerce platforms, etc.

There are loads more templates, too!

• SEO titles and descriptions
• Unique Value Propositions
• YouTube outlines & descriptions
• Real Estate Listings

The list goes on. These are fantastic short-form wins! It’ll even write a personal bio for you. My example below is with a “Will Ferrell” tone of voice.

Long-Form Document Editor (Boss Mode Only)

The long-form editor is a bonified text-editing space similar to a Google Doc, WordPress editor, etc.

The amazing thing about the document editor is the “content lookback.”

Basically, Jasper will look back at all of the content you’ve written, and USE that data to create content EVEN BETTER.

The more you write, the better Jasper gets at…

• Saying the right things
• Adapting to YOUR tone and YOUR voice
• Adapting to your natural formatting.

I can’t underline this enough: The long-form editor is absolutely fantastic, and where I spend 95% of my time in Jasper.

Integrations with SurferSEO, Grammarly, and Copyscape

Also, you can also access “SEO Mode” and “Power Mode” in the long-form editor.

SEO Mode = If you pay for SurferSEO (it doesn’t come with Jasper), you can access your SEO tools in a sidebar.

You’ll need a paid SurferSEO account to use this, but the setup and integration is literally 30 seconds. It’s super easy.

I personally hope they add more integrations like this soon!

From the editor, you can also access:

• The Plagiarism checker
• A “re-phrase” tool for sentences (to make things sound more natural)
• A grammar fixer
• Enable or disable Grammarly
• An “explain it to a 5th grader” tool that’ll simplify text you select

Grammarly works by default right in the editor.

Power Mode = In the power mode tab, you have access to all of Jasper’s templates, for easy copy/pasting! That’s insanely powerful (and also where you access the handy Paragraph Generator).

The long-form editor also has normal access to formatting tools like headlines, bold, italics, etc.

And of course, you can invite team members to collaborate on docs(!)

One thing to note: You cannot currently export your document as a PDF, or straight to WordPress. It’s more of a copy/paste thing right now (but it works really well for WordPress btw. That’s what I do).

Jasper “Commands” (Boss Mode only)

In the long-form editor, you’ll see a “compose” button that will run your instructions for Jasper to analyze and give output.

BUT there’s another way to tell Jasper what to create–via “commands.”

Basically, you can “command” Jasper with natural language processing (i.e. you say “write a blah blah”), and it follows your orders.

For Example:

If you want Jasper to write a pros and cons list, you might type out “write a pros and cons list for upgrading to the iPhone 13.”

Then you hit “Command/Control + Enter,” and Jasper reads the commands and executes it.

This is actually quite a bit more functional than the “compose” button, because you can give detailed instructions in a “natural language.”

Tell Jasper to…

• “write an intro”
• “write a list of subheaders for the header above”
• “write a list of F.A.Q. for this blog post”
• etc

Super powerful.

Jasper Recipes: What are they and how do they work?

I LOVE Jasper’s recipes!! This was a brilliant idea.

Jasper Recipes are community-made templates for different types of content that you can deploy into the long-form editor with one click.

They could be literally anything!

These “recipes” contain some instructions for getting started, and then literally have Jarvis commands ready to go.

Since Jasper REQUIRES you to give it direction–recipes are nice because they have instructions built-in.

You can also tinker and save your own recipes!

Want to see my full tutorial on Jasper AI Recipes? Read this post.

I’ve been making my own recipes for different types of blog posts!

• short info content
• review posts like this one
• round-up listicles
• etc

Jasper “Tone of Voice”

Jasper can write in different styles!

For example, I typically write in a light-hearted, fun style, so I’ll generally input “fun,” “playful,” or “witty.”

You can also input popular celebrities, comedians, etc. It’s not 1,000% accurate all the time–but these can be really fun to play with (ESPECIALLY in the Jasper templates for sales copywriting, etc).

AND–not only can you CHOOSE a tone of voice for your content, but Jasper will also “learn” your tone of voice the more you use it.

You’ll find the “compose” function working a LOT better after you’ve written a few things with Jasper. AI is smart.

Unlimited Project Workspaces

If you work on multiple projects, Jasper allows the creation of unlimited workspaces to keep everything separate.

This is SUPER handy if you want to use Jasper for things like:

• Client work
• Your own projects
• Multiple blogs
• Agency work
• Etc

Plus…you can share workspaces with other people! So if you have a team or work with freelancers, this can be essential for staying organized.

Jasper Community Facebook Group

Yes, just about every company on the internet has a Facebook group, but the Jasper community is EASILY one of the more useful ones I’ve seen!

It’s extremely active, and there are lots of new ideas and use cases being shared every day.

Also, the Jasper team has some recurring threads for sharing your work, or even posting writing jobs (or GETTING writing jobs).

If I have questions, the Jasper community is generally the FIRST place I go to, as the response time is almost immediate. They did an excellent job setting that group up!

Jasper AI Bootcamp and Official Training

Wait–this blog post wasn’t enough?? How dare you.

Just kidding.

The Jasper team totally understands that their tool DOES require a learning curve. Luckily for us, they’ve put together an excellent Bootcamp and training program to help people learn how to use Jasper.

The Bootcamp is a series of video & text lessons that guide you through the basics of setting up and using Jasper. This is INVALUABLE, as it helps you learn not just HOW to use Jasper–but also some best practices for actually making this tool work for you.

Seriously, you have to learn how to use AI tools. They aren’t “1-click and done.”

More good news: The BootCamp is surprisingly short. Yeah there’s a learning curve, but it’s not going to take you WEEKS to figure out. The videos & lessons are short and to-the-point.

Jasper is VERY well documented. I love when companies take the time to make helpful content surrounding their product! Shows they care.

Live training & webinars

There are also weekly webinar training from the Jasper team.

And generally, they aren’t JUST the Jasper team talking about how great the product is–they often feature OTHER creators and how they’re using Jasper.

They’re well-done and totally free of course.

Jasper supported languages

If English isn’t your 1st language (or you blog internationally), you’re in luck! Jasper supports over 25 input and output languages.

Jasper AI Tutorial & Best Practices

If you want to get the most out of Jasper, there are a few tips & tricks that I’d like to share here:

1 – Think of Jasper as an ASSISTANT

Jasper isn’t here to write for you COMPLETELY, or do all the work. It’s here to help you write.

Jasper isn’t really capable of writing entire blog posts with no guides. However, it’s REALLY good at listening!

Make it a point to always give Jasper enough context and details (yes, it takes a second to write this context and details–but Jasper is still a time-saver even taking this into account).

2 – Edit as you go

This is the single biggest reason people give Jasper a try–and are disappointed.

• They give Jasper a LITTLE detail
• Hit compose
• Hit compose again, without editing or adding,
• etc.

The Jasper AI can get “off track” really fast.

However, if you can consistently edit Jasper’s output (for your own formatting and tone), the AI WILL start to pick up on what you’re doing, and it will work so much better!

1. Give Jasper the details
2. Hit compose (or use a Jasper command, etc)
3. Edit the output, fix factual errors, fix formatting and tone
4. THEN let Jasper do more work

3 – Get used to constantly deleting Jasper’s work.

At the end of the day, Jasper is just an algorithm. It’s not human, and it doesn’t KNOW what’s right or wrong.

Make peace with the fact that you’ll do a ton of deleting! That’s just part of the process.

1. Give Jasper inputs
2. Edit his outputs
3. Repeat

You’ll see a LOT of bad content (especially if you’re new to Jasper). Don’t worry, it’s not just you! I STILL delete a lot of outputs.

4 – Jasper doesn’t do “facts” or “opinions” well, so feed that into Jasper!

Here’s another brilliant idea:

1. Do your topic/product research beforehand
2. Compile some talking points, facts or points of interest, and your own opinions about your topic
3. (Optional: Go ahead and create an outline for your content)
4. Put that content at the top of your Jasper document editor!

Don’t worry about formatting or grammar.

Think of this as “feeding Jasper” the correct information to work with. You’ll notice that the AI will refer BACK to your talking points, outline, etc, throughout the document editor.

This will save you a TON of headache. If Jasper doesn’t have the facts, he sometimes just makes stuff up.

5 – Limit Jasper outputs to 1 or 2

By default, hitting compose in the Jasper templates (or long-form editor) will generate 3 outputs. This is usually a waste of Jasper credits!

Instead, limit your Jasper outputs to 1 or 2.

If you want more, you can always hit compose again.

6 – Don’t give up! It gets easier (and way faster)

When I first started using Jasper, I was SO frustrated. I thought the product didn’t work, and that I wasted my money.

But I’m SO glad I gave it another chance!

Hopefully, these tips help, but it does take a bit of tinkering to get the hang of it.

7 – Use Jasper for what it’s good at

Jasper is GREAT for content ideation, brain dumping, and getting FIRST DRAFTS DONE FAST.

• It’s not for polishing. It’s for bulk-generating drafts.
• It’s not for finished copywriting. It’s for getting ideas fast.

It’s also great for taking existing content and improving it, making it simpler, etc.

Jasper AI examples

Just for fun, let’s take a look at some examples I’ve done.

Blog post examples:

First, this very blog post was written in Jasper

• I started by research this article and creating an outline OUTSIDE Jasper
• I brought in the outline and my opinions
• I went header by header, alternating between ME writing, and Jasper writing
• I copy and pasted into WordPress for final formatting and editing

If you’d to see another finished blog post I used Jasper for, check out this article about how to build a custom keyboard.

Paragraph Generator

Now, what if I use the paragraph generator for the next little bit (about how this has taken about 2 hours to write so far because I’ve been editing as I go)?

Output:

Jasper Boss Mode Command Examples:

Here’s a command:

“write a list of people who jasper would be a good fit for”

or how about…

“write an AIDA for the content above”

Blog post topic ideas

Now let’s generate some content ideas using a template–and let’s pretend I’m trying to sell more copies of my 1HR BLOG POST templates…

Instagram Post Captions

I like this one! I could see great potential for bulk-scheduling IG posts (or other social media posts).

YouTube Video Script Outline

This really isn’t specific to video, either. Podcasters could use this too!

Feature to Benefit Copywriting Template

If you have a product, it’s always helpful to translate the features of your products–to the benefits that your customers will get!

Even without giving Jasper specific features, he was able to come up with cool stuff using this framework:

Now that we’ve seen Jasper in action, it’s times to check out some Jasper alternatives!

Jasper.ai Alternatives

Ok, so Jasper isn’t perfect. No tool is!

Here are some alternatives to Jasper that you may want to check out:

1. Copy.ai
2. Writesonic
3. Peppertype
4. ContentBot.ai
5. Rytr

NOTE: It’s worth noting that MOST of these AI tools actually use the same underlying software from OpenAI, called GPT-3!

The AI software is the same, so it mostly comes down to how these tools USE the AI:

1. How much control they give YOU
2. How customizable the inputs are (tone of voice, etc)
3. Long-form editing
4. Features geared towards specific people (blogger? copywriter? both?)
5. Etc

Copy.ai

• Summary: Copy.ai is equally good for short-form content like Facebook Ads, etc, but their long-form content is NOWHERE NEAR as good as Jasper’s
• Pricing: Copy.ai has a limited free plan, and paid plans start at $35/month (billed annually)

Copy.ai is another great AI tool, but it’s mostly geared towards copywriters, i.e. short-form content.

They have numerous templates, tools, etc, similar to Jasper, but they do NOT have a great long-term editor yet (as of April 2022, they actually JUST announced a new blog post writing tool, complete with an editor of sorts, called the “first draft wizard.”)

Bottom Line: It’s simply not as good as Jasper’s yet. But if you mostly work on ads or sales copy, give it a try for free here!

Writesonic

• Summary: Built more for long-form content, but a bit clunky. If you use SEMrush already, this is a great fit.
• Pricing: Several plans, starting at $15/month for access to the long-form writing assistant and SEMrush integration.

Writesonic is promoted as geared towards SEO creators specifically (though they also have the standard copywriting tools, Facebook Ads, sales content, etc).

They also have a native SEMrush integration!

Their long-form article generator works similar to Copy.ai’s First Draft tool…

1. You input the title and description for your article
2. The AI generates an outline to review and edit
3. The AI uses THAT outline to start generating text, all at once
4. You edit

It works! But I still think Jasper.ai’s long-form editor is better.

Bottom line: If you’re into SEO and use SurferSEO (or nothing), I think Jasper wins. If you’re using SEMrush, Writesonic is DEFINITELY what you want.

You can try Writesonic for free here.

Peppertype.ai

• Summary: Geared towards agencies or companies, but the tools are pretty much the same. No long-form editor.
• Pricing: The SMALLEST plans start at $35 / month, and the next plan is $199 / month.

Peppertype is definitely chasing a different audience, mostly targeting agencies & corporate work. They technically have blog-related AI tools, but they’re still pretty limited.

Their copy tools are right on par with Jasper and Copy.ai, but they don’t really have a long-form editor yet.

And while the $35/month plan has 50,000 monthly word credits (similar to Jasper), you’ll have to pay $199/month (woah) for any collab or sharing options.

Also, their user interface seems SLOWER to me. Kinda frustrating and hard to work with.

Bottom line: I personally don’t recommend Peppertype. I don’t see any benefits over Jasper AI (and I think Copy.ai is better).

ContentBot.ai

• Summary: ContentBot is newer and less powerful, but looks promising (and they have a “pay as you go plan.”
• Pricing: Pay as you go (cool!), and plans starting at $29/month. But no free trial, boo!

ContentBot DOES have a long-form editor (and it works well), but it’s not as powerful as Jasper’s.

For one thing, you don’t have access to the AI tools inside the long-form editor (like the paragraph generator, for example), and the long-form assistant is less customizable. It’s just one button that says “write for me.”

They also have an interesting SEMrush integration where you…

• put in your topic
• SEMrush creates a “content plan,” i.e. a few content ideas
• ContentBot will send you the first 800 words each week, automated.

Kinda cool, but I don’t see a massive benefit to this over other AI tools. You can whip out 800 words based on a topic in NO TIME in Jasper.

Bottom Line: ContentBot is trying to release cool new features, and the pay-as-you-go plan could be nice–but their tools aren’t on par with Jasper yet, and they don’t have a free trial.

Rytr.me

• Summary: This is the budget pick for a reason: it’s clunky & not as powerful. But it’s cheap!
• Pricing: Plans start at $9/month, but that’s 50,000 characters per month, not words

If you’re on a budget but want to try an AI writing assistant, Rytr is your best bet. Plans start at $9/month, which is 50,000 characters per month. That is NOT a lot.

For context, THIS blog post, up to this point, is over half of that.

That, and Rytr’s user experience is not great.

I’ve been playing around with the long-form editor, and it is NOT easy to use. And the AI results have always disappointed me (the sentences just aren’t as good for some reason. I don’t know why).

Bottom Line: Yes, Rytr is cheap. But you get what you pay for. It’s clunky and hard to use, and the AI outputs don’t seem to be high quality.

You can try Rytr for free here!

woot woot.

Jasper.ai Frequently Asked Questions

Is Jasper AI worth it?

If you are looking to put out more long-form content or sales copy faster–Jasper AI is a great tool for the job. Whether or not it’s “worth it” depends on how much content you need to produce. You’ll want to experiment with the tool in order to judge its effectiveness for you and your writing needs!

Does Jasper AI work?

Yes! Jasper AI uses the GPT-3 Artificial Integellince & machine learning tool (from OpenAI) to help you write better and faster. You can use Jasper for short-form copywriting or for long-form blog content, and the AI outputs are customizable and work well.

Why is Jarvis now Jasper?

The Jarvis team received a cease and desist letter from Marvel, who owns the rights to the JARVIS trademark (it’s the name of Tony Stark’s (Ironman’s) AI-assistant in the comics and movies. They were forced to rebrand their writing assistant software, and they chose Jasper as the new name.

Does Jasper.ai have an affiliate program?

Yes! Jasper has an affiliate program that pays up to 30% commission rates on all referrals. You can apply to join their program here.

Jasper AI Review Verdict – Is it Worth the Price?

In my opinion, Jasper is a FANTASTIC tool for anybody looking to produce more content, faster.

If you write blog posts (or any SEO content) you’ll probably need the Boss Mode plan in order to maximize your benefit from Jasper, but it’s worth it. They have THE BEST long-form editor from any AI writing assistant tool, and the 2,000-word lookback works really well.

If you’re a copywriter who produces a LOT of content (agency or freelance), Jasper can definitely help you with pumping out marketing & sales copy ideas faster.

If you’re a beginning blogger, you’ll have to decide for yourself if the Jasper Starter Plan is worth it to you or not!

Click here to try Jasper and get 10,000 for free!

It’s my preferred AI tool of choice, especially for creating high-quality blog posts, fast!

The post Jasper AI Review [2022]: Does it actually work? My honest thoughts. appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

This is my full Jasper AI tutorial to help you make the MOST of the amazing writing assistant.

Yes, tools like Jasper CAN help you churn out high-quality content in minutes–but it definitely takes some getting used to.

Luckily, there are blogging nerds like me who have been OBSESSED Jasper (I’ve generated over 300,000 words at this point, and I’m even Jasper certified!)

So here are my top tips & tricks for making Jasper work better.

Related: Want to see my full review of Jasper AI? Check out this post.

What is Jasper.ai? (formerly Jarvis.ai)

Jasper AI is a tool that uses GPT-3 (an artificial intelligence software from OpenAI) to create content for all formats at scale.

• SEO blog posts
• Facebook Ad copy
• Email newsletters
• LOADS more.

It has the ability to write high-quality articles in a fraction of the time it would take a human. Jasper is also extremely versatile and can create content for all types of channels, including websites, social media, and email marketing campaigns.

But of course, there is a DEFINITELY a learning curve in the Jasper software.

Does Jasper offer a free trial?

Yes, but only if you use an affiliate link they provide to creators (like us!). It’s not on the official site.

The goods news? If you sign up for Jasper with our special link, you get 10,000-word credits for free!

Is Jasper Boss Mode worth it?

If you ONLY produce short-form content (copy for ads, for example), you could probably do without Jasper Boss Mode.

But if you produce long-form content like blog posts or ebooks, Jasper Boss Mode is a MUST.

Here’s why:

• The long-form editor (complete with “power mode” and “SEO mode,” see our notes below) is amazing and required for long-form content
• Boss Mode gives a 2,000 “content lookback,” which means the AI looks back at 2,000 words of content to better understand what you want it to create! This is far more accurate.
• Jasper commands are very handy

Boss Mode is a must-have for long-form content creators, but at least they lowered the price to $59/month! (it used to start at $119/month.)

How does Jasper work? The basics

Jasper is an AI-powered writing assistant that assists writers, bloggers, and other creators in getting their ideas on paper more rapidly.

GPT-3 is the name given to this technology (from OpenAI). Not to get too technical, but GPT-3 is essentially artificial intelligence software that has been “trained” on a massive data set.

What Jasper does when it creates content for you (GPT-3 explanation)

It’s pretty simple!

1. You give Jasper basic info on what to create.
2. Jasper takes your info & analyzes its huge database of internet content
3. Jasper writes some outputs for you to review and edit

That’s GPT-3 in action.

You input instructions on what you want (and Jasper makes that process easier through templates, recipes, power mode, etc!), and the AI spits back outputs.

Easy enough–but you’ll discover that doesn’t automatically mean the content will be RIGHT or GOOD.

Learn Jasper AI: A breakdown of Jasper’s tools

Here’s a brief tour of the Jasper platform, and how to use each feature.

A quick tour of the platform

Here’s a quick tour around the Jasper dashboard:

The dashboard is simple and straightforward, usually showing you a bit of news, how many credits you’ve used recently, etc.

How to use Jasper Templates

“Templates” in Jasper are simply pre-made programs to accomplish a specific, short-form copy.

• Facebook Ad headlines
• Blog post outlines
• YouTube video outlines
• dozens more.

Here’s how templates work:

1. You open the Jasper template you want
2. Jasper will prompt you for a specific type of input (for example, “Blog post title” or “product name” or “benefits of product.”
3. You’ll set the tone of voice (optional)
4. You’ll select how many different outputs you want (I suggest 1-2)
5. Hit “Generate AI content”
6. Jasper spits options out

With some outputs, you can choose to copy them, “star” them for later use, or regenerate more copy.

SUMMARY: Templates are pre-made formulas for a specific, short-form copywriting objective! They’re available on all Jasper plans.

How to Use the Jasper Long-Form Document Editor

The long-form editor is one of my FAVORITE features of Jasper.

It’s an AI-powered writing document that makes it easy to write long-form content like blog posts, articles, and even books!

This is where I spent 95% of my time in Jasper.

• Access to Jasper’s commands (more on this below)
• Content “lookback,” meaning Jasper reads the previous words to better understand what you’re writing.
• SEO mode and power mode, etc.

Here’s a quick overview of how to use the long-form editor:

1 – Create a new document

First, create a new document (either from scratch, or you can use the “long-form blog post” prompts to help you get started. That basically just helps you whip up the title, outline, and intro to your post–but you can also just do this in the blank editor).

2 – Optionally, just start writing!

Honestly, it’s a pretty decent text editor even apart from AI tools. Personally, I like to write a little bit on my own just to help give Jasper more CONTEXT for what we’re writing about.

PRO TIP: The more you write, the better Jasper gets! At saying the “right” content, adapting to your tone and formatting, everything.

3 – Use a recipe or template (in Power Mode) to get started.

If you want to kick off your document with a title, outline, content brief, or intro, etc…

You have access to all of Jasper’s templates right in the long-form editor (accessed via the “power mode” button).

4 – Don’t forget to add a title, and optionally a “content brief” to Jasper

While you don’t have to do this, it’s generally a good practice to fill in the title and description boxes to help Jasper better understand what to create (especially at the beginning of a long-form document BEFORE Jasper can look back!).

5 – Use Jasper Commands

In the long-form editor, you’ll see a “compose” button that will run your instructions for Jasper to analyze and give output.

However, there is another approach to instruct Jasper on what to create—through “commands.”

Basically, you can “command” Jasper with natural language processing (i.e. you say “write a blah blah”), and it follows your orders.

You can easily use “natural language processing, ” i.e. just telling Jasper what to do in plain English.

Here are some examples of commands you can give Jasper:

• “Create an outline for my post.”
• “Write a paragraph on the benefits of black garlic.”
• “Give me three ideas for blog post titles.”
• “Add a section on ‘how to use black garlic.'”

6 – If you’re a SurferSEO user, you can use the SEO mode

Note: SurferSEO is a separate, paid tool for SEO bloggers.

You can open the SEO mode sidebar and get access to all your NLP tools to help you optimize your document for SEO (and it updates in real-time!)

7 – Use the “compose” button to fill in the gaps.

When you need to quickly finish a thought, sentence, or paragraph, tap the compose button (or use the keyboard shortcut) to quickly tell Jasper to start writing.

Note: You’ll end up deleting a LOT of what the AI writes, but that’s normal–see my tricks below…

8 – See my tips & tricks below…

Below I’ll share even more tricks to making the Jasper long-form editor work SWIMMINGLY.

Jasper Recipes: What They Are and How to Use Them

Next up are Jasper’s long-form recipes.

These use the long-form editor ONLY (and so they only make sense for the Boss Mode Jasper plan).

Jasper Recipes are community-made templates for different types of content that you can deploy into the long-form editor with one click.

The best news?

You can create and save your own recipes!

I’ve been making my own recipes for different types of blog posts.

• short info content
• review posts like this one
• round-up listicles

You can then “deploy” the recipe to the long-form editor, complete with the variables and commands you wrote in the recipe.

Once the recipe is run, you’ll simply go through the recipe and…

1. Replace the variables you created
2. Run the Jasper commands you wrote

Related Reading: Jasper AI Recipes: A Complete Tutorial for 2022

9 Tips and Tricks for Making Jasper Work Better

Believe it or not, that’s pretty much it as far as the Jasper platform…

1. You give Jasper inputs (either in specific templates or in the long-form editor)
2. Jasper analyzes its database on the internet
3. Jasper gives you outputs.

That’s the easy part. The HARD PART is figuring out how to get Jasper to actually produce GOOD content!

And it can take a while to learn.

Here are my top tips for making Jasper work better & faster:

1 – Think of Jasper as an ASSISTANT

Jasper is NOT a completely one-click “done for you” type of tool, but rather an assistant that can help you get your work done faster and better.

If you think of Jasper as your assistant, not a human mind that KNOWS WHAT YOU WANT.

You have to give Jasper SPECIFIC Instructions–else it’s going to be useless for you.

And…the more specific you are with your instructions, the better Jasper will be able to help you.

Let it create content, then edit, then go again.

3 – Get used to constantly deleting Jasper’s work.

Speaking of which–don’t be worried if you find yourself constantly deleting Jasper’s outputs.

It’s completely normal.

In fact, the more you use Jasper, the more you’ll find yourself doing this.

Jasper gives you a lot of content. Most of it will be unusable. That’s just the way it is.

The key is to get used to editing and deleting quickly so quickly that Jasper starts to pick up what you’re doing–faster.

Towards the end of a blog post–I usually find that Jasper is MUCH better at anticipating what I want it to do.

4 – “Pre-load” Jasper with facts and opinions!

If there’s one thing Jasper DOES NOT do well, it’s come up with your opinions or accurate facts.

You have to give Jasper those.

The best way to do this is to “pre-load” him with information before you start writing.

This makes fact-checking and editing so much easier.

5 – Limit Jasper outputs to 1 or 2

Whenever you hit “compose,” Jasper will, by default, give you 3 outputs to choose from.

This is great if you want QUICK options, but it also eats up a ton of word credits.

I generally leave my outputs set to 1 or 2, to save credits. You can always re-do it if you don’t like those.

6 – Don’t give up on Jasper! It gets easier (and way faster)

Like any new software, it will take a hot minute to “figure things out” on the Jasper platform!

All of the AI tools are new, so there’s a bit of a learning curve.

I remember when I first started using Jasper, it was SLOW and painful (I literally went through 3 different free trials, before I became a full-time paying user lol).

I’d have to edit EVERYTHING it wrote, and it would take me forever to get a post done.

But little by little, I started discovering these tricks and tips, and Jasper became exponentially more useful to me.

7 – Use the 3 asterisks shortcode

Sometimes, you’ll want to tell Jasper to IGNORE certain sections of your content, and that’s where the three asterisks come into play.

Just put those on a line in the long-form editor, and Jasper will ignore all the content above it.

This will help the AI avoid duplicating content it’s already written, and keep it more focused!

8 – Use voice dictation to speed up the process even more

This isn’t really a Jasper trick, but more of a writing trick in general.

Look up the keyboard shortcut on your computer to enable voice dictation (it’s different from Mac and Windows). This will allow you to SPEAK your content, rather than type it.

You can even speak Jasper commands. It’s almost like talking to a real AI, right??

9 – ALWAYS use the built-in plagiarism checker

This is one of those “do NOT forget this” tip.

The built-in plagiarism check actually uses Copyscape, a popular plagiarism detection tool.

It’s way more accurate than the free plagiarism checkers you’ll find online, BUT it does cost a bit extra.

That’s it, but don’t forget to run this, ESPECIALLY if you haven’t been heavily editing the Jasper outputs.

Some users have found the paragraph generator provides up to 20-30% plagiarized content. NO GOOD.

Jasper AI F.A.Q.

Let’s break down some frequently asked questions about Jasper and AI writing assistants in general.

How do I export content from Jasper?

At the time of this writing, it’s just a “copy and paste” sorta thing. There’s no official export button for a specific format.

The good news is–I’ve personally found the “copy/paste” work really well for formatting (some tools can mess up formatting, but Jasper’s seems ok).

How do I use Jasper AI?

Here’s the basic 3-step process for using any of Jasper.ai’s tools: First, you give the AI inputs on what to create. Second, the AI will analyze its database of internet content. Last, Jasper will output content based on the inputs and data.

Which tone of voice is best to use?

While you can leave the “tone of voice” field blank, it definitely helps to shape the AI to YOUR specific style of content! You can use adjectives like ” conversational” or “formal.” You can even put in celebrities like “Will Ferrell” or “Michelle Obama.” Cool!

Why did Jarvis change its name to Jasper?

In early 2022, Marvel (the team behind Iron Man, The Avengers, etc) reached out to the Jasper team and asked them to change their name for legal reasons (Jarvis was the name of Tony Stark’s AI assistant in the Iron Man movies). The team came up with “Jasper” and rebranded their platform.

Final Thoughts on Learning Jasper AI

Yes, Jasper can be an insanely powerful tool for your writing workflows…but there IS a learning curve!

• Think of Jasper an an assistant
• Edit as you go
• Delete all unnecessary content
• Give Jasper detail to help keep it focused

Start following these tips, and you’ll quickly realize just how well Jasper works!

Ready to get started with Jasper?

Use our special link to get a free trial PLUS 10,000 words credited to your account!

The post Jasper AI Tutorial [2022] the Ultimate FAST Writing Guide appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

In this post how to use Jasper AI recipes in the Boss Mode long-form editor!

Jasper’s recipes are pre-made templates that you can “run” to make long-form content way faster. (Templates + AI = holy content, Batman )

Although it took me a hot minute to figure out how Jasper works (3 free trials). At this point I’ve generated over 300,000 words using Jasper Recipes–and I’m here to share my tips and tricks!

Want to try Jasper for free–AND get 10,000-word credits? Use the button below!

Related Posts:

• Jasper AI Tutorial: the Ultimate FAST Writing Guide
• Jasper AI Review: Does it actually work? My honest thoughts.

Table of Contents:

• What are Jasper Recipes?
• How to use Jasper Recipes
• How to create Jasper Recipes
• How to find Jasper Recipes to use

For example, I created a recipe for long-form product reviews, called 1HR REVIEW POST.

I simply run the recipe, fill in some details about the specific product I’m reviewing (filling in the “variables”), and then start using the pre-written Jasper commands to start generating the EXACT content I use for review posts.

There are TONS of Jasper recipes out there, from Jasper and 3rd party users alike!

• YouTube video scripts
• 10-minute info posts
• Listicle posts
• way more

How to Use Jasper.ai Recipes, Start to Finish

Let’s dive into the Jasper platform and learn how to use recipes to create content faster!

Do I need to be on the Jasper Boss Mode plan in order to use recipes?

Yes, you need to be on the Jasper Boss mode plan in order to use the long-form editor (including recipes, Jasper commands, SEO mode, content lookback, and more).

Luckily, they decreased the price to $59/month for 50,000 words (I’ve never used more than 25k in a month, so that’s plenty I think!).

Click here to try Jasper for free and also get 10,000 bonus word credits.

1 – Head to the Recipes page in your dashboard

First, login to your Jasper account and click “recipes” in your dashboard.

Here you’ll see several things:

• A few featured recipes from the Jasper team
• Any recipes you’ve already created (or saved from 3rd parties)
• The ability to edit those, or “run” them to a blank document
• A button to create a new recipe from scratch

We’ll go over creating your own recipes from scratch below!

2 – Choose your recipe and hit “run”

Find the recipe for the type of content you want to create, and click “run.”

This will open up a blank long-form editor complete with the recipe content.

If you’re new to Jasper, you probably won’t have your own created yet, and that’s ok! I’ll share some of my own recipes below.

3 – Replace the variables

“Variables” are unique to the specific content you’re creating, and usually look like a word in curly brackets, like {this}.

For Example: If I run my 1HR REVIEW POST recipe, here are some of the variables:

• {product} = the product name of what I’m reviewing. Example: “Cloudways hosting”
• {feature 1} = the first feature I wanna talk about. Example: “lighting fast page speeds”
• {benefit 1} = the first benefits I wanna talk about. Example: “fast load times mean better SEO rankings.”

Here’s what those variables look like in my recipe:

PRO TIP: You can “find and replace” your variables all at once! Use your “find” shortcut (CMD + F on Mac, Cntl + F on Windows) and search for your variable name (i.e. {product}). Then replace them with the proper content one by one, or all at once (using a Chrome extension, etc)

As you can see, I’ve sprinkled the variables throughout the content. When I reach a certain section (Pricing, for example), I’ll replace the {price} variable with the cost of Cloudways hosting–and then run the pre-written Boss Mode commands.

4 – Run the Jasper commands

The second major part of Jasper AI recipes are boss mode commands.

Basically, you can “command” Jasper with natural language processing (i.e. you say “write a blah blah”), and it follows your orders.

For Example:

• “write some blog title ideas for Cloudways hosting”
• “write a paragraph about why page speed is important for SEO bloggers”
• “write an intro sentence for the heading above”
• “write a bullet point list explaining the main features of Cloudways hosting”

Then you hit “Command/Control + Enter,” and Jasper reads the commands and executes it.

Commands are generally denoted in Jasper recipes with a “>” symbol.

There are a TON of useful Jasper commands you use in the long-form editor (and therefore can include in recipes).

1. You simply start at the top of your recipe’s document
2. Fill in the variables for your specific article
3. Run the Jasper commands top-to-bottom

5 – Fill in with the compose features (or Jasper templates in power mode)

Following the variables and commands in your recipe probably won’t get you to 100% of your blog outline.

You will need to supplement all that content!

In fact, it’s really important to analyze whatever Jasper spits out of the commands. He can often stop in the middle of a sentence or a thought, giving you the need to finish it.

There are a few ways to supplement the content from the recipe commands:

1. Write some yourself
2. Use the “compose” function on the left sidebar
3. Use templates in the power mode

If I’m being really honest, I like to write in my own concepts after each command! Not only does this make the concept more unique (and in my actual tone of voice), but it also teaches Jasper how to write better!

Jasper’s AI is smart–and it gets smarter as you edit its outputs AND supplement with YOUR words!

Using the Compose Feature

If you would like to let the AI keep chipping away at your constant after running a recipe command, you can use the built-in compose function.

You’ll definitely want to fill in the “title” and “content brief” sections for your specific article, and I also recommend limiting the output length to “small” or “medium.”

Jasper can get off track quite quickly when it’s set to “long,” and then you’re wasting your word credits.

Using “Power Mode” in the Long-Form Editor

In the power mode tab, you have access to all of Jasper’s templates, for easy copy/pasting! 

These are the short-form templates for specific uses, like the…

• Paragraph generator
• Sentence expander
• Content improver
• etc

those are the templates I end up using the most for writing long-form contact in Jasper.

But again, don’t forget to RUTHLESSLY EDIT Jasper’s outputs, and supplement with YOUR OWN writing in your own voice!

This makes for far superior content but also trains Jasper on what you want it to sound like!

That’s it! Don’t forget to save your recipe.

How to Delete Jasper Recipes

Deleting recipes is simple enough:

1. From the recipes page, click “edit” on the recipe you want to delete
2. Click the “delete” button in the lower-right corner

That’s it!

Conclusion: Creating your own Jasper Recipes WILL save time

At this point, I just want to summarize and say that I LOVE Jasper’s recipe feature (I’m a template nerd anyways). I think the MOST value actually comes from using Jasper for a few articles, learning the ins and outs, and THEN diving into creating your own recipes.

Starting with others’ recipes will give you an idea of how they work, but they’ll be more powerful when you customize them to YOUR content, your style, etc!

Want to give Jasper Boss Mode a try for free?

Use my affiliate link here to get a free trial AND 10,000 word credits.

The post Jasper AI Recipes: A Complete Tutorial for 2022 appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

Call it a niche site. Or an authority site. Or an SEO blog.

Whatever.

I call it AMAZING work from Mike Donovan (NicheTwins.com).

In January 2020, he had never done ANY of this stuff, and a little over 2 years later, his site is…

• Over 500,000 pageviews a month
• Over $20,000 in revenue a month

That’s incredible!

And given I’m currently growing my own niche site, and I’m generally an SEO nerd anyways, I figured it’d be fun to have Mike on the podcast and grill him on his SEO process

• How to find viable niche site ideas
• Site Structure & keyword research (i.e. what do I actually write?)
• Ads vs Affiliate marketing
• Way more.

Enjoy this chat on niche sites with Mike D!

You can watch on YouTube as well

More SEO and niche sites Resources

• My free SEO course, 60-Minute SEO
• How to build profitable niche sites – podcast interview & blog post with Jim Harmer from Income School.

And here’s my latest update for my own niche site

The post $20,000/mo in 2 Years From 1 Niche Site: Mike Donovan appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

Fun-ti-mi-za-tion (noun): the action of making the most fun of a situation or project.

A few months ago, I discovered a secret.

A secret that will affect my work life till the day I die.

Here’s the story

Earlier this year, I sent my bestie Raina Willick a voicemail that basically said ”OMG we should totes do a podcast someday. We’re smart. We laugh a lot. People would love us!”

She lives a thousand miles away, but I could feel her eyes rolling.

(and rightfully so. I pester her with ideas a lot).

But a few months later, Raina reached out to ME with an amazing idea for a show! Skipping forward a bit—we DID the podcast and it launched in May The Unbusy Podcast

We did the project—but with one limitation…

Honestly? We both loved the idea for the project—but we got our own businesses, yo.

And families and hobbies and life.

And you know how it is…

The end result (a podcast) sounds awesome, BUT there are 1,000 activities we weren’t looking forward.

So hell…

What if we just—didn’t do them?

• Podcast show notes didn’t sound fun
• Committing to weekly episodes didn’t sound fun
• Creating social media channels DEFINITELY didn’t sound fun
• Editing out the ”ums” and ”uhhs” from the audio didn’t sound fun

There were a hundred little things we could’ve done—that didn’t sound fun.

We didn’t do any of them.

Introducing Funtimization

If something didn’t sound fun, we straight-up didn’t do it.

If an avoidable or optional task, feature, or strategy didn’t sound fun, it got axed.

In FACT, over the course of the project—Raina and I routinely found ourselves stopping to ponder whether or not a proposed activity was fun.

No fun? Optional or avoidable?

We didn’t do it.

Funtimization does NOT mean ”avoid hard work.”

Some tasks will always be not fun. (I’m looking at YOU, uploading audio & formatting podcast descriptions & scheduling episodes).

However, there’s a difference between…

• Avoidable stuff
• Unavoidable stuff

If you can decide not to do a task—and still ship a project, then it can be funtimized.

How to funtimize your business for happiness and (ironic) success:

I use the word ”ironic” here, because an interesting thing happens when we optimize for fun…

• We stress less
• We think more clearly
• We have interesting ideas
• We focus on what moves the needle
• We have more energy (that translate beyond business!)

Use these questions to practice funtimization in your business:

What are some avoidable or optional activities, strategies, or projects on my plate?

Of those, which really don’t sound fun right now? Can you delete them entirely—or push them off till a later date (when maybe they’ll seem more fun?).

What are some UNavoidable activities or strategies?

(super secret strategy can you outsource any of that?). Also, is there a way in which you can make these seem more fun? What about them do you have to change?

Which activities don’t ACHTUUALLYY move the needle towards my goals?

If these don’t immediately sound fun, axe them with the strength of 1,000 suns.

Honest to goodness—WHAT SOUNDS FUN ?

You’d be shocked how often entrepreneurs will skip over thinking about this.

Put down the hustle (for now), and analyze your work for fun-ness. Anything stand out? What about something you’re NOT doing all the time (because it doesn’t move the needle?). Maybe do that anyways.

*

Fun activities give you…

• More clarity
• More creativity
• More inspiration
• More happiness outside of work
• More life (literally. You could live longer)

How can you practice funtimization?

*

Love this idea? Drop me a comment below and say hi.

-Pete

The post Funtimization appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

There are two ideas I really like…

• Selling one of my niche sites for $100k+
• Buying starter or low-profit sites–then building up and FLIPPING them for $100k+

Either way I want to make $100k+

(lol)

Luckily, the CEO of Flippa (the internet’s top marketplace for buying and selling websites) Blake Hutchison decided to stop by for the podcast!

Blake’s here to chat about…

• Things you can do to prepare your website for sale
• How to search for a profitable and “flippable” website to buy
• And way more!

Enjoy the podcast

Like this chat on site-building, niche sites, etc?

Check out some of these other podcast interviews!

• $20,000/mo in 2 Years From 1 Niche Site: Mike Donovan
• Forget Focus: Switching Topics for Niche Site Success – Rich From Meal Prepify

The post How to Sell (Or Buy) Websites for Max Profit – Flippa CEO Blake Hutchison appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

My friend Melody (Cash for Tacos and The Winding Roadtripper blog) has recently been seeing awesome gains with her new travel site!

And considering I’m a newb when it comes to the travel niche…

• How do I outrank Yelp and Trip Advisor?
• What are the SEO keywords & clusters I should even be looking for?
• Am I going to get TRAFFIC to this local travel stuff??

Melody generously came on the podcast to help me out!

(And even if you’re not in the travel niche–there are SEO bombs dropped that apply to all of us)

Enjoy the chat!

Wanna go deeper in the travel niche? Check out my year-long case study with a brand new blogger (in the travel niche).

Wanna go deeper into niche sites? Listen to my interview with Mike D, who has grown to $20k+ a month in LESS than 2 years.

Starting your own niche site and want me to make the process WAY easier? Check out Niche Site Kit here.

The post Melody’s Crushing Her SEO Travel Blog appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

5 years ago, I spent the entire airplane ride home from FinCon17 writing a “my takeaways” blog post.

That 5-day experience felt LIFE-CHANGING. My mind was reeling with ideas after every dang conversation, and I couldn’t WAIT to write it up into a blog post to share.

This year? The opposite.

Last week I took the wife (her 1st FinCon, my 6th) down to sunny (humid) Orlando, FL, for FC22.

• I got to speak on the main stage this year(!)
• I went to 1-2 breakout sessions
• I hung out with old friends

And now I’d like to share my kinda-sorta-unexpected takeaways from the conference.

1 – I didn’t actually have takeaways (in the traditional sense)

If you ask me “what I learned” from this year’s conference, the first thing that popped into my head was “nothing.”

• Business ideas
• Strategies to try
• Clarity around my business/purpose
• “How to do” something

I honestly can’t think of anything specific that I’m walking away with.

Maybe it’s because I don’t go to the conferences to learn any more? Maybe it’s because I already know all the things?

(Absolutely NOT true, of course, but I am experienced enough to know the beginner-to-intermediate level stuff that is taught and shared at FinCon. I’ve heard the ideas from the speakers before.)

I didn’t “learn” much, but that’s ok.

The older I get in online business—the less I feel compelled to learn new things, and the more I feel compelled to work on who I am and how I operate.

Speaking of which…

2 – I didn’t need/want FinCon to “change me.”

I have never attended a conference as confident as I did last week’s FinCon.

Over the last year, I have S T R U G G L E D with a lack of clarity in my business—but I’ve made surprising gains in that area just in the last month!

I have a plan now.

I’m confident it’s the right plan (for now, of course), and I went into FinCon KNOWING that I’d have the same plan when I got back.

This is the first time that’s happened lol.

In years past, I definitely went into FinCon unclear and desperately SEARCHING for a plan. Needing and hoping that something or someone would help me out at FinCon.

I also feel like I met many people who were intentionally seeking help and clarity with their plan.

This is ok!

Whether you have a clear plan for your business or not–what’s important is understanding what you need to move forward.​​

Re-read that

That might be seeking out others (at conferences or otherwise) for help–or it might be intentionally IGNORING everything around you to stay focused on your current plan.

3 – Achieving dreams doesn’t feel like I thought it would

If you clicked back to my 2017 FinCon takeaways post–you might’ve read about a terrifying conversation I had with my friend Rosemarie Groner.

Even back then, she saw something inside me that I didn’t know what there.

(she predicted I had what it takes to speak on the FinCon main stage, and told me so!).

(She also openly criticized me for a lack of focus and warned it could be my downfall. Right again lol).

But I did it.

I spoke on the main stage this year, and though I didn’t perform perfectly, I do think I landed the message I set out to land.

People congratulated me afterward, and that felt nice…

But then life went back to normal. I took the same Lyft rides to the airport as everyone else. I still have the same work in front of me.

The point?

I think it takes an ACTIVE EFFORT for some people (ahem, me) to recognize when they achieve a goal.

It’s super easy for me to move past an achievement. To play it down, not celebrate, and even ask “what’s next?” This can be unhealthy.

I find myself intentionally remembering that conversation with Rosemarie Groner from 2017, just so I can realize how far I’ve come and actually be proud of myself.

#mentalhealth, y’all.

Confidence and energy will take you far in this business.

4 – Don’t ignore the customers you already have.

Ok I lied…

I did have one “takeaway” from a session (but frankly I can’t remember where I heard it. Argh lol).

That takeaway was “don’t get so distracted trying to attract NEW customers all the time–that you neglect or forget about your existing customers.”

• Existing customers
• Existing email list
• Existing network

Honestly, I’ve been neglecting my membership community, Online Impact, for a while now. There. I said it.

I’m going to do better with this, for 2 reasons:

1. I made promises to customers. I need to keep my word and deliver
2. It’s 2022, and word-of-mouth is easily, easily, EASILY the most powerful form of marketing

That’s always been the case, but in the age of 2,594 ads a DAY–we fall back to relying on the opinions of our peers more than ever.

Don’t forget your CURRENT customers & followers!

Treat them especially well, and they’ll treat you well.

5 – Having friends is good. Having friends that understand you is life-changing.

There’s a reason I continue to go to FinCon, and it has little to do with directly growing my business in some way.

I mean, it’s cool if that’s why YOU go to conferences, but that’s not me.

I go for Raina, Kevin, Jessica, Justin, Libby, J, Nate, Tae, Matthias, Nick, other Nick, Wendy, Lee.

About a dozen people who I RARELY get to see in person. Some of these people know me better than anyone outside my immediate family!

You could probably say “that’s sad, get some IRL friends, loser,” and you wouldn’t be far from the truth…

But I don’t give a shit.

They’re the friends I have and love, and I need to make an investment in them. That’s why I go to FinCon.

Friends are great….

But having friends in the online business world who get what you’re going through–can literally be the difference between success and failure. An actual “life-changing” thing.

Invest in those people.

*

The End: What about you?

Why do you go to conferences?

If you went to FinCon or any other conference recently, what were your main takeaways or lessons learned?

Drop me a comment below!

The post 5 Unexpected Takeaways From FinCon22 appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

A year ago, I got burnt out on Do You Even Blog and decided to start other projects.

So–I started a niche site (aka “content site” aka “blog”).

And since I haven’t shared an income report for DYEB in 3+ years–I figured the 1-year anniversary of my niche site project deserves a little update!

Let’s dive in

The Backstory

If you’d like to know what prompted me to start the niche site–it was a SLLLLLOOOOW build-up of frustration with Do You Even Blog.

I have struggled for Y E A R S trying to grow this damn website, and I was constantly wondering “am I actually good enough?”

If I’m trying to HELP folks like you with online marketing–shouldn’t I be somewhat competent with this stuff?

I ranted more about that here:

In order to prove to MYSELF that I’m worthy (I know–sounds stupid, but it’s the truth), starting a side project was the very first thing that came to mind.

I’ve started 50+ blogs & online businesses since 2009 before “focusing” on Do You Even Blog exclusively in mid-2017…

But it was time to go back into the jungle.

I did a few things that very same week that I recorded the video above:

1. I choose a niche before doing ANY research (based on an existing hobby of mine. I figured that was probably wise to start with)
2. I bought the Authority Hackers TASS program (which is SO good. Maybe I’ll do a review sometime).
3. I grabbed the domain name and installed WordPress and my custom Elementor Niche Site theme.
4. I set up the YouTube channel

And after 2 weeks of additional set-up, planning (from the TASS program), etc, I put out this video with more details.

Enjoy!

The site “officially” launched on October 1, 2021.

But that was a year ago?? What happened?????????

Traffic, Revenue, & Other Stats

Here’s a quick summary of year 1

Pageviews	117,419	40k in the last month
Sessions	101,099
Revenue	$3,492	$1k in the last month
Expenses	$1,993	$800 was a failed agency experiment, see below
Total Articles on Site	72	Only 5 posts in first 3 months. 31 posts in the last 3 months
Total Words (Approx)	132,031	Probably more, but this is what WordPress thinks
Average Words/Post	1,693
Total Videos	62	Includes ~10 #shorts
Total YouTube Subscribers	2,142
Total Email Subscribers	1,339
# of Times I’ve emailed my list	0	Whoops >_<

Here’s a monthly breakdown:

Time / Hours Worked Breakdown

But what about how much time I spent on this?

Below is my best guestimate on how much time I spent on this project:

Quarter	Posts Published	Time worked
First 3 months (Oct-Dec)	5	MAYBE 2 hours a week. Site was up in less than a day, only wrote 5 posts in this time
Second 3 months (Jan-Mar)	12	7-10 hours a week. This is when I decided to ramp up. The posts were longer & more involved–and I was building up my systems during this phase!
Third 3 months (Apr-Jun)	21	7-10 hours a week. Includes many “brand swapping” posts and other highly-templatized content
Last 3 months (Jul-Sep)	31	5-7 hours a week. Includes a TON of templatized content that I can just crank out now.

This is what I’m most proud of.

This was a fun side project through and through, and I’m proud that I hit my goals while not spending 20+ hours a week on this.

Revenue Breakdown

• YouTube Ads: $376
• Blog Ads (enabled in Mid-September, so only 1.5 weeks worth of earnings here): $217
• Affiliate Revenue: $2,896 (95% of that from Amazon)

All in all, I’m super happy with this site making money already, and can’t wait to see how the blog ads (Ezoic) ramp up.

Affiliate Income: Blog vs YouTube: The first 6 months of aff income was 100% YouTube–but the rest of the gains are due to the website (views on YouTube have roughly remained steady in this time).

Revenue Takeaway: I technically hit my goal of building a $1,000/mo asset, but I’m also slightly worried about scaling much more than $2-4k in the next year.

More on that below.

Expenses Breakdown

• Hosting (Cloudways, here’s my review): $117
• SEO Tools (Ahrefs at first, then SERanking): $622
• MorningFa.me (YouTube tool): $100
• Content Agency (one-time package): $800

Cloudways hosting is LEGIT the best ever.

As far as SEO tools go–I probably could’ve cut at LEAST 3-4 of usage (Ahrefs). But alas. I don’t regret that spend.

I DO regret spending $800 on a writing package from an SEO content agency–although it did teach me a few important lessons!

No, I didn’t approve of their content.

It needed HEAVY edits (including “why on Earth would you even structure an article like this??”)

I got zero ROI out of that spend, though I can’t fault myself completely.

At some point, I’mma have to figure out how to scale content production–and the more I can make these types of hiring experiments, the more I’ll learn and the better I’l get.

Right?

Right?????

Traffic Breakdown

Where do I get blog traffic from? SEO.

Like, 90% from SEO.

Here’s a % breakdown from my top-10 posts:

That’s pretty diverse, thankfully! (Also, that top post is older than several of the others).

Also, out of my top 25 posts from the past 6 months:

• 10 posts are affiliate-driven “best of” reviews
• 15 posts are info posts (question posts & guides)

Pretty even split. The top 10 posts are 5 and 5.

Lessons Learned

I wasn’t really sure how to format this section, so I’mma just wing it…

1 – I stand by my “no backlink outreach” strategy

I did try some HARO for a while (and got precisely one link!) and even asked a few friends for backlinks (none of which came through).

Other than that, I didn’t actively seek out guest posts or backlinks.

Ahrefs reports a few hundred links, but I created NONE of them.

It’s mostly garbage links that I might disavow (or just leave? Don’t really care…)

2 – Ranking is NOT a problem. Content quantity is my problem.

My measly little blog posts (WITH ZERO LINKS) currently outranks:

• The New York Times (DR 90+)
• Wirecutter (DR 90+)
• PC Mag (DR 90+)

And several other sites with WAY more “domain rating” or “domain authority” than me. Massive sites with thousands of backlinks.

IN FACT, roughly 25% of my content is rank 1 in Google. 85% of my content is in the top 3 in Google.

Re-read that

While that SOUNDS awesome (ok yeah, it is) there’s also a downside: it means more traffic requires more content.

Yeah, there’s a little wiggle room for building links and driving content up a few spots in SERP, but that will be marginal for my effort.

I need more content, and possibly across more verticals/topics.

4 – Maybe my content is too good. (seriously)

“Good” content doesn’t mean a damn thing.

SEOs and blogging influencers throw that word around, and it drives me nuts.

1. “good” is subjective, first off
2. “good” is a scale

I’m totally biased, but I think I produce better content than most of the internet (and to be defensive, I’ve actually been told this by numerous creators that I respect).

I obsess over my content quality.

Every single post on my site will have…

• A picture THAT I TOOK of any product I mention
• 100% accurate information.
• Tables or infographics
• LOTS of different formatting stuff (look at this page, for example)

So ok great, we’ve learned that Pete is amazing & has an ego.

So what?

Remember my problem? I don’t struggle with ranking, I struggle with content quantity.

In order to scale traffic (and revenue) up, I’m going to have to produce more.

There’s a good chance that my content would rank EXACTLY where it is today–with 10-20% less quality.

And if I want to hire out for content–there’s going to be a sacrifice in quality (and I have to learn to deal with it…).

5 – After 13 years, blogging is still my passion

Truth is, I FORGOT this over the span of creating Do You Even Blog.

I got into…

• podcasting
• YouTube
• webinars
• creating courses
• funnels
• products, launches, copywriting, etc

I enjoy TALKING ABOUT those things, and helping people with those things…

But I don’t passionately enjoy DOING them.

(mayyyybe podcasting, YouTube, and webinars–I enjoy creating content, but products & marketing, not so much).

What would I do differently?

If I could head back in my time machine (insert Delorean emoji here) to a year ago, what would I do differently?

1 – I’d do less YouTube

I thought YouTube earnings would be SWEET, but my RPM (revenue per 1k views) is SO. DAMN. LOW.

ESPECIALLY compared to the DYEB YouTube channel.

But even then, I’m going to continue to do YouTube for this project.

(Honestly? So I can build connections with brands, get free products, and get sponsorships. This niche is still my hobby, and I’d do this even if I never made a dime!)

2 – I’d produce more content. Way, way more.

I’d sacrifice quality.

I’d try to hire out (again).

In the first 3 months, I only published 5 articles!!

If I could go back, I’d try to produce 50-75 in that time.

3 – I’d “templatize” sooner

• Pre-made templates = good.
• Template YOU make specific to YOUR content = a lot better.

Over the course of 30-40 blog posts, I started creating reusable chunks of content that formed into templates specific to this site:

• My own image/graphic stock library (with named images so I can easily search and reuse them)
• More generic content that I frequently copy/paste verbatim in new posts (saves SO much time)
• Google Doc templates (especially for brand-swapping content)

It took me a long time to create these templates & systems. I wish I had started this process right from the beginning.

4 – I would focus MORE on higher-volume keywords

When I first started, this was my plan:

1. Produce the “core content” (10 articles-ish) that fills out my site and shows readers I know what I’m doing–even though I’m NEVER going to rank for this stuff (think: “how to start a blog” type of keywords)
2. Transition into lower-volume and less competitive keywords to start building traffic, and momentum, maybe even pick up a few links. Stuff I can rank for in year 1

Then a funny thing happened…

I started RANKING for those bigger keywords that I thought would take me 3-4 years to rank for…

Soooooo it turns out…

• Write for high-volume KWs: I rank, and get traffic
• Write for low-volume KWs: I rank, and get lower traffic

It took me 9 months to see what was going on!

I wish I would’ve focused on the bigger, more lucrative keywords. I’m still figuring out this one to this day :/

1 – Keep growing this niche site to 50k sessions/month

That’s the level needed to apply for Mediavine (and though Ezoic seems ok thus far—this seems like a good metric to focus on anyways).

Once I hit 50k/mo, I’ll re-evaluate

• Should I switch to Mediavine? It will depend largely on ad rates (EMPV) and if I feel like making the switch
• Should I focus on a different project—or keep growing this first site?
• Do I keep doing what I’ve been doing, or try a new strategy (outsourcing?)

We’ll see.

2 – Buy the Niche Site Profits course from Jon Dykstra

Last year I bought the TASS Program to re-ignite my niche site journey (and I 1000% recommend that course).

But I’m feeling the need for some “re-learning” and fresh perspectives.

I just purchased the program yesterday, as I’ve heard decent things about Jon’s stuff.

We’ll see.

3 – Experiment with worse content

I have a really difficult time hitting ‘publish’ on something that’s just mediocre.

I have a FEELING that I need to be pushing myself to actually publish ”good enough” content in an effort to pump out more posts.

I might be getting 41k pageviews from 70ish posts—but I think 100ish posts would be yielding more traffic, even if a few of those have slightly lower rankings.

We’ll see.

4 – Keep going on YouTube

I’m a tiny bit uncertain about my decision to KEEP doing YouTube, because it doesn’t directly bring me much right now.

Viewers & subscribers seem to like my content (I get a fair share of awesome comments every day), and I DO want to continue to make contacts with brands/communities in my niche.

I can’t predict the future, but I have a gut feeling that the YouTube channel can lead to some ”X-factor” stuff later down the road.

5 – Figure out if my site has a ”cap” on traffic

This is a weird one.

I’m curious to see if there’s a ”cap” on the amount of traffic & revenue that this particular website can achieve…

• Based on niche
• Based on advertising rates
• Based on keywords & search volume

I have a hunch that there will be a cap (though of course, I’m still nowhere near it).

I truly do NOT believe this can be a 7-figure blog/business—but I feel the urge to figure out what this cap may be—so I can NOT waste time trying to get above it.

We’ll see.

6 – Start a new niche site

Ok, so I already have 2-3 launched (that I’m not currently focusing on though).

I might actually start a new niche site alongside the Niche Site Profits course (to test all of Jon’s strategies and report back).

However, I’ll need to be smart here…

I do NOT want to abandon this first site too soon—and leave easy opportunities on the table. It’s so hard to KNOW when to do something different!

We’ll see

Questions? Comments? Advice?

Hit me up in the comments below!

I’d love to hear…

• A ‘congrats’ or something. Make me feel good.
• Advice on when to STOP this project and start a new one (vs continuing to focus on this one)
• Do you want to hear more stuff on niche sites?

Drop phat comments

The post Niche Site 1-Year Update & Income Report appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

I’ve been in the SEO world for 13 years…

…and this conversation with Allison Seboldt (Twitter here, creator of PageFactory) BLEW MY MIND.

I’ve heard of “programmatic SEO” for years–but only recently started diving in.

And when I asked Twitter for “who should I learn programmatic SEO from,” Allison’s name was at the top of everybody’s recommendations!

In this chat

• What is Programmatic SEO?
• How do we find the data for these websites?
• How to select a niche for programmatic SEO
• And way more.

Enjoy!

And here are some of my top takeaways:

What is programmatic SEO?

Programmatic SEO is a specific style of publishing content for Google search, and mostly involves using content templates to dynamically create content (in bulk) based on a dataset.

1. Have interesting data
2. Create content templates
3. Use a tool (like PageFactory) to transform that data into blog posts at scale (thousands at a time, even!)
4. ALL BASED ON Google search queries and user intent, as always!

Instead of creating each blog post individually, you’re creating BULK content “programmatically” using data.

Think “mail merge.”

What are some real-world examples of programmatic SEO?

Here are a few I like:

Nomadlist.com

Levels.io has gathered data from his users and has used that to create individual pages.

CoinDesk

Want to know the latest price of FILL_IN_THE_BLANK currency? Or stock?

Constantly updating data is PERFECT for programmatic SEO (since you wouldn’t want to individually update stock price blog posts every minute/hour/day!)

Sites like CoinDesk are built using powerful code though–probably not accessible to most of us.

GardenAuntie

This is Allison’s example programmatic site, and it’s really well done!

This is a MUCH better example of an accessible topic that any of us could create.

How to find niches for programmatic SEO

It’s not quite as simple as “choosing a topic I’m interested in” or even “choosing a topic based on keyword research.”

Finding a niche for a programmatic site boils down to a few things:

1. What’s a question that people ask about a RANGE of different things?
2. I.e. finding patterns
3. Is there suitable and/or interesting data I can use to answer those questions?

Here’s an example niche:

Baseball stats.

There are a ton of baseball teams, their related cities, players, etc.

People might be asking the same questions for DIFFERENT teams:

If you can find a great dataset (spreadsheet) for baseball stats, you could possibly whip up several hundreds blog posts with the following:

• When did the Braves win the world series?
• When did the Mets win the world series?
• etc

Or the following…

• When did the Braves move to Atlanta?
• When did the Pirates move to Pittsburgh?
• When did the Marlins move to Florida?

I didn’t actually research those last ones, but it was just a quick idea I had. You’ll always want to check to make sure people are searching for these!

Where to find datasets for Programmatic SEO

There are a few places that are just BUILT for data:

• Kaggle.com
• Datahub.io
• Data.gov

You can search these sites easily enough, but there are also several communities on Reddit to find interesting data.

• r/dataisbeautiful
• r/datasets

There are constant posts with interesting data there, and everybody links to the source data (which is publicly available to anybody).

Past these, you might just start with a Google search for the data you’re looking for!

So you have data and keyword ideas, next up is creating a content template!

You won’t be creating 1,000 articles by hand.

You’ll be creating a few templates up front, and filling the templates in dynamically with the data (to bulk produce content).

This is where Allison S’s tool comes in handy.

Where to learn more about Programmatic SEO.

First, I HIGHLY recommend checking out PageFactory’s free course for more on creating these templates.

Second, go follow people like Allison and Ian Nuttell on Twitter.

They’re constantly dropping gems.

Questions? Drop me a comment

The post A Beginner’s Guide to PROGRAMMATIC SEO – Allison Seboldt appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

I’ll be frank, I really wanted to make the most CLICKBAIT title I could think of for this one…

I found Scott DeLong’s content only recently, and he’s been blowing me away with what he’s doing (and what he’s done for years).

And right now?

Scott’s deep in a challenge: start a new business from scratch, and grow it to a $500k valuation in one year (while only working 2ish hours a day).

#ClickBait writes itself, am I right??

Oh, and he’s incorporating Facebook ads in a cool/different way.

There’s LOTS of amazing stuff I’ve been learning from Scott’s newsletter (highly recommended). I hope you enjoy this podcast chat!

Also, you can find the YouTube version right here (or below):

The post $500k in 1 Year (from Facebook Page Likes?) Scott DeLong appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

At this point, Anne Moss (yeys.com) has a budding empire. A team of writers, multiple sites, loads of $$$$$ revenue, etc.

But it wasn’t always this way of course!

In this chat, we’ll discuss how Anne went from casual blogging to niche site empire.

• Hiring writers
• Choosing a niche
• KW research
• What makes “good” SEO content
• and more

Also, follow her on Twitter! She shares a ton of goodness there, as well.

e

The post Building a Niche Site Empire (Anne from Yeys.com) appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

Out of allll the different content channels available to us to grow an audience…

I kinda sorta feel like YouTube might be the most reliable for 2024+.

But…

It’s YouTube.

Video.

Cameras and makeup and having to set up and having to actually know wtf you’re talking about…

YouTube is still a challenge.

But there are some people (*cough my friend Tae from Financial Tortoise) who have risen to the challenge…and crushed it.

In today’s podcast episode, I invited Tae on to talk about his YouTube philosophy & system!

• How he persisted through the first 2 years (which were slower)
• How he grew to 130,000+ subs in the past year
• The production system he’s worked out to CONSISTENTLY produce content, every. single. week.

Tae’s amazing, and you’re gonna love this chat if you do ANY video.

Notes & Resources from this chat

• You can find Tae’s YouTube channel with the link a few paragraphs ago
• You can his website, Financial Tortoise, here.
• My recommend lavalier (‘lav’) mic
• You can check out my text guide to growing a YouTube channel here.
• Also, check out this guide to getting videos approved for the Amazon Influencer program. It’s a great way to earn extra cash if you’re already doing video!

Till next time!

The post 3k to 130k YouTube Subscribers in 1 Year – Tae Kim appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

I met Tiff in person at this year’s FinCon, and LOVED her story.

• Quits job to start biz
• Goes back to job
• Quits job again
• Grows brand
• Pivots during the pandemic
• Grows brand, gets speaking gigs, working on PhD, is awesome

I initially wanted to have Tiff on the podcast to talk about ‘focus,’ (whatever that means), but we ended up talking about something much more vital.

Numbers.

Wanna quit your job? Or just make your business more sustainable & profitable?

Numbers. Know em.

In this podcast chat, we talk a LOT about money/numbers! (She is a finance expert, after all).

You can find Tiff’s site here. (and podcast!! If you’re into personal finance (and you should be), definitely check that one out.)

Show notes & resources

• YNAB
• Wave App
• Profit First (book, see my YouTube video below)
• Tiff Podcast – Mastering Business Budgeting – The Ultimate Guide To Having Money In The Bank | Ep. 227
• Tiff website –Small Business Resources page

The post Money Metrics You NEED to Master to Quit Jobs and Grow Businesses – Tiffany Grant appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

This past year has been a WILD ride.

• ChatGPT
• Google’s Helpful Content Update
• etc

It reminds me of a quote…

“The blogs, they are a-changin.”

-Bob Dylan, probably

Is blogging dead?

(or will it die within the next year or two??)

In this week’s chat, I’m joined by long-time internet entrepreneur, blogger, podcaster, and YouTuber Doug Cunnington!

Find Doug here:

• Niche Site Project: http://nichesiteproject.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DougCunnington
• Doug.Show Podcast: https://doug.show/
• Mile High FI Podcast: https://milehighfi.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/dougcunnington

Resources & Related Content

Self-promo stuff

• My 60-Minute SEO course (for beginners!) was recently made FREE ON YOUTUBE.
• Bulk content app mentioned in the show FABB.ai
• Podcast interview = Anne Yeys on scaling a niche site empire

The post Is Blogging Dead? (plus AI Predictions) W/ Doug Cunnington appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

Whether you approve of the AI revolution or NOT…you can’t deny its power.

Today, Casey Botticello (Blogging Guide) joins Pete to discuss the two AI sites he started in early 2023.

Specifically, Pete wants to know about how Casey chooses the niches (SUPER important), as well as a deep-dive on keyword research + topic mapping.

Enjoy!

Handy resources from the episode + plus other relevant stuff

• Don’t sleep on Casey’s substack email list here!
• My bulk content tool -> FABB.ai
• Niche site chat w/ Anne Moss on the podcast!

The post $20k/month in 1 year with “future niches” – Casey Botticello appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

On today’s show, my good friend and personal finance guru (the good kind) Nick True drops by for a cozy chat.

He’s not just a wizard with numbers; he’s a master of mapping out the future too.

We dive into Nick’s “Life Vision Template” – a brilliant tool he crafted to help folks get crystal clear on what they really want from life and work. It’s all about setting your sights on the big picture and making it happen.

Nick shares some golden nuggets on how to use this template to sketch out your dreams and turn them into actionable goals. It’s a laid-back convo, but trust me, the insights are anything but casual.

Ready to start crafting your best life? Tune in and let Nick show you how it’s done.

Life Vision Template

Click here to make a copy of Nick’s Life Vision Template (Google Doc version).

Instructions 

Step 1: Identify your core values and priorities. 

These are the things that help you make the biggest decisions in your life like who you marry, where you live, what you do for work, and how you prioritize everything else. 

Step 2: Create your ideal day and ideal weekend menu. 

Step 3: Identify the core categories for your life vision

• Being
  • Spiritual
  • Intellectual/Mental/Emotional
  • Physical
• Relationships
  • Marital
  • Parental
  • Social
• Doing
  • Vocational / Career
  • Avocational / Hobbies / Travel / Fun
  • Financial / Wealth

Step 4: Make a bulleted list of things you want to achieve or what you want that area of your life to look like in each of your core categories for 1, 3, and 5 years from now. 

Step 5: List any other future dreams beyond 5 years at the bottom. Include a few bullets of what you want retirement to look like. 

Step 6: Based on your core values and the 1, 3, 5 year timeline, what is your main focus for this quarter? Choose 2-3 areas of your life you want to focus on growing this quarter and put the rest on maintenance mode. 

The post The Blueprint to Your Best Life: Nick True Walks Us Through His Life Vision Template appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

Despite creating hundreds of videos over the years…

I got rejected TWICE for the Amazon Influencer program.

But if you’re anything like me, passive income is a great motivator!

Last week, I gave it one last shot and uploaded my 3 videos, and GOT APPROVED!

In this post, I’ll be breaking down how to get your videos approved for the Amazon Influencer program.

Let’s dive in.

What is the overall process of approval?

Here’s the overall process:

• First, apply to the Amazon Influencer program. Submit your social media profiles showcasing engaged followers. (see below for more info)
• Once accepted into the program, you can start uploading videos to your storefront!
• Shoot, edit, and upload 3 videos ONLY.
• Wait for approval of your sample videos to achieve official Amazon Influencer status.
• Once approved, start uploading lots of videos and scale that passive income

Best Practices

Let’s talk about what the videos should be like.

Creating compelling Amazon Influencer videos requires following certain best practices to ensure your content meets Amazon’s guidelines and resonates with your audience.

Amazon’s Rules

It’s SUPER IMPORTANT to adhere to Amazon’s rules and regulations to avoid any potential issues. Here are some of the crucial rules that you should be aware of:

• Do not talk about price, promotions, offers, or deals: Amazon wants influencers to focus on showcasing the product’s features and benefits rather than highlighting any discounts or price-related information.
• Do not ask for likes, subscribes, or engagement: Amazon wants authentic engagement, so avoid requesting any form of interaction from your viewers.
• Do not mention external URLs: Don’t talk about your site! Amazon does not allow influencers to include any external website links or promote competing platforms.
• Do not mention reviews or ask for reviews: ONLY talk about the product.
• Hide barcodes, pricing labels, and boxes: Amazon prefers clean and professional-looking videos, so make sure to remove any distracting elements like barcodes, pricing labels, or product packaging.
• Avoid medical advice: Period. Avoid anything controversial at all, actually
• Steer clear of alcohol and kids in videos: Amazon has restrictions on featuring alcohol, as well as children under the legal age.

In a nutshell–don’t talk about (or show) anything EXCEPT for the specific product, including it’s details and features.

Click here to read Amazon’s own documentation about video best practices and rules!

What to say/do in the video

So here’s EXACTLY how to make your videos good, so they’ll be approved.

• Show the product in action or use: One of the most impactful ways to engage your audience is by showcasing the product in action. Demonstrate how it works and highlight its key features.
• Talk about and show the key features: Discuss the product’s standout features and demonstrate how they provide value to the user. Show how the product solves a problem or enhances the user’s life.
• Address common user questions: Research common questions users have about the product on Amazon and address them in your video. Providing valuable insights and answering potential queries will build trust with your audience.
• Highlight the pros and cons: While it’s important to emphasize the positives of the product, it’s equally vital to provide an honest assessment. Mention any drawbacks or limitations, but ensure that the overall impression remains positive.

NOTE: You used to simply see a list of product questions, but now you have to start typing something in the “questions area” near the reviews–and you should start to see common questions pop up.

If you can’t find common questions–maybe try Googling the product to get ideas!

Video & Setup

Creating high-quality Amazon Influencer videos DOES NOT require fancy equipment or a professional production setup.

Do I really need fancy videos and a fancy camera?

NO. You do NOT have to do a fancy video, in fact, I think most people shopping on Amazon do not WANT to see a fancy influencer. They want to see a REAL person demonstrating the products.

While having high-resolution videos can enhance the overall experience, the content and value you provide matter the most. Many successful influencers start with basic setups and gradually upgrade as they grow their channel.

Honestly, just use your smartphone.

As long as you have good lighting, clear audio, and a well-executed video script, you can create compelling content that resonates with your audience.

Audio (most important)

Quality audio is a crucial element in the production of Amazon Influencer videos.

Your footage can be visually stunning, but poor audio quality can tarnish the overall viewing experience. Viewers are generally more forgiving of visual imperfections, but they quickly lose interest if they struggle to hear or comprehend the content being presented.

One effective way to elevate the audio quality of your videos is by investing in a high-quality microphone. A simple and cheap lavalier makes a WORLD of difference.

By using these microphones, you ensure that your audience is fully immersed in your content without any distracting background noise or unclear dialogue.

Also, proper microphone placement is essential to guarantee optimal audio quality. Pput it close to you (or the product)!

Remember, great audio quality not only improves the overall viewing experience for your audience but also conveys a sense of professionalism and attention to detail.

THIS IS WHAT AMAZON WANTS.

Clean background

Creating a clean and visually appealing background is vital to ensure that the focus remains on the product and your presentation. A cluttered or messy background can be distracting and take away from the quality of your video.

Find a space with a neutral and uncluttered background or create a dedicated area for shooting your videos. Consider using a solid-colored backdrop, bookshelves, or other simple backgrounds to create a professional and clean aesthetic.

Tripod

Using a tripod is highly recommended to stabilize your camera and ensure smooth footage. Shaky videos can be disorienting and detract from the professional look of your content.

Honestly–you can also just set your iPhone against something.

No wobble = what we want.

Or, grab a tripod that is compatible with your camera or smartphone. This will allow you to set up your camera at the desired angle and maintain a steady frame throughout your video. A tripod is especially crucial if you plan to demonstrate the product in action, as it helps capture smooth and controlled movements.

Lighting

Good lighting is essential for creating visually appealing and well-lit videos. Proper lighting helps enhance the visibility of the product and your presentation, ensuring that viewers can see every detail clearly.

BUT, before you go purchasing lighting, remember this: all that matters is making sure the product is visible and clear.

• turn on lights
• open window shades
• position the product (and/or you) where the light is shining on it

The goal is to showcase the product effectively, and proper lighting plays a significant role in achieving that.

Editing

Editing your Amazon Influencer videos is an important step in refining your content and ensuring a polished final product. While the extent of editing depends on your personal style and preferences, there are some key editing practices that can elevate the quality of your videos.

You probably SHOULD do at least 2 editing things

To enhance the overall quality of your videos, consider implementing a minimum of two editing techniques:

• Audio: As mentioned earlier, audio quality is crucial. Use editing software to fine-tune your audio, such as adjusting EQ settings to optimize clarity. Lowering the mids and increasing the treble can be a good starting point to make your voice sound crisper and more professional.
• Chop off the beginning and end of the video: Removing any unnecessary footage from the start and end of your video is a common practice. This helps eliminate any awkward transitions or moments before you start speaking or after you finish your main content.

Audio (most important)

Simply put–make the audio easy to hear.

Improve audio quality with EQ	Enhance the listening experience by using EQ to reduce room noise and boost high frequencies in your Amazon Influencer videos. This simple adjustment can make a significant difference in audio clarity.
Apply compression and limiting (optional)	Achieve consistent volume levels and prevent audio distortion by implementing compression and limiting techniques. Ensure that your audio is clear and audible throughout your video.
Amp up audio levels (pretty important	Make sure your audio is loud enough to be easily heard by boosting the audio levels. Keep your audience engaged by ensuring clear and impactful sound in your videos.

If you’d like to read more about editing video, check out my full guide to growing a YouTube channel here.

Chop off beginning & end of video

This step removes any unnecessary footage and ensures a clean and concise start and finish. By doing so, you can capture your viewers’ attention from the moment they press play and leave a lasting impression as they reach the end of the video.

Don’t spend money on editing software, by the way.

Use what you have available!

• Final Cut Pro (Mac only?)
• iMovie?
• DaVinci Resolve (free but huge learning curve)
• Any number of free mobile editing apps–there’s a TON of these

Remember, the goal of editing is to enhance your content, captivate your audience, and present your message in the most engaging and professional manner.

Video Thumbnails

Video thumbnails play a crucial role in attracting viewers and enticing them to click on your Amazon Influencer videos. A compelling and visually appealing thumbnail can significantly increase your video’s click-through rate. Let’s explore some best practices for creating eye-catching video thumbnails that grab attention.

Here’s an example of one of my thumbnails (for my approval videos):

Take a separate picture or grab a screenshot from your video–showing the product

When it comes to choosing a thumbnail, it’s essential to showcase the product prominently. This helps viewers quickly identify the subject of your video and generates interest in what you have to say about it. Ensure that the thumbnail clearly represents the product being reviewed or demonstrated.

You can capture a separate picture specifically for the thumbnail or select an engaging frame from your video. The key is to highlight the product in a visually appealing and attention-grabbing way.

Zoom in on product (or crop the outside)

For maximum impact, consider zooming in on the product in your thumbnail. This technique helps create focus and emphasizes the product’s details. By providing a closer look, viewers can get a clearer idea of what the video is about and develop a desire to learn more.

If the product is small in the frame or surrounded by distractions, cropping the outside elements can also be an effective approach. This ensures that the product takes center stage, eliminating any potential clutter or distractions in the thumbnail.

Edits (optional)

While optional, you can make certain edits to your thumbnail to make it more visually appealing and engaging. Here are some edits you can consider:

• Exposure/brightness: Increasing the exposure or brightness slightly can help make the thumbnail more vibrant and eye-catching.
• Contrast: Adding a touch of contrast can make the product stand out and create a more dynamic thumbnail.
• Saturation: Adjusting the saturation slightly can enhance the colors and make the thumbnail more visually appealing.
• Adding graphics: In some cases, adding simple graphics like arrows or icons can draw attention and add a touch of creativity to your thumbnail.

Remember, the purpose of a thumbnail is to capture the viewer’s attention and entice them to click on your video. Experiment with different thumbnail designs and monitor which ones perform best for your content.

Conclusion

Create engaging Amazon Influencer videos that comply with Amazon’s guidelines and focus on showcasing the product in action. Prioritize audio quality, professional background, stability, and good lighting for maximum impact. Keep your editing concise and impactful, paying attention to audio and visual elements. With these tips, craft effective videos that engage your audience and drive conversions.

FAQs

Do I have to show my face in Amazon Influencer videos?

No, showing your face in Amazon Influencer videos is not mandatory. While some influencers choose to appear on camera to establish a personal connection with their audience, others prefer to focus solely on showcasing the product. The decision to show your face or not depends on your personal preference and the type of content you wish to create. Either way, it’s important to deliver valuable and engaging information to your viewers.

Do I have to talk in Amazon Influencer videos?

While some influencers may opt for non-verbal content or video montages, it is highly encouraged to include verbal communication in your Amazon Influencer videos. Speaking about the product can provide valuable insights, showcase detailed demonstrations, and offer personalized recommendations to your audience. By incorporating your voice, you can establish a stronger connection with viewers, enhance the effectiveness of your content, and increase the likelihood of video approval. Experiment with different speaking styles and approaches to find the best method that resonates with your audience and aligns with your content goals.

How do I get approved for Amazon influencer?

To get approved for the Amazon Influencer program, you first need to apply to the program directly. During the application process, you will be required to provide links to your social media profiles that demonstrate an existing following and engagement with your audience. Amazon wants to ensure that you have the necessary reach and influence to effectively promote products. Once accepted into the program, you can then apply separately for “product placement” videos by submitting three sample videos. Once these videos are approved, you can start creating Amazon Influencer videos and earning passively.

How many followers do you need to join the Amazon influencer program?

Amazon does not specify a specific number of followers required to join the Amazon Influencer program. However, having a substantial and engaged following is important to increase your chances of being accepted into the program. Quality of followers and engagement rate are typically more important than sheer numbers. Focus on building an authentic and engaged audience by consistently creating valuable content and interacting with your followers. This will enhance your chances of getting approved for the program.

How long does it take Amazon to approve videos?

The duration for Amazon to approve videos can vary. Typically, it takes a few days to a couple of weeks for Amazon to review and approve videos submitted for the Amazon Influencer program. The approval process includes assessing the quality of your content, adherence to guidelines, and overall suitability for the program. It’s important to note that the duration may vary based on factors such as workload and seasonal fluctuations. Patience is key, and it’s always a good idea to follow up with Amazon if there are any significant delays.

The post How to Get Amazon Influencer Videos Approved: Tips and Tricks appeared first on Do You Even Blog.

LinkedIn–it’s for boring job stuff, right?

Wrong.

It’s for growth. Building meaningful connections. Growing your audience.

The bad news = I, Pete McPherson, know NOTHING about LinkedIn.

The good news = Louise Brogan knows enough for all of us.

In today’s episode, we chat:

1. Meeting King Charles (really)
2. Who is LinkedIn for, and how can we benefit?
3. How to optimize your profile
4. Content Strategies for LinkedIn

Enjoy!

Notes, resources, and links from the chat!

• Louise on LinkedIn here.
• Her website is here.

The post How to Master LinkedIn for Fun & Profit – Louise Brogan appeared first on Do You Even Blog.