- Kristen Walters is a full-time content creator after quitting her job as a lawyer.
- She used AI tools to double her income without increasing her hours.
I've been using AI tools to help grow my one-woman business for the past year. Honestly, it's been a game-changer. For example, with the help of AI, I was able to double my income last year without working more hours.
My business model didn't change. I didn't hire anyone. The only thing that changed was how I used AI to work more productively and efficiently.
So I thought I'd share some of the ways that I'm currently using AI to make money in 2023.
1. YouTube
I've been creating faceless YouTube channels for a few years now. At this point, I have a few dozen channels in various "boring" niches. But combined, they add up to a substantial monthly income from both YouTube Adsense and affiliate products.
Most of the videos I create are evergreen, meaning the content should be relevant for at least a few years.I also create videos around products that I can promote using an affiliate link, so the videos start earning right away, even if the channel isn't monetized with Adsense.
However, coming up with video topics, titles, and scripts takes a lot of time, especially when you're a soloprenuer who is always juggling a dozen projects.
Last year I started using the Jasper AI writing assistant to help speed up the process. Jasper is able to come up with video topic ideas, SEO-optimized titles, script outlines, hooks, and an introduction.
Once I have my outline, I can use Jasper's "Compose" feature to fill in the blanks for each section of my script.
From there, I record a voiceover for the video using the script and pair it with a "faceless" tutorial-style video. Jasper can also write SEO-optimized YouTube descriptions.
2. Digital products
I've been creating simple digital products like ebooks, workbooks, audiobooks for over a decade now.Man, I'm getting old.
Each one is a tiny asset that add income to my business. And let me tell you, it adds up. Digital products have always been fairly easy to create and sell, but with the help of AI tools like Jasper, the process of creating content is even easier and faster.
Here's an example:
Let's say that I have an idea for a digital "workbook" to help self-employed people manage their money better. First, this is a topic I know a little something about because I've been self-employed for a very long time. Notice I'm NOT relying on Jasper, or, god forbid, ChaptGPT, to give me accurate information.
Hot Take: Don't make digital products with AI on topics you don't know anything about.
However, in order to speed up the idea generation/outlining process, I would use Jasper's "chat" feature to come up with an outline for my workbook.
I used the prompt: Write an outline for a workbook titled "Money Management for Freelancers."
I generally don't use the outputs Jasper gives me as-is, but it's usually a great starting point. Best of all, this took 30 seconds, whereas it may have taken me 10 – 30 minutes to come up with a similar outline on my own.
From there, I can ask Jasper to suggest content for each section, which I can revise and edit to my liking.I also add in my own thoughts, examples, section titles, paragraphs, etc. Remember, this is a tool to assist and not replace you.
Then I take the content and format it as a PDF workbook using Canva. From there, I upload it to ConvertKit — which is one of my favorite platforms for selling digital products — and then run low-cost Pinterest ads ($.10 to $.15 CPC) to make sales.
Of course, you don't have to use ConvertKit.I've also sold digital products using Teachable, Etsy, Gumroad, and my own website(s).
If you have a YouTube channel *wink, wink*, you can also promote your digital products there to compound the results of your efforts.
3. Online courses
First, let me just say that I have a long and sorted history with online courses.
However, I honestly think online courses are STILL one of the most effective ways to make serious income online in 2023.
From 2013 to 2019, I ran my business as a personal brand. As part of that, I sold online courses where I was the instructor and the face of my business.
The amazing thing about selling courses as a personal brand (opposed to a publisher brand) was that my courses sold really well because people could connect with me personally.
The not-so-amazing part was that I got really burned out doing it. So I pulled the plug on my old online courses and changed to a publisher model.
Today I still create online courses, but I do it as a publisher and not as a personal brand. In other words, I am no longer the face of my business.
You will not see my face teaching a course anywhere on the internet.
Instead, I create niche brands around specific topics, then create online courses to sell in connection with the brand.The process of using Jasper to help create an online course is very similar to the process used to create any other digital product.
It starts with asking Jasper to come up with title ideas and a sample outline for the course.
Here's an example:
From here, I would follow a similar process to creating a digital product or YouTube video script — just fill in the sections on my own or with Jasper's help.
Once I'm happy with the script, I might hire a freelancer on Fiverr to record the lessons or do a voice-over with a tutorial or presentation-style video. I prefer to sell my online courses using either Teachable or Thinkific.
However, if you don't want to invest in a course platform that you control, you can always upload your content to Udemy or Skillshare.
But just be aware that you'll be at the mercy of their ever-changing rules.
4. Affiliate content
If you've ever typed "how to make money online" into a search engine, I bet one of the first things you saw was "affiliate marketing."
Affiliate marketing is great because you get paid for promoting someone else's product. There's no customer service, no inventory, no overhead. Just profit.
The problem with affiliate marketing is that it's really hard to make money with it if you don't know how to create affiliate content that leads to a sale.This is where most people get stuck.
It's a lot like that episode of South Park where the underpants gnomes try to explain how they plan to make money stealing people's underpants…
Phase 1: Steal underpants
Phase 2: …???…
Phase 3: Profit!!!
But what happens in Phase 2?
In the affiliate marketing world, Phase 2 is the content and messaging that is used to convince someone to purchase the product you are promoting so that you can make a commission.
As it turns out, this part is really difficult for most people. But that's where AI can help.Jasper has several templates that I've found to be incredibly useful when it comes to creating content to promote affiliate products.
Those are:
- AIDA Framework,
- PAS Framework,
- Persuasive Bullet Points
- Before-After-Bridge Framework,
- Mini VSL (video sales letter), and
- Landing page template.
These are marketing templates that you can enter information into about the product you want to sell, and they will help you write persuasive content that you can use on your website, in an email newsletter, on social media, YouTube, TikTok videos, etc.
Alternatively, you can use the Jasper Chat feature and ask it to write you an article, sales pages, social media post, etc., to sell whatever it is that you are trying to sell.
Here's a really simple example of using Jasper to write affiliate content.
For this example, I'm going to go to Amazon and click on this random dog feeder and water dispenser. If you're in the Amazon Associates program, you could make about $3 every time someone clicks your link and buys this product:
All you have to do is copy the product title and description right from the Amazon page and pop it into Jasper.
Here I'm using the AIDA marketing framework in Jasper to create my content:
Then I could use this script for a TikTok video, social media post, ad, or as the start of a longer review article that compares more than one product.
This is a really simple example, but I think you get the gist of it.
Maybe? If not, leave a comment.
5. Publishing
I left this one for last because I know it's *kinda* controversial. I know there are people out there creating garbage content in mass quantities using ChatGPT and trying to sell it as a "book" on Amazon.
I am going to strongly encourage you NOT to do that because I don't think those people are going to win in the long term.
First of all, Amazon isn't dumb.
I snoop around Facebook and Discord groups dedicated to self-publishing, and people that try to game the system are getting their accounts shut down in droves.
I just read a story about some guy that was making six figures a month on Amazon KDP and then got his account shut down for some TOS violation for using AI content that was plagiarized. It's just not worth the gamble.
If you want to build a sustainable business in the self-publishing world that has longevity, be very careful when it comes to AI-generated content, especially if you are publishing on Amazon.
At the very least, you better be adding a lot of your own content, rewording anything AI-generated, editing, proofreading, and running it through a plagiarism checker.
Better still, if you can afford to hire an editor.
But that being said, there are still some ethical use cases for AI when it comes to publishing.
Here are a few ways I'm using it in my publishing business in 2023:
- Idea generation
- Outline organization
- Title/subtitle ideas
- Book descriptions
- Sales page content.
Kristen Walters is a full-time content creator.