Content generation, as you’d know by now, is the central issue in affiliate marketing. Your website and the blogs you publish on them requires constant feeding — it’s a hungry beast, that content creation.
You may also know from the previous posts on this website that one of the emerging issues in affiliate marketing and online marketing in general is AI — and like other disruptors provides both great upsides (high quality content) and downsides (browser AI screening). Our job as affiliate marketers is to find the right balance; biggest bang for our buck without losing opportunity. Some of these broader issues I have dealt with in previous posts.
So, here I am going to focus primarily on my list, breaking into two main categories:
Fully Free Tools:
- ToolBaz AI Text Generator: Fully free; no sign-ups.
- Canva Magic Write (Free Plan): Canva itself has been around for a while; the AI is integrated with the free plan but has ltd. credits.
- Artbreeder: Nothing to pay for basic use, premium functionalities, however, have to be paid for.
Somewhat Free Tools (With Subscription Upgrades):
- Copy.ai: Has free plan, however, with fixed monthly credits.
- Rytr: Yep, has a a free plan, too, but not without without specific characters count per month.
- Writesonic: Does offer a free version — functionalities, however, need subscription.
- Simplified: Free plan, limited features.
- Frase: A free trial, yes, but SEO and advanced features, you gotta pay.
- Anyword: This one has paid advanced analytics, however, a trial available, is still possible.
- Jasper: Is essentially a paid service with a free limited trial period, after which you’ll be billed.
What You Need To Know About Free Tools
Businesses will provide free versions of their products and services as tasters or teasers. Most good brands are very transparent in their intent — try it, like it, buy it. There’s nothing sinister about that. It’s called a promo. You might want to try all or some of them. But you must try them to get the feel for these tools and to get an understanding of how they could be useful to you. While intuition can be useful, it is always empirical proof that clinches the matter.
More importantly, trying out something will give you a better idea of how and where the tools fit into the structure of your endeavour: affiliate marketing, if you’re really serious about it, will require consistency — a particular method of working that comes naturally to you, one that aligns with you temperamentally.
Find Your Form, First
Let me use an analogy from swimming: it’s called finding your form. No one can hope to swim without learning about buoyancy and propulsion (moving your arms and legs in a certain way to generate the forward movement). At the same time, you have to find the window to come for air at a precise moment — without ingesting the water. Swimming is an example of systems thinking — but not the only example of it — think walking; jogging; pole vaulting.
We can call it many things besides systems thinking: structure; schema; method; and even psychology.
Explore Your Own Writerly Habits
An AI tool in itself can’t tell you which writerly approach is best for you. Only you can decide that.
For example, do you like to write it out completely in one single draft, first, without stopping? (Highly recommended, that one). Or, do you like to break it up in smaller chunks? (can also work; however, you need to hold the continuity). And, crucially, where exactly does AI-generation fit into your own schema?
For example, are you going to use them as instigators — writing prompts? Or, as complete copy and paste — which I don’t recommend? Or, as a compromise — generating the content, first, then using AI to see whether you may have missed something?
The best answer you can hope to get is only through your own continuing practice of writing — everyday. As some of these habits may be unconscious, it may take a while for you to discover. After every session of writing, reflect. Also, I suggest automatic writing.
So, What’s The Answer?
Use AI for research and then write your own content to start with. Improve through editing. Write and rewrite.
Later, use AI as a checklist tool to see if you’ve missed anything vital. Then implement them as topics and subtopics in your own content.
(Personally, I’ve not found AI unsatisfactory so far — I don’t find it insightful or original. However, it can be topical — that much I’ll grant it).
Is this process going to take a bit longer? Possibly, yes. But then quality takes time. I’m cool with that. My view is that if you want to rank, you want to rank with quality — not just quantity.
At the moment, it seems, the industry as a whole is taking a breather — instigated presumably by Google’s changing policy towards AI generated content. One can only imagine why Google (and other browsers) might be doing that: they don’t want their brand to be dragged down by the lack of diligence of content creators who may be padding their content with keywords and producing questionable content. I take this collective aversion of browsers to spammy content as a nod towards quality.
To Round It Off . . .
Start at the top and then choose one tool you’re comfortable with. Don’t overthink. Your needs will lead you to your choice. And, your needs, please remember, are always evolving with your understanding of your niche.
Keep writing — as best as you can with whatever understanding you have currently. Don’t stop producing. Even a poor first attempt is better than no attempt at all. Bring it into existence, first.
You can’t improve something that doesn’t exist — that was the advice I used to give to some of my students who turned up at my office door without even the first draft.