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Hello, fellow content peeps!

After a week away, I’m back. This week, I feel the entire SEO community is coming together and it’s Google that’s bringing us closer, but how? Keep reading…

But first, a word from our sponsor.

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Google’s Big AI Overview Move and Normies Reactions

This week Google held it’s big developer conference and made some big announcements.

Starting with the release of it’s newly renamed AI search features, now called “Google AI Overviews” which has been massively released to the US market.

While Google is going to keep telling us that everyone loves this, the feedback from the ‘normies’ and public tells us differently.

Many searchers want to turn off the new Google AI Overviews in search. 

In just a few days, we’re seeing some signs that the public isn’t loving these AI overview answers to their queries.

Search volume for ‘turn off google ai” seems to be trending.

There is already a Chrome Extension that lets you hide Google AI Overviews.

Google’s response? They’ve created a Web filter that allows us to see the old school Google. Is this just a fever dream?

Google’s AI Overviews have not been massively released in Canada (yet), so I have to get my VPN out to see these searches. I like that I’ve been able to turn this ‘on’ and ‘off’ — sometimes it’s great to be a Canadian!

One Thing About Google’s AI Overviews — It’s Uniting the SEOs of the World

After the past few months of infighting in the SEO world, we’re witnessing a new collective, coming together in our distain for the AI Overview.

I think Areej, founder of Women in Tech SEO said this best:

Google has made it clear. They do not care if they are scraping, summarizing and stealing from publishers for their search results.

Search is still Google’s most valuable product, and they want to maintain their cash cow, even if that means there is even more publisher collateral damage.

The Washington Post in a recent article exposes what’s happening in our industry right now. They interviewed, Michael Sanchez, the co-founder and CEO of Raptive (an ad network that works directly with publishers) who says that:

With the public response + the slight to publishers, I don’t think this is a win for Google.

Still, it’s early days, but the writing is on the wall of where I think Google wants to go. They are trying to really redefine the search landscape to be the ‘source’ of the world’s information. Who needs publishers anyway?

Reddit Gets a New Deal

This week, OpenAI (ChatGPT) announced that they are also partnering with Reddit to train its AI. 

While Reddit is good for many things, it’s still a place ripe with spam, unfiltered and unproven opinions and is not expertly driven or vetted. The untrained, unfiltered masses are informing the very systems where we source information.

Get your popcorn out. Who knows where this will lead?

This is the world we’re living in — Reddit everywhere.

How to Get Paid to Learn Something New

Okay. It’s no secret that today’s content and SEO job market is tough out there. While I do think that we’re starting to come out of this slump, it might be time for a bit of a career pivot.

I’ve talked to a ton of writers, editors and content people about how to make a career move in the past few months.

First, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Most careers are not linear.

I’ve been chatting about this a lot lately. We’d like to think that every new client, job or opportunity we do is going to better than the last, but this is just not true. Most of us have ups, downs, and take side gigs to keep going.

The roles and titles in content and SEO are not one-size-fits-all or uniform in any way.

Content leads, content managers, SEO leads - these roles all look different depending on the organization you’re working in. In many industries (especially digital), role designations are somewhat arbitrary as well.

If you want to learn something new (say PR or media purchasing), you’re going to have to dig into what those roles look like at the company level.

So many of the skills we learn in SEO and content are transferable, but you’ll have to learn some new lingo to pivot to a new type of role. 

Every job comes with a new vocabulary — but the good news is many of the things we’re good at is super transferable. If you can structure an article, you can learn to structure a report. If you can learn the intricacies of SEO, you can learn the lingo and ways in a new industry as well.

When I was freelance writing, I really wanted to pivot to more strategic content roles. I took on a lot of projects with senior content managers, strategists or others in the industry and did their ‘grunt’ work so I could learn.

Each new project came with a new set of terms to learn, a new set of rules to follow but I got to learn all of these things.

I believe 100% that even in today’s job market, you can get paid to learn something new.

Some things I would do first:

— Take an inventory of what you’ve actually accomplished. Build a resume, or portfolio and gather up the receipts on all your accomplishments! I have an entire folder where I store messages from my team or compliments I get along the way. If you don’t have a ‘brag folder’ — start that now!

— Ask for testimonials from those you’ve worked with.

— Get some feedback to dig deeper at what you’re really good at. Schedule some chats with your colleagues and connections and ask them what they think you’re good at.

Once you’ve done these initial things, it’s time to get going.

Here are some things you can do to level up your skills, learn something new and get paid:

Commit to a new project in a new industry.

There have been many times in my life where I needed some additional cash. If possible, I like to think about my side gigs and side projects as a way to branch out and learn something new.

We have so many transferable skills in content and SEO — we’re organized, thoughtful, can communicate. Instead of looking for that next big role, find your next project!

A project has a start date and end date, and often has additional budget that lives outside of the day-to-day operations, so a lot of companies (large and small) are open to hiring contractors.

Find a project you can get behind and learn something new, maybe in an entirely new industry. You’ll learn a lot and make bank along the way.

Start a side hustle (learn as you earn on your terms). 

You can learn so much by doing the thing in this digital space. There are so many ways to make money online AND learn something new. Side hustles allow you to experiment and learn in a low-risk environment while earning extra income.

Want more side hustle advice? I wrote an entire newsletter about side hustling smarter. It’s what we’re all doing these days! Check it out here!

Take on a “consulting” gig.

You don’t have to be an industry leader to be a consultant. Anyone can consult on something they know deeply, but you can also use this as an ‘in’ if you want to grow and learn in a new industry. Position yourself as a consultant in a niche or subject matter area that you know well, but choose a different ‘setting’.

For example, I’ve consulted for agencies, solopreneurs, and nonprofits and got to see under the hood in these businesses (and got paid). This experience allowed me to learn about different business models, industry challenges, and operational strategies while contributing my expertise in content and SEO.

Start a podcast.

Okay. Admittedly, this one takes a bit more work and yes, you’ll have to put in some time and energy to get this going, but if you want to make a career pivot and want to get noticed in a new field, a podcast can be a fantastic way to do it. It allows you to interview experts, learn directly from them, and build your own expertise while creating valuable content. Plus, podcasts can generate income through sponsorships and ads as your audience grows.

My Final Thoughts: You can earn while you learn something new, but you may have to branch out a bit and try something new. Be open to new possibilities and see where it can take you!

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Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Corina Burri makes a strong case for having a personal website if you want to level up your career, and shares some thoughtful ideas (a reference section, love it!). Some great ideas here, check it out! 

▶️ Garrett Sussman has put together a really extensive guide on Google’s AI, what it means (potentially) for impact on search traffic, and how marketers can measure brand performance. A great resource, read it here!

▶️ The Google saga hits the zeitgeist with this weigh in on the broken state of search from PC Gamer. Read it here! 

▶️ More commentary on how Google search is changing from News Atlas as we’re seeing how much Google is embracing their AI search technology. Read more here.

▶️My friend Spencer Haws of Niche Pursuits did a deep dive on the former Google success story websites that were hit by HCU, and shares some examples of sites that are actually doing better after HCU. Watch this video here!

It’s so great to be back here this week.

I’m still always down for a chat. I love hearing from you. Just reply to this email — I’d love to help.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy: