Google search is dead. Long live Google search.

This year’s Google I/O keynote was all about AI, which was mentioned more than 120 times. If you were playing an ‘AI’ drinking game, you’d be deader than Ask Jeeves.

But this isn’t ‘The SEO Maxi Newsletter’, this is ‘The Creator Rep’, so I’m going to focus on their new video model Veo and how the generative video AI craze will change everything about your business.

NEWS:

Which AI company will ruin your life first?

Veo is here! Google’s answer to Open AI’s Sora model, which is really frickin’ good, is really, really, REALLY frickin’ impressive.

Through Veo you can not only use plain-text, human language to create high end videos (think Marvel movie special effects by saying, “Show me Marvel movie special effects), but can also alter already generated videos with words like pan, zoom, and “do that weird dolly back, zoom in thing from Goodfellas” (probably).

We already know AI is changing search, and therefore SEO, and this will cause a lot of old companies to lose incredible market share and challenger brands to skip ahead if they understand AIEO (‘AI engine optimization’, not a line from ‘Old McDonald’). But this also means video creation is about to get easy, fast, and plentiful.

The number 1 concern from creators and their reps I’ve heard: “Will this flood the market with content and crowd out my creators?”

My point of view: No, unless your content was disposable anyway.

Online content has never been popular just because of production quality.

In fact, most content creators blew up using cheap cameras, bad lighting, and terrible audio.

Many leaned into it. Most vloggers are still recording themselves selfie-style on their phones.

And if video and audio fidelity = audience, everyone would still be watching TV instead of TikTok (not to mention YouTube on their TVs).

Great storytelling still wins the day. And AI is not great at that yet. It’s more about regurgitating concepts already fed into the large language model.

So who will lose when you can create 1,000 amazing-looking, upload-ready videos with just a keyboard and an internet connection?

Commoditized content creators: top ten lists, instructional videos, fact roundups, meme aggregators, and freebooters.

Who will win?

Original voices that speak directly to the camera and share truths about the world or truly unique points of view. And creators who will know how to use AI tools to improve their storytelling, output, and content quality.

Now is a great time, creator reps, to look through your roster and think about who is going to win and who is going to lose when AI floods video sites.

And if you have talent that’s going to be replaced, it may be time to move on.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Affiliate platforms are back and better than ever!

Did you know LTK, the affiliate platform for creators flooded with Instagram moms and Target-forward styles, generates $3b in annual sales?

And with an average affiliate percentage between 5% and 10%, that means influencers made between $150m and $300m on that platform alone.

Add TikTok Shop’s projected $17.5b they plan to sell in the US on TikTok Shop this year and a story is emerging.

Affiliates are back.

And if you’re a rep sitting around waiting for brand deals, you’re missing a huge market.

So how do you as a talent rep participate in this extremely valuable revenue stream?

Take a cue from Larry Shapiro and Madison Luscombe at Creator Society, a management company embracing high-conversion affiliate talent. By providing expertise and hands-on service, they’re able to participate in margin, help with a valuable service, and have a unique pitch to brands that can de-risks spend for D2C brands.

And with less than 5% of all YouTube videos that include a direct call-to-action for a brand or monetized initiative, even at a smaller rate than a piece of branded content it starts to look like a pretty good deal for all involved.

As always, if you decide to reach out to Larry or Madison, please let them know ‘The Creator Rep’ newsletter sent you!

SOCIAL OPTIMIZATION:

AI for Writer’s Block

Let’s keep our AI theme going by discussing the right way to use AI in optimized content creation.

In my experience, AI engines like ChatGPT are best involved in the content creation process in two ways:

1. Creating a rough draft of a post or script based on a concept to get over my ‘blank page syndrome’

2. Punching up language on already created content by asking for more rich keywords or other creative takes on metadata.

I want to focus on the second one, which I call ‘AI Whiteboarding’.

Much like regular whiteboarding, get ChatGPT to write a stupid amount of metadata for your content.

For example, a prompt could be: “Write ten keyword-optimized titles for a YouTube video about how penguins mate for life that would get people to click. Keep the title as brief and interesting as possible”

Then once you get the first ten, nudge ChatGPT by telling it what you want more of, then make 10 more.

Use these ideas to find the best titles or other metadata, then go through your regular testing process to find the best one (focus group your fans, use your gut, try a few on Facebook with small ad buys).

What once took hours, a team of people and a few whiteboard markers worth of ink can now be done in minutes from your couch.

INDUSTRY HIRING:

Fixated is looking for a Head of Talent Management for a newly-launched content studio and management org, plus you get to see me every day without needing to either marry me or be one of my kids!

Betr is looking for a Head of User Acquisition for their gambling platform. Just don’t tell your new boss Jake Paul that your money’s on Tyson!

Weber Shandwick is looking for a Senior Vice President, Influencer Strategy. It the smartest team in Chicago after the banter-masters at Weiner’s Circle.

MEME ZONE:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.