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Hello, there!

It’s been an action-packed week 🙌 

• Podcast: How Johnny Wang is Building a Lifestyle Business WHILE Working a 9-5

• Success story: Oliur Rahman Skipped College To Make $600,000 a Year From His Online Business

• Biz Hack: Will I Rank Lesser on Google for Using AI-Generated Content?

• Biz Essentials: Learn Practices in Sustainable Management Under 10 Hours

But first, a tour of the headlines…

Weekly catchups

News | Industry Insights | Trends

• 🍎 Apple’s Virtual Black Box

  This summer, Apple is poised to revolutionize its AI strategy for iOS 18 and Siri. Apple is set to introduce a concept called Apple Chips in Data Centres (ACDC). This initiative involves processing AI data within a virtual black box, ensuring utmost privacy by preventing employee access. Apple gains unparalleled control over system design through custom chipsets for servers and devices. 

• Guilt Trip

  Americans say they use paid time off to go on vacation or for their health and well-being, but many feel guilty for taking days off, and most dread what awaits them when they return. A May 2024 survey by the Harris Poll showed that 66% of American workers dread the backlog of work once they are back.

• 🍺 0

  The amount of alcohol now permitted in the stands at the French Open after a spate of incidents involving rowdy fans. Players have complained about noise levels. Misbehaving fans will be ejected, the tournament director told a French sports daily.

Uncharted horizons 

Personal Development | Success Story

He Skipped College to Make $600,000 a Year From His Online Business 

31-year-old Oliur Rahman is a millionaire who, growing up, never dared to imagine owning a home in the UK. “We weren’t wealthy. I grew up on benefits in social housing,” Oliur says. Little did he know buying his first-ever cellphone would change his life.

“I customised it and shared it with XDA developers.” One thing led to another and before he knew it, Rahman was selling wallpapers online, kickstarting his journey of making money online. 

Oliur started small, making around $20,000 to $30,000 annually, sometimes stooping to lower figures. But he was resolute. Apart from work, he also had to convince his South Asian parents that he could arrive at life without a college degree. Rahman continued designing until he caught Tumblr's attention, a blogging platform worth $1.1 billion in 2015. 

Once his designs were associated with Tumblr, it was only a matter of time before Rahman could boast of generating a six-figure income. A few years later, he could afford to move out of his parents’ nest but Rahman chose to save on rent. He wanted to own a home with that money.

Strategies | Tools | Marketing Tips

Please Advise: Will I Rank Lesser on Google for Using AI?

Various sites being penalised by Google contained numerous pages generated by AI. This has instilled a certain panic in the SEO world. You can heave a sigh of relief! There’s no substantial proof to ascertain traffic loss due to AI-generated content. 

However, in its March Core update, Google emphasised the quality of the content (human or AI-generated) that can set the ball rolling on high rankings. Google is fighting mediocre content not content created by AI. 

Creating Content that Ranks High: A Guide 🔻 

Google’s E-E-A-T Framework 

• E: Experience- Evaluate whether the content was created with practical knowledge or experience in the subject matter. 

• E: Expertise- Checks if the content author has specialised knowledge of the topic 

• A: Authoritativeness- Considers the reputation of the author and site regarding the subject matter 

• T: Trustworthiness- Assess the reliability of the author, content, and site. [Read: Google’s Guide to self-assess content] 

A Checklist to Rank Higher: Making Trustworthy Content (+ tools & resources)

• Cite Data Sources and Research: Cite reputable sources namely governmental departments, universities with a global footprint, or reputable research organisations. Cite-While-You-Write is a plugin you can add to your word processor (Microsoft Word or Apple Pages) to pull citations from your EndNote account.

• Interview Experts: Ensure that the people you interview are genuine authorities with expertise to contribute to the field you wish to know more about. Refrain from grabbing quotes in the internet archive. Pro tip: Always check how dated a piece of content is before using it for your articles. 

• Repurpose Reputable Content: You can reduce your workload by following the E-E-A-T framework. Re-purpose a high-performing blog post into an Instagram carousel or LinkedIn PDF.

• Rely on Human Editing: AI can assist in generating ideas through well-written prompts. However, human editing is essential to ensure the created content's quality, authenticity, and overall relevance. Here’s a job description for an AI content editor. 

• Bet on User-Generated Content: Leverage authentic content produced by the audience (read reviews, social media posts, and videos) to promote the brand organically and reliably. Buzzsumo Identifies high-performing content and influencers relevant to your niche.

Don’t miss it!

Networking | Business Development | Entrepreneurship

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