Dear Reader,

I wanted to apologize for being so MIA during what is probably the most exciting time for online marketing in history. Sure, Chat GPT is all anyone can talk about these days, but did you know I’ve actually been digging deep on AI for years? Heck, in 2017 I was part of a small experiment with an AI engineer where he tried to come up with a video editing solution that used AI. Unfortunately, he was still a bit too ahead of his time.

So where did I mess up?

I haven’t been emailing you at all about what I’ve been up to. I wanted to wait until there was a perfect solution out there for you and your business, whether it was for video or for something else business related (copy, photo editing, etc.). Instead, I have been mostly quiet here in email land.

And I take full responsibility that I dropped the ball there.

For that, I sincerely apologize—after all, I know subscribing to an email list is a bigger deal these days and you expect some value for your commitment.

So here's my promise. I am going to be more vocal about what I am experimenting with, even if it’s not a perfect solution, or a "one stop shop" solution. In all honesty, the AI tech tools out there are way more than you even realize and it can get overwhelming. My aim is going to be just to share the very best, as well as what is promising (tech is moving so fast)!

I’m grateful for you & appreciate your patience as I overhaul the business (by the way, I’m working on a brand name change too) and get email communication more organized (and useful).
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So here’s my first mini-lesson:

AI image generation is going to save you so much on stock photos, but it can take time to get good at writing the correct prompts. Have no idea what I’m talking about? That’s okay. I’m going to start making some videos to help with this.
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It’s also hard to pick which company to go with for image generation. Here are my suggestions: Midjourney for paid, and Deep Dream Generator for free (Leonardo AI, but it's waitlisted).

How about video editing? Honestly, we’re not quite there yet. There are so many promising tools (gen1 for example), but they all take a ton of work to set up and/or are still too random to be useful for anything except montages set to music.

How about copy? Chat GPT of course! Although Canva is giving them a run for their money. Personally, I don’t think you need to buy the paid version of Chat GPT just yet. I bought the paid version for a month and it didn’t make much of a difference. Caveat: Know that you need to fact-check anything Chat GPT says. It’s happy to be a pathological liar and you’ll be none the wiser if you take anything it says at face value.

Having said that, it is great for coming up with ideas for videos, articles, organizing thoughts into bullet points, writing out steps and, my favorite, taking words you’ve written and editing them to fit a particular tone or era. I had fun writing a fake backyard wedding invitation and having it spit out a version in the style of Bridgerton (Regency England). Alternatives to Chat GPT: Canva and Jasper.

For text editing, there’s the tried and true AutoCrit. If you're a novelist, there's also Novel AI. I have been paying for it for three months now, but will probably cancel after this, as I've been too busy to utilize it properly. It is very helpful for people like me who have ADHD and need a bit of stimulus and feedback to keep the writing process going. If you're curious about Novel AI, it is absolutely worth it to get the paid version because it unlocks their most sophisticated language model.

Next, there are areas where AI is really going to change/automate business to save you time and money. These are the things less people are talking about. Companies like Canva and others are able to take an article and turn it into presentation slides for you. That’s huge! Or, follow the content repackaging master class I created a few years ago and you’ll have a transcript from a video you shot so that you don’t even have to write it. Then take the transcript, put it in Canva Docs and then Canva will turn it into slides for you. Canva can also take a photo and suggest different layouts for you. Huge time saver!

Other amazing image AI sites: Leonardo AI (As I said before it is now waitlisted, but produces many beautiful images for free), and Dall-e 2 (not the biggest fan of the image quality and detail, but it has the ability to add areas to the side of an image which is so cool).

Otter AI. I've been using it for years to record meetings. Now you can add an Otter AI assistant straight to your Zoom meeting!

Scribe How. Record what you're doing onscreen and it will create a tutorial for you instantly. Incredible! They're about to release even more advanced AI features with Scribe AI, but you have to get on the waitlist for it: https://get.scribehow.com/scribe-ai/?referralCode=rpc3k89&refSource=copy

(I don't get any kickback if you sign up for the waitlist... all it does is bump us both up further in line)

I’ll be keeping you updated as I explore each app/site/solution. Especially with regard to where tech (AI or not) can speed up the video editing process, or eliminate it altogether since this has been the bane of so many of my clients’/students’ existence.

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May the Force be with You,

Michelle Osorio

Formerly of Dare to Dream School (new brand name coming soon)!
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P.S. - As I work on relaunching the brand and FINALLY releasing my Camera Confidence book, I am also working on updating my courses and offerings. I’d love to hear what solutions you’re looking for (can be regarding video, AI, copy, tech overwhelm, social media, anything really). I have already scheduled one Zoom call to brainstorm with a former client about how she should approach video editing in this new age. I plan to find the right app for her and probably do some research online while we are on the call. Many of you know I used to heavily endorse Adobe Rush (or Premiere), but I am leaning toward betting on the Canva horse. I have a strong feeling that they are going to disrupt the video space. We will see!

If you’d like to book a free Zoom call (no selling involved), I’d love to catch up on how you’re feeling these days and where you need help with your business. Like I said, all my sites and offers are down right now for the rebrand so I genuinely have nothing to sell. It’s been 3 years since I last met with and surveyed students/customers about what they need and boy, have times changed! I’d love to meet up and chat and pick your brain over where you’re stuck right now. If you’d like to schedule a Zoom chat (no strings attached), just reply to this email and I’ll see if I can help.

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