How to Quickly and Easily Start an Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing
Connect to the 23 million Americans who listen to news on Alexa in 15 minutes without coding.
UPDATE (6/30):
We’ve automated the entire process. You don’t even need to follow the steps in this article anymore. Just sign up at effct.co, and follow the steps.
No need to read on. But if you feel so inclined…
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Last year, I wanted to start an Amazon Alexa flash briefing. I’d heard so much about the power of voice from entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk and Mark Cuban. But, I didn’t have any knowledge of coding. So, I teamed up with a developer. Within a few weeks, we had a briefing called Denver News. It became the top-ranked briefing in Denver, and is going strong to this day.
We realized other non-coders really want to set up briefings. So, we developed a software platform that does just that.
This tutorial will show you how to start your briefing in a matter of minutes.
If you prefer video, check out our YouTube tutorial.
If your prefer reading, continue on.
STEP 1 — Create a Profile
Click this button to get started → https://newsbrief.effct.org/signup/
STEP 2 — Record Your First Brief
Record a quick message using Voice Memo on your iPhone. If you have Android you can use Sound Recorded.
Your first message can be something simple like, “Testing, 1, 2, 3.”
You can also use programs like Audacity to record.
Then, AirDrop or e-mail the content to yourself if you recorded on mobile. If you recorded on desktop, simply save the audio file.
STEP 3 — Add the Brief
Click this button in the “Add Brief” button in the right of your Effct homepage. It looks like this.
Then, fill in the following forms.
Choose your audio file.
Then click “Normalize Audio.” This will format it correctly to play under Amazon’s specifications.
For title — enter the name of your briefing. For example, “Denver News test briefing.”
IMPORTANT: For the “Readmore URL” provide the link to your real website where you are posting this news. For example for Denver News we set up a Facebook page called “Denver News” that looked semi-legitimate to Amazon.
So, a completed form would look like this:
Then, click the green “Publish” button. You’ll hear your test briefing momentarily.
STEP 4 — Set Up an Amazon Developer Account
STEP 5 — “Add a New Skill”
Now, that you’ve set that up, click this link to be taken to the skills console.
Click the Yellow “Add a New Skill” button in the top right corner.
STEP 6 — Enter the Info for Your Briefing
IMPORTANT — Under “Skill Type” select the “Flash Briefing Skill API”
Fill out the rest of the fields.
Just follow Amazon’s Instructions here.
Under content type select, “Audio.” People prefer audio skills that are read by real people rather than Alexa.
IMPORTANT — Now for “URL” return to your Effct homepage, and copy the link under “Your Feed (Admin Only)”
Paste this link into the “URL” field in Amazon Developer. For example:
STEP 7 — Design Your Feed Icon
Now design your feed icon. Return here: https://newsbrief.effct.org/startup/
Click the 512 x 512 image, and it’ll download a PNG file you can fill in with your image. Keep in mind Amazon will just show what’s within the circle.
STEP 8 — Test Your Skill
You may find that Amazon’s Test Simulator doesn’t work. In that case, you can test using your Alexa device. If you don’t have an Alexa device, you can download the Amazon app. Here’s the app on the Android store, and on the Apple store.
Click on the circle button, and say, “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing.”
You should hear Alexa say, “From <your skill name>…”
Then, your test flash briefing will start playing. Yay!
Magic!
STEP 9 — Publishing Information
Fill in this information.
These “Testing Instructions” get sent to someone at Amazon who will review your skill. So you can greet them, give them a link to your website, and share what type of content you’re going to upload. A sentence or two should suffice.
For “Keywords,” include anything people would search on Amazon related to your skill. For example for Denver News, we included:
“Denver News, Denver, Colorado News, Colorado, Mile High City, 5280, 303, 720, Boulder, Boulder News.”
For “Small Icon”, we’ve got you covered again: Click the small icon available at this same link: https://newsbrief.effct.org/startup/
It’ll download a 108 x 108 PNG you can fill in.
STEP 10 — Privacy and Compliance
Amazon claims the Privacy Policy and and Terms of Use are optional. They are not.
I nor Effct do not offer legal advice. I am not a lawyer. This information below is not legal advice. My lawyer told me to say that.
Now, that that’s over…
Privacy Policy URL
Amazon is not strict about the Privacy Policy URL. They just want to see you generate a document, and host it online. Use COOLEYGO’s privacy policy generator for that. In your Privacy Policy be sure to include that it applies to both your website (which you gave them a link to in Testing Instructions) and your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — < your Flash Briefing’s name > .
Then, upload your privacy policy to your website or a host like Google Drive. Click the “Share” button. Copy and paste a “Read Only” link into the URL field.
Terms of Use URL
Same thing goes here. We don’t offer legal advice. But, you can use COOLEYGO’S Terms of Use Generator to help you out. Once again, upload the document to Google Drive. Then share its URL to this field.
Now click the yellow “Submit for Certification” button!
You’re almost done!
Last thing to do is upload a real brief!
Whether your brief is about business or landscaping, go back to Effct and add a real brief. Your Amazon people will hear this when they go to certify you.
THAT’S IT — AMAZON SHOULD GET BACK TO YOU IN 12–48 HOURS LETTING YOU KNOW IF YOUR BRIEF HAS BEEN ACCEPTED OR DENIED.
If you’re accepted, pop bottles. If you’re denied make the changes they suggest.
Any questions or feeling stuck?
Join our Facebook Community. We’ll be answering questions there!
If you want something more discreet e-mail us at info@effct.org or give us a ring (303) 907–8266
