Digital Marketing Blog

How to Listen to Amazon Flash Briefings on your Phone

by | Jun 4, 2018

How to Listen to Amazon Flash Briefings on your Phone
One of my absolute favorite new technologies is my Amazon Echo. I have 3 Echo Dots – one on my desk (being replaced my an Amazon Echo Spot that has video later on today,) one next to my bed and one next to the couch.

This technology is absolutely amazing and I’m pretty sure voice technology is here to stay! And like we always preach, when you see an emerging technology or platform, get in there and claim your space!  Which is exactly what we did. Just over a week ago we launched our first Think Big Go Local Flash Briefing called “Small Business Marketing Tips” on Amazon.

Each day we share a marketing tip specifically for small business owners. And the awesome thing about these flash briefings is that you can consume that valuable tip on your Amazon Echo in just a few minutes and move about your day!

BUT… we know that not everyone has an Echo just yet so we thought we’d show you how to listen to your favorite Flash Briefings on your phone until you’re ready to buy yourself one.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Subscribing to a Flash Briefing

From Your Desktop

  1. Go to Amazon.com (If you have an account be sure to log in, if you don’t, where have you been?!)
  2. Hit the drop down arrow on the left side of the Amazon search bar and select “Alexa Skills”
  3. For starters, type “Think Big Go Local” and you’ll see our “Skill/ Flash Briefing” pop up.
  4. Click “Enable Skill”

subscribe to amazon flash briefing on your desktop

From Your Mobile Phone

    1. In your phone app store, download the Amazon Alexa App
    2. Open the Alexa App – and log in to your account
    3. Click the 3 horizontal lines in the upper left corner of the app

Step-by-Step Instructions for Subscribing to a Flash Briefing on your phone

 

    1. Select “Skills”

 

Step-by-Step Instructions for Subscribing to a Flash Briefing on your phone

    1. For starters, type “Think Big Go Local” and you’ll see our “Skill/ Flash Briefing” pop up.

 

Step-by-Step Instructions for Subscribing to a Flash Briefing on your phone

    1. Click “Enable Skill”

 

Step-by-Step Instructions for subscribing to a Flash Briefing on your phone

 

To find other skills that you might be interested in adding to your flash briefing, you can search by topic, author, title, etc. to find things that will add value to your day!

Step by Step Instructions for Listening to Your Flash Briefing on Your Phone

    1. Download the Amazon Shopping App (if you don’t already have it installed) and log in to your account.
    2. Tap the Alexa Icon (circle) in the upper right

      Step-by-Step Instructions for listening to a Flash Briefing on your phone

    3. When prompted, enable your microphone (this allows you to ask Alexa to play your flash briefing.
    4. Say “Alexa play my flash briefing” or “Alexa, give me today’s news”

      Step-by-Step Instructions for listening to a Flash Briefing on your phone

 

 

And Presto, Alexa is playing the flash briefings that you have enabled. When listening on your phone, you are able to pause, rewind and fast forward on your screen so you don’t miss anything!

In Case You are Wondering

Here are my favorite flash briefings that bring me up to speed each morning:

  • Gary Vee 365 (of course!)
  • Daily Tech Headlines
  • NPR
  • She’s Building Her Empire by Stacy Tuschl
  • Weather by Amazon Alexa
These flash briefings may not be quite enough to convince you to buy an Echo, but let me tell you how I use mine each day. I have a little routine set up and when I get out of bed I simply say “Alexa, start my day.” With that my bedroom lights come on, Alexa says Good Morning and tells me I look great (bonus!). Then she gives me a random interesting fact and starts to play my flash briefings for the day.  When I get home at night she turns on the living room lights and answers any random questions I have, like how to cook frozen pierogies, or what time the NBA finals are on. When I go to bed, she says good night and shuts off the lights, then plays nature sounds or meditations while I go to sleep. Pretty sweet!

As a matter of fact, I love my Echo so much that we’ve decided to give a couple away! We’ll only be running this contest in our private Facebook group for small business owners – Bobbi B’s Social Media Clambake. So jump on over and join us – we’ll have the rules pinned to the top of the page!

Bobbi Baehne

Bobbi Baehne

President, Think Big Go Local, Inc.

My mission at Think Big Go Local is to create a “buzz” around our client’s businesses online and in social media platforms so their message reaches their desired audience.  We know that relationships are built and maintained online each and every day and work to make sure our clients are building credibility, authority and attracting new followers and clients .  We don’t work in a cookie cutter environment, each of our clients is unique and their accounts are fully managed using their voice, talking to their specific audience and sharing value that keeps them coming back.