Challenge 8 entries have all been scored! Go see the scores and feedback posted on the leaderboard.
Important! We still invite everyone to continue to participate by working through each challenge and improving your skills as a content creator. Check out the entries that have been submitted along with their scores and feedback to see what you can learn!
Contest Updates: The next round is the final round of the competition.
The Final Challenge is posted below. I recommend getting started right away because it’s due on Friday, February 5 by 12 pm MST.
The winner of this year’s Ultimate Content Warrior challenge will be announced on Tuesday, February 9 in our regularly scheduled video on YouTube.
Only 3 will compete in this final challenge!
The final challenge consists of two pieces of content and is due on Friday, by noon MST.
1. Write a blog post that could get real traffic for a competitive topic in your industry.
This should be a pillar or foundational topic for your site that’s going to be hard to rank #1 for organically. It should be the kind of blog post that is truly the best resource for the topic and that you’d link to from other blog posts throughout your site.
2. Create a video on a competitive topic for your industry.
Pick a topic that would be tough to rank #1 for on YouTube, or that you’d have to be really established for people to trust that your video is the best source of information.
Then make a truly awesome video on that topic that people will feel compelled to click on.
At this point, all entries are being judged holistically. That means that we’ll be judging every aspect of your content.
Good luck!
And make sure you submit your post before the deadline of 12 pm on Friday, February 5.
This is the semi-final round! We’ll only have 12 contestants entering into this round.
For challenge #8, there are two challenges again, but this time they’re on the same topic. And this time you only have until Wednesday.
1. Write a blog post or make a webpage that makes a strong sell for a product.
You can submit this as a link to the page on your site or as a link to a Google doc. Just make sure you turn on link sharing so we can open it.
2. Create a video that makes a strong sell for a product.
There’s a lot of science and art behind this one. For guidance, think about all the times where a sales advertisement, video, or webpage did a good job convincing you that their product was what you needed. What did they do?
You’re welcome to push an affiliate product, your own product, a made-up product, whatever works for you. Just convince us that this product is the solution we’ve been looking for.
Make sure you watch the video below for some specifics on how to submit this challenge like the required secret word.
Good luck!
And make sure you submit your post before the deadline of 9am on Wednesday, February 3.
This week, we have two challenges again. Those still in the contest will have to do both! But we’re giving you a whole week again.
1. Create a produced video. That doesn’t mean it has to be TV-quality production. But we do want to see your editing skills. So instead of a one-shot, talking head-style video, it’s time for something it a little more involved. Watch the video below for some specifics from Jim.
2. Write a response-style post. In the video, Jim explains what we mean by that. In short, write an article around 1,200-1,400 words that answers a specific question that someone would likely search.
Both challenges will be judged holistically. By that, we mean that we’re not only judging one aspect of each entry. We’re judging these entries as whole pieces of content. Good luck!
Don’t forget to submit your entries before the deadline of 9am on Monday, February 1.
The tracks are gone!
All remaining contestants are now being combined into a single track. After all, the Ultimate Content Warrior will have to be good at both blogging and YouTube.
For challenge #6, there are actually two challenges. So we’re giving you a whole week.
1. Write a product review or comparison blog post. If your niche doesn’t really have the type of product that people go buy on Amazon, that’s okay. Compare different companies that provide the same services, or review a resort you stayed at. Feel free to fit the prompt to your niche if applicable. Or, pick a product with which you have real experience and write a blog post in Google Docs to submit for this contest.
2. Create a list video. It can be any sort of list. An ideas list, a list of steps in a how-to video, etc. It needs to be in a list format and needs to keep the viewer engaged throughout the duration of the video.
Make sure you watch the video below for some specifics on how to submit this challenge and for tips on how to succeed with this entry.
Good luck!
And make sure you submit your post before the deadline of 9am on Monday, January 25.
This time, you get to create (or reuse) content for your own site on your own topic. And this type of content is going to be a game changer if you use it well.
In this challenge, we want you to submit a blog post that contains original research.
Origininal research can mean a lot of different things. Watch the video for some ideas of how you could implement original research in one of your blog posts.
And make sure you submit your post before the deadline of 9am on Monday, January 18.
Time for challenging yourself with another important YouTube skill. This one is called “the hook.”
People usually decide in a matter of seconds if your video is one they want to continue watching. It’s pretty common to lose 30-50% of the viewers on any video in under 60 seconds.
This challenge is all about keeping more of those people engaged so they keep watching your video. The more they watch, the more YouTube pushes your video to new viewers.
Check out the video below for some great advice on creating compelling hooks and submit your video before the deadline of 9am MST on January 18.
The internet is full of advice. Tips for this and that. But the more you look, the more you realize that on any topic, everyone has the exact same advice.
So today, we challenge you to come up with 3 helpful tips. These tips don’t have to be totally new or off-the-wall. But they should be well thought out, original in some way, and very helpful.
This is probably not your niche… but we’re giving you a prompt once again. The topic is 3 tips for ending a romantic relationship.
The goal is to write 3 helpful, non-obvious tips. This will challenge your ability to come up with good, helpful tips in your posts. You do NOT need to write the entire blog post. Just the three tips.
And make sure you submit it before the deadline at 9am MST on Thursday, January 14.
It’s time to make a YouTube short!
Nate is the king of YouTube shorts. He has been studying, experimenting, and learning all there is to know about how shorts are changing YouTube.
His video below will tell you the necessary criteria for a YouTube short and give some advice on how to succeed with them.
If you’re still in the challenge, you’ll get the submission link via email. Once again, you’ll just send us a link to the video on your channel and we’ll let you know how you did!
Don’t forget to submit it before the deadline at 9am MST on Thursday, January 14.
Google’s rich snippets are one of the biggest opportunities in SEO today and we win them by creating answer targets.
If you don’t know what that is, you need to watch this YouTube video first so you know exactly what you’re supposed to submit for this challenge.
The challenge is to write an answer target (that’s all you’ll submit) based on the topic: When do men start to get wrinkles on their face? The video below will give you some more details.
Once you have it written, you’ll use the link below the video to submit it.
In this challenge, there’s no video to submit.
Instead what we want you to submit is a title and a thumbnail image for a video that could spread. Pick a topic in your niche and come up with an idea for this spreadable video, then send us just the title and thumbnail.
For your submission, you’ll just paste your title in the form and then upload an image file right into the form.
Make sure you watch the video below from Jim for some important advice!
Every blogger needs an about page on their site. So today, you get to create one! Or… revisit one you already have.
The purpose of the about page is to establish E-A-T with your audience (and with Google). So this page should highlight different aspects of you and/or your organization that speak to why you have some authority on the topic of your site.
Check out the video below from Nathan to learn more about this challenge.
Today’s challenge is to make a product review video.
For all the details and some helpful tips, make sure you watch the short video from Nate below.
We encourage you to pick a product that you actually use regularly and review that product.
Please make sure you include timestamps for the different segments of your video in the video description on YouTube so we can judge it.
For your first challenge, the objective is to create a really good-looking, well-formatted blog post. Content is king, but valuable content is easy to overlook when it’s displayed in an unhelpful way.
So either write a new post or work on one you’ve already written to make it look really good. Once you’re done, click on the link below the video to submit a link to your blog post so we can score it for you!
And don’t forget to watch the short video for some tips on how to make your blog posts look better.
Your first challenge for the YouTube track is to record a short video showing us around your setup and backdrop for your videos.
Every YouTuber needs a go-to spot where they can go to quickly and easily film. It’s time to show us yours. So just pull out your cell phone and record a short video showing us around.
Upload it to your YouTube channel as an unlisted video. Then, use the link below to send us a link to your video.
Make sure you watch the short video below to learn more.
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