Hi Reader,

First of all, Happy Holidays & Happy New Year! 🎉

I appreciate you being here and here's what you'll find in today's email:

• My Top 5 AI Tools in 2025
• I Asked ChatGPT to Grade my 2025
• My Biggest 2025 Mistake
• Trending Videos

🛑 Big News: My AI Community is now FREE to join! This is my New Year's gift to you to show my appreciation.

And if you want more support and access to me, the Annual Plan is where I go deeper and work more closely with members.

🏆 My Top 5 AI Tools in 2025

Here's a truth that few will admit - most AI tools suck. 90% of AI tools are cheap, vibe coded wrappers with fancy marketing.

After testing 50+ AI tools this year, I wanted to share my favorites that are actually moving the needle for marketing, content, and general business use.

1) Google’s AI Ecosystem (Free & Paid) - The King of Generative AI

I find myself using Google Gemini more than ChatGPT now. Google has built an incredible AI suite that many people overlook:

• Gemini 3: Google's latest model family delivers next-generation reasoning, intelligence, and speed across all their products
• Nano Banana Pro: The best AI image model available today
• Veo 3.1: The best AI video model available today
• NotebookLM: The best research assistant available today. Amazing tool for learning and synthesizing your data
• Google AI Studio: Free platform to test the latest Gemini models, generate images, and screen share for troubleshooting

How I Use It: I use Google Gemini more than ChatGPT now for research, reasoning, images, video, and more. I also cloned my entire YouTube channel into NotebookLM because it only pulls from sources I provide instead of random Internet data.

Suggested Resources:

• ​5 Reasons Why I Use Gemini More Than ChatGPT​
• ​How to Clone a YouTube Channel with NotebookLM​

2) ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) - The AI Swiss Army Knife

If you're still using the free version of ChatGPT everyday, I suggest upgrading right now as the difference is massive.

You get better models (like GPT-5.2 Thinking), way more usage, better image results, GPTs, Projects, Agent Mode, Deep Research, and more.

How I Use It: I still use ChatGPT Plus daily for ideation, research, reasoning, and some content tasks. Whether I need help with video ideas, analyzing data, proofing a social post, or working through a complex problem, ChatGPT Plus is still a viable solution.
​Suggested Resources:

• ​ChatGPT Plus Review​
• ​ChatGPT Projects Tutorial​

3) Blotato ($29/month) - My AI Social Media Machine

​Blotato is what powers my social media automation. For only $29 you get unlimited content generation across 20+ accounts plus API access for automations.

I built a workflow using Blotato, Make, and Google Sheets that posts content sounding like me across every social platform automatically.

How I Use It: I use Blotato's APIs paired with Make.com and one Google Sheet to run my entire social media system. Posts go out daily to YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Facebook without manually posting.

Suggested Resource:

• ​Blotato Review​
• ​My Social Media AI Automation​

4) Claude Pro ($20/month) - The Copywriting & Technical King

Both Claude Sonnet 4.5 & Opus 4.5 write better copy than any model I've tested for my use cases. The outputs feel more human, empathetic, and less robotic.

I use Claude Projects for email newsletters like this one, social captions, and repurposing longer content into different formats.

And when I need heavy-duty reasoning or troubleshooting help with automations, Claude Opus 4.5 is my go-to.

How I Use It: I created a Claude Project with my writing samples, past emails, and brand guidelines. When I upload a YouTube transcript, it generates a complete newsletter draft in my exact voice and style.

Suggested Resource: Claude Projects Tutorial​

5) HeyGen ($29/month) - AI Clone Creator

​HeyGen is the best AI Avatar generator today IMO. This powers 90% of my short form video content, as the AI clone quality has gotten more realistic in 2025.

Beyond personal clones, their UGC avatars and interactive features open up tons of creative possibilities.

How I Use It: I batch create scripts with ChatGPT, generate voice audio with ElevenLabs, then feed everything into HeyGen. One session produces a month's worth of shorts averaging 1K+ daily views on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

Suggested Resource: My AI Clone Tutorial​

Honorable Mentions

These didn't make my top 5 but deserve recognition:

• Google Antigravity: Google's standalone IDE designed to manage AI agents. (Keeping a close eye on this)
• Perplexity: AI Research Powerhouse
• Grok: Best for Real Time News and also Uncensored Outputs
• n8n: Automation Platform that's an Alternative to Make & Zapier
• ElevenLabs: Best AI Voice Cloning Software
• Opus Clip: Repurposing Long Videos into Short Clips
• Blaze AI: Alternative to Blotato for Social Media Management

✅ I Asked ChatGPT to Grade My 2025

I wanted to share a fun experiment. I asked ChatGPT to act as my executive coach and grade my 2025 performance based on everything it knows about me from our past conversations.

Here is a shortened prompt but you can Click Here to view my complete prompt and chat results:

'Act as my no-BS executive coach and performance analyst to deliver a data-driven 2025 performance review and 2026 strategic plan based strictly on my conversation history and memory. Eschew generic advice for direct, evidence-based feedback that distinguishes between high-leverage moves and "busy work," asking up to seven targeted questions if specific data is lacking. Your response must include a 2025 narrative with a 0–10 scorecard (covering revenue, audience, systems, focus, brand, and health), followed by my top five accomplishments (ranked with repeatable formulas and "2x" scaling strategies) and my top five improvement areas (ranked by opportunity cost with root causes and "tripwire" metrics). Conclude with three high-leverage 2026 suggestions featuring 30/60/90-day execution plans, a 15-point "Stop/Start/Continue" audit, and a final summary identifying my single most valuable habit, most dangerous distraction, and five needle-moving reflection questions.'

The Results (Scorecard 0-10):

• Revenue/Business Growth: 7
• Audience Growth: 8
• Systems/Automation: 7
• Focus/Prioritization: 4
• Brand/Authority: 8

ChatGPT called out my wins but it also got brutally honest about my weaknesses, like using micro-content as avoidance and running too many parallel tracks instead of focusing on one flagship offer.

The most valuable insight? My single most dangerous distraction for 2026 is "small content tweaks used to dodge selling and hard prioritization."

Ouch. But fair. 😅

This is top of mind for 2026 as I reevaluate my priorities.

What are your favorite AI Tools to end 2025? Hit reply and let me know, I read every response!

📈 Trending Videos

Be sure to subscribe if you haven't already 🤝

• ​Best Ways to Make Money With AI​
• ​How to Design YouTube Thumbnails With AI​
• ​How to Build Backlinks With AI​
• ​Why I'm Using Google Gemini Over ChatGPT​
• ​How to Scrape Leads from Google Maps With AI​

Until next time 🫡

Ryan

P.S. I'm currently on my first ever cruise with my wife's family. It's been a fun experience but it's also been hard for me to unplug this week lol. I have a lot of great things planned for 2026 and I can't wait to get back to work!