Guides.
Plain guides for people who make things and don’t know how to get them seen, built from sources we link and rough counts of our own, with dates.
Getting seen
I built something and nobody’s using it. What now?
How builders with no audience and no budget report getting their first users, with their real numbers, what flopped, and what to do this week.
Where should I launch my app or side project, and what do the rules really say?
Launch sites compared with the rules as written and what builders report. Why launch lists often flop, and what to do before you post anywhere.
Is social media worth it for a local service business?
Usually not first. Being found on Google and Apple Maps, real reviews and clear service pages come before video, even though we make a video tool.
How do you show up in ChatGPT, Google AI and Perplexity answers? What the companies themselves say
We read what Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Apple and Bing publish about AI answers. What matters, which crawlers to allow, and what to ignore.
Making the videos
Video sizes, lengths and rules for TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X and LinkedIn
What TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X and LinkedIn accept, read from their own developer docs, and the one video file that fits them all.
How to make a product demo video by hand, shot by shot
A shot-by-shot plan for a short demo video with real screens and a free screen recorder: opening lines, timings, a worked example and the usual mistakes.
TikTok, Reels and Shorts safe zones in pixels, and one box for all three
Where TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube buttons cover your video on a 1080 by 1920 frame, which numbers are official, and one box for their standard layouts.
What it costs
What do video ads cost a small online store? Creators, AI tools and services compared
Rough prices for store video ads: about $100 to $154 for a creator, $1 to $12 from AI tools, $13 and up from services. What’s known about which works.
What do people complain about in AI video and posting tools? A rough count of low-star reviews
A rough keyword count of about 700 low-star reviews of AI video and posting tools. Few blame results. They blame credits, charges and bugs. What to check first.
What does AI video really cost? The per-second prices behind the credits
List prices for Kling, Veo, Seedance, Runway and HeyGen, what a 30-second video costs once you count failed takes, and how to read a credit plan.
The rules
Can my business use trending music on TikTok and Reels? What the platforms and the labels say
Usually not. What TikTok, Meta and YouTube say about business use, why labels sued Crumbl and DSW, and the real options, with what each one costs.
Can an app post to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube for me? What each platform really allows
Set and forget isn’t what TikTok’s rules describe. What each platform lets apps do, the daily limits, what a link costs on X, and what to ask before paying.
Do I have to label AI video? TikTok, YouTube, Meta, New York and the FTC, case by case
Often yes, if it looks real. What TikTok, YouTube and Meta require, New York’s rule on AI people in ads, what the FTC bars, and 12 everyday cases.
How we write these: with AI help, from the sources we link, with dates. Counts marked as ours were made by an AI reader with no second check. If something’s wrong, email everest@luven.ai and we’ll fix it and say so. New guides, by RSS.