Create Your Own Amazon Alexa Skills
This post was sponsored by Amazon as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Our family became fans of the Amazon Alexa Echo pretty quickly once we got our first Dot. We quickly added two more to the house (mainly because I fell in love with the “drop in” option that allowed me to use it as an intercom when I wanted to call Josh. No more screaming at the top of my lungs!!) Playing Jeopardy became a nightly ritual and I loved being able to stream music from across the room by just asking for a playlist.
As much as we loved our Alexas and Dots, occasionally I would find myself thinking “I wish it did this” or “I wish it could do that“. Even with the thousands of Alexa Skills that already exist (yes, there are thousands!!) I would still come up with super personalized things I wished it could do. Since I know next to nothing about coding or anything technical (don’t let my site fool you – I have a fabulous designer who does all of that for me) so the idea of creating my own Alexa skill seemed totally out of reach.
But yet, I continued to dream. What if Alexa could remind Josh to put out the garbage on garbage day? Or play a game of trivia with our own family history? Or quiz Josh on his homework before a test? And then it was like Amazon read my mind! They introduced Alexa Skill Blueprints. These Skill Blueprints allow you to create and customize your own skill without a bit of coding needed. The Blueprints give you a way to create exactly what you need – there are already over 20 Blueprint templates available and more are added all the time.
Now, keep in mind that this is different than the already made Alexa Skills so you’ll need to go to the Alexa Blueprints page here.
Check out some of the fun things we did with Blueprints!
I would love to learn more about what the Alexa can do for me besides an intercom. This seems like a great system that we all could use and update technologically.
I SO have to check this out! I have often thought, “I wish my Alexa would do xyz.” It looks like they’re making that possible!
I’ve been thinking about getting this for some time now! I think it’s awesome that you can create your own skills and program them in Alexa. It’s definitely going to make life easier!
Looks like it’s time for me to own Alexa. I have seen so many of my friends get theirs
Wow! This is really nice and interesting. Now, I am thinking of getting my own Alexa too. It’s just practical and useful.
Oh I am desperate for an Alexa! I keep dropping hints to my husband but he hasn’t yet picked up on them!
Wow, I had no idea! This is such a cool thing to do I might get the Alexa for my house too!
That’s pretty awesome! I love how convenient this can be for families especially when it comes to reminding the kids about what they need to do!
This was so helpful! Tbh me and my boyfriend just use ours to turn the lights on and off haha! we really need to use it more
It looks like an interesting tool that I need to own and I think it is very useful for me. I will definitely check this out!
I never thought this object that I’ve seen at some friends’ place, could be so tremendously useful !
I don’t have an Alexa yet… but maybe I should look into this! I love that you can customize the skills with the blueprints.. Neat!
These look really good. I haven’t got one yet but it’s interesting to hear how much they can do!!! It would be great if it could make sure the kids did their homework in time lol.
I have seen how cool thes Amazon Alexas are. Maybe one day I will break and get one!
Oh my gosh, we got one of these for Christmas and we still haven’t taken it out of the box. My aunt swears by it but i’m Not very techy so I’m feeling intimidated. But now I’m going to try and set it up after reading this. Thanks!
I still do not have Alexa, and I listen to great things every day on it. Maybe it’s time to get one!
That’s cool that Amazon came out with ways to specifically help out with certain things that you can program into the unit. It’s nice that it also doesn’t take any coding skills to be able to do it.
I really didn’t think there was a place in my home for Amazon Alexa until I saw your video. I love the fact that you can customize it for your own needs. It’s really like a personal assistant.
Seems I’m only hearing of the Amazon Alexa just now but I tend to love it. I love how one can customize it to fit one’s needs for sure. Just what a household would need,right?
Alexa is quite an amazing invention. This blueprint thing is super cool. I love that you can customize it.
That’s awesome! Alexa skills blueprint sounds so relevant and useful to the family home. I will try to convince my parents to invest in it! Thanks for sharing
I would love to own an Alexa I have been toying with the idea for a little while now as to if I should buy one, and you know I think I will.