Amazon’s Alexa unit has historically been unprofitable, losing billions of dollars since its introduction in 2014 — but AI could help turn things around.
According to a Friday Reuters report citing eight sources “with direct knowledge” of Amazon’s plans, including current and former Amazon employees who worked on the voice assistant, Amazon is considering putting a higher AI-powered Alexa behind a subscription paywall.
Amazon is currently working on upgrading the free version of Alexa to one with AI capabilities, per Reuters, and plans to add a higher, subscription level of the voice assistant that can process more complex AI prompts.
The two levels of Alexa are internally known as the “Remarkable Alexa” and the “Classic Alexa.” Sources told Reuters that Amazon has thought about a $5 to $10 per month subscription for “Remarkable Alexa” to differentiate the two.
“Classic Alexa” will remain free, according to the report.
If implemented, the subscription would be the first major reframing of the voice assistant since Amazon introduced it.
Amazon Echo Show 8 previewing new Alexa AI features. Credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Amazon’s Echo smart home devices with Alexa have been surprise hits since they launched, but a 2022 BI report showed that even though they’re bestsellers, most of them sold at cost.
Related: Amazon Swaps Plastic Pillows For Paper Shipping Materials
Amazon already previewed a generative AI version of Alexa in September and showed off how the voice assistant could talk with more personality and take in more context.
Amazon stated then that it had sold more than half a billion devices with Alexa and that AI features “will be available to Alexa customers in the U.S. soon.”
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Apple is sunsetting its no-fee, no-interest buy now, pay later program less than a year after making it generally available.
In a Tuesday statement to 9to5Mac and a Monday statement to CNBC, Apple announced that it has discontinued Apple Pay Later, a U.S.-only program that allowed users to apply for a loan from $50 to $1,000 directly from the Wallet app on their iPhones.
The program, which became widely available in the U.S. in October, gave borrowers the option to pay off the loan in four installments across six weeks, with no fees or interest.
Apple Pay Later is no longer available starting this week, according to Apple.
Related: ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ Increasingly Popular Among High Earners
In its place is a new personal finance option set to arrive later this year: installment loans offered through lenders, credit cards, and debit cards.
“The ability to access installments from credit and debit cards with Apple Pay will roll out starting in Australia with ANZ; in Spain with CaixaBank; in the U.K. with HSBC and Monzo; and in the U.S. with Citi, Synchrony, and issuers with Fiserv,” Apple stated in an update last week.
Apple added that U.S. users also have the option to apply for loans through Affirm, a third-party company, when they check out with Apple Pay.
Related: Buying Now to Pay Later? Credit Card Protections Now Apply
More than half of U.S. consumers recognize Affirm by name. 
Apple Pay Later logo on MacBook and iPhone screens. Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Apple executives first pitched Apple Pay Later as a useful personal finance tool.
The draw was flexible payments; plus, applying for an Apple Pay Later loan also had no impact on credit scores.
“Apple Pay Later was designed with our users’ financial health in mind,” Jennifer Bailey, Apple vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, stated in March 2023.
Anyone who still has an active Apple Pay Later loan will be able to pay it off through the Apple Wallet app.
Apple Pay Later loans were backed by Apple and enabled through the Mastercard Installments program.
Related: Apple Launches Apple Card Savings Account From Goldman Sachs
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Dr. Kathrin Hamm, founder and CEO of sleep-wellness company Bearaby, never wanted to be an entrepreneur. After graduating with her Ph.D. in economics, she started as an economist at the World Bank. Her work took her all over the world and provided invaluable insight into the small, medium and women-founded enterprises she tried to convince banks to lend to — but she “learned firsthand how hard it is, especially in developing countries, for women to get access to finance and start and grow their businesses.”
During her time in India and Bangladesh especially, Hamm faced long, “exhausting” travel days. She’d “never been a good sleeper,” waking easily even as a child, and she developed a chronic case of insomnia. It began “on a more moderate level,” with difficulty falling and staying asleep, before the periods of wakefulness became longer and longer, motivating her to look into different solutions.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bearaby. Kathrin Hamm.
She started by investigating various mattress options, but when she dug deeper, she found an article discussing weighted blankets. The piece focused on helping children with sensory issues, Hamm recalls, but it also mentioned that evenly distributed weight on an adult body could support better sleep. Hamm was immediately intrigued — as a potential customer.
Related: The No-Excuse Approach to Sleep and Work Performance for Entrepreneurs
“Let me buy a product, sleep better and then move on with my career.”
“I came from a consumer lens,” Hamm says, “and knowing how hard it is for women to start a business, I [was] like, Yeah, I’m good here. I don’t want to start a business or even think about becoming an entrepreneur. Let me buy a product, sleep better and then move on with my career.”
However, the purchase process proved difficult. Unable to find options online, Hamm had to go to a pharmacy in Germany, where she’s from, to place an order. Six weeks later, a “big bean bag” arrived. It was orange and blue and “very noisy,” Hamm says. She was reluctant to even try it at first and wondered if she’d made a mistake.
“But then I put it on during the day on a weekend, and I just passed out after 10 minutes,” Hamm says. “And I woke up more than two hours later, [after] a solid nap, completely passed out, and I’m like, Wow, this is magic. This thing works for me.“
Related: Fighting Sleep Is a Losing Management Strategy. Let Your Employees Take Naps.
So Hamm kept using the blanket at night, but there was a problem: Because the blanket was filled with plastic beads to add weight, she often got too hot. The underlying functionality works; the weight on my body works, Hamm remembers thinking, but how it is made doesn’t work. After some research, Hamm discovered that the technology, which largely consisted of bead-filled chambers between layers of blanket, had been around for 30 years — “Nobody had innovated anything about this product.”
“Why can’t you just use strips of cotton?”
Hamm decided to experiment with alternative designs. She drew some inspiration from her time spent in India, “where there’s a culture of making rugs, knitting, crocheting,” but the ultimate breakthrough came from a conversation with her mom. Hamm had been considering changing the material or adding holes for airflow when her mom said, “Why can’t you just use strips of cotton?” They would create a thick yarn that could be knit together for natural airflow, eliminating the need for heavy artificial materials that shift around and reduce comfort. That idea led to the development of Bearaby’s first small blanket, made from a cut-up t-shirt.
Confident she was onto something, Hamm opted to take a year’s leave from her job to focus on the business. “I didn’t want to take too much of a risk, again, knowing that it can get really hard,” she admits. “[But] my boss was super supportive, and she said, ‘Look, if it doesn’t work out, we make a case study out of it.'”
Hamm withdrew $120,000 from her retirement fund and raised just over $250,000 from a crowdfunding campaign to fund the prototypes for the first batch of blankets. She also looked into patents, but they were expensive, so she did the drawing herself, then had a lawyer put together a provisional patent application, which entitles the filer to 18 months before they have to pay more money. That went through just a couple of days before launch in December 2018; the blanket sold out in two weeks and was the only product of its kind on the market for a couple of years, Hamm says.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bearaby
Related: How to Take Advantage of the ‘First-to-File’ Patent System
Despite the early success, the more than 50 factories that Hamm approached weren’t inclined to take on the product. They’d never seen anything like it: It wasn’t apparel, and it wasn’t bedding. So, for that first year and a half, Hamm rented a small garage outfitted with knitting machines and knitters to churn out the first products. The strong sales helped the business continue to finance production, which was a good thing, too — because people still weren’t all that interested in investing in the first-of-its-kind product.
“In hindsight, we had to learn to be profitable.”
Hamm leaned into the “bootstrap” mentality, which was a blessing in disguise. “In hindsight, we had to learn to be profitable,” she explains, “to become in tune with our production processes and marketing processes, to be efficient, which sometimes you didn’t see at that time in the direct-to-consumer space. Everyone was like, ‘I raised that much money, and I’m putting that much million on a marketing spend.’ So we never had it, but now, in an environment where money is not flowing [as] freely, we never had that money in the first place, so we are feeling pretty good right now.”
Bearaby saw another major advantage in brand loyalty. Hamm notes that people seeking wellness and sleep tend to form an “emotional connection” with the blanket,” and that it’s easy to fall in love with a brand that helps you sleep better. Substantial interest also translated into an early retail presence. Just five months in, Bearaby was in West Elm, thanks to customers who walked in and wanted to try the blanket. That happened with Nordstrom, too.
Related: Customer Loyalty Is Your Holy Grail for Success. Here’s How to Cultivate It.
As Bearaby considered expansion, it centered on functional products that would uphold its commitment to quality and sustainability (the company is certified by third-party organizations, including The Global Organic Textile Standard, The Forest Stewardship Council and The Global Recycled Standard). Because anxiety so often goes hand in hand with insomnia, the company landed on its warmables line; boasting a weighted and heated neck wrap, bottle and lap pad, it “takes the nervous system to zero,” Hamm says.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bearaby
Naturally, Bearaby’s products have become an integral part of Hamm’s own sleep routine, and as she’s gotten older, she’s realized even more just how much sleep she actually needs. “Now I sleep for a minimum of eight hours,” she says. “I’m training myself to get nine to 10 hours of sleep, obviously not every night, but definitely every weekend. Also, [it helps] whenever I get a chance to take a nap, like just a 20-minute nap to reset. [I make sure that I have] these conscious breaks, whether [it’s] napping or deep breathing because running a business is a marathon, and if we don’t take care of our bodies, we’re not able to do that over a very long time.”
“Just have tunnel vision for one year, and then reevaluate after those 365 days.”
Hamm’s five-year marathon with Bearaby has led to over $20 million in sales and more than 10 patents — but it all started with a single, somewhat reluctant leap of faith. And according to the founder, that’s exactly what it takes to be successful.
“Once you believe in a product, just take a chance and give yourself a year,” Hamm says. “It’s much more manageable if you [have] a considerable time frame where it’s like, Okay, in that year, I’m giving everything I have, 100%. Because sometimes we second guess ourselves. After [a few] months or six weeks, we don’t see the success, [and] we start doubting ourselves. You say [I have] one year, and I’m not asking if this is working. Just have tunnel vision for one year, and then reevaluate after those 365 days.”
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Singer-songwriter superstar Taylor Swift remains a global sensation as she continues her record-breaking Eras Tour — and major cultural institutions want to do her justice.
That’s why London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is calling all UK-based “Swifties” to apply for a new advisory role that would provide “insights into the culture and artisanry around handmade signs, friendship bracelets and Taylor Swift memorabilia,” Reuters reported.
Image Credit: Don Arnold/TAS24 | Getty Images
The new hire will work with the museum’s curatorial team to contribute their expertise as “part of a drive to complement further the vast curatorial knowledge within the museum’s walls.”
The museum is also seeking experts in other “highly specific cultural niches” for part-time roles, including aficionados of emojis and Crocs shoes.
The V&A is one of the world’s largest art and design museums; founded by Prince Albert in the 1950s, it holds over 2 million objects made in the last 5,000 years, according to Condé Nast Traveler.
Of course, this isn’t the first Taylor Swift-related job to hit the market. In September, The Tennessean and USA Today network made headlines during a search for a “Taylor Swift Reporter” (veteran reporter Bryan West was hired a couple of months later).
Related: Taylor Swift Donates $1 Million to Tennessee Tornado Recovery Efforts
Fans have also been cashing in on a Taylor Swift-inspired side hustle that can pay tens of thousands of dollars per month: selling the friendship bracelets so often exchanged at Eras Tour concerts on Etsy.
Applicants can apply through the V&A’s website here.
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When you think of startup funding, you may envision contests with almost no chance of winning or solid venture capitalists who will not be surprised by your concept. “Those who raise millions for their ideas’ implementation are just lucky ones,” you may think. It sounds surprising, but a strong community can help you achieve success much faster and easier.
The explanation is simple: The less a person has to contribute or “risk,” the more likely you are to receive a contribution. In this article, I’d like to share some tips from my own experience that may help you pique the interest of your audience in your solution and turn them into its backers. Each worthwhile idea will find supporters. Believe me.
Related: Who Needs Venture Capitalists When You Can Crowdfund?
1. Make sure your idea is providing a solution
In today’s world, no idea can be completely original, but it’s better if you can come up with a unique solution or significantly improve on something that’s already been made. How did we manage it? We saw the benefits and drawbacks of working in the music industry for a long time and wanted to develop something that would truly bring innovation to the space we know.
We carried out market research prior to building the platform. We researched whether similar initiatives already exist, what they do and the errors they made. Along with estimating the lifetime value of the product, we contrasted our idea with the needs of our target audience. It’s critical to understand whether our project has a solid foundation for the long term.
In our case, we saw the lack of including the fans on the journey and how the number of independent artists skyrocketed, but the way of getting funding for your projects was still limited to signing a label deal. Artists can invite their fans to be part of the journey while giving back to the community of people who have supported them along the way.
2. Show the audience a clear strategy
Be ready to tell the truth. Explain in detail how your platform works, say at least a few words about any possible risks, and show how the money you raise through the power of the community will be used to improve the project and make it more useful for this audience. It’s very important to give people a strong reason to support you.
Why am I emphasizing it so strongly? People are always reluctant to part with money when there is no obvious use for it. Once it is made clear to participants how their money will be used, what features they will have access to and what the ultimate goal is, a significant part of them will be ready to help you crowdfund.
Keeping in touch with your audience is not only about keeping them interested but also about showing how much you value their continuous support.
3. Make it easy to support you
The more clicks required, the less likely people are to join you. So, make the funding mechanism user-friendly. It determines the stability and success of your monetization. Prepare a brief registration instruction, and ensure that the website navigation is simple to understand. People in 2023 value their time and expect everything they use to be convenient.
There are numerous crowdfunding platforms available that are tailored specifically for startups or projects in the Web3 niche. Patreon, SeedInvest Technology, GoFundMe and other similar sites are examples. I will not recommend any particular platform, but I will share some criteria that will assist you in selecting the most convenient instrument.
First, look for a solution that can be directly integrated into your platform in the form of a button or direct link on the main page. Again, convenience is one of the top priorities for successful and predictable funding. Second, choose the one with the most payment methods integrated. Even the most ardent supporters of your idea may abandon you if they have to make multiple transactions to pay you. Third, because there are so many fake website versions out there, don’t forget to educate your users on how to spot a fraudulent link or platform page.
Related: 9 Steps to Launching a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
4. Don’t forget to spread the word
When choosing the best way to share your initiative, think about which social media networks or media outlets your target audience uses to get ideas. Participate in networking and exhibitions. Making connections with thought leaders and others in the field of the industry you’re looking to enter multiplies your chances of success tenfold.
We played more than one instrument at once. We worked hard to improve our social media, pitched our idea to top journalists and went to events where we could meet potential investors on a regular basis.
The specific marketing plan you use will depend on the market you are trying to reach, your target audience and the services you plan to offer, but the following tools will come in handy 99% of the time:
Develop your media relations: Promotion through news releases in global and specialized media is beneficial at both the project’s infancy and maturity stage. They will create “hype” in the first instance and enhance your expertise in the second. Create articles for publications, comment on current events, participate in interviews, and share announcements in the media and on the project website.
Utilize advertising services: Set up targeted ads on social networks trusted by your primary audience, use retargeting, and connect with influencers. Brand ambassadors who are thought leaders in your chosen niche will lend credibility to your project.
Educational content: Blockchain, Web3 and other complex topics require user education. This task can be easily completed with high-quality content: a site blog, FAQ, research, whitepaper, videos (both long and short, like TikToks), podcasts, AMAs and case studies. In this case, the user interaction path with your product might look like this: reading a blog post, visiting a landing page, and finally, requesting a demo of your product or leaving a request.
Effective social media marketing: Over time, it contributes to the formation of a community of devoted brand fans. Share news, solicit feedback, introduce the team, post behind-the-scenes content, employ various forms of storytelling, use memes or niche-related jokes and so on. A funnel could look like this: clicking on ads, subscribing to a channel, visiting the site and requesting a demo.
Affiliate marketing: Startup founders frequently do not have enough time to promote their businesses, which is understandable given their other responsibilities. That is why it can be a great option to outsource promotion or launch affiliate programs. The latter allows you to get a predictable result at a predictable price, which is especially important in the early stages when resources are scarce.
Related: 12 Key Strategies to a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
As you can see, an idea lays the groundwork for a project but does not guarantee its success. Even ideas that aren’t very original can sometimes work because the people who came up with them did a good job of assessing their resources, chose the best ways to market them, and perhaps most importantly, didn’t give up.
My goal was to show you that angel and venture capital investors are not the only sources of multimillion-dollar funding. Millions can be earned through creativity and consistency. You can design your own strategy that will ultimately produce excellent results using the resources I provided from personal experience.
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If you’re a business owner, a lot has happened already this year to make you stop and consider the state of your (and your business’s) money.
Inflation has every dollar shrinking in value, federal rate hikes have made it more costly to borrow, and while recent bank failures may not have impacted your business outright, it certainly caused a justifiable stir.
With all of this going on, my husband and I decided to meet with a mentor and financial consultant who has managed hundreds of millions of dollars in capital over the last 25 years to review our investments.
He pointed out that, while we both have various investments, we’ve primarily been putting our money into something that has paid off many times over standard stock market returns — and that something is our respective businesses.
After that meeting, I concluded it was wisest to invest more into my most reliable asset — my business. Sure, we have a lot of “safe” investments as well, but truly, in the long run, nothing has compared to our businesses in terms of return on investment (ROI).
The biggest investment I’m making is in my marketing: I’m increasing our annual marketing budget by more than 20% this year to over $7 million.
I made this decision based on some hard-won experience I gained surviving two economic recessions. The first (2008), I cut my marketing and we barely survived. The second (2020), I refused to cut our marketing and, as a result, growth in the last three years has averaged 20% after averaging only 5% in the decade previous. I learned that marketing is crucial to not only growing a business when times are good, but essential to survival when times get tough.
If you’re like me and know that your business is your greatest asset, I want to share three marketing principles I have followed and applied in order to strengthen my business and grow revenue despite recessions and economic turbulence.
Related: Why a Recession Is the Worst Time to Skimp on Brand Marketing
1. Use the current economic conditions to your advantage to increase market share
Recessions come and go, and some businesses leave legacies behind that we can learn from. Kellogg is a perfect example of that. In the late 1920s, Kellogg and Post dominated the breakfast cereal market.
When the Great Depression hit, Post responded in fear, reducing expenses and cutting back on advertising while Kellogg did the opposite. Kellogg moved into radio advertising and heavily promoted a new cereal called Rice Krispies.
By 1933, the economy was the worst it had ever been, but Kellogg’s profits increased 33%. Kellogg not only survived the economic crisis but became the leading cereal brand afterward — and has remained in that spot more than 80 years later. In 2017, Kellogg had a 30% market share, with General Mills following at 29% and Post at 18%.
I experienced a similar phenomenon with my business, PostcardMania. In 2008, the recession devastated many businesses. We were heavily affected by the real estate market plummeting since mortgage brokers made up 46% of our clientele. In 2009, an advisor at the time saw how much I spent on marketing every week and said something to the effect of, “We could save a lot of money if we cut back.”
Against my better judgment, I listened and cut my marketing in hope that we could conserve our resources and increase profits, but that made the situation worse. What was a small revenue decline in 2008 (around $150,000) ballooned into a much bigger loss in 2009 — as much as 15% of revenue and well over $1 million.
I made a sharp U-turn and brought my marketing back up to speed as soon as possible, and we recovered by 2010. I vowed to never cut my marketing budget again.
Then in 2020, when the pandemic disabled the economy, I knew exactly which moves to make and maintained my marketing regardless of how rough it got — and it did get rough to the tune of sales being down over 40%.
But guess what my competitors did? Exactly as I did in 2008 — they froze or reduced their marketing. The difference between 2008 and 2020 was obvious; we grew PostcardMania in 2020, and then business got even better in 2021 and 2022. Since 2019, our revenue has been up 60% (an average of 20% growth per year) after 10 years of averaging 5% growth.
I know it sounds counterintuitive to invest more in marketing when the economy is poor, but history doesn’t lie, and my own experience backs this up. Keep your marketing strong, and your leads and sales will remain strong as well.
Related: 6 Recession-Proof Business Marketing Strategies
2. Choose the marketing channels with the highest ROI to make the most of your budget
So, which marketing channels should you invest in? The answer is simple — the ones that work.
If you aren’t already tracking your marketing closely, commit to starting right now. It’s critical that you track what you’re spending and where leads and new customers are coming from so that you know what’s working and what needs improvement.
Once you know which channels yield the highest ROI, you can invest more there to grow your leads, which in turn yields more sales and revenue (and you can tinker with the lower-performing tactics until they’re in a good range or pare them back to suit your budget needs).
One of the marketing tactics I find to have a super high return on investment is retargeted mailings. Triggered mail makes the most of every lead by specifically targeting the people who have already shown some kind of interest in your products or services by visiting your website.
Depending on who you want to target, a postcard is automatically printed, addressed and sent within 24 hours of their website visit. Targeting can be based on the length of time a visitor spends on your site, the web pages they visit, the items they put in their shopping cart or a number of other factors.
Because you’re only targeting warm prospects and sending a few postcards a day (rather than thousands at a time like traditional direct mail), the upfront cost of a triggered campaign is relatively low — and that means your ROI potential is much higher.
One of our real estate investment clients, Mark Buys Houses, added retargeted direct mail to their follow-up. They spent $647 to mail just over 100 postcards to his website visitors. As a result, he converted one lead into a sale and made $70,000 in revenue. That’s an ROI of 10,710%!
If you decide to increase your marketing investment like I did, I suggest starting with tactics focused on improving website conversion or follow-up. You’ve already spent money on the hardest part — taking someone from unaware of your business to actually interested — so take the time to find out if investing a few more dollars per lead will translate into more sales. Just don’t forget to track closely!
Related: How to Adjust Your Marketing to Survive a Recession
3. Take advantage of free communication tools to stay in touch with prospects and customers
Not every marketing tactic costs money; some are 100% free. Leveraging free marketing platforms during tough times not only helps your budget, it also helps you communicate better.
First, I suggest perfecting and increasing your email marketing. Tools like Constant Contact and Mailchimp let you send emails for free up to a certain amount. Send out promotional emails that include catchy subject lines and enticing deals to increase clicks. Consider creating an email newsletter that your audience would enjoy reading. It could include valuable information about your industry, tips and tricks, recently completed projects or features about your company to keep your customers connected to your brand.
Second, I recommend freshening up your website with new, SEO-rich content. You can write the content yourself or find a willing team member to help — or even give the latest craze, artificial intelligence (AI), a go. Just provide a prompt, and let AI do the heavy lifting (a.k.a. writing) for you, then go over it afterward and put your own stamp on it using expertise that only you could provide. Blog posts, web pages and other types of articles will not only boost your website in the search engine results on Google, but it will also increase engagement on your website.
Lastly, get more active on social media. Post creative, informative content that draws people in and fosters engagement, like polls or questions. Facebook and Instagram also allow you to list your products and services for free on a shop page. Even though it takes a bit more time and energy to make posts every day, communicating consistently with customers and prospects is invaluable and could lead to increased revenue and positive brand image in your area of expertise.
At the end of this economic downturn, at least you can say that you gave it your all and worked hard to build up your business to the best it can be. Invest in the right areas, and you’ll enjoy benefits that last far beyond the most recent crisis.
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Crowdfunding, equity financing, grants, or debt financing? Which do you choose to raise money for your business?
Join our webinar, Bianca B. King, Entrepreneur & Marketing Strategist, teaches you 7 methods that you can use to raise money to launch their companies, including the advantages and disadvantages of each type of funding.
7 Financing Options
Equity Financing:
Debt Financing:
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Small Business Loans
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Peer-to-Peer Lending
Alternative Financing:
Register now to secure your seat!
About the Speaker:
Bianca B. King is an entrepreneur and professional matchmaker on a mission to help women accelerate their success. As the CEO & Founder of the exclusive collective Pretty Damn Ambitious™, Bianca matches high-acheiving women with premier vetted and verified coaches so they can finally amplify their ambitions and achieve the personal growth and professional success they desire. Bianca is also the President and Creative Director of Seven5 Seven3 Marketing Group, a digital marketing agency that has served hundreds of entrepreneurs since 2008.
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This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
No matter your industry or job level, you’ll probably agree pay is one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects to consider when looking for a job.
Now, a new ranking from US News & World Report shows just which jobs are the most lucrative, all of which pay more than $100,000 a year.
These are the 25 highest-paying roles from US News & World Report’s ranking of the 100 best jobs of 2023. Each of them received an overall score out of 10 based on factors like median salary, unemployment rate, future job prospects, stress level, work-life balance, and 10-year growth volume. The latter is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the number of new jobs expected to open up for an occupation in a 10-year span, specifically between 2021 and 2031.
Many of the jobs on the list are in medicine, but several others are in tech and other industries. Take a look at the 25 highest-paying jobs of 2023:
1. Anesthesiologist
SDI Productions/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.4
Median salary: $208,000
Unemployment rate: 0.3%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 400
2. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
ViDi Studio/Shutterstock
Overall score: 6.9
Median salary: $208,000
Unemployment rate: 0.3%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 300
3. Obstetrician and Gynecologist
Hero Images/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.4
Median salary: $208,000
Unemployment rate: 0.3%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 400
4. Surgeon
HRAUN/Getty Images
Overall score: 5.6
Median salary: $208,000
Unemployment rate: N/A
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 2,000
5. Orthodontist
Tom Werner / Getty Images
Overall score: 7.3
Median salary: $208,000
Unemployment rate: 0.5%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 300
6. Physician
Getty Images
Overall score: 7.4
Median salary: $208,000
Unemployment rate: 0.3%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 19,400
7. Psychiatrist
Zinkevych/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.6
Median salary: $208,000
Unemployment rate: 3%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 2,400
8. Nurse Anesthetist
andresr/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.9
Median salary: $195,610
Unemployment rate: N/A
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 5,300
9. Pediatrician
eggeeggjiew/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.5
Median salary: $170,480
Unemployment rate: 0.3%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 400
10. Pilot
Juan Silva/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.4
Median salary: $134,630
Unemployment rate: 2.9%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 7,700
11. Dentist
Javier Zayas Photography/Getty Images
Overall score: 7.5
Median salary: $160,370
Unemployment rate: 0.5%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 7,700
12. IT Manager
Charday Penn / Getty Images
Overall score: 7.7
Median salary: $159,010
Unemployment rate: 1.8%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 82,400
13. Podiatrist
SDI Productions / Getty Images
Overall score: 5.6
Median salary: $145,840
Unemployment rate: N/A
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 200
14. Financial Manager
Klaus Tiedge/Getty
Overall score: 7.7
Median salary: $131,710
Unemployment rate: 2.4%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 123,100
15. Marketing Manager
Andresr / Getty Images
Overall score: 6.4
Median salary: $135,030
Unemployment rate: 4.8%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 31,700
16. Lawyer
Chris Ryan/Getty Images
Overall score: 7.5
Median salary: $127,990
Unemployment rate: 1.4%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 80,200
17. Petroleum Engineer
Christian Lagerek/Shutterstock
Overall score: 6.3
Median salary: $130,850
Unemployment rate: N/A
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 1,900
18. Prosthodontist
Dmitry Kalinovsky/Shutterstock
Overall score: 6.1
Median salary: $100,950
Unemployment rate: 0.5%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 0
19. Sales Manager
Getty Images
Overall score: 5.7
Median salary: $127,490
Unemployment rate: 4.3%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 23,800
20. Pharmacist
LaylaBird/Getty Images
Overall score: 5.8
Median salary: $128,570
Unemployment rate: 1.2%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 7,700
21. Optometrist
Jim Craigmyle/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.6
Median salary: $124,300
Unemployment rate: N/A
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 4,000
22. Actuary
Jirapong Manustrong/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.8
Median salary: $105,900
Unemployment rate: N/A
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 5,900
23. Software Developer
Hero Images/Getty Images
Overall score: 8.8
Median salary: $120,730
Unemployment rate: 1.2%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 370,600
24. Computer Network Architect
VM/Getty Images
Overall score: 6.2
Median salary: $120,520
Unemployment rate: 1.8%
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 7,500
25. Political Scientist
Matej Kastelic/EyeEm/Getty Images
Overall score: 5.7
Median salary: $122,510
Unemployment rate: N/A
Number of these jobs opening up from 2021-2031: 400
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