Newsflash! AI is not a magic wand.  (I know … bummer).

On the positive side, when you’re using Chat GPT – or other AI tool for your messaging – your success depends completely on something simple and non-technical:

The ability to ask for what you want with clarity and specificity so the AI understands. And can deliver the result you want.

Asking the AI for exactly what you want is called a Prompt.

And crafting on-target Prompts is so crucial to maximizing your AI impact, we’re focusing several segments on it:

How to brainstorm the ideas you want it to work on (in our last segment).
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How to structure your Prompts to get a great result (which we’re doing in this segment).
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And how to craft Compound Prompts so your end result is super magnetic (which we’ll be talking about in our next segment.)

So, what can you create with your Prompts?

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The powerful thing about AI is you can use it to accelerate the speed with which you craft just about all your content:

LinkedIn posts

Your LinkedIn bio

Facebook posts

Tweets

Twitter threads

Emails

Opt-in pages

Sales pages

Video scripts

Podcast outlines

Launch funnel sequences

Just about anything you’ve had to write yourself (or had to hire someone to write for you) can be written with the help of AI.

Fill the tank first.

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I know it’s tempting to immediately dive in and flood your AI with Prompts.

A better idea is to first fill the tank with ideas and options so to maximize the chances the content it creates for you really hits the nail on the head.

For example:  Before asking it to write a list of Facebook posts, you might first ask it to brainstorm a list of possible post topics.

And then choose the best ones from the list it gives you and ask it to write post for those.

We did a deep dive into how to “fill the tank first” in our last segment on Brainstorming.

So your “fill the tank” Prompt might say:

Come up with a list of 15 Facebook post ideas on [ topic ] that would be of interest to [ target market ] trying to [ overcome problem / achieve outcome ].

Then choose the ten that will resonate most with your followers. And ask it to write posts for those:

Here is a list of the 10 best topics you gave me: [ list the 10 topics ] Write a Facebook post between 400 and 475 words on each one. Please list the topic first and on the line below it write the post for that topic.

You won’t need this multi-step sequence for simpler prompts that don’t require options (like writing a single Facebook post on a topic you have already decided on).

But it’s a powerful technique to craft a boatload of content on a curated list of topics laser fast. To summarize:

• Fill the tank first by asking your AI to come up with options for a particular task.
• Choose the best options.
  
• Then direct it to write the copy for those options.

Crafting awesome Prompts can feel like walking a tightrope.

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So now you know: crafting specific and detailed Prompts is super important.

Unfortunately, this can feel like walking a tightrope, because you’re looking for the right balance:

If you don’t include enough guidance, you can end up with content that feels flat, generic and off topic.

If you firehose a laundry list of instruction, it can give you a rambling unfocused mess, because it doesn’t know how to prioritize your directions.

So it can take some trial and error to find your sweet spot.

That’s normal – don’t panic – stick with it. The payoff is worth it.

I’ve found the more I want to push it to deliver exactly what I want, the more I’m using multi-step, multi-layered prompts.

Which means: After getting my first result I will ask follow-up questions to modify and sharpen what it gives back to me.

We will be diving deeper into multi-step / multi-layered “follow-up” prompts in the next segment.

4 Steps to have your AI deliver exactly what you want.

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Even if you’re brand new to this, I’ve found there are four steps that can help you draft Prompts that deliver in a big way:

STEP ONE:

List out exactly what you want your AI tool to do for you. And do it before accessing it, so you are sure to feed it a prompt that’s specific and targeted.

You can use a pad of paper. A word doc. A spread sheet – whatever works for you. Don’t overthink this step.

And don’t rush into typing out your Prompt before you have something that’s specific enough, and incorporates all your “must haves.”

So your rough list of directions might look something like this:

• Write a blog post on how to find healthy chocolate treats under 100 calories.
• The post should be around 800 words long.
• The post should target busy working professionals on a diet.
• The last paragraph should be a call to action to access my 50 Low Cal Treats free gift at [ LINK ]

Knowing what you want before you access your AI tool, maximizes the success of your Prompts.

STEP TWO:

Take your specifics and from Step One and weave it into a working Prompt:

Create a 770 to 800 word blog post on how busy working professionals on a diet can find healthy chocolate treats under 100 calories. Include a call to action in the last paragraph about accessing my 50 Low Calorie Treats free gift at 50LowCalorieTreats.com

Read it over and make sure its giving clear, concise, specific instruction.

THIS is the KEY SKILL in Prompt creating.

STEP THREE:

Access your AI tool and enter your prompt. (You could just copy and paste it from your Promp Prep Doc.)

Could you have entered this directly in the AI tool?

Yes and – especially if you’re new to this – you risk creating a rambling, disjointed request your AI will struggle to deliver on.

Its so much easier to craft an effective prompt if you list out all the elements separately first, and then weave them together.

STEP FOUR:

After reading the result, you may want to follow up with an additional prompt to fine-tune, focus or punch up the copy:

Can you re-write the opening paragraph of what you just gave me to focus on how difficult it is for busy professionals who are chocolate lovers to resist high calorie treats.

Advanced Prompts – when you’re ready.

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As you become more comfortable with AI, it’s natural to want to push the envelope on racheting up the impact of your results.

There are two common ways to do this:

COMPOUND PROMPTS:

If you’re still not satisfied with what you’re getting, you can ramp up the focus, emphasis, tone, detail and structure with follow-up prompts, similar to the final Prompt in STEP FOUR above.

(We will be doing a deeper dive into Compound Prompts in the next segment).

TRAINING PROMPTS:

Once you start getting clear and specific about what you want, your Prompts can get ultra long and complex.

And you may find you need to train the AI on what you want before you ask it to create it.

This often involves giving specific instruction on:

The structure you want.
How you want the output formatted.
Giving it a template you want it to follow.

And then asking it if it understands those expectations BEFORE you actually send it off the create the content.

Almost like what you would do with a real live human assistant!

This is what I expect from you.
Give instruction on what you expect.
Do you understand?
Good! Now go and do it!

In the interest of keeping this post simple, we will be diving into effectively training your AI in an upcoming segment.

Become a Prompt Collector

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Good news! You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every prompt!

When you’re satisfied with the result you get from a Prompt or series of Prompts, be sure to save them to your own Prompt Bank.

It could be a Word doc, a Google Doc or a spreadsheet. Whatever allows you to access the Prompt for similar requests, so you’re not continually starting from scratch.

And can simply copy and paste your saved Prompt and modify it for that specific request.

This also makes it super easy to train an assistant to be your own AI content creating wizard!

Have you crafted a Prompt or Prompt series that works great for social posts? Simply copy the prompt, update the specifics and … Boom! The same great results without having going through the entire create / refine process again.

You can fill this Bank of Prompts from a variety of sources:

Your own creations.
Prompts you discover online.
Ones you learn in classes or view in videos.
Those you get from friends and colleagues.

HOT TIP 1:  CATEGORIZE THEM

You could have one category for email blasts.
Another for series of social posts.
Another for a launch funnel.
Another for a blog post or podcast outline.

HOT TIP 2:  DISCOVER NEW PROMPTS ONLINE

Spend 10 minutes every other day searching for promps posted online or in videos.

Do a search on “best AI prompts for [ marketers / entrepreneurs / your niche or industry ]”

Developing your Prompt creating skill is the key to leveraging AI to create more effective content and copy. So you can connect with more prospects and make more money.

• With the right guidance, AI can craft anything:  Whatever you can write to get your business out there, AI can help.
  
• Fill the Tank First.  Don’t ask AI to bite off more than it can chew. Ask it to generate options and then create content from those options in seperate Prompts.
  
• The Principles of Awesome Prompts.  Be clear and specific about exactly what you want, and then ask for it effectively. Just like life!
• The 4-Step Process to get the content you want from AI. Get clear. Create the Prompts. Enter the Prompt. Fine tune the result.
• Become a Prompt Collector.  Save your own best prompts and those you discover from other sources to streamline your future content creation process.
  

I always recommend rewriting / polishing every bit of copy you get from ChatGPT.

• It’s the best way to dial in that last once of authenticity. So it truly sounds like YOU.
• ChatGPT is educated by what’s online. So you’re never really sure whether its inserting someone else’s quote or a signature passage verbatim. You want to be able to protect yourself against accusations you copied their stuff.
• Search engine are pretty good at figuring out if your messaging is from you or AI. So rewriting can help insure anything you post online gets indexed.