You heard it here first. Straight from the horse’s mouth.
Actually, it’s from the Large Language Model (LLM)’s mouth.
In case you’ve been holed up in some remote backwater like Crescent City, here’s the lowdown on Chat GPT…
Chat GPT is the Artificial Intelligence language app that has instantly turned 200 million ordinary people into professional copywriters, award-winning journalists, and bestselling authors.
It has been adopted more quickly than any other software or platform in the history of the world.
Ask it almost anything, and it will give you an answer that seems like it came from a real person. An intelligent, well-informed person. An answer as long and as detailed as you wish.
You can even ask follow-up questions, and Chat GPT will elaborate for you.
There are a lot of things you can do with Chat GPT.
But last night, all I wanted to do was coax Chat GPT to write a Bold Words post for me.
Some of the first verbiage it gave me was:
“Your readers can spot a phony a mile away. Stop trying to sound like someone you’re not.”
That’s great advice, especially now that 200 million users are apparently relying on the same tool to churn out new content.
But let’s back up a bit.
The most important business skill to learn right now…
I consider Chris Steins to be an expert at all things at the intersection of marketing and technology. He writes regularly about AI, and some of his recent articles convinced me to give Chat GPT a try.
Since then, I’ve been spending hours every day learning everything I can about Chat GPT: Watching videos, reading articles, taking 2 online classes, and most of all, playing around with Chat GPT when I should be cleaning the cat litter box.
I still have a lot to learn, but now I know the most important secret. Learning how to engineer good prompts is the skill to master in 2023.
A prompt is the set instructions you give to Chat GPT, and the higher the quality of your prompt, the better the output.
In fact, I’m about to give you the greatest, most valuable business/marketing/career advice of your life. Here it is:
If you want to secure your financial future, get really good at engineering prompts.
The results of a lazy Chat GPT prompt
I wanted to see if Chat GPT could write this email for me, so I gave it the first prompt that popped into my head:
You are an expert copywriter with many successful campaigns under your belt. As an expert, please write a brief article (500-1000 words) for solopreneurs and owners of small service businesses, suggesting strategies for developing a unique, authentic, and compelling brand voice. Provide specific actions that readers can take.
There are several ways I could have tweaked this prompt to get a better result, and I’ll tell you more about them soon.
But most Chat GPT users still don’t know how to write a strong prompt, or they’re just too lazy.
And truth be told, there’s snow on the ground, pizza’s in the oven, and my wife just opened a bottle of aglianico.
So, giving you the result of “GPT Lite” was my plan.
But then, most of the message Chat GPT put out was unusable. It just didn’t feel like it was coming from me.
Plus I got the scolding I quoted above:
“Your readers can spot a phony a mile away. Stop trying to sound like someone you’re not.”
Chat GPT is calling me out for using Chat GPT!
The Important Takeaways About Chat GPT
AI can really turn your blood into ice. Everyone who has heard about this is asking, “Will Artificial Intelligence replace me?”
For a copywriter, the answer is, “Yes!”
For you, I don’t know… But probably, eventually.
The good news is this: The results are only as good as the instructions you provide.
So, again: Learn to write killer prompts!
And while we’re on the subject, here are a few lucrative skills and assets that will never be replaced by AI:
1) Public speaking
2) Emotional Intelligence
3) Testimonials and other social proof
4) Referrals from happy clients
5) Leadership
6) Interpersonal skills
7) Your own, unique personality
The secret of the Great Pivot
If you’re old enough to remember all the disintermediation from the first years of the Internet, you know who survived and thrived. The winners were the folks who learned to use the new tools.
And now, you have a powerful new tool available. Chat GPT is easy to use, and it’s free.
Cultivate the seven skills and assets I mentioned above, and then amplify their power by leveraging AI.
Chat GPT didn’t write this post. It still can’t. At least not without a lot of manual refining and instruction.
But it might someday. If I ever let it. I still have too much fun writing these things myself. I hope you had just as much fun reading this.
