AMY PORTERFIELD: “I haven't done this yet, so I thought this was really cool. They prompt it to make recommendations for additional ideas or next steps based on the information provided. So not only are they organizing all their notes, now they're saying, ‘Also, can you give me some recommendations for additional ideas?’
“So here's what this would look like. Again, the prompt is going to be in the free resource. ‘Organize and summarize the brainstorming notes below. Then, make recommendations for improving upon my ideas, and contribute a few new ideas. Note the purpose of this brainstorm is,’ and then you insert the topic, and you insert your notes.”
INTRO: I’m Amy Porterfield, ex-corporate girl turned CEO of a multi-seven-figure business. But it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the confidence, the budget, and the time to focus on growing my small-but-mighty business. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned, and you'll see the business I have today, one that changes lives and gives me more freedom than I ever thought possible, one that used to only exist as a daydream. I created the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast to give you simple, actionable, step-by-step strategies to help you do the same. If you're an ambitious entrepreneur, or one in the making, who's looking to create a business that makes an impact and a life you love, you're in the right place, friend. Let's get started.
AMY: Welcome back to the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, the podcast that's dedicated to empowering you with the latest tools and strategies to thrive in the online-business world. I'm Amy Porterfield, your host, and today's episode is a goodie.
Today I am pulling back the curtains and sharing how we're using AI in my company. We’re diving deep into the cutting-edge world of AI and how it's revolutionizing the way we do business. I'll be sharing how we're harnessing the power of AI across our various departments. From community engagement to content creation, marketing, and optimizing our operations, you bet we've been using it.
I spoke with Emily Hirsch on a podcast episode earlier this year, and she said something that was profound. She said that entrepreneurs and employees who are not using AI are going to be left behind. And that struck a chord with me. So I encouraged all of my team to start playing around with and finding ways to use AI to support them in being more efficient, creative, and allow them to spend more time working in their zone of genius.
Now, I want to mention that I'm not encouraging my team to use AI just so they can cram more work into their schedule. However, I do think that leveraging AI helps them to be more efficient so they can create more intentional margins in their work and have more energy to put into areas that light them up. And because we work a four-day workweek, every minute counts over here. So I think AI has become even more important in our business because efficiency is key.
And so I want the same for you. I want you to be able to have more intentional margins in your work and have more energy to put into the areas that light you up.
Now, I'm guessing you're eager to get started with AI in your own business; that is, if you haven't already started dabbling with it. And maybe you have started dabbling with it, and I hope you walk away today with some more ideas that you can even dive deeper. But I've prepared a special treat for you today. I'll be sharing some of the most-effective AI-powered tasks and the proven prompts that are driving results for us. Whether you're a solopreneur or you're managing a team, these insights will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to make the most of using AI as an assistant in your business. So get ready to take some notes because we're about to embark on an AI adventure that will elevate your business game.
Also, I know that I'm giving you a lot of prompts today, and prompts are way too hard to remember. And so to make it easier for you to actually put these into practice, I've created a free resource with all the prompts that I'm going to mention. So go to amyporterfield.com/611. Amyporterfield.com/611. That's the number of the episode. It's going to take you to a page. You'll see an opportunity to sign up to get all of my prompts.
All right. So let's dive into the fascinating world of AI and discover how it can transform your business. Let's go.
Let's start out with my content team, which is currently made up of three powerhouse women, _____(04:56); Jilly; and now my niece, my only niece, Ava is a content manager in my content department, which just makes my heart sing. So there's three women in my content department. They've integrated AI to support our content creation when it comes to lead magnets, bonuses, titles, training content, and for boosting inspiration when they come up against roadblocks, which in content, you often do. And you know what? It's been an absolute game changer for them.
So they use AI to generate outline ideas, which will save them tons of time and effort on the blank page, right? We’ve all stared at a blank Google Doc. Well, now they don’t have to.
They've also found that AI allows them to save precious time and allocate that time towards refining each project further, making it even better by adding more examples and valuable insights. And that's what I love. So I am not about putting a prompt into AI, it spitting out some information, and then you're done. Like, not at all. So did you hear me about the part where because they're able to start more quickly, more efficiently, because they're not staring at a blank page, now they can refine by adding more examples and stories and valuable insights? That's why I love AI, because I'm a stickler for really good, rich, valuable content.
Okay. I want to share how Jilly uses prompts to get the best results possible. So here are some things that she likes to think through when creating content for our ideal-customer avatar. So she begins by identifying who she's asking ChatGPT to be creating content as. So for example, a copywriter or online-marketing expert or a dog trainer or a finance expert, because she's constantly writing copy and using examples from the different course creators in our audience. And so who she's writing as is really important.
Now, next, she identifies who she wants ChatGPT to create content for, meaning explain who your ideal-customer avatar is. Who is this for? So for example, she might type, “I want this PDF to help women in perimenopause who are experiencing moderate to severe symptoms that are typical with menopause but have not gone to the doctor to get help with their symptoms yet.” So see how that told AI who’s specifically being targeted with this piece of content? So, obviously, we're not writing to perimenopause women. I'm just using an example here. But that's how specific you want to get.
Another thing she finds helpful is to include what she's creating. So a PDF or an outline or a comparison table or an outline for a thirty-minute presentation. And yes, you should be that specific.
Oh, and this is really cool. She's even found that it's helpful to ask it to address our Team Porterfield content-framework areas, which include what it is, why it's important, and how our ideal-customer avatar can put it to use in their own business.
So AI prompts and how to use it, it's a little hard to explain unless you're, like, actually in it doing it. So I want to give you, like, a full example. So here's something that she would literally put into ChatGPT. And remember, all the prompts are in a freebie resource for you at amyporterfield.com/611. Okay. Here it is. So this is what she would put into ChatGPT. “You are an online-marketing expert who specializes in helping people to grow their email list and build an online business. Create an outline for a five-page PDF that will list out five different ways for a new entrepreneur to grow their email list using Pinterest. In the outline, under each point, make sure to create one to three paragraphs that explain why this way of list building on Pinterest is important and how they can put it to use themselves.”
So in that, did you hear the what, why, and how? That's the framework of how we create content. So Jilly actually put that into the prompt.
You can literally take this prompt and insert your industry and your ideal-customer avatar's pain points. So, again, head to the free resource. Grab your copy so you don’t need to remember any of these prompts. Episode 611.
All right. So now we're going to move out of content and into my community team. They have found it extremely beneficial in helping name and describe our community meetups and discussion events in an engaging way. I mean, let's be honest. Coming up with names of things can be really hard. ChatGPT takes all the frustration out of it. So my community meetups and discussions are, basically, virtual get-togethers between my community team and our students. And this keeps our students engaged, and it helps answer any questions that they might have. So they like to give these meetups fun titles and descriptions to make sure they resonate with our students and entice them to join, because we want to get them engaged, and the first thing you need to do is have a really snappy name and a great description so it boosts their interest in wanting to know what it's all about.
So here's an example of a prompt that they've given AI. “I'm hosting an event for a membership full of digital-course creators and entrepreneurs. The event is about the software tools they are using in their business. Give me five creative titles for this event, along with a three-sentence description of the event.” So Megan, my community manager, said that asking for a few options allows her to mix and match and play around a little bit with the title and the description. And once she decides which ones she wants to move forward with or tweak them a bit, she'll then give it another prompt. She'll say, “Write three social-media posts for Amy Porterfield’s membership program’s Facebook group promoting this event.” And then she’ll insert the event title and description. She’ll then snag that copy and paste it into the Facebook group.
So similarly, community has been using AI to help increase engagement by requesting a list of conversation starters and questions. And they've actually noticed that these questions have been great for keeping the group buzzing with activity and discussions. So here are the prompts that they used to hit the nail on the head with this. “I have a Facebook group full of digital-course creators and entrepreneurs. I need to increase engagement in the group. Give me a list of ten conversation starters and questions to post in the group to increase engagement. Make them in the voice of Amy Porterfield.”
Now, one thing I think is important to mention is that because I have so much content online, using my name in the prompts actually does help my team get responses in my voice. Yeah, kind of creepy, but it's really accurate. And so I guess that's just the world we're living in today. Do I love it? No. But am I going to take advantage of it? Yes.
But here's what I want you to know. If you don't have a big online presence yet, this won't be as effective for you. So you can simply leave out the last piece of the prompt that says “make them in the voice of” your name. Just leave that out. But over time, this might be really valuable for you.
All right. Now let's explore how my operations team harnesses the power of AI. So I have two people in operations, Jess and Rebecca. So from conducting research and organizing data to drafting emails, messages, and tasks, AI has helped them save time and create more efficiency.
So my ops manager, Rebecca, has to conduct a lot of research in her role as she helps to organize team and company events, both internal and external facing. So she recently used it to help her organize our upcoming team trip, which we're going to Florida, which I'm really excited for, and she found it extremely valuable in doing some of the legwork. So here are the prompts that she used. “Create a table that lists five four-day vacation ideas for a group of twenty-five people in October. Include itineraries for each location and the average cost per person. The locations should avoid bad weather and shouldn't require flights longer than six hours from the following states.” And then she listed the states where all of my employees live. Okay. How cool is this for saving time? And if you've ever booked a trip, you know how long that can take to plan out the details just for you and your family or friends. Try planning it for twenty-five people. So once it gave her the results, she was able to make the best choice for our team.
Now, this next one, if you're multitasking, come back to me. This one is so good. Rebecca has also been using it to help her compare tech platforms to decide which one is the best one to fulfill our needs. I could see many of you using this prompt as you're building your businesses. Here's the prompt that she used to get results. “Create a table that compares alternatives to,” and then insert the software-tool name. And then she went on to say, “Include annual pricing, features, pros and cons. Also, please note the functions that are most important to me with this type of tool are,” and then she included the functions. I love that she used the word please in there. I just—it makes me feel really warm and fuzzy. AI then spits out a table comparing software tools for her so that she can quickly decide which one meets her requirements. I love this.
Now, another way my ops team has found value in streamlining their processes with AI is by using it to help them process meeting notes and brainstorming docs by summarizing or organizing them into a table. So I haven't done this yet, so I thought this was really cool. They prompt it to make recommendations for additional ideas or next steps based on the information provided. So not only are they organizing all their notes, now they're saying, “Also, can you give me some recommendations for additional ideas?”
So here's what this would look like. Again, the prompt is going to be in the free resource. “Organize and summarize the brainstorming notes below. Then, make recommendations for improving upon my ideas, and contribute a few new ideas. Note the purpose of this brainstorm is,” and then you insert the topic, and you insert your notes. You insert your notes. You give them your notes so they can help you with new ideas. So good, right?
Another thing my whole team, even outside of ops, is trying to figure out is how to use AI for creating SOPs, standard operating procedures, which we use throughout every department, like, how to do anything. Because these can be such personalized processes, we're still working out the right prompt, but I think we will figure this out, and when we do, I'll be sure to let you know.
All right. Now we're going to move into the marketing team, which you can imagine, there’s a lot of fun being had with AI in marketing. I think it's the easiest department to really take advantage of what AI can do for you.
So, for example, Stacey is my social-media manager, and she's been using AI to generate themes, Instagram Story ideas, and captivating captions for social media. This is what she told me. “ChatGPT has been such a game changer in terms of batching content for me. It's like having a writing partner to bounce ideas off of for social media. What typically took me a whole week to schedule and plan content for social now takes me two days.” A whole week versus two days. That is a big deal, especially when you're working a four-day workweek.
So here's an example of a prompt she's used. “Can you help me come up with a few Instagram quotes specifically for entrepreneurs about how to deal with comparison? Please create these using Amy Porterfield’s tone and voice.” Again, my team is very polite using the please. I love it.
Another one is, “Can you help me write an Instagram caption about how a side hustle can help many people make extra money on the side, fuel their passion, or be a way to test out the waters if they're wanting to make a change in their career? Make it casual and conversational.” Notice how she gets really specific here. Once she gets a first draft that she's happy with, she will always tweak it from there to make it sound more like me or my business or my brand. So she never takes something out of ChatGPT and just posts it. I think that's really important for you to hear.
Now, here's what's cool. Stacey and many other people on my team, they share their feedback with ChatGPT on how to make whatever it is that ChatGPT spits out sound even more like me. And so they're actually training the tool to be even more in my voice, which I think is really cool.
So _____(19:07—Kai) is my senior content-marketing manager, and she oversees the podcast production as well as organic list growth. She's been using it across the board for podcast asset creation, from scripts to outlines to show notes to titles to blog posts, and enhancing the SEO of those assets. And SEO is one thing we've been really trying to beef up with our podcast show notes. So that's been a game changer for us, for sure.
So for example, she'll take the notes from our pitch meetings, like, coming up with the ideas, and then she'll prompt ChatGPT to write an outline like, “Please write a twenty-minute podcast outline,” or you could do a script as well, “for the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast in Amy Porterfield’s voice about,” and then insert the notes from the meeting. And then she went on to say, “And make sure it speaks to online entrepreneurs and gives them action steps at the end.” From there, she'll prompt it further and say, “Create SEO-rich show notes from the above podcast outline.” And once it does that, she asks it to “Create a two-hundred-word meta description and high-ranking keywords.” What? Okay. So I know I'm really beating this down, but I would never be okay with ____(20:29—Kai) to say, “Hey, ChatGPT. Write an outline for a script about side hustles,” and then she just gives it to me. Like, I would hate it, for sure.
However, now she actually starts with something, makes it better, adds our stories, adds our case studies of our students, adds my own way of teaching so that she gets a head start. That's what I love about AI. It gives you a head start, and that's how I really want you to use it. And also, to have it do a two-hundred-word meta description and high-ranking keywords, like, that is invaluable for us. That is not an area we’re experts in. So I love it for that.
____(21:12—Kai) has also used ChatGPT for brainstorming marketing initiatives and re-engagement campaigns. Like, for example, here's a prompt she used. “Please create a multi email re-engagement campaign strategy for Amy Porterfield to get our non-engaged email list to engage with us again.” Come on, right? So good. And then from there, she had to tweak it to match the free resources we have and add GIPHYs to make it more interesting, and of course make sure it's really in my voice. But imagine the huge jump start to pass over to our copywriter. Like, we actually give this stuff to a copywriter, but we get it to a place that now it's, like, a fourth of the time that the copywriter has to work on it versus 100 percent of the time.
She also has used it for marketing research with prompts like, “Put together a podcast promo week for Online Marketing Made Easy,” or “What lead magnets would be most enticing for Amy Porterfield's audience?” and then she inserts specifics about our ideal-customer avatar.
And since we're still in the marketing department, our graphic designer, Missy, is using AI-integrated features in Canva to enhance our designs and create captivating visuals that elevate our brand presence. Canva now allows you to create something called Brand Kits, and you save them to your account so that you can quickly edit colors and fonts in some of their preexisting design templates. That’s cool, right?
So let's say you find a design that you'd like to use to create a social-media post. If you've saved your Brand Kit to Canva, you can just click on the template you like, click on your Brand Kit, and it'll adjust the colors to match your brand colors, and then same with the fonts. That is so cool. Canva’s come a long way from when I used to use it, for sure.
She's also been using Canva’s Magic Design to give her design direction and inspiration. Essentially, you upload a photo into Canva, and it gives you designs with that photo in it, and then you can personalize what it gives you to create whatever graphic you need. So you can personalize it beyond that. But it's called Magic Design. Totally worth trying out.
Canva has recently added a ton of AI options for enhancing your design, so I'm going to recommend that you go play around with Canva if you haven't done so for a while. It just might blow your mind.
And lastly, my copywriter, Emmory, who I love so very much, said she's been using AI to brainstorm a lot. She said that when she's writing copy, if she can't figure out how to communicate an idea, a lot of times she'll input, “What's another way to say,” and then what she wants to help communicate. Emmory loves how it acts like an idea thesaurus. Instead of a similar word, she's looking for a similar, better way to explain a concept or an idea or communicate something.
She also uses it for subject lines, titles, ad headlines, and enhancing email copy. Like anything, they're not always perfect, but they often spark something clever for her, and that's helped her get unstuck time and time again.
So there you have it. AI has become an integral part of our business toolkit. But it's essential to remember that it complements human expertise. I need to say that one more time. It complements human expertise. It's the ultimate assistant. By using AI strategically, we can achieve better results faster, saving valuable time and energy in the process. So don't be afraid to embrace AI's potential, but always remember that it's you, the expert, who guides the way. Think “both/and” not “either/or.” And let AI be your ally, assisting you in building a thriving online business.
Okay. Be sure to snag the free resource that I created, because you'll never remember these prompts. And I promise you, you will want to come back to them. Amyporterfield.com/611.
So stay tuned for more inspiring episodes, where we explore the latest trends and strategies to elevate your online-marketing game.
Thanks for joining me for another episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast. I'll see you same time, same place, next week. Bye for now.