Hello friend,
“As a writer, are you afraid of what ChatGPT will do to your job?”
I was asked that by a dental hygienist at my appointment yesterday. To be clear, I’m asked that a lot these days. Never in my career have people who weren’t writers had so many opinions about what it’s like to be a writer.
I’m not afraid, even though my job has already been affected by ChatGPT. To be specific, up until recently I was head of content for a marketing firm for accountants. I was let go due to financial pressures on their part and because ChatGPT is cheaper for them to use than a human.
While the job loss stings a bit, I was honestly feeling unfulfilled in the role. I was starting to feel like a word cruncher, someone who is simply churning out lots of words but the work wasn’t meaningful. I was writing the same things over and over and I wasn’t really directing or leading any content.
That’s why I’m not overly worried: because I was replaced in a role where creativity wasn’t valued. Yes, there are some clients who will turn to ChatGPT because all they want is a system where a lot of content is created quickly and it doesn’t have to be very good.
But there are also many clients out there who want content that’s creative, relatable, authentic, unique, and high-quality. They won’t get that from ChatGPT. Beyond that, what many of those ChatGPT clients will soon figure out is that it still takes a lot of human input to get decent content that engages readers and drives leads, and they will get bored of being responsible for that.
That’s why I’m focused on embracing ChatGPT into my business and using it as another tool that can help me increase my productivity while providing outstanding services to my clients.
Specifically, I use ChatGPT to help me on tasks that are overly repetitive, take up too much brain space, or that aren’t my strong suit.
Here’s what I use it for (and some prompts you can use in your business—note that I pay for GPT4)
Title generation
Snappy titles and engaging captions aren’t my strengths. In fact, I’m terrible at them. So I’ll ask ChatGPT to suggest article titles.
Prompt: Give me 10 different titles for the following blog post. The audience is small business owners and the tone is friendly and professional. [insert blog post]
While I may not use any single title exactly as ChatGPT writes it, usually what I receive back inspires something far better than I could have written on my own. Sometimes I combine words from different titles, sometimes I just take a keyword from a title and use that to create my own.
Ideation
Sometimes I’ll use it to generate topic ideas for ongoing blog posts I write for clients. I’ll give it the general topic and ask it to suggest 10 (or more) more specific topics that I could cover.
Prompt: Give me 10 different topic ideas for blog posts about small business finance. The audience is small business owners who don’t have in-depth knowledge of finance. The tone is friendly and professional. The topics should guide business finance decisions.
You can get as specific as you need here, and even play around with prompt text to get more detailed and less generic topic ideas.
Alternative wording
When my brain finds a phrase it really likes, it sticks with that phrase and tends to overuse it in a given article. Once I’m done writing an article, I review it for any overused words or phrases and ask ChatGPT to suggest other ways of saying the same thing.
Prompt: Give me 10 different ways to say “as a result.” The language should be friendly and professional.
Eliminating excessive wording
Like many writers, I have a tendency to use too many words in my writing. In cases where I’m trying to keep my word count under a maximum, I’ll give ChatGPT a paragraph or two and ask it to rewrite the passage eliminating any unnecessary words while keeping the tone the same.
Prompt: Take the following paragraph and rewrite it to eliminate unnecessary words. Keep the tone and language level the same. [insert paragraph]
Research
I won’t use ChatGPT as a primary source, but I will use it to find links and suggest places I can go to conduct research. Then I’ll verify that the links and sources are credible before using them.
Prompt: Name 10 different organizations in Canada that are focused on helping small business owners find financing to grow their business. Or name some studies that explore the link between skilled employees and business success.
Examples
It can be difficult to come up with a variety of relevant examples for a blog post, so if I’m not feeling inspired, I’ll ask ChatGPT for some examples I can use and expand on.
Prompt: Give 10 different examples of how two complementary professional services could work together to grow their audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
I’ll use ChatGPT to suggest SEO keywords and phrases for a specific article.
Prompt: Take the following article and suggest keywords and phrases that will optimize the content for search engines [insert article].
Social media posts
Much like with titles, social media posts aren’t in my wheelhouse. They aren’t even in my yard. I do all my own LinkedIn posts, but for clients wanting social media to accompany the blogs I’ve created, I’ll get ChatGPT to make some suggestions.
Prompt: Take the following article and suggest 5 different Facebook posts to accompany the article.
ChatGPT is a tool
It’s important that I point out that ChatGPT doesn’t do the writing for me, it makes the writing process easier. I don’t rely on it for the content of blog posts, and typically anything I get from it I expand on or change slightly.
I use ChatGPT as a tool to enhance my work, but I’m not worried about it replacing me, just like how autopilot hasn’t eliminated pilots in planes and Grammarly hasn’t eliminated editors. It lets me focus on what I do best, creating engaging text that resonates with readers. My role may shift but the shift is likely to make me more productive, and better able to help my clients.
I heard someone say “ChatGPT is basically a word calculator. It makes the job easier but the information you get out is only as good as the information put in.” There are still many clients out there who recognize this. Those are the ones I want to work with.
And, as an added bonus for readers, I asked ChatGPT what the best tips are for writers to get useful responses from it. Here’s what it said:
To get the best responses from ChatGPT, consider the following tips:
Be Clear and Specific: When interacting with ChatGPT, provide clear and specific instructions. State your query or prompt in a straightforward manner to ensure that ChatGPT understands what you are asking for.
Use Complete Sentences: Frame your questions or prompts in complete sentences. This helps ChatGPT better comprehend the context and produce more relevant and coherent responses.
Set the Context: If your question or prompt requires some context, provide a brief introduction to the topic. Contextual information allows ChatGPT to tailor its responses appropriately.
Specify the Format: If you desire a specific format for the answer, mention it explicitly. For example, you can ask ChatGPT to list pros and cons, provide a step-by-step guide, or write in a storytelling style.
Ask Follow-Up Questions: ChatGPT can continue a conversation, so feel free to ask follow-up questions to delve deeper into a topic or clarify its responses.
Experiment and Refine: Don't hesitate to experiment with different phrasings and approaches. If you receive a response that's not quite what you want, rephrase your question or provide additional information to guide ChatGPT in the right direction.
Provide Feedback: If ChatGPT provides an excellent response or something that needs improvement, you can use the feedback loop to let it know. Positive reinforcement and constructive feedback can help ChatGPT learn and generate better responses over time.
Beware of Bias: While ChatGPT has been designed to be neutral, it can sometimes exhibit biases present in the data it was trained on. Be mindful of this and critically assess its responses, especially on sensitive topics.
Fact-Check and Verify: ChatGPT may generate creative and imaginative responses, but it might not always provide accurate information. Always fact-check and verify critical information from reliable sources before using it in your work.
Use as a Tool, Not a Substitute: Remember that ChatGPT is a tool to enhance your writing, not a substitute for your creativity and expertise. Utilize it as an aid to brainstorm, get unstuck, and improve your work, but maintain your unique voice and writing style.
By following these tips, writers can effectively interact with ChatGPT and get the best responses to support their writing process.
Here’s to your continued freelance success,
Heidi