Ever feel like you’re constantly spinning plates while managing your daily tasks? Between emails, customer inquiries, social media, and content creation, things can quickly pile up.
Enter ChatGPT, a game-changing AI tool that’ll help you handle and speed up your workflow, letting you finally focus on your zone of genius. 👏
In this guide, we’ll explore the possibilities of AI, the do’s and don’ts for using it effectively, and give you the best ChatGPT prompts for businesses so you can hit the ground running.
But first, the basics.
If you haven’t used ChatGPT yet, here’s the gist: it’s a state-of-the-art generative AI platform developed by OpenAI that uses natural language processing (NLP) to generate human-like text based on the prompts you give it. It’s essentially a smart chatbot that you can use to brainstorm ideas, answer questions (sometimes), and generate text.
While ChatGPT is a great work buddy, keep in mind that it’s not designed to do all your work for you. While it won’t replace your trusty assistant or handle complex tasks end-to-end, it can get you from, “Ugh, I don’t know where to start” to “Hey, this is 60% done, and it only took 5 minutes!”
And the best part? It's one of the top free tools available. Sure, there are paid options like ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise, but for millions of users, the free version is powerful enough to handle their business needs.
Wondering if ChatGPT is really worth it for your small business? Here are the top 3 benefits of integrating AI into your workflows.
ChatGPT is a super handy tool, but you need to learn how to use it correctly and responsibly. To avoid falling into common pitfalls when using ChatGPT for business, keep the following dos and don'ts in mind 👇
Whether you’re using ChatGPT or another generative AI platform, we suggest always looking at each company’s documentation around best practices. Check out OpenAI’s prompt engineering best practices. We’ve also summed these up below:
✅ Do be specific in your prompts—ChatGPT’s responses will only be as good as your prompts. The more detailed you are in your request, the better the result will be.
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For example 👉 instead of typing, “Write me a product description for a water bottle,” try going with, “Write me a 100-word product description for a new, eco-friendly water bottle. Use a fun, friendly tone that will appeal to millennials.” |
Think of it this way, ChatGPT is a predictive model. It uses math to predict what it should generate. But, it doesn’t have lived, human experiences like you do. So, be sure to bring your own personality and life experience into the things you generate.
✅ Do keep data privacy in mind—Always be careful with customer data and confidential information. Avoid inputting sensitive details like customer names, email addresses, or business data into the tool to maintain compliance with your privacy policies. Remember, better safe than sorry.
✅ Do experiment with different use cases—Don’t limit yourself! ChatGPT can be used for many different tasks, from drafting emails and creating blog briefs to brainstorming product names and building sales flows.
✅ Do use it for menial, repetitive tasks—Have a bunch of notes that you have to make sense of? Input them into ChatGPT and ask for a summary with key points. Need to convert a CSV file into a readable list? Great, ChatGPT can help. Looking for a particular Excel formula? Ask away! These repetitive tasks are where AI really shines, freeing you up for bigger-picture work.
❌ Don’t assume it’s 100% accurate—Here’s a little secret…ChatGPT lies! Not all the time, but it happens often enough not to trust everything that it generates.
These lies are sometimes called hallucinations. When AI “hallucinates,” it gives answers that might sound plausible but aren’t quite right or relevant. This usually happens because the AI is missing some real-world context or has gaps in what it’s learned, but instead of owning up to those gaps, it generates an answer for you anyway.
TL;DR: Always verify any facts, figures, or dates you get from ChatGPT, especially if you’re using it for external communication.
❌ Don’t use it to write legal or financial documents—ChatGPT is not a legal or tax expert! Avoid using it for sensitive matters like contracts, terms and conditions, or financial documents. Leave those tasks to the pros.
❌ Don’t input confidential business strategies—Treat ChatGPT with caution. Take a moment to consider if you would publicly share the info you are about to input. If the answer is no, it’s probably best you keep it to yourself. Don’t forget that ChatGPT uses the info you feed into it to train itself—so anything you share could potentially be used to improve its responses in the future.
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Interesting fact 🤔 Instead of removing copyrighted material from ChatGPT’s training data, OpenAI will cover legal costs if you’re sued over copyright issues related to using their tool. |
❌ Don’t over-automate—While automation can save time, over-reliance on AI can make your business feel robotic. Don’t just rely on ChatGPT for everything; customers still appreciate personal touches and human interaction, especially in small businesses where relationships matter.
❌ Don’t rely on it for originality—As we’ve already mentioned, ChatGPT is best suited as a tool to help you get to the end result faster, not to actually produce it. Remember that ChatGPT generates content based on patterns in the data it’s trained on, which means it’s not good at coming up with truly unique, innovative, and original ideas or content.
It’s time for what everybody’s been waiting for—the prompts! Keep reading to learn everything from how to use ChatGPT for small business emails and social media, to drafting content, appointment notifications, and customer responses.
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Quick tip 💡 Remember all the prompts below are just examples! Don’t forget to edit each one to fit your needs. |
Using ChatGPT for business emails can be a huge time saver. Sometimes crafting that perfect subject line or coming up with yet another follow-up email can feel like pulling teeth. You can turn to ChatGPT to get those creative juices flowing and help you get started.
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Pro tip 💡ChatGPT and other language models often struggle to hit an exact word count, so use it as a general guideline rather than a precise rule. Think of the word count as a rough target to help ChatGPT produce text close to the length you want. |
When you’re wearing all the hats in your business, you don’t always have time to sit and think up new social media content or ad copy. ChatGPT can be your brainstorming buddy. The key is giving it the right input.
Ever sat down to write a blog post and found yourself staring at a blinking cursor? ChatGPT can help. From brainstorming to generating outlines, you can essentially use it as a virtual content assistant.
When it comes to customer service, timely and professional responses can make all the difference. Keep customers happy without burning out by turning to ChatGPT for help drafting responses and summarizing your policies in a clear, helpful way.
If you’re using an appointment scheduling tool like YouCanBookMe, you can pair it with ChatGPT to help you come up with appointment confirmation, reminder, and follow-up messages. With YouCanBookMe, you can completely customize all your notifications, using your own brand voice and adding the info that’s relevant to your customers.
Once you have these messages ready, all you need to do is paste them into YouCanBookMe, and they’ll send automatically at a time of your choosing.
From email marketing to customer service and even appointment scheduling, ChatGPT can be a game-changer for your business. It helps you work smarter, not harder, by providing quick, helpful drafts and ideas that cut down on your time spent staring at a blank screen.
Plus, despite the fact that AI can seem intimidating, you don’t need to be a tech genius to use ChatGPT—just experiment with a few prompts, see what works, and build from there. So, why not give it a try today? We’re pretty sure you won’t regret it. 😄