Written by Anna-Vija McCloud, Founder & CEO of Piccolo Solutions, NEC Advisor, and 2025 Nashpreneur of the Year. This post originally appeared in System Reboot, her weekly newsletter.
Your new favorite coworker!
AI is only as powerful as the prompts you give it, and when you treat it like a collaborative partner instead of a magic 8-ball, it can become one of the most efficient tools in your business toolkit.
Whether you’re writing marketing copy, brainstorming offers, or drafting client proposals, your results will dramatically improve when you teach AI how to think like you. This week, we’re breaking down the best ways to “train” your AI assistant—by giving it context, sharing your voice, and setting it up for success.
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1. Be Specific About the Problem 🤔
Instead of: “Help me with marketing.”
Try: “I run a service-based business targeting new homeowners. How can I generate more leads using social media?”
Why it matters: AI needs context to tailor strategies, examples, and language.
2. Provide Relevant Background Information 🔎
Include details like:
- Your business model
- Target audience
- Budget or time constraints
- What you’ve already tried (and what didn’t work)
Prompt example:
“I own a fractional CMO consultancy helping $1M–$5M businesses grow. I want to build a lead magnet that captures high-intent leads from LinkedIn. What would you recommend?”
3. Ask for Structure or Formatting 📓
Let AI know how you want the output delivered:
- “Give me a bulleted list”
- “Outline this in a 30/60/90-day plan”
- “Summarize in a pros/cons table”
This makes the response easier to digest and apply.
4. Add Tone or Voice Guidelines 📣
If tone matters, clarify upfront:
- “Write in a professional but friendly tone”
- “Make this sound like it’s coming from a confident, warm female founder”
- “Use plain English — no jargon”
5. Prompt Iteratively 📲
Start broad, then narrow. Think of it as a conversation.
- First: “What are the main reasons our leads drop off after discovery calls?”
- Follow-up: “What are 3 scripts I can use to re-engage those cold leads via email?”
6. Use Role-Based Prompts 👩💻
Ask AI to take on a specific role:
- “Act as a B2B marketing strategist…”
- “Imagine you’re a sales coach for service businesses…”
This guides the kind of advice and vocabulary it uses.
7. Ask for Next Steps or Implementation Help ➡️
Don’t stop at strategy—ask for action.
- “How would I delegate this to my VA?”
- “Can you turn this strategy into an SOP I can reuse?”
8. Tell It What You Don’t Want ⛔
Be clear about exclusions.
- “Avoid technical jargon”
- “Don’t include paid ads—we’re only doing organic right now”
- “Exclude any advice about cold calling”
9. Request Alternatives 🔄
Prompt AI to give you options, not just one solution.
- “Give me 3 variations”
- “What’s a bolder version of this?”
- “How would this look for a product-based business instead?”
10. Clarify the End Goal 💡
Let AI know the outcome you’re aiming for.
- “I’m asking this because I want to systemize our client onboarding process by next month”
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Bonus Example Prompts:
DEFINE ✍️
- “Act as a brand strategist. Help me define a clear brand positioning statement for [Business Name], including our ideal customer, category, unique benefit, and proof.”
- “Based on our target audience of [describe audience], what are the 5 most urgent pain points they face and how can we position our product/service as the solution?”
- “What is our unique value proposition compared to these three competitors: [Competitor A], [Competitor B], and [Competitor C]?”
STRATEGIZE 🎯
- “Create a 90-day marketing strategy for a business that wants to increase [goal: e.g., leads, brand awareness, customer retention] with a budget of [$X/month]. Include channels, frequency, and key messages.”
- “What marketing funnel should we use to convert cold traffic into paying customers for [product/service]? Outline each stage with recommended tactics and messaging.”
- “Give me a monthly content calendar for [industry] with weekly themes that align with my brand’s voice and marketing goals.”
SYSTEMIZE ⚙️
- “What automation tools and workflows can help streamline our lead generation, follow-up, and client onboarding processes in a small service-based business?”
- “Build a repeatable marketing campaign checklist we can follow every time we launch a new product or service. Include strategy, content, design, promotion, and measurement steps.”
- “Design a simple SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for publishing and promoting a blog post across all platforms — including email, social, and repurposing ideas.”
- “How can we use AI tools to regularly repurpose one long-form piece of content (like a blog or podcast) into at least 5 social media posts, 1 email, and 1 lead magnet?”
Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, templates, tips, and sources of inspiration with you in the coming weeks.
If you’re not sure what you need or if we can help… (HINT: we can! 😉), head to our website to find what package is the right fit for you.
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