#119 Go Prompt Yourself

Welcoming you back to our Productivity Edition.

As I sat down to write this, I looked outside and saw a cloudy, rainy sky. Not ideal for getting work done IMO, especially on a WFH Friday. That’s “lay down and do nothing” weather, if you give into it.

My solution?

Step 1: Shut the window and close the blinds.

Step 2: Put on my headphones and set up an electric playlist.

Step 3: Turn on my desk lights.

I like this vibe because it blocks out all the external factors that might distract or de-motivate me. Maybe the same system won’t work for you, but this has really helped me when I need to get sh!t done.

Like this edition - got it done with maximum efficiency despite the fact that we have not one but TWO new content sections for you today, including the debut of OTF Trivia.

Let’s get After It.

AI Humans Prompted These Highlights!

FATTENING YOUR WALLET 💰️ 

• Always Informed: AI and the Stock Market

BOOSTING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY🦾 

• Workin With AI: WTF is Reverse Prompt Engineering?

• Prompt It Better: Analyzing A “Prompt Yourself” Prompt

ELEVATING YOUR BRAND 📈 

• OTF Trivia: Maybe OpenAI Comes Up At Your Next Networking Event?

• Come Get Your Masters In Marketing

WORKING WITH AI 🤖 

Reverse Prompt Engineering…?

Alright, typically I share insight into how I use AI, but this LinkedIn post was too perfect to pass up. It comes from Austin Rief, who was one of the founders of Morning Brew (you may have heard of it…). It wasn’t about prompting ChatGPT; it’s about feeding ChatGPT information and having it come up with its own prompts!

Austin didn’t title this concept or anything, so I’m calling it Reverse Prompt Engineering.

There are people who use AI effectively - who get the absolute most out of this incredible tool - and there are people who don’t. Usually, the difference is in the quality of the prompts.

This tactic, however, levels the playing field. Instead of wasting precious time and energy trying to make your prompts perfect, let the bot do it for you!

Utilizing this approach, your job is simple: type in only the most necessary information, and ask for prompts that will help you achieve your desired purpose.

Then, take your favorite(s) from its response, put them right back into the machine, and see what it yields.

(This kind of goes in line to what we talked about to kick start April’s edition last month and using “ChatGPT more” - More specifically, that if you have specific needs but don’t know where to start, try this prompt instead. See italics below in number 2.)

So, Austin’s point builds on a premise we’ve discussed in the past. The takeaway is simple: if you don’t know how to maximize your use of generative AI, go right to the source and ask it for help.

PROMPT IT BETTER 💯 

_{*Two weeks ago we launched “Say It Better,” which is designed to help you sharpen your interpersonal communication skills. Because when you say it better, you sell it better. This week’s variation is called “Prompt It Better,” designed to sharpen your human-to-AI communication skills, thus taking our AI capabilities to a new level.}

Imagine you run a business and suddenly have concerns about your landing page. But you’re having trouble articulating exactly what those concerns are and/or knowing exactly what needs to be fixed. So you turn to ChatGPT.

You could say, “Hey ChatGPT, I’ve uploaded my marketing landing page. Give me five ways to help me fix it,” and it would probably yield some helpful results. But it wouldn’t produce the best results, and that’s what we want, isn’t it? Why settle for less?

I know exactly what I’d do in this situation, but for a moment, let’s pretend we’re new to the tool and use Austin’s approach, essentially getting the bot to prompt itself:

Hey, I want you to help me improve my marketing landing page for my business. I am not an expert when it comes to websites and landing pages, so I really need your help. But I don't know the best way to prompt you to achieve the best results. Please send me 5 different prompts that I could use with you to maximize your efficiency and effectiveness.

Hey Prof, what do you think? Was this too wordy? I’m always concerned that too many words could confuse the tool…

There are two ways to be too wordy, whether you’re talking to people or bots. One is, it takes ten words to say what could’ve been said in five, and the extras are just meaningless filler. This wouldn’t confuse the bot because it’s a machine; it’ll cut right through it.

The other is including unnecessary information, which could “confuse” the bot by distracting it from the true purpose, resulting in watered down results. But I don’t think your prompt does this. Still - if I were editing for maximum efficiency of language, I’d do something like this:

I need your help improving my [insert type of business] marketing landing page, but I don't know the best way to prompt you to achieve the best results. Please send me 5 different prompts that I could use with you to maximize your efficiency and effectiveness in this regard.

My main edit was to cut the stuff about not being an expert, because I think it’s self-evident — if you’re reaching out to ChatGPT about something, odds are you lack expertise in that area.

But overall, the prompt is solid. Try it out and show us the results!

I mean, I had to show you the results from this prompt after me and Prof’s back and forth.

I am not shocked by how strong these prompts are. The tool continues to get trained, and it keeps yielding better results.

Remember, ChatGPT was only launched in November of 2022. In 6 months, it will be 3 years since inception.

You are not behind. You are still ahead. Please take advantage and increase your productivity.

I will continue to do my best to keep you always informed.

Speaking of which…

ALWAYS INFORMED 🗞️ 

Can AI Help You Beat the Stock Market?

Disclaimer, as always: this is not financial advice. We are not experts in this field.

But we’ve got to talk about the stock market in this section today for two reasons:

1) “After a terrible start to 2025, tech stocks are regaining some of their lost value.” For more about tech stocks that some say are “too cheap to ignore,” click here.

2) What are AI traders buying and selling these days? This really interesting article, courtesy of Barron’s, focuses on AI-backed Qraft Technologies. What makes Qraft unique is that every single investment decision is “100% controlled by an AI model.” And right now, that model is selling Meta and Walmart.

I find it fascinating to think about how AI will impact investing moving forward.

🔥 OTF TRIVIA 🔥

Click your choice and it will showcase the right answer in a new tab.

MASTERS IN MARKETING💡

Dan: This is so freaking good. The placement is perfect. Appears to be on the corner of a street (great location = more exposure). If I stopped at that red light, I’d probably snap a photo of it. If I’m walking by, I’d 100% be sending the photo to the group chat. Everything about it works and makes sense from a business POV.

Prof Mike: The design of the ChatGPT prompt - exactly like it’d appear online - is so good, and obviously, we’ve got an emotional appeal here. With AI’s rapid development, many are afraid for their job security, so this message of reassurance and positivity is certainly persuasive.

Before You Go

We hope you enjoyed what we generated this time around 🤝 

Next week, we’ll be back with May’s MONEY EDITION, featuring Making Cents, Expert Advice, and much more. In the meantime - if you scrolled right past our trivia question, backtrack and try your luck!

Last Week’s Poll Results:

How much thought do you put into your words before you say them? (3,709 subscribers)

• Zero - I just say whatever feels right. 😅

• Depends - Some moments need more finesse 🤔 - 80%

• Enough - I feel confident to say the right things 💯

• Too Much - I try way too hard 💀 - 20%

As always, see you next Tuesday 🤝 

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You are now On The Fly & In The Know.