A lightbulb moment with ChatGPT

It’s 11 pm.

You've had a long day, and you're still staring at a blank screen, waiting for inspiration to strike for that next engaging blog post you promised yourself you’d write today…

Does this feel familiar? I know it does for me.

Staring at a blank page and a flashing cursor can be the most daunting thing.

In fact, is it just me, or does that persistently blinking cursor start to look more and more like the accusatory wagging finger of an angry parent or teacher the longer you stare at it?

And the longer you sit there, the less and less hope you have that the lightbulb moment you’re waiting for will ever happen.

Talking of lightbulbs, did you know it took Thomas Edison 2,774 attempts to perfect the lightbulb?

Or was it 1,000?

Or 10,000?

It varies, depending on which version of the story you read.

Anyway, the point is, it took him a while.

Now, contrary to popular belief, Edison didn't actually invent the lightbulb. That credit goes to Sir Hiram Maxim and Sir Humphry Davy among others.

However, their versions of the lightbulb weren't practical or long-lasting enough for everyday use.

Edison saw an opportunity and set about trying to create a bulb that was affordable, reliable, and efficient enough for use in every household across the land.

His Menlo Park lab became a hive of activity, buzzing with the quest for the perfect light bulb design.

In their quest to find the perfect material for the filament of the bulb, Edison and his team tested everything from bamboo to cotton.

They even went as far as trying their own beard hair.

Is this why Edison is one of the few Victorian inventors who’s always pictured without a beard?

Anyway, Edison was determined to find a filament that could withstand long hours of electricity passing through it without burning out.

And, eventually, after 1,000, 2,774, 10,000… many attempts, he finally created a lightbulb that could burn long enough to be commercially viable.

When asked about what others saw as his repeated failures, he replied with his famous quote:

"I have not failed. I've just found 1,000 ways that won't work."

(Replace 1,000 with 10,000 or 2,774 according to taste)

Sometimes, when we’re struggling to create content for a blog or a social media post, it feels like we’re waiting for a lightbulb moment…

The same kind of lightbulb moment that Edison no doubt longed for as he worked his way through the long iterative process that eventually led to his world-changing discovery.

We kid ourselves that inspiration will strike, words will flow, and brilliance will ensue.

However, just like Edison, we find that the process isn't as instantaneous as we'd like it to be. It can be hard, time-consuming, and, frankly, quite frustrating.

This is the point where many of us have turned to ChatGPT, hoping it will become our AI-powered drinks machine in the arid desert of content creation…..

…only to find that the drinks it serves are as warm and flat as the champagne from yesterday’s party.

But you shouldn’t get disheartened if your first interaction with ChatGPT doesn't yield perfect results.

Here's the secret sauce…

Getting ChatGPT to deliver you great content is about having a conversation rather than issuing a one-time command.

Picture this.

You've asked ChatGPT for a blog post on first-time buyer mortgages. It gives you a draft, but it's not quite right.

It's full of generic mortgage information instead of addressing the specific issues first-time buyers face.

And it's missing that fun, playful tone you were hoping for.

Here's what you do.

You don't walk away. You give feedback, ask for revisions, and request changes.

Think of it like clay - with each iteration, you're moulding and shaping ChatGPT's output to better fit with your vision.

ChatGPT isn’t a human.

It doesn't tire.

It doesn't get offended.

So don’t be afraid to keep trying, refining, and tweaking until you hit the mark - just like Edison did.

Now I realise that figuring out how to do this, and how to give ChatGPT the kind of feedback that will help it learn and improve, isn’t something you can get to grips with overnight.

But this is where I'm lucky.

I’ve got a bit of a headstart because, in one way or another, I’ve spent most of my adult life training people.

Did you know I was even a part-time driving instructor for a while?

And I’ve done a lot of work lately on learning how to train ChatGPT to behave the way I want it to and to write the same way that I do.

Which is why I was able to run a live training session for my members this week called "How to Use (and not use) AI to Improve Your Marketing."

This was a hands-on call where we explored all the ins and outs of how to make ChatGPT produce high-quality, authentic content.

Content so engaging, your audience won't ever realise that AI helped craft it!

I even shared some of my personal techniques and the exact prompts I use to take ChatGPT through that oh-so-important iterative process.

The members who came to this training are now all set to use AI to improve their lead generation and reduce the amount of time they have to spend on marketing.

If you're already a member of The Predictable Pipeline Programme, don't wait - check out the recording of the training right away.

And if you're not a member yet, click here to join us and get immediate access to this training (plus a tonne of other resources and ongoing support to help you generate more of your own leads).

And, in the meantime….

Keep on keeping on!