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The AI Prompting Guide for Business Owners
The prompts most people never think to use. Thirty-one templates for brand, strategy, customers, sales, operations, and leadership, each built to make AI think with you instead of filling a content calendar.
Introduction
You don’t have an AI problem. You have a prompting problem.
Most business owners treat AI like a search engine. They type a short question — “write me a social media post about my business” — get a short, generic answer back, and conclude that AI isn’t ready for serious work. Then they go back to doing things the hard way.
They’re not wrong about the output. They’re wrong about the cause.
The truth is simpler and more expensive: most people are leaving most of the value on the table because they’re asking AI the wrong way. They’re using a Ferrari to go to the mailbox.
The prompts in this guide are different. They treat AI not as a search engine, but as something closer to a relentless, tireless analyst, strategist, and coach who works for you on demand. The structure of these prompts forces depth, surfaces blind spots, and produces output you can actually use to make better decisions — not just fill a content calendar.
We use variations of these prompts every day inside our own companies. Now they’re yours.
A few notes before we start:
- Every prompt here is a template. Replace the [BRACKETED] sections with your specifics.
- Most of these prompts work in any major AI tool — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot. The better the model, the better the output.
- Don’t accept the first answer. The best output comes from a back-and-forth. After the AI responds, push back, ask for more depth, or change the lens.
- The point of these prompts isn’t to replace your thinking. It’s to sharpen it.
Part 1
The Framework Behind Every Great Prompt
Before the prompts, the structure. Every high-leverage prompt has five layers. Once you internalize this framework, you can build your own custom prompts for any situation.
ROLE
Tell the AI who it is. “Act as a CFO with 20 years of experience in B2B services” produces dramatically better output than no role at all. The more specific the role, the better the output. Vague roles get vague answers.
CONTEXT
Give the AI the relevant information it would need if it were a new hire on day one. Industry, business model, customer type, current challenge, what you’ve already tried. Don’t assume. The AI doesn’t know your business — feed it.
TASK
Be precise about what you want produced. “Help me think about pricing” is weak. “Stress-test my proposed pricing model by identifying the three most likely customer objections and what each would cost us in lost deals” is strong.
CONSTRAINTS
Tell the AI what to avoid, what’s out of scope, what’s already been tried, and what tone or stance to take. “Don’t soften your critique” and “don’t give me generic advice” are two of the most useful constraints you can add.
FORMAT
Specify the output. Bullet list? Comparison table? Step-by-step plan? A 200-word executive summary you can paste into an email? AI will default to a wall of text if you don’t tell it otherwise.
Every prompt in this guide uses this framework. Once you see the pattern, you’ll be able to build your own.
Part 2
Brand Identity & Positioning
Most owners are too close to their own business to see it clearly. AI can give you the outside view your team can’t — or won’t.
Brand Archetype Discovery
Why this matters: If your brand doesn’t have a clear archetype, your marketing, hiring, and customer experience will all pull in different directions. Most owners can’t name their own archetype because they’re inside the jar.
The prompt
Act as a brand strategist trained in Carl Jung’s 12 archetypes (the Hero, Sage, Outlaw, Magician, Caregiver, Creator, Explorer, Innocent, Everyman, Jester, Lover, Ruler). Here is my business: [DESCRIBE BUSINESS, INCLUDING WHAT YOU SELL, WHO YOU SELL TO, AND HOW YOU TYPICALLY SHOW UP]. Here are five examples of how I communicate publicly: [PASTE 5 SOCIAL POSTS, EMAILS, OR WEBSITE BLURBS]. Based on this, identify my likely dominant brand archetype and secondary archetype. For each:
1. Explain why this archetype fits.
2. Identify three places where my current communication is OFF-archetype and pulling against my positioning.
3. Recommend three specific shifts I can make this month to align more tightly. Be honest, even if your conclusion is uncomfortable.
Pro tip: Run this prompt every six months. Brand drift is real, and the gap between who you are and how you show up widens when you’re busy.
Positioning Statement Stress-Test
Why this matters: Your positioning is the single sentence that determines whether prospects say “tell me more” or “I’m good.” Most owners have one that’s so generic it could be pasted onto a competitor’s website and nobody would notice.
The prompt
Act as a positioning consultant trained in the methodologies of April Dunford and Geoffrey Moore. Here is my current positioning statement: [PASTE STATEMENT]. Here is what my business actually does: [2-3 SENTENCES]. Here are three competitors and how they position themselves: [LIST]. Do the following:
1. Identify the three biggest weaknesses in my current positioning (e.g., vague, undifferentiated, unbelievable, irrelevant to buyer pain).
2. Tell me what my positioning is actually saying TO A PROSPECT — not what I think it’s saying.
3. Rewrite my positioning in three distinct directions: one defensive (safe, expected), one aggressive (polarizing, takes a clear stance), one orthogonal (reframes the category entirely).
4. For each rewrite, name the type of customer it will attract and the type it will repel. Do not soften your critique.
The Voice and Tone Codifier
Why this matters: “Our brand voice is friendly and professional” is meaningless. AI can extract your real voice from things you’ve already written and turn it into rules anyone — a contractor, a junior hire, or another AI — can follow.
The prompt
Act as a brand voice strategist. I’m going to give you a set of writing samples that reflect how I want my brand to sound. Your job is to reverse-engineer the rules of my voice so that anyone — a copywriter, a virtual assistant, or an AI — could write in this voice consistently. Writing samples: [PASTE 5-10 EMAILS, POSTS, OR PARAGRAPHS YOU’VE WRITTEN]. Produce the following:
1. A voice description in three sentences.
2. Five “we always do this” rules (sentence length, vocabulary level, use of contractions, formatting preferences, etc.).
3. Five “we never do this” rules.
4. A side-by-side example: take this generic paragraph — “We offer high-quality services to help businesses grow” — and rewrite it in my voice.
5. A “voice test” question I can ask before any piece of content goes out.
Pro tip: Save the output as a Voice Guide and paste it into the top of every future content prompt. Your AI output will start sounding like you, not like a template.
The Tagline Workshop
Why this matters: A great tagline takes a position. A bad one describes what you do. Most businesses have the latter and don’t know why their marketing feels flat.
The prompt
Act as a copy director with 20 years of experience writing taglines for category-defining brands. My business: [DESCRIBE]. My ideal customer: [DESCRIBE]. The unspoken belief my customer holds that makes them need me: [DESCRIBE — e.g., “they believe nobody really listens to small contractors”]. Generate 15 tagline candidates across these five categories:
1. Three that state a clear point of view.
2. Three that name the enemy or pain.
3. Three that make a specific promise.
4. Three that reframe the category.
5. Three that are intentionally short — three words or fewer. For each, note which category and what kind of customer it attracts. Then recommend your top 2 and explain why.
The Competitor Positioning Audit
Why this matters: You probably know your competitors’ prices. You probably don’t know their actual positioning — and that’s the gap you can exploit.
The prompt
Act as a competitive intelligence analyst. Here are my top three competitors and their websites: [LIST WITH URLS OR SUMMARIES]. Here is my own business: [DESCRIBE]. For each competitor, produce:
1. The implicit promise they’re making to customers (read between the lines — don’t just quote their homepage).
2. The customer they’re built FOR (and the customer they secretly don’t want).
3. Their biggest credibility weakness (where their claims outrun their proof).
4. The specific phrase or angle in their marketing I could counter-position against. Then, looking across all three: identify the WHITESPACE — the customer pain or value no competitor is clearly owning. That’s where I should plant my flag.
Pro tip: Re-run this every time a serious new competitor enters your market. Most owners only do it once, then get blindsided.
Part 3
Strategic Thinking
These are the prompts that turn AI into a thinking partner instead of a content factory. Use them before big decisions, not after.
The Pre-Mortem
Why this matters: Most strategic decisions are post-rationalized. A pre-mortem forces you to imagine the failure before you commit — and gives you a chance to design around it.
The prompt
Act as a strategic advisor who has seen many businesses fail. I’m considering this decision: [DESCRIBE THE DECISION OR PLAN IN DETAIL]. Conduct a pre-mortem. Assume it is now 18 months from today and this decision has FAILED spectacularly. Produce the following:
1. The five most likely root causes of failure, in order of probability.
2. For each cause, the earliest warning sign I would have seen — and missed.
3. The “obvious in hindsight” mistake I made.
4. Three specific commitments I could make TODAY that would meaningfully reduce the probability of each failure mode. Do not soften. Do not tell me what I want to hear. Your job is to save me from myself.
Pro tip: This single prompt has changed more of our own decisions than any other. Use it before signing any contract over six figures, before launching any new product, and before any major hire.
The Devil’s Advocate Review
Why this matters: Your team almost never tells you when you’re wrong. AI doesn’t have a career to protect.
The prompt
Act as a sharp, respectful devil’s advocate. I’m about to commit to this decision: [DESCRIBE]. Here is my reasoning: [EXPLAIN WHY YOU’RE LEANING THIS WAY]. Your job: build the strongest possible case AGAINST this decision. Don’t be neutral — actively try to talk me out of it. Produce:
1. The three strongest arguments against the decision.
2. The hidden assumption I’m making that, if wrong, makes the whole plan collapse.
3. The version of this decision that the smartest critic of my business would make.
4. One question I should be able to answer before proceeding — if I can’t answer it confidently, I shouldn’t proceed.
Second- and Third-Order Consequences
Why this matters: Most owners optimize for first-order effects (more leads, more revenue, more staff) and get blindsided by second-order effects (worse leads, lower margin, culture decay).
The prompt
Act as a systems thinker. I’m planning this change to my business: [DESCRIBE]. Walk me through the consequences in three layers: First-order effects: What I expect to happen — the reason I’m doing this. Second-order effects: What happens AS A RESULT of the first-order effects, both upside and downside. Third-order effects: What happens as a result of the second-order effects, including unintended consequences and feedback loops. For each layer, identify at least one effect I am probably NOT considering. End with one question I should answer before committing.
The Hidden Constraint Audit
Why this matters: Most businesses don’t have a strategy problem. They have a constraint problem — and they’re working around it instead of fixing it.
The prompt
Act as a business diagnostician trained in the Theory of Constraints. Here is a description of my business: [DESCRIBE BUSINESS MODEL, REVENUE, TEAM SIZE, AND CURRENT GROWTH RATE]. Here are the three problems I think I have: [LIST]. Here is what I’ve tried so far and why it hasn’t worked: [LIST]. Your job:
1. Identify the SINGLE constraint that is most likely the real bottleneck (it is often not the one I named).
2. Explain why every other “problem” I listed is probably a symptom of this constraint.
3. Identify the three highest-leverage actions I could take to address the real constraint.
4. Identify what I should STOP doing because it’s wasted effort against a non-bottleneck. Be willing to disagree with my framing.
Pro tip: The answer is almost never “more marketing.” It’s usually one of: capacity, conversion, retention, or pricing. Listen for the surprise.
The 10-Year Lens
Why this matters: Most decisions look smart on a 90-day horizon and disastrous on a 10-year horizon. Reverse the framing.
The prompt
Act as a long-horizon strategic advisor. Today I’m considering this decision: [DESCRIBE]. Run the following analysis:
1. Looking back from 10 years in the future, what is the version of THIS decision that I will be most proud of?
2. What is the version I will most regret?
3. Which version am I currently leaning toward, and what does that say about my time horizon?
4. What would change if I made this decision purely for the version of my business that exists in 10 years, not the one that exists today? End with the one question I should answer before I move forward.
Free live class · Wednesday, September 30 · 9:00–10:00 AM ET
Watch an AI employee do a real job in a business.
Prompts make AI a better thinking partner. The class shows the next step: an AI system doing real work, built live, with a human approving what matters. Bring the one task eating your week.
Part 4
Customer & Market Intelligence
Your customers know things about you that you don’t. AI can help you extract and synthesize what they’ve already told you.
The ICP Deep Dive
Why this matters: Most “ideal customer profiles” are demographic surface (“small business owners, 35-55, in Florida”). The useful version is psychographic and situational — what they believe, what they fear, and what just triggered their search for you.
The prompt
Act as a customer research strategist. Here is what my business does: [DESCRIBE]. Here are descriptions of my 3-5 best customers (the ones I wish I had more of): [DESCRIBE EACH — who they are, what they bought, what they said, why they chose me]. Build me a true Ideal Customer Profile that goes beyond demographics. Produce:
1. The triggering event: what is usually happening in their life or business in the 30 days before they look for someone like me?
2. Their three most painful symptoms (in their words, not mine).
3. The three competing priorities pulling them away from solving this.
4. The “story they tell themselves” about why they haven’t fixed it yet.
5. The single sentence that, if I said it on a sales call, would make them lean forward.
6. The kind of prospect that LOOKS like an ICP but isn’t — and how to spot them early.
Pro tip: Output this as a one-page customer card and pin it above your desk. Every team member should be able to recognize an ICP in the first 60 seconds of a sales call.
Voice of Customer Synthesizer
Why this matters: You have a goldmine sitting in your testimonials, reviews, sales calls, and support tickets. Most owners never mine it for patterns.
The prompt
Act as a qualitative research analyst. I’m going to paste in raw customer feedback — testimonials, reviews, sales call notes, or survey responses. [PASTE]. Synthesize the following without paraphrasing into corporate language. Use their words wherever possible.
1. The three most-repeated phrases or descriptions of the problem before they hired me.
2. The three most-repeated descriptions of the transformation after working with me.
3. The unexpected benefit customers mention that I’m not currently marketing.
4. The objection or hesitation that comes up repeatedly before they buy.
5. Five exact phrases I should steal and use in my marketing copy verbatim. Bonus: identify the emotional arc — what feeling do they enter the relationship with, and what feeling do they leave with?
Pro tip: Run this every quarter. Your customers’ language is more accurate than your marketing team’s.
Objection Mining
Why this matters: Every “no” in your sales process contains a clue. Most owners react to objections instead of mapping them.
The prompt
Act as a sales operations analyst. Here are notes from the last 10 deals I lost or prospects who went cold: [PASTE OR DESCRIBE]. Here is my typical sales process: [DESCRIBE]. Produce:
1. The top three objections, ranked by frequency.
2. For each objection, the LIKELY underlying concern (objections are usually surface; the real concern is one layer down).
3. The point in my sales process where each objection most often appears.
4. Two changes I could make UPSTREAM in the process so the objection never surfaces as a deal-killer.
5. A short, honest response to each objection that I could use without sounding defensive.
The Customer Interview Simulation
Why this matters: You can’t interview every customer. But you can simulate one based on what you already know — and use the simulation to pressure-test a new offer, message, or product.
The prompt
Act as my Ideal Customer. Here is everything I know about them: [PASTE YOUR ICP, INCLUDING DEMOGRAPHICS, PSYCHOGRAPHICS, PAINS, GOALS, AND COMMON OBJECTIONS]. I’m going to describe a new [OFFER / MESSAGE / PRODUCT / SALES SCRIPT] and you are going to react to it the way this person would. Be skeptical, specific, and emotionally honest. Tell me where you’d zone out, where you’d raise an eyebrow, where you’d want to ask a question, and where you’d be ready to buy. Here it is: [PASTE]. After your reaction, give me three specific changes that would make this land harder for this customer type.
Pro tip: Push back when the AI is too polite. Say: “You’re being too easy on me. Be tougher.” The output will get sharper.
Part 5
Sales & Revenue
Use AI to sharpen the questions you ask, the offers you make, and the deals you close.
The Discovery Question Generator
Why this matters: Most sales calls are show-and-tell. The best ones are diagnostic. The difference is the questions.
The prompt
Act as a top-tier B2B sales coach trained in the methodologies of Sandler, Challenger Sale, and SPIN selling. My offer: [DESCRIBE]. My ideal customer: [DESCRIBE]. The transformation I deliver: [DESCRIBE]. Build me a discovery call framework with:
1. Three opening questions that immediately separate qualified prospects from tire-kickers.
2. Five “pain expansion” questions that help the prospect feel the cost of NOT solving their problem.
3. Three questions that surface decision-making process, budget reality, and timeline — without sounding like an interrogation.
4. Two “trial close” questions that test commitment before I present.
5. One question to ask at the end of every call that will improve my next call. Format the questions in the order I should ask them, with a one-line note on what each is doing strategically.
Pricing Strategy Stress Test
Why this matters: Most owners price by feel, then defend the number when challenged. AI can pressure-test pricing the way a sharp CFO would.
The prompt
Act as a pricing strategist with experience in [INDUSTRY]. My current pricing: [DESCRIBE — what you charge, structure, what’s included]. My typical customer: [DESCRIBE]. My typical close rate at this price: [PERCENTAGE OR ESTIMATE]. My closest competitors and their pricing: [LIST]. Pressure-test my pricing across these dimensions:
1. Anchor pricing — am I anchored too low? What’s the highest defensible price for this offer?
2. Structure — is my pricing model (hourly, project, retainer, value-based) optimized for this offer, or is it leaving margin on the table?
3. Bundle — what could I add or remove to justify a 30-50% price increase?
4. Positioning — does my current price tell the market I’m premium, mid, or budget? Is that what I want?
5. Risk reversal — what guarantee or assurance could I offer that would let me charge more? End with the single highest-impact pricing change I should test in the next 90 days.
The Proposal Personalizer
Why this matters: Generic proposals close at generic rates. AI can help you turn your standard proposal into one that sounds like it was written for one specific buyer.
The prompt
Act as a B2B proposal strategist. Here is my standard proposal template: [PASTE]. Here is everything I learned about the prospect on the discovery call: [PASTE NOTES — their stated problem, their language, their goals, their concerns, their decision process]. Rewrite the proposal so that:
1. The first paragraph reflects THEIR exact words about their problem back to them.
2. The proposed solution is framed in terms of the outcomes they explicitly told me they care about.
3. The objections they hinted at are pre-handled in the body of the proposal.
4. The pricing is anchored against the cost of inaction they themselves described.
5. The close ties back to a specific moment or quote from our conversation. Keep my voice. Don’t make it sound corporate.
Win/Loss Analysis Framework
Why this matters: Most owners review wins (to celebrate) and ignore losses (because they sting). The losses contain more usable signal.
The prompt
Act as a sales operations analyst. Here are details of the last 10 deals — wins and losses both: [DESCRIBE EACH, INCLUDING WHO, WHAT, OUTCOME, AND ANY POST-MORTEM NOTES]. Analyze and produce:
1. The two factors that show up most in WINS and are absent from LOSSES.
2. The two factors that show up most in LOSSES and are absent from WINS.
3. The “warning signs” of a loss that I could have seen 2-3 weeks earlier than I did.
4. The pattern in WHO I’m winning vs. losing with — is there an ICP shift I should make?
5. One specific change to my qualifying process that would have prevented at least three of the losses.
Part 6
Operations & People
The fastest way to grow a business is to stop being the bottleneck inside it. These prompts help you systemize and delegate the work you’ve been hoarding.
The Role Scorecard Builder
Why this matters: Most hires fail because the job description is a list of responsibilities, not a definition of success. A scorecard fixes that.
The prompt
Act as a hiring strategist in the tradition of “Who” by Geoff Smart and Randy Street. I’m hiring for this role: [TITLE]. Here is what I think this role does day-to-day: [DESCRIBE]. Here is the business outcome this role is supposed to drive: [DESCRIBE]. Build me a role scorecard with:
1. The MISSION of the role — one sentence that defines why this role exists.
2. Five OUTCOMES — specific, measurable results this person must deliver in their first 12 months (e.g., “Reduce average project turnaround time from X to Y by month 6”).
3. Five COMPETENCIES — the behaviors and traits required to deliver those outcomes.
4. Three deal-breakers — competencies that, if missing, mean we should not hire even if they look good on paper.
5. The single interview question that would best predict success in this specific role.
Pro tip: Use this scorecard in interviews and in the new hire’s first review. The clearer the scorecard, the faster the firing decision when it’s needed.
Interview Question Generator (for Outcomes, Not Resumes)
Why this matters: Most interviews test whether someone is charming. The right questions test whether they can deliver the specific outcomes you need.
The prompt
Act as a behavioral interview designer. Here is the scorecard for the role I’m hiring: [PASTE SCORECARD]. Build me a 60-minute interview structured around the FIVE OUTCOMES on the scorecard. For each outcome, produce:
1. One behavioral question that asks the candidate to describe a past situation where they delivered something similar.
2. Two follow-up probes designed to expose whether their answer is real or rehearsed (look for specifics — names, numbers, timelines).
3. One “red flag answer” pattern I should watch for.
4. One “green flag answer” pattern that signals real experience. End with three questions I should ask references that go BEYOND “would you hire them again.”
The SOP Extractor
Why this matters: Every owner has knowledge trapped in their head. The fastest way to extract it is to talk it out and let AI structure it.
The prompt
Act as an operations consultant who specializes in turning expert knowledge into repeatable SOPs. I’m going to brain-dump everything I know about how I currently do this task: [TASK NAME]. It will be messy, out of order, and full of context only I would know. [DUMP EVERYTHING — STEP BY STEP, IN WHATEVER ORDER IT COMES OUT. INCLUDE TOOLS, COMMON MISTAKES, EDGE CASES, AND DECISIONS YOU MAKE ALONG THE WAY.] Turn this into a clean Standard Operating Procedure with:
1. A one-sentence purpose statement.
2. The trigger that starts the SOP (when does someone run this?).
3. Numbered steps written in plain language a new hire could follow.
4. A list of tools, logins, or templates needed.
5. The three most common mistakes to avoid (pulled from my dump).
6. The decision points where the person should escalate to me instead of guessing.
7. A definition of “done” — how does someone know the task is complete?
Pro tip: Use voice-to-text to do the brain dump. Talking is faster than writing, and you’ll capture more nuance.
The Delegation Audit
Why this matters: If you’re the bottleneck in your business, the problem isn’t capacity. It’s delegation. AI can help you see what to give away.
The prompt
Act as a business operations coach. Here is a list of everything I personally did last week, with rough time estimates: [LIST AT LEAST 15-20 ITEMS]. Here is what I’m paid (or what my time is theoretically worth) per hour: [NUMBER]. Analyze the list and produce:
1. The three tasks I should DELETE entirely (they’re not creating value).
2. The five tasks I should DELEGATE this quarter, ranked by ROI of delegation (highest leverage first). For each, name the role or person who should take it.
3. The three tasks I should AUTOMATE (with a brief note on how).
4. The three tasks ONLY I can do — and how much of my week they should actually take.
5. The single highest-leverage thing I should be doing MORE of, that I’m currently not making time for.
Part 7
Leadership & Self-Coaching
The hardest part of running a business isn’t strategy. It’s the conversation in your own head. AI can be a useful sparring partner there too.
The Decision Journal
Why this matters: Most owners don’t review past decisions, so they can’t tell which of their instincts are reliable and which are biased. AI can help you build a feedback loop.
The prompt
Act as a decision quality coach trained in the work of Annie Duke. I made the following decision: [DESCRIBE]. The date I made it: [DATE]. My reasoning at the time: [DESCRIBE]. What I expected to happen: [DESCRIBE]. What actually happened: [DESCRIBE — only if the decision has played out]. Help me evaluate this decision separately from its outcome (good decisions can have bad outcomes, and vice versa). Produce:
1. Was the DECISION process sound, given what I knew at the time?
2. Was the OUTCOME good, bad, or mixed?
3. Was the outcome a result of good/bad decision-making, or was it luck (positive or negative)?
4. What specific bias might have been at play (overconfidence, sunk cost, recency, confirmation, etc.)?
5. What’s the lesson I should carry into similar decisions in the future? Be specific. Don’t let me off the hook.
Pro tip: Run this every quarter on your three biggest decisions. Over a year, you’ll start seeing your patterns clearly.
The Difficult Conversation Rehearsal
Why this matters: The conversation you keep avoiding is costing you more than the conversation itself ever would. Rehearsal lowers the activation energy.
The prompt
Act as a communication coach trained in Crucial Conversations and Nonviolent Communication. I need to have this difficult conversation: [DESCRIBE — who, what about, why it’s been avoided, what outcome you want]. Here is the relevant context: [BACKGROUND ON THE RELATIONSHIP, THE STAKES, AND WHAT’S BEEN SAID OR NOT SAID]. Help me prepare:
1. Open the conversation in two sentences that name the issue without triggering defensiveness.
2. Write the three sentences I MUST say (the non-negotiable points).
3. Predict the three most likely responses from the other person and how to handle each.
4. Identify the emotional trap I’m most likely to fall into (anger, over-apologizing, retreat) and how to recognize it in real time.
5. Define what a SUCCESSFUL outcome looks like — and what a “good enough” outcome looks like if I don’t get everything. Then role-play it with me. Take the other person’s role. Respond the way they’re most likely to respond. Don’t go easy.
Negotiation Prep Partner
Why this matters: Most owners walk into negotiations under-prepared and over-confident. AI can build your negotiation map in 20 minutes.
The prompt
Act as a negotiation strategist trained in the methodologies of Chris Voss (Never Split the Difference) and Roger Fisher (Getting to Yes). The negotiation: [DESCRIBE — who you’re negotiating with, what’s on the table, the relationship]. My goal: [DESCRIBE — what does winning look like for me?]. What I know about their interests: [DESCRIBE]. My BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement): [DESCRIBE]. My walk-away point: [NUMBER OR TERM]. Prep me:
1. What are their PROBABLE interests (not just their stated positions)?
2. What’s their likely BATNA, and is mine stronger or weaker?
3. What is the FIRST anchor I should set, and why?
4. What are the three most likely tactics they’ll use, and the calibrated response to each?
5. What’s one question I should ask that will reveal information they don’t realize they’re giving me?
6. What is the “no-deal” outcome that’s better than a bad deal — and how do I make sure I recognize it in the moment?
The Mentor Archetype
Why this matters: You probably can’t get on a call with the mentor you wish you had. You can get pretty close with the right prompt.
The prompt
Act as [SPECIFIC MENTOR ARCHETYPE — e.g., “a 70-year-old contractor who has built and sold three companies and survived two recessions” or “a no-nonsense COO who has scaled three services businesses from $1M to $20M”]. Here is the decision/challenge I’m facing: [DESCRIBE]. Speak to me the way this person actually would. Be direct, draw on the patterns you’ve seen, and tell me what I’m probably missing. Don’t be polite if politeness gets in the way. Ask me sharp questions if my framing is off.
Pro tip: Don’t pick “a famous CEO.” Pick an archetype — a generic version of the kind of operator you’d want to learn from. The output is sharper.
The Weekly Review Facilitator
Why this matters: Most owners end the week exhausted and start the next one reactive. A structured review breaks the loop.
The prompt
Act as an executive coach. Walk me through a weekly review. Here is what happened this week in my business: [DUMP IT ALL — wins, losses, frustrations, surprises, hours worked, key decisions]. Facilitate the following:
1. What were the TWO highest-leverage things I did this week?
2. What were the TWO biggest time-sinks that produced little value?
3. Where was I REACTIVE this week when I should have been proactive? What was the trigger?
4. What did I LEARN about my business or my customers that I didn’t know on Monday?
5. What is the ONE thing that, if I do it next week, will make the rest of the week easier?
6. What am I avoiding that’s getting harder the longer I avoid it? Don’t let me off easy. If my answers are vague, push back.
Pro tip: Do this every Friday afternoon for 20 minutes. After three months, patterns emerge that no business coach could see faster.
Part 8
Content & Thought Leadership
Most content is forgettable because it’s generic. These prompts produce content that sounds like a specific person with a specific point of view — because it is.
Pillar Topic Discovery
Why this matters: Random content gets random results. Pillar topics turn you into a recognizable voice on a specific set of ideas.
The prompt
Act as a content strategist for thought leaders. Here is my business: [DESCRIBE]. Here is my ideal customer and what they care about: [DESCRIBE]. Here is what I personally find interesting, opinionated, or different about my industry: [DESCRIBE — the takes you’d argue for at a dinner party]. Help me identify my three PILLAR topics — the ideas I should become known for. For each:
1. Name the pillar in 3-5 words.
2. Articulate the contrarian or distinctive take inside it that I can defend.
3. Identify the three sub-topics inside it I could write about for the next 12 months.
4. Identify the WRONG version of this idea that everyone else is publishing — so I don’t accidentally sound like them. End with one “manifesto post” idea — a single piece of content that, if I wrote it well, would define my position on all three pillars.
The Story Bank Generator
Why this matters: Stories beat statistics. The problem is most owners forget the stories they already have.
The prompt
Act as a content interviewer. You’re going to ask me ONE question at a time. After each answer, ask a sharper follow-up. We’re going to mine my career and business for the stories I forget I have. The goal: 10 story ideas I can turn into content. Start with a broad question. Based on my answer, dig in. Look for: – Specific moments (not general patterns) – Surprise (the moment I learned something I didn’t expect) – Tension (a conflict, a hard decision, a near-miss) – Detail (names, places, what someone said) After 10 exchanges, give me a list of 10 story ideas, each with a working title and the lesson it could carry. Ready? Start with your first question.
Pro tip: This prompt produces the best content if you treat it like a conversation, not a form. Answer in voice notes if it’s faster — most AI tools accept dictation.
The Repurposing Engine
Why this matters: One idea, done well, can power a month of content. Most owners write the same idea three different ways from scratch.
The prompt
Act as a content strategist. Here is a piece of long-form content I created: [PASTE LONG-FORM POST, ARTICLE, OR VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]. Repurpose it into the following formats, each in MY voice (here’s a voice sample for reference: [PASTE]):
1. Three LinkedIn posts that each take a different angle on the core idea — one personal, one contrarian, one tactical.
2. One short-form video script (60-90 seconds) that opens with the strongest hook from the original.
3. Three social media single-line hooks I could use to open future posts on related topics.
4. One email-newsletter version with a clear subject line and a personal opening.
5. Three short-form replies/comments I could post on other people’s content that connect back to this idea naturally. Do not just summarize. Each format should feel like it was MADE for that format, not converted.
The Comment Strategist
Why this matters: The fastest way to grow on social isn’t posting more. It’s commenting smarter, on the right posts.
The prompt
Act as a B2B social media strategist. My business: [DESCRIBE]. My target audience and where they spend time online: [DESCRIBE]. Build me a commenting strategy:
1. The five types of accounts I should be commenting on regularly (e.g., adjacent thought leaders, niche journalists, potential customers).
2. For each type, the kind of comment that adds value AND positions me (not “great post!” — actual insight).
3. Three “comment templates” I can use as starting points: one that adds a personal story, one that respectfully disagrees, one that extends the idea further than the original post did.
4. The three things I should never do in a comment that quietly hurt my brand.
5. A 20-minute daily commenting routine that’s sustainable.
Part 9
Advanced Moves: Chaining and Compounding
The single biggest mistake people make with AI is treating each prompt as a one-shot. The real power comes from chaining.
Chain prompts in sequence.
Use the output of one prompt as the input for the next. Example: Run the Brand Archetype Discovery → feed the result into the Voice Codifier → feed THAT into the Repurposing Engine. By the third prompt, the AI is producing content that’s deeply specific to your brand.
Always push back.
The first answer is rarely the best one. Standard follow-ups that improve almost any output:
- “This is too generic. Make it specific to my business.”
- “You’re being too polite. Be tougher.”
- “Give me the version of this answer the smartest skeptic in my industry would write.”
- “What did you leave out because you weren’t sure I’d want to hear it?”
- “Now do the opposite.”
Save your best prompts.
Keep a personal library of the prompts that have worked for you, with notes on which ones produced the best output. Within six months, you’ll have a prompt library worth more than most subscriptions you pay for.
Treat AI like a colleague, not a calculator.
Calculators give you the answer. Colleagues help you find it. The owners who get the most out of AI are the ones who use it to think alongside them — challenging assumptions, surfacing blind spots, and producing a draft they can sharpen — not the ones who expect a finished answer in one click.
What’s next
Prompts are the start. The shift is when AI does a job.
A great prompt makes AI a sharper thinking partner. The bigger change comes when AI stops being a chat box and starts doing real work: answering the phone, chasing the follow-up, keeping the books, with a human approving anything that matters.
That’s what we build at AI Builder Company, and we built it inside our own companies first.
Free live class · Wednesday, September 30 · 9:00–10:00 AM ET
Watch an AI employee do a real job in a business.
Prompts make AI a better thinking partner. The class shows the next step: an AI system doing real work, built live, with a human approving what matters. Bring the one task eating your week.
Already know where AI should go in your business? The AI Opportunity Audit totals what the phone, the follow-up, and the paperwork are costing you, with your numbers, and ranks the top five fixes by return. $1,000, credited toward any install within 60 days.