Adapting to AI, Audience Adjustments, and Evening Ease
Published on
May 27, 2024
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Issue #
015
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7
minutes
What's ahead:
How we're using ChatGPT to speed up content creation, the challenges and insights from niching down our audience, and the importance of a transition routine to balance work and rest.
We're back on track and continuing with our content extravaganza, wrapping up our Teachery articles and then diving into new Wandering Aimfully articles this week.
On Saturday, we decided to have a Dune double-feature, watching the first movie and the second film back to back. Wow, those movies inspire us so much.
But you're not here for the movies, you're here for the calm business tips so let's get into it!
- Jason and Caroline
predictable 🔄
3 ways we use ChatGPT to make content creation faster and more enjoyable
👩🏻🦰 👋: I'll be honest, Jason and I didn't know what to think about AI at first.
We're not the type to chase trends, so we mentally opted out for a month or two after ChatGPT really hit the mainstream. But, it didn't take long until it became very clear to us that AI wasn't just a trend—it's a major technological shift that's here to stay.
As online business owners, adapting to technology changes is just part of the gig, so I started diving in deep to learn everything I could at the end of last year.
Now that I’m embracing it, I really do believe AI will usher in a golden era for solopreneurs specifcally. Why? Because these tools have the power to amplify our creativity and allow us to make far more than we could alone.
If you are a creative person with deep knowledge or skills, and you don't want to grow a big team but know you need to create content and marketing to build a thriving business, this is your time to shine!! ✨
Here are just three ways I’ve been using ChatGPT to speed up my creation process:
Brainstorming outcome-based content ideas: This weekend I trained the newest GPT4o version on WAIM's mission, what it means to run a calm business, who we're helping, and what outcomes our target audience is looking for. I told it what topics and subtopics we want to focus on in our content. In return it gave me 185 outcome-tailored ideas perfect for Reels, Instagram carousels, and articles. 🤯
Outlining Instagram carousels: Speaking of Instagram carousels, I gave ChatGPT a list of 10 common "formulas" I compiled for great slides, and it matched my carousel ideas with the best formula and outlined all 10 slides for me. 🤯🤯
Writing hooks: Ugh, I hate writing hooks! When I say hooks, I don't mean clickbait like we so often see; I just mean framing our ideas in a way that they're most interesting to someone scrolling. Again, I compiled a list of 100 hooks I've seen online, and I taught ChatGPT how to use this hooks list to write YouTube video intros, Instagram captions, and more. 🤯🤯🤯
You can see the pattern here, right? The common denominator is that it starts with me, the human. 👋👩🏻🦰
I think the key to using AI is not to "outsource your creativity to the robots" as many people's first gut instinct might tell them; it's to use AI to facilitate, amplify, and refine the great ideas already inside you.
Every day, I find new and amazing ways to use ChatGPT. It has enhanced my life in countless ways. (I use it as my personal stylist! I use it to quiz me on my Portuguese homework! I use it as a sous chef in the kitchen! The list goes on...)
Hit reply and let me know your thoughts on ChatGPT! I'm so curious...What are your biggest questions or struggles with it? We’d love to address them in future newsletters. And if you want YouTube videos on specific prompts we're using or how we're working this into our process, let us know!
⚡️ Action Step: Experiment with ChatGPT for one task this week. See how it can streamline your process and free up more time for creativity.
- Caroline 👩🏻🦰
Profitable 🤑
Real talk: Niching down or narrowing your audience is hard
👩🏻🦰 👋: Jason and I have recently had several strategy discussions about where we want to steer Wandering Aimfully, precipitated by our Spring launch and our upcoming return to social media.
The most prevalent conversation is about WHO we are trying to attract.
For years, we’ve kept the brand pretty broad, helping “intentional online business owners” of various types—coaches, artists, e-commerce brands, content creators, freelancers. We absolutely love the diversity this creates for our community, but to be totally honest, it makes running the business a lot harder.
Planning coaching sessions becomes challenging because we have to keep them broadly applicable. Writing compelling sales copy is also more difficult, as it’s harder to address specific pain points.
This became especially clear recently, when we created our Calm Creator Business Plan on a whiteboard in Canva. Ps - If you want to watch a walkthrough of this, check out our most recent YouTube video where we take you through it!
I share this with you because I think it's a great reminder that even after ten years in business, narrowing down our audience is still a challenge for us.
But I’m more convinced than ever that being specific about who you help is key to growth in today’s fragmented media landscape.
Now, ask yourself: who does my business help? Where are they in their journey? Can I get even more specific about the problem I'm solving for that person?
If you can identify multiple subcategories, consider which of your audience segments needs your skills the MOST and focus on them. This specificity can make your content creation, marketing, and offers more effective.
- Caroline 👩🏻🦰
Peaceful 🧘
Creating a transition routine from work to rest
👩🏻🦰 👋: Working from home as solopreneurs, it’s easy for work to bleed into life.
While we actually love the blend between work and life that being a creator offers, we've learned that it’s crucial to have clear boundaries at the end of our workday to facilitate truly regenerative rest.
I’ve noticed that I sleep better and recharge more effectively when I have a routine to “turn off” work at the end of the day.
So here’s my end-of-day transition routine:
Get to a clear stopping point: When 5:30 or 6pm rolls around, I try to arrive at a natural end point with my last task, and I make notes on how to pick back up if it's not fully complete so my brain feels like it's "closing the loop."
Prep for the next day: I spend 5 minutes organizing tasks for the next day to avoid mental clutter.
Unwind with Jason: We either go for a walk or soak in the hot tub for 15 minutes. This simple routine signals to our brains that it’s family time. We step away from our devices, chat about our day, listen to music, laugh, and transition into the evening mindset before one of us makes dinner.
This routine is simple, but I've noticed that being intentional in this way has been incredibly effective. I sleep better and feel more recharged for the next day. It allows me to get more enjoyment out of my evenings, rather than zombie scrolling because I'm worn out from work.
⚡️ Action Step: Write down your own work-to-life evening transition routine. It could be as simple as a walk, a dance party, a cup of tea, or a few minutes of meditation. Then, notice the benefits that follow from engaging in this routine consistently for the next week.
- Caroline 👩🏻🦰
gimme, gimme more
Ways we can help you build a calm online business:
Start building online courses with Teachery. This is our other business baby, an online course platform we created to help you build beautifully branded online courses that look completely custom.
Find out what's holding you back with our Calm Biz Bottleneck quiz. Are you a Time Tangler ⏰, Straddling Strategist 🤸, Invisible Innovator 👻, Penny Producer 💸, or Misunderstood Marketer 🤷. Once you know, we'll give you tips on how to fix it!
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