“AI” used to conjure up ideas of robots, science-fiction, or high-tech systems, but in recent years applications and access to artificial intelligence have shifted immensely.
Advancements in artificial intelligence have made it incredibly practical, affordable, and accessible for small business owners who want to streamline their day-to-day workload.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is just a tool. And like any tool, its value depends on how you use it.
Used strategically, AI can help you save time, create content more efficiently, and free you up to focus on the parts of your business only you can do.
As someone who runs a digital marketing company that’s worked with hundreds of small businesses and non-profits, I can confidently say that artificial intelligence is changing the game.
With smaller teams and tighter budgets, small business owners and non-profits often struggle to find the time or resources for consistent marketing. AI helps fill that gap.
I’ve been using AI for months now in my own business, and I’ve seen real results: more content created in less time, improved workflows, and better reach—all without losing my unique brand voice.
Granted, how you use these tools makes all the difference. If you rely on AI outputs at face value, your content will likely sound robotic and generic.
With the right prompts and best practices, however, AI becomes an extension of your brand.
Here’s how you can use AI tools within your business to create content effectively, responsibly, and in your voice.
What are AI prompts?
AI tools can’t read your mind. They’re only able to create content based on the information you feed them. That’s where prompts come in.
When you’re using a content creation focused tool like ChatGPT, it works as a two-way street. You provide the input, or requests, and the tool spits out a result based on the information you provided, and how it interpreted that information.
Your input can also be referred to as a prompt.
Think of these prompts like giving someone directions. If I say “Drive to Ottawa,” you might end up in the wrong neighbourhood. But if I say, “Take the 417 and meet me at Ottawa City Hall at 10 a.m.,” you’ll get exactly where I want you to go.
In the same way, AI performs best with detailed prompts.
Consider your AI tools to be like an extra team member. If you brought on a new assistant, you wouldn’t expect them to know your voice, values, or audience without a little guidance up front. The same applies here.
- Who are you and what do you stand for?
- What kind of content performs best with your audience?
- How do you speak to your audience?
- What are your values?
- Where do you post your content? What does your ideal content schedule look like?
People (and technology) can only do so much without this context.
Clear prompts lead to better results while vague prompts are a sure-fire way to receive a disappointing, generic output you won’t want to use.
The more information and guidance you provide, the more AI can mirror your voice and deliver useful, on-brand content.
What makes a good AI prompt?
There are four key elements of a solid AI prompt.
- Context: Who are you? Who is your audience? What do you want your brand to be known for? If you want the content to actually sound like you, your AI tool needs to get to know you first.
- Tone and Voice: How do you normally speak to your audience? What style do they connect with? Professional but warm? Playful and casual? Give your AI tool directions like, “Make it professional but friendly,” or, “Write it like Sherry Crummy would,” so it can adjust its output accordingly.
- Goal: Are you creating a blog post, Instagram caption, ad, or video script? When AI knows the end-goal, it can adjust format, length, and best practices accordingly.
- Iteration: Don’t settle for the first draft. Ask AI to refine its output based on your needs, goals, and preferences. Prompts like, “Make it shorter,” “Rewrite for LinkedIn,” or, “This sounds too formal, rewrite this post with a more casual, fun tone.,”️ give clarity and can improve results.
AI isn’t meant to replace you, it’s simply a tool to support you. So, don’t just run with the first output it provides you. Chances are that version will sound robotic, off-brand, and generic.
The magic happens when you work together, infusing your personality into each prompt or content output, so the final product is uniquely yours.
How to train AI to sound like you
Beyond single prompts, you can also train AI tools like ChatGPT to adopt your style of writing.
Here’s how:
- Into ChatGPT (or your AI tool of choice), share a description of your business, goals, and values. Who are you? What is your business? Provide this baseline so AI has a starting point for content.
- Gather a few samples of your writing like emails, blog posts, and/or social media captions. Paste them into your AI tool with accompanying text along the lines of, “This is my writing style. I’m warm, professional, and conversational. I don’t use emojis. I write in short paragraphs with proper punctuation.” (Of course, tweak this for your brand.)
- Then ask: “How would you describe my tone? What else do you need from me to learn my voice?”
Over time, keep correcting outputs with prompts like:
- “Make this sound more like me.”
- “Rewrite this in my style.”
- “I want my content to sound more ________. Rewrite this in that style.”
Think of this process as onboarding a new assistant. With consistent guidance and tweaking the results, AI will “learn” to match your brand voice more closely.
Two main ways to use AI for content
From my experience, there are two main scenarios where AI shines.
01: Refining what you’ve already written.
Consider this: you’re feeling inspired to write a social media caption or blog, so you draft something. Unfortunately, it feels like something is missing.
If you draft something but it feels flat, too long, or off-tone, paste it into your AI tool and ask for revisions.
For example, prompts like, “Make this blog intro more engaging,” or “Rewrite this caption for Instagram,” can help you refine what you’ve already written.
02: Getting started when you’re stuck.
In this scenario, you know you need to create a specific blog post or social media caption but you just can’t seem to get motivated to write.
In the case of writer’s block, AI is always available to help you with your first draft!
Be as clear as you can in your prompting, and use the tips and suggestions from above, to continue to refine this content until it serves your purpose – and feels like you.
For example, “Create a blog outline on LinkedIn networking strategies for small business owners.”
Both of these use-cases allow you to optimize your content creation process, while keeping your voice at the center of the content.
5 practical uses for AI within your small business
Not sure where to begin? Here are five suggestions for where to start using AI in your business (that you can do today):
- Social Media: Draft captions, suggest hashtags, and adapt posts for different platforms.
- Email Marketing: Ask for some subject lines and opening paragraphs to engage your subscribers, based on the body of content you’ve already prepared.
- Blogging: Outline posts, have AI generate a rough draft, or ask AI to refine what you’ve written for better flow, readability, or SEO.
- Meta Ads: Brainstorm headlines and call-to-actions with back-and-forth prompting and refinement.
- Website Content: Rewrite bios or service pages for clarity or visibility.
Saving a few minutes on each of these tasks adds up fast, especially for small teams.
Which AI tools should you use?
There are dozens of AI tools available, and each has strengths. If you’re new to AI, start with free tools for experimentation.
Check out:
- ChatGPT: Great for drafting, editing, and idea generation. This is my main AI tool of choice!
- Claude: Excellent at summarizing long text or documents.
- Gemini (Google): Connects with Gmail and Google Docs for built-in productivity.
- Perplexity: Works like an AI-powered search engine.
- Mistral: Lightweight, open-source option popular in Europe.
You don’t need to try them all. Choose one based on your goals, whether that be content creation, research, or productivity, and start getting comfortable with what the program can offer you.
ChatGPT: Free vs. Plus
AI is evolving quickly. The latest version of ChatGPT (GPT-5) offers even more advanced capabilities to support your workflows.
One particularly helpful feature is Agents, which can follow multi-step instructions. For example, a prompt like, “Find me 5 blog ideas, outline them, and draft the first post.,” can be handled in one go using GPT-5.
AI will only continue to get smarter and more advanced, but there’s no reason to wait before experimenting. The earlier you get comfortable with these tools, the sooner you can start streamlining your content creation process.
If you’re new to AI, I recommend starting with the free version of ChatGPT to explore its capabilities.
As you begin relying on it more often, you may find yourself needing the added benefits of ChatGPT Plus (like faster speed, memory features, higher generation limits, and access to GPT-5).
| Plan | Free (GPT-3.5) | Plus ($20 USD / month, GPT-4o & GPT-5) |
| Speed | Slower | Faster, priority access |
| Memory | No | Yes, it remembers preferences |
| Tools | Basic only | Includes voice, images, PDFs, Agents |
| File Uploads | No | Yes |
| Custom GPTs | No | Yes |
| Message Limits | 8-10 messages allowed every 3 hours | Extended limits on GPT-5 |
| Best For | Playing around | Daily business use |
Personally, I use the Chat GPT Plus plan daily and feel it’s worth every penny!
Using AI responsibly
AI is powerful, and with great power comes great responsibility.
Keep these ground rules and best practices in mind as you’re using these platforms.
01: Be mindful of bias.
Always double-check facts, confirm information, and ensure that you agree with everything you’re pulling and using from the platform. AI isn’t perfect. It might be referencing outdated, incorrect, or biased information.
02: Beware of plagiarism risks.
Embed your own personality, thoughts, examples, references, and sources into any content you pull from the platform.
More prompting to refine AI outputs will also help ensure the content AI is feeding you is unique.
03: Protect your privacy.
Never paste sensitive client or business data into the platform. It is not a private platform!
04: Understand its limits.
Ultimately, AI is a tool, not a decision-maker.
You are responsible for the content you publish. Keep your business values, standards, and your unique perspective in mind.
Get started today
If you try one thing this week, let it be experimenting with some AI in your content creation process.
Where are you struggling to find motivation in your business? Where do you seem to be experiencing writer’s block? Or where do you lack some expertise (for example of SEO or best practices for a specific platform)?
These are great opportunities for you to bridge the gap between your knowledge, experience, and goals, with the generative powers of platforms like ChatGPT.
- Ask ChatGPT to draft an outline for a blog.
- Have it suggest Instagram caption ideas.
- Use it to refine an email before sending.
The key is to start small, experiment, and refine. Over time, you’re sure to find ways to make AI a natural part of your workflow, without sacrificing your unique voice.
If you’d like extra support, I’ve created a Custom GPT designed for small business owners. It teaches you how to prompt effectively, so you can create content that feels real, human, and on-brand. Send an email to sherry@crummymedia.com and I’ll share it with you!
Note: This blog was adapted from my recent talk at the Carleton Place & District Chamber of Commerce. If you’d like me to bring an AI workshop to your group or organization—or help you tailor AI prompts to your brand—let’s chat.
