For fourteen years, I have written and published a daily post. When I started, I wrote long posts that were poorly edited, but contained important ideas and strategies. Later, I started to write 500-word posts, as I was trying to make it easier for the reader to read my work during their busy day. For some number of years now, I have crafted a daily post of roughly 1,000 words.
I don’t allow AI to do my writing. The main reason is that it is not a very good writer. It uses terms that human beings don’t typically say, like akin, delve into, revolutionize, and so on. But there are several ways I use AI including GPT and Claude.ai, switching back and forth to get each one to comply with the prompt as I’ve instructed.
Over a few years, I have worked to make my text leaner, editing as I write. For many years, I have had an editor edit my work before we publish it, something I will continue to do as long as I publish, which means forever.
That said, AI is a very good editor if you can prevent it from trying to improve your text by rewriting it. I use a prompt that asks politely “edit without rewriting my text and without reducing my word count,” and even then, AI often releases itself from the prompt and starts generating its own text, like a smart kid who is trying to impress you (maybe that is because it mirrors its creators).
I ask AI to search for spelling errors, missing words, grammar issues, syntax, and run-on sentences. After doing this, you might wonder why I give the text to an actual human to edit again. A real editor will look at the text for clarity, remove redundancies, and straighten out sentences to improve the flow or enhance an idea that might deserve better treatment.
Optimizing Blog Visibility: Integrating Long-Tail Keywords into H2s
This blog has just over 5,200 posts. Because I invest time and energy writing these articles, it’s important to make each one easy for readers to find. To make this possible, I have AI improve my subheadings and add long-tail keywords to the post, giving the article the chance to be found by anyone searching for the question it answers or the topic it covers. Usually I have enough keywords, but Internet searches for "how to improve blog searchability" and "using long-tail keywords in headings" can provide helpful tips.
Leveraging AI for Efficient Social Media Content Creation
Someone contacted me after noticing that a social post contained words that only AI uses, and they asked me if I use AI to write for me. I write every post myself, but I do allow AI to repurpose the text into social posts. Delegating this task to AI allows me to reclaim the time for other work I need to complete. By employing prompts for "AI-generated social media posts" and "repurposing blog content for social media," I enhance my online presence efficiently.
Streamlining Contract Analysis: AI-Assisted Review Strategies
One way to protect your time if you must read contracts is to use AI to seek out the areas that might kill the deal. This includes things like insurance, indemnification, payment terms, and anything else that may be a showstopper. Over the last decade, you see more companies shifting risk to their suppliers, and some states are pushing back on indemnification, especially when the risk runs only one direction. Another contract issue you may have noticed is an increase in cyber insurance, with limits that exceed all other insurances. A payment term of 90 days may also require negotiation, even if a client is large. Incorporating "AI tools for contract review" and "identifying deal-breakers in contracts with AI" can streamline this process significantly.
Pre-meeting Preparation: Gaining Industry and Company Insights through AI
It’s never good to show up for a meeting without being prepared. You need to know as much as you can about your client’s company and their industry. When you show up cold, counting on your wit and charm to pass the first meeting, your contact may deduct points from your final grade, especially if you ask questions you could have answered with a little effort and a bit more professionalism. Prompts related to "using AI for business research" and "AI-assisted industry-analysis techniques" ensure you're always prepared.
The Expanding Role of AI: Present Applications and Future Possibilities
I use AI for several other things, and I have engineered prompts, adding them to a text expander so I can paste them into a platform with just a couple of keys. I am not a technologist, but I do recognize the value of artificial intelligence for sales, and for a host of other uses that are not yet available. Current and future AI applications and innovative uses of AI in business represent a frontier of opportunity that I continually explore.
In the future, you can expect a book from Jeb Blount and me titled AI Edge. You can pre-order now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.