One habit before you start: leave out customer names, phone numbers, addresses and anything private. Write "the customer" instead. ChatGPT doesn't need them to help you.
Task 1 of 5
Reply to that enquiry
There's an enquiry sitting in your inbox from yesterday. In about five minutes you'll have a friendly, clear reply that sounds like you and moves the customer to the next step.
Step 1Get the first draft
I run a small business: [what you do and where, e.g. a home bakery in Geelong]. A customer sent me this enquiry: [paste the enquiry, with names and contact details removed]. Write a friendly, professional reply that answers their question and includes [the details they need: price, availability, what happens next]. Keep it under 120 words and make it sound like a real person.
Step 2Make it sound like you
Make it warmer and a little more casual. Use Australian spelling. I usually sign off with [your sign-off, e.g. "Warmly, Sarah"].
Step 3Move it forward
Add one line at the end that invites them to [book a call / place an order / reply with a date that suits], without sounding pushy.
The more ChatGPT knows about your business and the customer, the less you have to fix. Vague in, vague out. And you took the names out first, which is the right habit with any customer information.
Task 2 of 5
Write this week's social post
You know you should post. You don't know what. By the end of this task you'll have a caption you'd actually be happy to publish, in your own voice.
Step 1Get some ideas
Give me 5 ideas for an Instagram post for my business, [what you do]. My customers are [who they are, e.g. busy mums in Melbourne's east]. This week I want to [promote a special / share a tip / show behind the scenes].
Step 2Turn one into a caption
I like idea [number]. Write it as a caption of about 80 words, end it with a question that invites comments, and suggest 5 hashtags that suit a local small business.
Step 3Give it your voice
Here are two captions I've written before: [paste two of your old posts]. Rewrite the new caption so it sounds like me. Keep my kind of humour and the way I talk to my customers.
You asked for options, then chose. ChatGPT never runs out of ideas, and you're the editor who knows your customers. Showing it your old writing is the quickest way to stop it sounding like a robot.
Task 3 of 5
Handle the awkward email
Every business has the email you keep putting off. Pick the one closest to yours. You'll have a calm, clear draft in a few minutes, and the decision about what's fair stays with you.
Step 1Choose your situation
Option A: chasing a late payment
Write a polite but firm email to a client whose invoice for [amount] was due on [date]. This is my [first / second] reminder. I want to keep a good relationship, and I need payment by [date].
Option B: saying no to a discount
A client has asked me for a discount on [your service or product]. I don't want to lower my price, but I'd like to keep them. Write a kind reply that holds my price and offers [an alternative, e.g. a smaller package or a payment plan].
Option C: running behind on a job
I need to tell a client that [the job] will be [how many] days late because [the real reason]. Write an honest email that apologises once, gives a new date of [date] and doesn't over-explain.
Step 2Check how it lands
Read this email as the client would. Does anything sound defensive, passive aggressive or unclear? Point it out, then give me a fixed version.
The hard part of these emails is the feeling, not the words. Letting ChatGPT write the first draft means you can stay calm and think about what's fair. Asking it to read the email as the client is a check you can use on anything that matters.
Task 4 of 5
Untangle your to-do list
Your business lives in your head, on sticky notes and in three different apps. In this task you'll get it all out, sorted and turned into a plan that fits the hours you actually have.
Step 1Empty your head
Here's everything on my mind for my business right now, in no order: [type it all out, messy is fine]. Sort it into four groups: must do this week, can wait, could hand off or automate, and can drop.
Step 2Make a realistic plan
I have about [number] hours for business work this week, around [school runs / another job / other commitments]. Turn the "must do" group into a day-by-day plan. Put the smallest task first so I get a quick win.
Step 3Find the shortcuts
Looking at my whole list, which two jobs could ChatGPT help me with, and exactly how?
ChatGPT isn't only a writer. It's a thinking partner that doesn't get overwhelmed. Getting everything out of your head and into a plan is how you stay regulated while you juggle, which is the whole idea behind The Regulation Collective.
Task 5 of 5
Just for you
The last one isn't about the business. It's about the person running it.
Step 1Take a proper break
I run a small business and today has been [describe your day in a sentence]. Suggest a 10-minute reset I can do before [school pick-up / my next client / dinner] that doesn't involve my phone.
Step 2See what you actually did
Here's what I got done today: [list everything, small things included]. Write me a short, kind end-of-day note that reminds me how much that actually is.
You used the same tool that writes your emails to look after yourself. That counts. A business is only as steady as the woman running it.
Tired of copying and pasting?
These prompts are a great start. But if you'd rather these jobs happened on their own, without opening ChatGPT and pasting a prompt every time, I can set that up for you.
- Enquiry replies drafted for you as soon as they arrive
- A month of social posts planned and scheduled in one go
- Follow-ups and reminders that send themselves
You did it
Thirty minutes ago, this was new.
- Context in, quality out. Tell ChatGPT about your business and your customer.
- Ask for options. Then choose, because you know your customers best.
- Show it your voice. Old posts and emails stop it sounding like a robot.
- Use it to think. Messy lists in, calm plans out.
- Keep customers private. Names and contact details stay out.
Pick one of these tasks and do it again next week. That's how it becomes a habit.
Stay regulated and get things done. Amanda