The worst way to use ChatGPT (and why it’s actually the best way)

I gotta be careful with what I reveal in this here email…

Not because I’m scared someone will “steal my thunder.” But actually because what I’m about to reveal comes from a paid newsletter that I’m not allowed to share with yinz (Pittsburgh slang for “you,” by the way).

Of course, I’m not sharing exact step-by-step copy, secrets, tools, or techniques. Rather what I’m sharing is the main takeaway—something that will help you if’n you use ChatGPT.

Now, before I get into it, I’m not the biggest fan of ChatGPT. But I also use it. I fit into a weird mold of copywriters who think it kinda sucks but is also kinda useful.

But the way it’s useful?

Probably not the way you think.

Here’s why:

Amateur copywriters and ecom brand owners larping as copywriters think that they can outsource the entire job of a copywriter to ChatGPT. (On the more “on the spectrum” side of this, some foolish mfs even think they can outsource an entire business creation model to ChatGPT by asking it to build them a million dollar a year business.)

But the good copywriters know this ain’t happening anytime soon.

I mean, try it for yourself:

Head to ChatGPT’s website right now and ask it to write a marketing email about a new financial freedom course.

You’ll get worse copy than some of these Cold DM dudes (who send thousands of cold DMs with shyt offers to people who would never buy their offer anyway).

But this worst way to use AI to write copy gives you insights into the best way to do it:

Y’see, ChatGPT, at least as it functions currently in early 2023, is better used as a “what not to write” tool than a “what to write” tool. This also applies to using it for research. Some of the ideas it spits out are decent, but most are rubbish.

But if’n you understand the mental flip that comes when you think of it as a “what not to do” vs a “what to do” thang, then, well, methinks you’ll get a lot more use out of it.

So, here’s your homework for today:

Ponder this thought for the rest of your day.

Try to implement this idea within the next 5 minutes, just so it “sticks.”

And when you realize ChatGPT ain’t all it’s cracked out to be, and you need a *real* copywriter to help you turn emails on your list into cold, hard cashola?

Grab a time here, and we’ll chat.

John