5 Ways to Use AI Assistants in Your Small Business (With Prompt Examples)
Running a small business means juggling everything at once - customer service, content creation, market research, strategy & growth. AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can handle tasks that used to take hours.
I use AI daily across my businesses and personally. I often hear from friends and fellow business owners that they don’t understand how to use it better, so here are the 5 ways AI saves me the most time - with specific prompts you can copy and paste into any AI tool.
AI is mighty and useful if you know how to use it well. They can do so much more than write your Instagram captions or grammar-check your email draft. AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini can handle tasks that used to take me hours.
The best way is to think of AI as your second brain.
As a business owner, you can integrate AI into your daily workflow - whether it’s for strategic decisions, brainstorming, business growth and operational efficiency. It’s like having a whole team of experts at your fingertips, available 24/7. Let’s dive into the incredible ways AI can boost your business - I’m going to use examples below with one of my favourite AI tools, Claude:
How To Use AI for Customer Service Responses
From crafting personalised responses to tackling FAQs and navigating those delicate customer service scenarios with finesse, use AI to ensure your customer communication never skips a beat.
The key that most people miss? They simply ask AI to write something without teaching it to write in the voice or tone that they expect. How would AI know? It can’t read your mind. You need to educate it by uploading examples of how you write, and/or describing the tone you expect. The first version or two might not be great, but then the more feedback you give it, the faster it’ll improve.
AI can adapt to you or your brand's unique voice, but you need to teach it. The more detail and the more examples you provide, the better “trained” it is by you. Once you’ve done that, you can then ask it to write customer service responses that will feel on-brand.
Here are some ready-to-copy & paste examples that'll help customer service for nearly any small business:
"Draft a polite response to this customer complaint: [paste complaint here]"
"Create a template for responding to inquiries about our return policy. Our policy is: [briefly describe policy]"
"How can I professionally inform a customer that their requested item is out of stock?"
"Suggest 3 ways to de-escalate a situation with an angry customer complaining about [specific issue]."
"Write a script for a chatbot to handle basic questions about our business hours, location, and contact information."
How To Use AI for Your Content Marketing Strategy
Gone are the days of staring at a blank page, willing inspiration to strike. With Claude as your creative partner, writer's block becomes a thing of the past.
Not sure what content marketing strategy is? Ask AI! Not sure how to create a plan for your business’ content marketing? Again, ask AI. Use it to help you figure out what you don’t know.
Here are some cool examples:
Trend Surfing: Ask Claude to analyse current trends in your niche and generate content ideas that tap into the zeitgeist. Try this prompt: "Identify the top 5 trending topics in [your industry] and suggest 3 unique blog post ideas for each."
SEO Supercharger: Leverage AI to optimise your content for search engines. Paste your content and ask it to "Rewrite this blog post introduction with a focus on the keyword [your target keyword], ensuring it's engaging and naturally incorporates SEO best practices."
Content Calendar Creator: Generate a month's worth of content ideas in minutes. Prompt Claude with: "Create a 30-day content calendar for my [type of business], including blog topics, social media post ideas, and email newsletter themes."
Repurposing Wizard: Maximise your content's reach by using AI to repurpose it across platforms. Try: "Take this blog post about [topic] and create 5 Twitter threads, 3 LinkedIn posts, and 2 Instagram carousel concepts based on its key points."
Audience Persona Insights: Deepen your understanding of your target audience. Ask Claude to "Develop 3 detailed audience personas for my [product/service], including their pain points, aspirations, and preferred content types."
How To Use AI for Competitive Analysis & Market Research
Want to tap into the pulse of your industry without breaking the bank and spending months on manual online research yoursefl? AI is your secret weapon for market insights! It's honestly like having a team of analysts working around the clock to keep you ahead of the curve.
Get your market and competitor research done within a day with these copy & paste AI prompts:
"Summarise the key findings from these 3 industry reports: [paste report links/excerpts]"
"Create a SWOT analysis for our company based on [brief description of your business and market position]"
"Develop 3 customer personas for our target market, including demographics, psychographics, pain points, and preferred communication channels."
Upload screenshots of the homepage screenshots of your competitor’s websites and ask the AI: “These are my competitors, analyse their website home pages and summarise their unique selling points”.
By harnessing AI’s analytical power, you're not just gathering data – you're unlocking a treasure trove of market intelligence that can inform every aspect of your business strategy - so much faster!
How To Use AI for Launching Your New Business, Product and/or Brand
Ready to make a splash in the market? AI is your secret weapon to help you launch fast and well.
Don’t know where to start? That’s okay, let AI do the heavy mental lifting for you!
Fuel your launch with these AI prompts:
"Develop a unique value proposition for [your product/service] that sets it apart from [top 3 competitors].”
“I’m starting a new business: [explain what you’re selling] - create a MVP business plan with action items, that will enable me to launch in two weeks.”
"Create a 30-day pre-launch marketing calendar, including social media posts, email teasers, and influencer outreach strategies."
"Write a press release for the launch of [your product/brand], highlighting its innovative features and market impact."
"Design a layout that optimises conversion for my product launch landing page."
Remember you’re having a conversation with a tool like Claude or ChatGPT, and the more details and feedback you give it, the more relevant and contextual its responses will be for you. You need to get used to conversing with it. It’s not simply a one-touch ASK and receive type tool. You need to nudget it in the right direction.
How to Use AI for Legal & Contracts
Navigating the legal landscape of your business doesn't have to feel like you're decoding ancient hieroglyphs. I love using Claude as an AI legal assistant, helping review contracts, providing initial guidance, and updating existing legal docs with confidence, without the hefty lawyer fees (though remember, for complex matters, always consult a real lawyer!).
From drafting basic agreements to reviewing terms and conditions, AI can help streamline your legal processes and keep your business protected.
We recommend using AI prompts and scenario examples common in small businesses:
"Draft a basic non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for [specific business scenario] - I am based in [state/country]."
Upload the legal document and prompt: "Summarise the key points of this contract in simple, non-legal language. List the main takeaways and anything that should be flagged for further review."
"Write a contract for full-time employment for the [industry]. Ask me what questions or details you may need to ensure this document is comprehensive and covers all key employment law issues. I’m based in [state/country].”
"Review these terms of service and highlight any potential red flags or areas that need clarification: [paste the terms of service]."
"Generate a template for a GDPR-compliant privacy policy for our e-commerce website."
Even something as simple as asking it to simplify a complex legal paragraph in a contract to help you better understand something: "Explain the concept of [legal term] as it applies to [your business scenario] more simply - I’m not a lawyer."
Always consult with a qualified attorney for complex legal matters or when you're unsure. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, you're not just saving time and money – you're empowering yourself with legal knowledge and ensuring your business operations are built on a solid legal foundation.
Want to implement AI in your business but not sure where to start?
We can help you identify how and what AI tools to fit your workflow, create custom prompts for your business and show/teach you how to better use AI ASAP.
