- Jen Glantz is a solopreneur and content creator who tests out new side hustles and income streams.
- When she had her first child, she turned to ChatGPT to help her with time-consuming tasks.
For the past seven years, I've been a solopreneur and a content creator who's constantly trying to find new ways to bring in money, from side hustles to passive-income streams. But when I became a first-time mom in March, I struggled to keep my businesses running at full speed.
In the past, I've hired virtual assistants and freelancers to help me build my website, manage social media, and create content, but I had to invest a lot of time into training them. With less time to do that now, I decided to turn to ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, to help me get my work done.
I found that not only did it save me time and money, but it helped me grow my business. Here are the five ways I use ChatGPT to help increase my profits.
1. I researched SEO-friendly topics and keywords
For years, my maid-of-honor speech-writing services ranked highly when people would search for this type of help on Google. I charge $375 to write someone's speech, and I was writing five to 10 speeches a month just from search traffic.
Over time, more competitors popped up, and my rankings on Google dipped — and so did my bookings, which fell to about three to five a month.
I thought about hiring an SEO expert to help me, but the ones I contacted charged around $2,000. Instead, I asked ChatGPT to help me optimize my website.
I first asked for SEO key words to use for a maid-of-honor speech-writing service. I then used those words throughout my website's landing page and in blog posts.
I started gaining traffic again, even with new competitors popping up. A few months after making these changes, my bookings climbed back to around five to seven a month.
2. I leaned on ChatGPT for social media help
I've hired freelance social-media consultants before for anywhere between $1,500 to $3,000 a month to help me strategize content and even post for me. It took me anywhere from 10 to 20 hours to onboard them.
This time, I used ChatGPT to help me brainstorm content for static Instagram posts and TikTok videos. I asked the tool to share a script to use when a person wants to turn down being a bridesmaid but feels awkward doing so. I used that script in a Reel that generated over 6 million views, which is a record amount of views for my Instagram content.
I also used the tool to help me think of captions for posts. I had a folder of photos I was waiting to post on Instagram and videos based on TikTok trends, but I didn't have clever and engaging captions to use. Instead of carving out the time to write them, I asked ChatGPT to create a caption for a video about being a bridesmaid by saying: "Help me end this caption. 'When you've been a bridesmaid six times already this year and ____.'"
It generated "and your bank account is crying for a break." I used that as a text overlay to a prerecorded video I created using trending a TikTok audio, and it performed well.
I also asked ChatGPT to find the best hashtags to use for content about being a bridesmaid on TikTok. When I used hashtags for "catching the bouquet" and "being a constant bridesmaid," I noticed more engagement on those videos than I had with others.
While I've used other hashtag tools in the past, ChatGPT cut down my research time by 75% and provided me with more thoughtful hashtags than the generic ones that other platforms can spit out.
3. I asked it to help me write pitch emails for brand sponsors and partners
One of my biggest sources of income is brand deals and partnerships. Companies will pay me a few thousand dollars to advertise their products on my social-media channels, inside my newsletter, and on my podcast.
To land these deals, I have to spend at least 20 hours a month researching brands, sending pitch emails, and following up with them. I could pay an ad-sales professional, but that would eat into my profit, since most take a 15 to 20% commission fee.
Instead, I used ChatGPT to help me brainstorm lists of brands to reach out to. Since I started creating more content about being a mom, I asked the tool to share 25 new or trendy baby brands that work with influencers.
I took the list it gave me and decided to pitch to each of the brands. To find the influencer manager at these brands, I did a quick LinkedIn search and plugged the person's name into a free email-finding tool. Usually, this whole process would take me one to two hours a week. When I used ChatGPT, it only took 15 minutes.
I then asked the tool to write a pitch email to a baby brand from the perspective of an influencer who wants to work with them. The tool drafted a template for me to use and even included a handful of content ideas that might impress the brand.
It took me an additional 15 minutes to generate these emails and send them out to the 25 brands. Of the 25 that I pitched to, five declined, 10 haven't replied, and five asked for more information or to set up a phone call.
So far, I've secured a deal with one of those brands, and they provided me over $500 worth of free merchandise in exchange for a social-media video and newsletter mention.
4. I found a quick way to create strategies and do competitor analysis for new products
I'm currently building a maid-of-honor speech-writing tool using AI software. Before the tool launches, I wanted to do a thorough competitor analysis and craft a go-to-market strategy to share with my team.
In the past, working on putting these two strategies together would've taken me more than 20 hours. If I'd hired a business strategist to help, I would've paid close to $2,000.
Instead, I used ChatGPT to give me a competitor analysis of the maid-of-honor speech-writing landscape. I took that information and worked on branding elements, pricing, and even differentiating our product from others.
I then asked the tool to create a go-to-market strategy for a maid-of-honor speech-writing tool that uses AI. In seconds, it gave me a first draft of a strategy that I then refined with just a few additional hours of work.
5. I asked for help with customer-service responses and upsells
I sell a handful of different products and services, from courses to in-person wedding support. On any given day, my inbox has about 15 to 20 emails from customers with questions. Hiring a virtual assistant to monitor my inbox would cost around $250 to $500 a week.
To streamline the process, I analyzed the top 10 problems that people often reach out about and asked ChatGPT to write response emails to these problems using comforting and professional language.
Some people have trouble accessing my online course after they've purchased it. I asked ChatGPT to write a response for this and it generated a comprehensive reply that walked the person through the exact steps to access the course and what to do if they're still having trouble after. Writing this myself would've taken me at least 30 minutes, and I wanted to make sure the tone I used wasn't condescending.
When people finish a course, they then often email me to share how impactful it was. I asked ChatGPT to write an upsell email pitching my coaching services without using a salesperson's tone of voice. I sent what it drafted to five different customers last month and started having conversations with two people who might be interested in hiring me for coaching, which would bring in close to $1,000.