📜Tried AI and got garbage? Let’s fix that.

Let’s talk about something that happens all the time that no one wants to admit…

You open ChatGPT, and ask it to write an Instagram caption or maybe give you a few Facebook post ideas.

And what it gave you back was boring, generic, or just plain wrong. It was so bad, you just closed the tab and went to scroll Instagram instead. 😩

That’s why this week’s Scroll is all about telling the truth no one talks about - why ChatGPT isn’t working for you — and giving you a prompt that actually delivers. 🔥

You’re about to learn:

• Why ChatGPT’s responses often flop (and it’s not what you think!)
  

• A plug-and-play prompt you can try today
  

• 3 Key Elements to an effective prompt

Ready to make content easier? Let’s go!

PROMPT OF THE WEEK

Today’s Prompt

Struggling to grow your Instagram audience and increase engagement? Try this prompt…

“You are a social media expert helping [insert business type] write engaging Instagram posts. Suggest 3 post ideas that are:
✅ Fun to read
✅ Specific to my audience
✅ Designed to increase comments and saves”

Swap in your niche (ex: skincare brand, online coach, jewelry store) and see what happens. The results? Should be waaaaay better than “Write a caption.”

BEHIND THE PROMPT

Create Scroll-Stopping Content

If coming up with content is draining your soul, my AI Social Media Prompt Journal will fix that.

This journal helps you plan, prompt, and post smarter using ChatGPT. It’s filled with guided exercises, templates, and space to brainstorm. It’s your new go-to content companion.

You’ll get:

✅ 30 Days of Done-for-you social media prompts
📸 Simple exercises on how to write prompts
🗂️ Fill-in-the-blank templates
✨ Space to organize your content ideas + practice prompting

So instead of wondering why ChatGPT gave you a weird paragraph about lawn care—you’ll know exactly what to ask and how to ask it.

👉 Click here to grab your copy

BEYOND THE SCROLL

Why ChatGPT Gives You Garbage (and how to fix it)

Have you ever opened up ChatGPT, asked it to write something for your business—like a social media caption or an email—and what came back was... 😩 boring? Off-brand? Just plain wrong?

It happens to everyone.

But here’s the truth most people don’t know:

It’s not your fault. It’s your prompt.

Let me explain 👇

AI Is the Moment

Let’s look at the big picture first. Here’s a quote from President Biden’s Farewell Address:

We are so blessed to be living in a time when artificial intelligence is readily available to everyone.  AI can do things quicker, faster, and cheaper than ever before.  This is great news to people like us who are running online businesses.  

One of my favorite sayings is:

“Let the machines do what the machines do. And let the humans do what humans can do.”

What this means is that “the machines” - or AI - can do things faster than you can. So let them. And we as humans should aim to only do tasks that the machines can’t do.  Don’t work hard—work smarter. Let AI handle all the repetitive, tedious, boring stuff so you can focus on growing your business.

But there’s a catch...

ChatGPT Is Only as Good as the Human Using It

So here is where we begin to see why prompts are so important.  Because in order to fully harness the power of ChatGPT, you have to know how to use it correctly.  And to be even more specific, you have to know how to prompt in order to get great results from ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is like your personal assistant who never sleeps or takes a break—but it’s not a mind reader.

So if you’ve ever felt like ChatGPT didn’t give you what you wanted, the problem isn’t the tool.

The problem is the prompt.

Prompting is like fishing.  ChatGPT is a lake that contains all the data on the internet and your prompt is the fishing rod.  You have to write a good prompt in order to pull exactly what you want out of the lake.  If not, you can pull out an old shoe, a fish you don’t want or nothing at all.  

Prompting Is a Skill (That You Must Learn)

The key to unleashing ChatGPT’s power is to learn how to prompt. 

Now we’ve all randomly typed stuff into ChatGPT and gotten good results.  And that might lead you to think that you don’t need any type of prompt training.  But let me caution you against that line of thinking.  In order to consistently get ChatGPT to respond correctly, you have to learn how to prompt.

When you learn how to prompt correctly, you can unlock the full power of ChatGPT. It helps us save time, improve efficiency, and handle tasks like social media and email marketing faster, better, and cheaper than we ever could.

There’s actually a job title for this now: Prompt Engineer.

And they’re making upwards of six figures just by knowing how to write good instructions for AI.
But don’t worry—you don’t need a tech degree to do this well.

You just need to understand what to say, how to say it and what ChatGPT needs to know. 

Let me school you.

The 3 Elements of a Great Prompt

Here’s my simple framework:

1. Be Specific

You have to tell ChatGPT exactly what you want.

Think of it like hiring a virtual assistant on Day 1. If you say,

“Can you create something for my business?”
You’ll get something totally random—and probably unusable—because they don’t know what you're selling, who you're selling to, or what the goal is.

ChatGPT works the same way. It’s not a mind reader. You can’t be vague and expect great results.

The clearer and more specific you are about what you want, the faster you’ll get output you can actually use.

ChatGPT doesn’t know what you want unless you spell it out.

2. Provide Context

ChatGPT needs background info to do its job well, so you have to help ChatGPT understand your business. Typing something into ChatGPT like:

“Write a post for my jewelry business,”
is like asking someone to make dinner without telling them if you’re vegan, allergic to peanuts, or cooking for a toddler.

You gotta give ChatGPT the who, what, and why.
Are you selling handmade bracelets for teens? High-end wedding sets? Your audience and product matter—and ChatGPT will adjust its response if you tell it what it’s working with.

Don’t just say “write a post for my jewelry business.” Are you selling to teenagers? Do you sell turquoise jewelry only? Give it context. 

3. Define Tone and Style

ChatGPT can match your brand voice—but only if you tell it what tone and style to use. If you want your ChatGPT output to sound like you, then you need to tell it what you sound like.

Do you want the response to sound casual? Corporate? Fun? 

Without tone and style direction, ChatGPT will default to something bland and generic —which the opposite of scroll-stopping.

Try adding things to your prompts like:

“Make it sound like a best friend giving advice.”
“Use short sentences and a fun tone, like a Gen Z creator.”
“Sound confident and casual, like a coach who gets results.”

The more voice direction you give ChatGPT, the more its responses will sound like it came from you, not a robot.

Let’s look at a few examples…

Bad Prompt vs. Good Prompt Example

Let’s say you want to write an Instagram post for your Shopify jewelry store. Here’s what I see most people do:

Bad Prompt: “Write a social media post for my jewelry business.”

You’ll probably get something generic output like:

“Jewelry is the perfect gift for someone special. Shop now!”

Eh. Not helpful, not unique.

Here’s how to fix it:

Good Prompt: “You are a social media strategist. Write an Instagram post for my jewelry business. We sell handmade turquoise jewelry for Gen Z women. Make it fun, casual, and include an engaging question to increase comments.”

ChatGPT Output:

“Turquoise is basically the main character this summer 💅✨ Which piece would you rock on vacation: bold earrings or a dainty bracelet? Tell us below! ⛱️👇 #turquoisevibes #handmadejewelry”

Now that’s content you can actually use.

Wanna Go Deeper?

A few months ago, I had a “Prompt Party" where I taught these 3 elements of a great prompt in depth.  I recorded it and in the video, I walk through even more examples.  I demonstrate in ChatGPT what happens when you use vague prompts vs. specific prompts. I also show how to layer in tone, provide business context, and fine-tune the output ChatGPT gives you. You’ll see just how powerful ChatGPT can be when you use the 3 elements of a great prompt effectively.

It’s about an hour and it’s great to watch or listen to while you’re on the treadmill, driving to work, etc.

👉 Click here to watch the Prompt Party

So here’s the bottom line, sometimes ChatGPT gives you boring, off-target content.

But here’s what you need to remember: ChatGPT isn’t broken. It just needs better directions. 

The better your prompt, the better your results.
And with just a few small changes, you can go from frustrated and stuck… to fast, fun, and done.

Or if you’re like me, you can do things like…

Drop off and pick up my kids from school every day

Binge watch my fav shows (this week, I’m watching Black Mirror and White Lotus)

Spend more time with my family and friends

while AI does the heavy-lifting!

SCROLL TO THE END

Here’s how I can help

1. New to AI? Start learning with my free, email course → ChatGPT 101 

2. Want to see it in action? Watch the replay of my “Prompt Party” where I break it all down and show you exactly how to use what we covered.

3. Pressed for time but still need to post? Grab the AI Content Kit with 50+ prompts, images, captions, hashtags, templates + more → AI Content Kit

See ya next week!

Dr. Marcella Wilson

P.S. - Have a happy Holy Week!