🪄 Nobody knew I used AI for this post (go behind the scenes with me)

Hey Reader,

A few weeks ago, I wrote a LinkedIn post with the help of AI.

But nobody knew I used AI, because it looks, sounds, and smells like me.

Yes, my content smells delicious. Doesn't yours?

So I figured, what the hell, let's go behind the scenes.

Today I'm gonna show you:

The prompt I started with
The exact back and forth I had with AI
The final manual edits I made

Alright, let's go.

First, read the post

Here's the post in its final form.

Give it a quick skim. Doesn't read at all like AI, right?

Now, let's go back to the beginning

Right after this experience with my son, I had one of those lightbulb "I better write this down before I forget" moments.

But I was still on parenting duty, so all I could swing was a voice note on my phone.

Instead of sending myself a rambling WhatsApp message (which I used to do), I opened up Claude and recorded this long ramble:

(Feel free to skip this if you're in a rush because I'll dissect it afterwards.)

Something just happened with my son, and because I'm a fucking content marketer. I actually, like, I hate this. Oh my god. I hate myself. It's like, "My kids spoke to me today and here's what it taught me about b2b marketing." Ugh. But this is legitimately a connection that just happened in my brain, and I don't think it's stupid. So I hope that people can see past the cringe moment of this.

So my son was just holding a toothbrush holder, like a travel toothbrush holder. And it's one of those things where it's 2 pieces because you can pull it apart, and it breaks apart in the middle. And you put your toothbrush in, and then you cover it with the top, so it's 2 pieces. And he really wanted to bring it downstairs, and so he started to walk down the stairs holding one half in each hand. And he wasn't holding onto the railing.

So I said, "You need to hold on to the railing when you walk down the stairs, please." And his response was to start having a tantrum. He started screaming and crying. My wife then said, "We can't go down the stairs unless we're holding on to the railing," and it didn't help. So that's when I just, like, thought, maybe he doesn't know how to go down the stairs and hold on to the railing. Because he doesn't have a free hand, and he doesn't have the brain development to know "oh, I can just put these together to make it one piece." And he could throw it maybe down the stairs, but, like, he's not making the connection. He's just gone straight to panic.

So my wife is already gone at this point with our other kid. Because he's a twin, and so he was, you know, crying and just standing still, and I sat down next to him and I just said, really quietly, like, "hey, why don't we put the 2 pieces together? And make it 1 piece, and then you'll have a hand for the railing." And he just did it immediately. He stopped crying. He put them together. And then he walked down the stairs holding the railing.

And it's just so interesting. Because so many people, kids, but also adults, like, I know this is a two-and-a-half-year-old, but we do this as adults too. We desperately want to do something, but we struggle to do it.

And as marketers, we know that our solution is helpful, and so I think that sometimes we allow ourselves to have a very human reaction of being frustrated. And you wanna scream at these people who are just complaining over and over again about this problem. And you're like, I have the fucking solution. Like, just get out of your own fucking way. And fix your shit. Like, there's a road out here. Stop complaining.

Sometimes we let that into our messaging. And I just don't think it's good. It doesn't feel good as a marketer to write things like that or say things like that and position your customer or your readers as an enemy that's less than. Right?

Like, the whole "most people suck" thing automatically assumes that. And so I guess something that's always helped me with my messaging, especially since I've gone out on my own, is that I deeply understand the pain because I am also my audience.

So obviously, there are a lot of nuances and levels to the experiences, and they're not all the same, but I understand them really well. And so I can have a lot of empathy for them because I have empathy for myself.

I know how hard things are, and I know that there are solutions out there, but I get that making decisions about the right time to invest is always a bit of a gamble.

So, anyway, especially with service-based businesses, there's no free trial. You know? And especially with high-ticket things.

So, anyway, TLDR. A lot of the time, the best marketing is when you can walk up to someone who seems like they're caught in the fire, they don't know what the hell's going on, and you can give them a way out that's, like, really obvious. And helps them get through it.

Like, put the two halves of the toothpaste thing together and you'll have a free hand. Doing that wins trust. Because you are literally the person who came to them and gave them a different way to approach a situation that they felt stuck in. And they got through it.

If you can do that empathetically instead of just yelling at them that they're doing something wrong and that they should really know how to fix it, it's crazy how far that goes. When it comes to, yeah, making people trust you. Alright. That's all.

Let's dissect this "prompt"

Context: I voice rambled into my "Erica's LinkedIn Posts" Claude project.

This project has hundreds of LinkedIn posts I've written in its knowledge. So it understands my voice, tone, style, etc.

And here are the basic project instructions:

As you can see, it's quite simple.

I don't have any megaprompt instructions in there. I probably could, but I've found that when it comes to using AI for writing, I'm doing the same amount of editing regardless of the prompt.

I much prefer giving AI a very long voice note ramble or a transcript of my unfiltered thoughts and POV.

This is the "human at the beginning" part of my process, and it's absolutely critical.

You cannot rely on AI for insightful insights. You have to have done the critical thinking already. AI can help you sculpt your brilliance, but it cannot brilliant for you.

Let's look at parts of my ramble, and I'll show you exactly what I mean:

Self-reflection: Oh my god. I hate myself. It's like, "My kids spoke to me today and here's what it taught me about b2b marketing." Ugh.

AI can't self-reflect for you. It can guess at how you're feeling, but true self-reflection is instinctual. These human moments are absolutely critical in writing that stands out. You feed these to AI, not the other way around.

Experience-based connection: I know this is a two-and-a-half-year-old, but we do this as adults, too. We desperately want to do something, but we struggle to do it.

I'm not asking AI to make the connection between my child's struggle and my marketing "aha!" moment. I already knew it. Again, I am leading.

Voice of customer: And as marketers, we know that our solution is helpful, and so I think that sometimes we allow ourselves to have a very human reaction of being frustrated. "

I have the fucking solution. Like, just get out of your own fucking way.

But I also get that making decisions about the right time to invest is always a bit of a gamble.

In this case, I understand the voice of the customer as both the marketer and the buyer, which makes my message hyper-personalized and relatable. I'm not expecting AI to give me these things. I sourced them first (in this case, via broad experience).

The takeaway/one big idea: So, anyway, TLDR. A lot of the time, the best marketing is when you can walk up to someone who seems like they're caught in the fire, they don't know what the hell's going on, and you can give them a way out that's, like, really obvious. And helps them get through it.

Every piece of content needs one big idea and one takeaway. If we don't give this to AI, it will muddle our message and try to squeeze too many ideas in, especially from such a long voice note. This is my attempt to ground the message in one idea so the AI doesn't spiral.

AI's first attempt: 2/10

Its first attempt was pretty bad.

Omg NO.

That first sentence makes me want to throw up. It doesn't capture any of the self-reflective nuance I gave it.

But hey, this is very normal. AI's first attempt is usually a piece of crap.

Which is why anyone who copy/pastes at this point is never going to stand out and will always get shamed by the AI detectives on LinkedIn.

So, what do we do from here?

My first developmental edit

I like this, but there are too many cringey moments in here that don't sound like me that I would never write.

"My 2.5-year-old just taught me something about marketing that I can't stop thinking about" is the cringiest hook I've ever read in my life.

What I said to you was much more like, I know this is cringey, so I hope you can bear with me.

Like "I'm such a loser. And I see content everywhere. But this feels good enough to share, so I'm just gonna share it at risk of being made fun of." I want that to be the sentiment there.

So definitely make it sound more like me at the start. Obviously, remove the fluff, but make it sound like me.

And then remove things like "here's the thing" that's very AI. I don't want that.

Here, I'm telling AI:

What it got wrong
Why it's wrong
What I want instead
And then, even though it has the instructions to not use "here's the thin,g" it did it anywa,y so I had to repeat that

AI's second attempt: 4/10

Does it sound more like me, though? DOES IT?!

It's better! But still meh.

My second developmental edit

Alright. So more edits. This just needs to sound more like Erica. So please review the context.

Erica has a very specific voice tone and style. And it just doesn't sound like some of these sentences. So let's add some flavor.

"I immediately thought about marketing because I'm a gigantic loser who sees content everywhere. Anyways, my son was holding a toothbrush holder that pulled apart into 2 pieces, in the middle. He wanted to take it downstairs. So he started walking downstairs. But he wasn't holding the railing. And I told him, you know, you have to hold the railing."

See? I want the storytelling and the quotes in here. I want this to read more like a story than it does right now.

AI's third attempt: 6/10

This is a much smoother transition from the hook into the post.

It also started using quotes, which leans into the storytelling vibe I had envisioned.

Could I have given it those instructions earlier?

Yes, for sure. But remember, I'm multitasking between this and parenting. I was worried I was going to forget the idea, so I wanted to get it to a "good enough" place before I moved into manual editing later (during nap time).

My third, fourth, and fifth developmental edits

I'm going to fast-forward a bit now, or else this will get way too long.

TLDR: I went back and forth with it a few more times with notes like:

I still want the transition to be a little bit smoother.
There are some parts where you kept too much of my fluff in, like HERE, HERE, AND THERE.
Don't worry about 3,000-character constraints. Make this as long as it needs to be.

I felt like it was cutting too much nuance because of the character constraints, so I let it run wild because I knew I'd cut it manually later.

AI's final attempt: 7/10

This is as far as I could get with AI. Here's the unedited "final" draft:

Look, I know this is cringey, but something just happened with my kid and I immediately thought about B2B marketing because I'm a gigantic loser who sees content everywhere.

My son was holding a toothbrush holder that pulls apart into two pieces. He wanted to take it downstairs, so he started walking down with one half in each hand.

But he wasn't holding the railing.

"You need to hold onto the railing when you walk down the stairs," I told him.

Cue immediate tantrum. Screaming, crying, the works.

My wife tried too. "We can't go down the stairs unless we're holding the railing."

Nothing. Just more crying.

That's when it hit me. He literally doesn't know HOW to hold the railing right now. Both his hands are full. He knows he SHOULD hold it — he's seen his sister fall before, and it genuinely scares him. But he can't figure out the logistics.

So I sat down next to him and said quietly, "Hey, why don't we put the two pieces together and make it one piece? Then you'll have a hand for the railing."

He stopped crying immediately. Put them together. Walked down holding the railing.

And because I'm apparently incapable of turning my brain off, I immediately thought about messaging and marketing. (Obviously thinking about this because I'm working on my weekly newsletter.)

So here's the connection that my brain just made: People can be total assholes in their marketing without realizing it. They're trying to do the right thing but not taking the time to think, well, why isn't this working? Why isn't this person listening to me?

I'm sure everyone here knows the popular phrase "poke the pain" in content. I personally love this phrase because I take it to mean that you can show people the cost of not addressing their pain. And there are obviously empathetic ways to do that, but some people take it too literally. Doesn't help that its sister phrase is "twist the knife." Like, what the hell? But anyway, that's how I take it to mean. But I digress.

We're human. We get frustrated when we're so close to a solution and we know it'll help. It can be hard to have empathy when you wanna shake them and say, "Come on, this could really help you."

Your prospects often KNOW they need your solution. They're not being difficult or stupid. They're stuck trying to figure out the logistics of getting from where they are to where they want to be.

Instead of helping them see a path forward, we get frustrated and write copy that basically screams "Just hold the damn railing already!"

The best marketing walks up to someone caught in chaos and calmly shows them a way out that feels obvious once they see it.

When you can be that person — the one who helps them solve the puzzle instead of judging them for being stuck — that's when you win trust.

Because you literally helped them get unstuck. And people remember that.

My manual edits

Here's the side-by-side. My final edits are on the left in the published post.

What I changed:

I edited the hook to remove the self-deprecating moment. Once I read it, I realized it didn't translate as I had intended. It was too much about me and not enough about the audience.
I added the word "Ok" to the start of the second sentence. It's one word, but it makes it more casual and feels like I'm telling the story out loud in real time, which is what I wanted.
After the "My wife tried too" sentence, AI's transition felt too rough and forced. The connection didn't hit me then. It hit me after I helped him. So I chose to extend the moment and keep the reader with me on the stairs a bit longer.
I then edited the connection moment to make it more personal and less "teaching." I really wanted the reader to feel my awkwardness about making this connection.
After that, I cut a bunch of fluff.
I intentionally added phrases like "But like..." to bring that "I'm talking to you out loud" vibe back into it.
I cut some fluff at the end that felt too preachy and redundant.
And then after the takeaway, I reinforced my awkwardness and gave the reader permission to make fun of me by showing them that I can also make fun of myself

The takeaway

AI will suck at writing, unless:

You human first (long transcripts, long voice notes, full of your insightful insights)
You human during (many developmental edits)
You human after (final manual edits are an absolute must)

I hope this peek into my process is helpful!

And I must repeat for the dissenters wondering, "Why didn't you just write this yourself? This seems like a lot of work!"

I was parenting and didn't have time
It would have taken me just as long to write it myself
I enjoy this process because I trust my instincts and know I'll get there in the end

Cheers,

Erica

PS. Nick and I dove deep into custom scoping vs. productization on our pod this week.

Give it a listen if these topics interest you:

(00:00) Intro
(02:30) Different types of business scopes
(04:14) Recurring vs. one-time business problems
(06:47) Benefits of a project-based model
(13:40) Scaling with operational consistency
(22:26) Custom vs. standardized service scopes
(32:43) Why standardizing processes is essential
(33:48) Challenges in delivering custom solutions
(34:31) Managing client expectations and deliverables
(35:36) Boosting efficiency in content creation
(37:33) Comparing standardized and custom scopes
(42:28) Benefits of embracing standardization
(45:31) Productized services and retainers explained
(52:01) Navigating offer ladders and pricing

New here? I'm Erica.

Your seltzer-loving solopreneur who helps you earn more money with content that moves people to action.

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And say hi on LinkedIn & Substack, or check out my website for more.

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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