Have you been hearing a lot about AI and AI writing tools?
ChatGPT is here, and everyone is going bonkers on Twitter. Wherever you look, it’s on Youtube, Medium, and Google!
The age of an AI writing tool is here, and as freelance writers, we need to EMBRACE this new way of writing.
I know many writers are thinking this is the end of freelance writing, but it’s not.
In fact, with the advent of using an AI writing tool, you can offer new jobs – prompt engineering & AI specialist – as a freelancer!
So, now is THE time to jump on the bandwagon and start using these tools.
The AI Writing Tool I Use
I’ve been using Jasper AI for a year or so and have found it helpful in creating content since I have multiple blogs.
If you are unfamiliar, Jasper AI uses templates and recipes to write content like blog posts, emails, marketing materials, bios, social media posts, and more.
If you want to learn how to use Jasper AI as a freelance writer (and make more money since you can offer new services), I have a course called Jasper AI Writing Prep.
The other AI writing tool I use is ChatGPT from OpenAI.
ChatGPT is fun to use as you can “talk” to ChatGPT and have a conversation about whatever you want to talk about (reasonably).
For this post, I want to share the best ways I use ChatGPT as a freelance writer.
Using this AI writing tool makes work much easier and faster.
These tools aren’t replacing the writing you do for clients. Instead, it assists you and adds to your writing routine.
Think of it as using Grammarly. This is also an AI tool, and it hasn’t replaced editors and proofreaders, has it?
Such tools as Jasper AI or ChatGPT will act the same.
And, if that doesn’t convince you to use these AI tools, MaAnna of Blog Aid, mentioned in her podcast a quote she read,
“AI will not replace people. People using AI will replace people who don’t.”
Switch “people” with writers and let that settle in your brain.
I feel, though, that that quote won’t come true for a few more years (maybe a decade), but it’s a good idea to get a head start on using AI as part of your writing process.
So, to help you, let’s check out fifteen ways I use an AI writing tool for my freelance writing business.
How I Use An AI Writing Tool
For these use cases, I’m going to show you ChatGPT. You can definitely use the same prompts and ideas for Jasper AI since Jasper has Jasper Chat.
Currently, ChatGPT is free to use, so you can go ahead and use these prompts and ideas for your client articles.
1. Write Blog Outlines
One of the best reasons for using an AI writing tool is to fight off writer’s block.
As freelance writers, it’s our job to NOT get writer’s block, but it can still happen.
It happens to me when my life is stressful and I have too much on my plate. That’s where ChatGPT can take over. Have this tool write out an in-depth outline for your client article. Here’s an example.
From here you can add or remove subtopics and supporting elements from this outline.
2. Write Meta Descriptions
Do you write meta descriptions for your freelance writing clients?
A meta description is a summary of a page or article. For some SEO writing jobs, you may be asked to not only optimize your article for search but also write a compelling and click-worthy meta description.
If you aren’t being asked to do this, why not add it to your writing service?
In the same conversation you had for the outline, ask ChatGPT to create a meta description.
3. Write Social Posts
One thing writers SHOULD be using ChatGPT or Jasper AI for is for shorter content pieces. Think social media posts, scripts, and emails.
I personally use Jasper AI for my Pinterest descriptions, but ChatGPT is a great AI writing tool for LinkedIn and Twitter posts.
In this example, I told ChatGPT to create a LinkedIn post with mistakes and how my article will share best practices. But the result wasn’t exactly what I wanted. So I had ChatGPT rewrite it. It’s still not exactly what I want but the more details you can provide in your prompt, the better output you’ll get.
4. Transcribe Youtube Videos
Are you offering transcription services as part of your overall offers? If not, you should! This is a hot field to get into!
With this job, a client would want you to transcribe their Youtube video into a readable blog post. With any Youtube video, if you click on three dots and go to “show transcripts” and then when it opens up, you can click on the three dots again and choose “toggle timestamps.”
Copy this transcript and tell ChatGPT to create a blog post from this transcript. Note: ChatGPT can’t do longer transcripts. It seems to work for around the 15 minute mark but not for 40 minute videos!
From here, you can copy and paste the first subtopic, have it write a paragraph with examples, and go from there to build out the transcript for a client.
Also, make sure you have watched the video to know whether ChatGPT is going off tangent.
5. Source Examples for Your Writing
The other day I was writing a client piece, and I swear – I spent like 20 minutes searching for good examples of what I was talking about.
Well, for some reason I didn’t realize that all I could’ve done was just ask ChatGPT! Duh!
This is the perfect way for freelance writers to cut the time researching! All you do is ask, “what’s an example of a company that does x” into the AI writing tool search box (make sure to start a new chat in ChatGPT!).
Of course, always fact-check what any AI writing tool gives you. This is when I would search case studies (or even ask ChatGTP if there are case studies for Amazon email marketing) and research these reports to make sure I’m producing credible content that is research-based.
6. Write Interview Questions for a Feature Article
Did you know that you will be in demand if you offer interviews and case studies as your writing niche?
Every marketer wants social proof for their client, and what better way to show this than with an engaging case study?
Marketer Neil Patel uses case studies to grow his leads every day.
I’ve personally used case studies in my emails to increase my deal closing ratio by 70%. Overall, by testing 3 case studies here at NeilPatel.com, my sales grew by 185% (although my aim was just to increase the number of leads I generate)
As a copywriter that offers this service, why not let ChatGPT help you with ideation? Ask it to give you interview questions for your feature article or case study. The trick is to tell ChatGPT to focus on the industry or business.
(and yes, this AI tool even understands misspellings!)
These would be great interview questions (but you would have to fact-check these questions) if I had to interview someone at Freshworks.
7. Write Killer Headlines
Do you know the 50/50 rule for copywriting?
It implies that copywriters should spend half their time creating converting copy on the headline.
That’s a big chunk of your time, eh? Well, I don’t have time for that, and I suspect you don’t either!
So, just get ChatGPT to help you start headline ideation to make your writing process faster!
8. Write Stats (2021 and Before)
So, I got this cool case use for AI writing from Lizzie Davey over on LinkedIn!
She suggested asking ChatGPT to provide stats in an industry to help support your writing and make it much more credible.
There are some caveats to using ChatGPT this way, though:
- This AI writing tool has factual errors, so it’s important to always fact-check its output
- Stats are only relevant from 2021 and before
You can then ask ChatGPT to rewrite that in whatever tone you want: friendly, informative, casual, conversational, converting, compelling, etc…
9. Keyword Suggestions for Topics
I see videos from bloggers, entrepreneurs, and marketers all over Youtube on how to use ChatGPT for keyword topics. While I prefer a keyword tool for this, you can give ChatGPT a keyword to use for titles or ideas.
This is how I would use ChatGPT for keywords.
This is a fantastic way to stave off writer’s block when you can’t think of any cool angles for your client piece.
10. Finding Experts
Including expert quotes or mini-case studies is a great way to make your article unique, original, and credible.
But how do you find these SMEs (subject matter experts) if this is a new freelance writing niche?
Well, use ChatGPT as a starting point for a list of experts to reach out to.
Note that these SMEs may be hard to reach and fake, so always check them out on social media to see if they are legit.
In either case, it’s a starting point in the right direction for your article!
11. Key Points in a Subject
Sometimes when researching long-form articles and reports, I lose focus and have difficulty deciphering topics.
But now, you can use ChatGPT to find the key points of a study as long as it’s not too long. You can even give it a book title or website or just copy and see what happens.
I wouldn’t use this for books or reports you haven’t thoroughly read as you need to fact-check each point.
12. Listicle Ideas for Your Article
Listicles are list-based blog posts and make for some great content that clients love – especially high-list posts.
While ChatGPT doesn’t give you a high list output, you can keep asking it to give you more. I found asking for 25 items and then asking for another 25 and another 25 works well.
The AI writing tool may repeat itself several times, but you can use all the items or some of the items from the list for your blog post.
I like using my AI writing tool this way for my mom blogs.
13. Youtube Video Script
Another Youtube task ChatGPT can help you with are Youtube video scripts.
Why not start offering scripts as a new service if you have your own Youtube channel or manage a client’s Youtube strategy?
These scripts are short, but you can flesh them out as you have a conversation with ChatGPT.
14. List the Pros and Cons
Adding a pros and cons list is a fun element to your product writing for clients.
Many tools, apps, services, and products will have great things to share but also, have things to improve on.
To add more to your content, have ChatGPT give you a pros and cons list or a product or service.
You would have to research the AI writing tool output, but at least it will save you time generating this list of pros and cons.
This feature is also great to add for each product in your eCommerce article.
15. Summarize Text
An easier way to read online text is to have Chat GPT summarize the content. To ensure it’s factual, you would have to feed ChatGPT the text to summarize.
As I mentioned with creating a Youtube script, there is a limit to how many words or characters you can submit, so be mindful of that when asking it to summarize something for you.
For example, I copied and pasted the Google Helpful Update notice and had ChatGPT summarize that page.
Welcome an AI Writing Tool Into Your Writing Process
Look –
I know the idea of robots taking over our jobs is probably on your mind lately, but to ensure that NEVER EVER happens, you have to level up your writing and PROCESS.
Use AI to streamline your process and make your writing faster.
I heard a Twitter chat where Lily Ugbaja said it takes her around 4 days to write a blog post for clients. She then used an AI writing tool to help with ideation and structure, and she was able to write a blog post in one day.
How amazing is that?
This means you can add another client and charge more because you are more efficient.
This is what Jasper AI helps me with all the blogs I own and manage. Yes, I do hire writers (and I will continue to hire writers), but AI helps me add more content to their articles and help me with article ideas for my writers.
Sure, I do write a blog post with AI for my niche websites but I don’t do it often.
These AI writing tools need a HUMAN working them (preferably a good editor and copywriter, too), which should tell you that our jobs won’t disappear for most of us.
I’m afraid for the cheap content mill writers out there, but AI WILL replace them as blog owners only care about saving money and getting as much content for the cheapest price.
I hope you have read some of my blog posts, watched some of my Youtube videos, and learned that there are better clients out there that actually VALUE HUMAN WRITERS!
Heck – an AI writing company hired ME for their content so that should tell you something!
Okay!
Over to you – did you enjoy this post? Has it helped you speed up your writing process and added something new to your routine? Let me know in the comments, and make sure to share this, so other writers are in the know and at the cutting edge of marketing and writing!
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