The intimidation, the frustration, the fear that AI might make our skills obsolete. Many of us have felt the AI struggles. I certainly did. Early on, I wrestled with inconsistent results and wondered if these tools were more trouble than they were worth.
But my perspective has shifted dramatically. I've come to see AI not as a replacement, but as a powerful augmentation tool that can boost our productivity and creativity in ways we're only beginning to understand.
To show you exactly what I mean and how my approach evolved from basic prompts to getting truly useful, context-aware results, I put together a video.
The Tools, Techniques and Mindset that Changed My AI Approach
Watch my transformation journey. You’ll see how I shifted from simple prompts and inconsistent outputs to more sophisticated, context-driven strategies.
Key Takeaways
- Skip My Struggles: Understand the distinct phases I navigated—from basic prompts to deep context—so you can potentially shortcut your own learning curve and avoid some early frustrations.
- Interaction is Key: Learn why moving beyond simple prompts to providing structured, contextual input is crucial if you want AI to deliver results that are actually useful and relevant to your specific needs.
- Persistence Pays Off: Recognize that the initial “AI struggle” is normal, but sticking with it and copying my approach can transform these tools from a source of frustration into a genuine productivity partner.
My First Thoughts When AI Became Widely Accessible
Like many, I was watching the rise of AI with keen interest, but perhaps a bit of comfortable distance.
I clearly remember thinking back to Ray Kurzweil's prediction of the singularity.
I jumped in like everyone else. But the results? Wildly random. The AI promise of saving time actually costing me time was a major hurdle.
It even got to the point where I essentially stopped using it for content creation altogether for a period, feeling pretty underwhelmed and questioning its real value.
So I figured we still had a good time before AI would truly change the game in a fundamental way.
WIth hindsight, I underestimated just how fast things would move…
My 3 Phases of AI Evolution for Our Brands
My journey wasn't a single leap but more of a gradual climb, broken down into roughly three phases.
Here's how my approach to using AI transformed over time:
Phase 1: Basic Prompts, Big Edits (Mid-2023 – Early 2024)
This was my initial “let's see what this can do” phase. I started using tools like ChatGPT pretty much how you'd expect: feeding it simple, short prompts.
For example, I would ask ChatGPT to
write a blog post in the style of Seth Goding about stacking offers
Sometimes it worked okay, but the inconsistency was the killer.
- Probably 80% of the output needed significant changes.
- It often missed my voice, didn't quite fit the format I wanted, or just took liberties that weren't quite right.
- I spent so much time editing that it defeated the purpose, leading me to largely abandon these tools for serious work during this period.
Phase 2: Better Prompts, More Consistency (Early-Mid 2024)
The narrative around AI started shifting. People emphasized “prompt engineering”. The idea that the quality of your input dramatically affects the output.
This resonated with my experience. I realized my tiny prompts weren't giving the AI enough direction.
So, I started building much more detailed prompts.
This led me to create a tool I called “Prompt Chef“, a cookbook for marketers.
Instead of a single sentence, I'd feed the AI detailed information about, for example, an email. The details included:
- my brand voice
- specific words to include
- the email's goal
- structure guidelines
- even sign-offs and background information on what makes a good email based on our internal best practices.
I also started using tools like Typing Mind, which let me easily switch between different AI models (like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) via their APIs.
This was not only cheaper than using the standard web interfaces, but also allowed me to test which model worked best for a specific task.
I could, for example, generate a solid first draft of an email, as you can see in the screenshot below:
Using these detailed “recipes” from “Prompt Chef” within Typing Mind produced significantly more consistent results that actually aligned with our brand standards.
This became our standard marketing workflow for quite some time and we used it for almost all our marketing messages.
“AI isn't a magic wand. It's a powerful tool, but harnessing it effectively requires effort, patience, and a willingness to iterate.” – Jeff Sauer
Phase 3: Deep Context & AI Coaching (Late 2024 – Present)
While Phase 2 was a huge improvement, Mercer, my business partner, and I realized there was still a gap.
The AI was generating content based on our instructions, but not necessarily optimized for our audience.
This led to the latest evolution in my process, primarily using Google's Gemini Gems.
The game-changer here is the ability to feed the AI persistent, deep context.
Within a Gem, I uploaded extensive documentation, which is essentially our core business and customer knowledge:
- detailed personas of our three core customer avatars
- research findings
- ideal customer profiles
- best practices for sales pages
- offer structures
I can take an AI-generated email draft and ask the Gem, armed with all that customer context, to “grade this email 1-10 for each avatar”.
The AI then simulates a discussion between the avatars, providing specific feedback based on their likely perspectives, pain points, and preferences – derived from the real customer data I provided.
“Using AI with deep customer context isn't just getting generic advice; it's like having an instant customer focus group.” – Jeff Sauer
I can then ask the AI to rewrite the content to address that feedback and aim for a higher score.
This “ping pong prompting“, as my business partner Mercer calls it, within a context-rich environment, is where I'm seeing the most significant value today.
Final Thoughts: AI is an Evolution, Not Magic
As you can see, my journey through the AI landscape over the past couple of years has accelerated rapidly.
It started with frustration, evolved through better prompting techniques, and has now arrived at a place where AI acts more like a knowledgeable partner, deeply integrated with my specific business context.
“The shift happens when you see AI not as a replacement, but as an augmentation meant to assist us.” – Jeff Sauer
The “AI struggle” is real, but that’s normal when adopting transformative technology.
The best part is that this evolution is accessible and you can skip the first two stages I went through.
How?
Check out the Gemini AI workshop by my business partner Mercer. He reveals all the AI techniques we use to grow our businesses.
Good look with your AI journey!