Day 4 of 28 · AI Challenge
Writing Like a Pro with AI
⏱ 7 min
📊 Beginner
If there's one AI skill that pays for itself immediately, it's writing. Emails, proposals, cold outreach, social media posts, client updates, job applications — writing is everywhere in business.
And most people are slow at it. Not because they can't write, but because staring at a blank page is painful. You spend 20 minutes drafting an email that should take 3. You rewrite the opening four times. You second-guess the tone.
AI eliminates the blank page. Today you'll learn how to use it to write faster, better, and more persuasively — for every business situation.
Why "write me an email" gives bad results
Let's start with the mistake everyone makes. They type something like:
"Write me an email to a client."
And the AI produces something generic, bland, and obviously AI-generated. Then they conclude: "AI can't write well."
Wrong. AI can write extremely well. But it needs context. "Write me an email" is like telling a chef "make me food." Sure, they'll make something — but it probably won't be what you wanted.
The secret to great AI writing is giving it the details that make writing specific. The more context you provide, the less it sounds like AI and the more it sounds like you on your best day.
Knowledge Check
Why do most people get bad results when asking AI to write emails?
A
AI can only write technical content
B
Email writing requires a special AI tool
C
They don't provide enough context — the prompt is too vague
D
AI models aren't good at writing
The AI is only as good as your prompt. "Write an email" forces the AI to guess everything — who it's for, what it's about, what tone to use, how long it should be. Provide those details and the output jumps from generic to genuinely useful.
The context-rich prompt formula
Here's what transforms AI writing from mediocre to money-making. Before you ask AI to write anything, give it these five pieces of context:
Who are you? "I'm a freelance graphic designer who specializes in brand identity for startups."
Who is the recipient? "The client is the CEO of a fintech startup. We met at a networking event last week."
What's the situation? "He mentioned they're rebranding and looking for a designer. I want to follow up and pitch my services."
What tone? "Professional but personable. Not stiff. Not overly casual."
What outcome do you want? "I want him to book a 30-minute call with me to discuss the rebrand."
That's the difference between a forgettable email and one that gets a reply.
Write a follow-up email.
Context: I'm a freelance graphic designer specializing in brand identity for startups. I met David Chen, CEO of a fintech startup called NovaPay, at a networking event last Tuesday. He mentioned they're rebranding in Q1 and looking for a designer. I want to follow up and pitch my services.
Tone: Professional but personable. Not stiff.
Goal: Get him to book a 30-minute discovery call with me.
**Subject: Great meeting you at Tuesday's event — quick thought on the NovaPay rebrand**
Hi David,
It was great connecting at the event on Tuesday. The direction you're taking NovaPay sounds exciting — fintech brands that feel approachable (not just "techy") are the ones people actually trust.
You mentioned the rebrand is coming up in Q1. I've helped several startups at a similar stage rethink their visual identity — from logo and color system to full brand guidelines. Happy to share a couple of examples.
Would you be open to a quick 30-minute call this week or next? I'd love to hear more about your vision and see if I can help.
Looking forward to it.
Best,
[Your name]
↻ Replay conversation
That email took 30 seconds to generate
And it's good. It references the specific conversation, demonstrates understanding of the client's industry, offers value, and ends with a clear call to action.
Writing that from scratch would take most people 15–20 minutes of drafting and editing. With AI, you spend 30 seconds writing the prompt and 30 seconds reviewing the output. One minute total.
If you send 5 emails like this per week, you just saved yourself over an hour. If even one of those emails lands a $3,000–$5,000 project, the ROI is absurd.
Knowledge Check
Which of these is the most important piece of context to include in a writing prompt?
A
A word count requirement
B
The time of day you're sending it
C
Who you are, who the recipient is, and what outcome you want
D
The font you want the email written in
Identity, audience, and desired outcome are the three pillars of effective business writing — with or without AI. When the AI knows who's writing, who's reading, and what should happen next, it can craft something targeted and persuasive instead of generic.
The business writing cheat sheet
Here are the most common business writing tasks and how to prompt AI for each:
Cold outreach: "Write a cold email to [type of person] at [type of company]. I offer [your service]. My unique angle is [what makes you different]. Keep it under 100 words. Goal: get a reply."
Proposal: "Write a proposal for [project description]. Client is [name/company]. Include scope, timeline, deliverables, and pricing at [$X]. Tone: confident and professional."
Client update: "Write a weekly update email for my client. This week I completed [tasks]. Next week I'm working on [upcoming work]. Flag this issue: [problem]. Keep it brief and organized."
LinkedIn post: "Write a LinkedIn post about [topic/insight]. I'm a [your role]. Tone: thoughtful and authentic, not salesy. Under 200 words. End with a question to drive engagement."
Job application cover letter: "Write a cover letter for [job title] at [company]. My relevant experience: [2–3 bullet points]. Why I want this role: [reason]. Tone: enthusiastic but not desperate."
I need a LinkedIn post. I'm a marketing consultant for small businesses. This week I helped a client go from 200 to 1,400 Instagram followers in 30 days using a simple content strategy. I want to share the insight without giving away my whole playbook. Tone: helpful and authentic. Under 150 words. End with a question.
Here's your post:
---
One of my clients went from 200 to 1,400 Instagram followers in 30 days.
No paid ads. No viral tricks. No posting 3x a day.
The strategy was embarrassingly simple: we picked ONE content format that was already working and doubled down on it. Instead of trying to be everywhere and do everything, we went deep on what their audience was already responding to.
Most small businesses spread themselves too thin across 5 platforms and 10 content types. The growth isn't in doing more — it's in doing less, better.
What's the one content format that gets your audience's best response?
---
147 words. Want me to adjust the tone or add a specific call-to-action?
↻ Replay conversation
Knowledge Check
You need to write a project proposal for a $10,000 website redesign. What's the best way to prompt AI?
A
"Write a website proposal for $10,000"
B
"Write me a professional document"
C
"What should I include in a proposal?"
D
"Write a proposal for a website redesign. Client is [name] at [company]. Include scope, timeline, deliverables, and pricing at $10,000. Their current site issues are [problems]. Tone: confident and professional."
The detailed prompt gives AI everything it needs — the project type, client details, required sections, pricing, context about the problem, and the tone. This produces a proposal you can send with minor edits, not a generic template you'd need to rewrite.
Making AI sound like you
One last tip that separates good AI writing from great AI writing: teach the AI your voice.
Paste in 2–3 examples of emails or posts you've written before and say: "Match this writing style. Notice the tone, sentence length, and vocabulary I use."
The AI will pick up on your patterns — whether you write short punchy sentences or longer flowing ones, whether you use humor or stay buttoned-up, whether you say "Hey" or "Hi" or "Dear."
Once it matches your style, the output stops sounding like AI and starts sounding like you. Just faster.
Final Check
How can you make AI-generated writing sound like your own voice?
A
Use a more expensive AI model
B
AI writing can never match a human voice
C
Provide examples of your previous writing and ask the AI to match your style
D
Type the prompt in all caps for emphasis
AI is excellent at pattern matching. Give it 2–3 examples of your writing and it will pick up your tone, vocabulary, sentence structure, and personality. The result feels like you wrote it on a great day — because the AI is modeling its output on your actual writing patterns.
✍️
Day 4 Complete
"The blank page is dead. Give AI context — who you are, who they are, and what you want — and it writes like you on your best day."
Tomorrow — Day 5
AI for Research and Analysis
Tomorrow you'll use AI to do hours of research in minutes.