3 Critical Lessons from My First Experience with ChatGPT

3 Critical Lessons from My First Experience with ChatGPT

I’ll admit it: I’ve yet to use ChatGPT. And I am still skeptical that it is going to fulfill all the marketing potential I see touted on LinkedIn. But I did just write an article for a client and was given AI-generated content as the starting point. And below is what I learned during my first experience. I pass this along to help out anyone else who is either a) handed an outline generated by ChatGPT as I was, or b) generating such outlines and giving them to writers to use. Because, regardless of my skepticism, I realize that AI...
Wine Labels and the Future of Freelancing

Wine Labels and the Future of Freelancing

The story I’m about to tell is about wine, but it’s also about writing and editing, and your future if you’re freelancing… This story is from a while back, but the message is as pertinent now as then: Years ago, I was visiting friends in Santa Barbara, Calif. They were close friends with winemakers in the area, so I got to see the inner workings of one winery, to learn more about the process. Shipping boxes were piled in the middle of the room full of wine barrels waiting to get branded with labels. The winemaker lamented having to...
Why I Don’t Want to Talk About ChatGPT

Why I Don’t Want to Talk About ChatGPT

Someone suggested I should go beyond helping people be better writers at work to teach them how to use ChatGPT. But I don’t want to talk about ChatGPT let alone teach how to use it. Why? In large part, because this is so reminiscent of the early days of content marketing and the effect that had on writing. Quality plummeted in many cases, as did pay. What clients wanted and what they were willing to pay for it both took nose dives. Suddenly quality didn’t matter, only quantity. Me when someone says I should teach ChatGPT skills, via...