Most people are using AI wrong.
They open ChatGPT or Claude, ask a question, get an answer, copy the answer into a doc, then go do the actual work themselves.
That is not using AI. That is using AI like Google.
The real shift is workflows. AI should not just answer. It should move the task forward.
Prompt vs workflow
A prompt gives you an answer.
A workflow gives you a finished task.
Prompt: “Write me a healthy meal plan.” You get a list. Then you sit there and figure out the groceries, the recipes, the schedule, and the shopping.
Workflow: “Build a high-protein, low-carb meal plan for the week, turn it into a grocery list, then add the groceries to my Instacart cart.” You get the meal plan, the list, and the cart filled. Three steps collapsed into one.
That is the difference. One ends with an answer. The other ends with the task closer to done.
The Instacart test
I actually ran this. I told ChatGPT: high-protein, low-carb, meals I’d actually eat, build the plan, build the grocery list, then add it to Instacart.
It built the plan. It built the list. Then it opened Instacart and added the groceries to my cart.
I didn’t get “meal ideas.” I got a cart that was ready to check out.
That is the shift. AI stopped being a search bar and started being an operator.
Claude is doing this for small business
Anthropic just rolled out Claude for small business. The framing matters.
It is not pitched as another chatbot. It is pitched as something closer to an operator that lives inside the business.
Because here is the truth: small business owners do not need more AI inspiration. They need the boring stuff handled.
chasing unpaid invoices
replying to customer messages
lead follow-ups
weekly reports
campaign ideas
content planning
contracts and proposals
SOPs and process docs
admin work nobody wants to do
That is the unlock. Not “tell me 50 marketing ideas.” Actually do the marketing, the follow-up, and the admin.
Bad AI use vs better workflow use
Bad: “Give me 10 Instagram post ideas.”
Better: “Take last week’s podcast transcript. Pull the 5 strongest ideas. Turn each into one Instagram post, one tweet, and one LinkedIn version. Drop them in a doc, ready to post.”
Bad: “How do I follow up with leads?”
Better: “Here are 12 leads from this week. For each one, draft a follow-up email referencing what we talked about, suggest a next step, and queue them up to send.”
Bad: “Write me an SOP.”
Better: “I’ll walk you through how I onboard a new client. Ask me one question at a time, then turn it into a step-by-step SOP I can hand to my VA tomorrow.”
Same tool. Different output. The second version actually leaves you with finished work.
The 5-step workflow framework
Anyone can build a workflow. You don’t need to be technical. You just need to stop thinking in single prompts and start thinking in steps.
Pick one task you repeat every week.
Write down every manual step you do, in order.
Hand AI the first step and tell it what good looks like.
Connect the output of step one into step two, then step three.
Save the workflow as a reusable prompt so you never rebuild it from scratch.
That last step is the one most people skip. A workflow you can’t reuse is just a one-off.
5 workflows you can steal
These are simplified versions of the ones I’d hand to a friend who wanted to stop “using AI” and start running it.
1. Content repurposing
Use this when you’ve made one piece of long content (podcast, video, post) and want it everywhere.
Prompt: “Here is the transcript of my podcast / video. Pull out the 5 strongest ideas. For each idea, write one Twitter post, one LinkedIn post, and one short Instagram caption. Keep my voice direct and operator-style. Output them in a single doc, grouped by idea.”
2. Weekly planning
Use this on Sunday night or Monday morning to stop winging the week.
Prompt: “Here are my goals for the quarter and my calendar for this week. Pick the 3 outcomes I should hit by Friday. Then block my week day by day, assign each block to one outcome, and flag anything on my calendar that doesn’t serve those 3 outcomes.”
3. Meeting to action
Use this after every call where decisions get made.
Prompt: “Here is the transcript of my meeting. Summarize the 3 decisions made. List every action item, who owns it, and the deadline. Then draft a short follow-up email I can send to attendees with the summary and next steps.”
4. Lead follow-up
Use this every Friday to stop letting warm leads go cold.
Prompt: “Here is my list of leads from this week and the notes from each call. For every lead, draft a personalized follow-up email referencing what we talked about, propose one clear next step, and queue all of them up in a single doc so I can copy, paste, and send in one sitting.”
5. Meal prep
Use this when you want to stop thinking about food for the week.
Prompt: “Build me a 7-day meal plan: high-protein, low-carb, around 2,200 calories a day, meals I’d actually eat (no kale smoothies). Turn it into a grocery list grouped by section of the store. Then add the groceries to my Instacart cart.”
Notice what these have in common. They all end in a finished thing. A doc you can post from. A week you can run. A cart you can check out.
Stop using AI. Start running it.
Most people are still in the prompt phase. They use AI like a smart intern they have to hold by the hand for every step.
Operators are already past that. They build the workflow once, save it, and run it every week.
Pick one task this week. Map the steps. Hand AI the first one. Then connect the rest.
That is the whole game.
— Matt
P.S. I’m building the paid version of this into a simple AI Workflow Playbook.
Not 100 random prompts. The actual workflows I’d start with for content, business ops, lead follow-up, research, meal planning, and small business work.
First version goes out cheap for early readers, then the price moves up as I add more workflows.
If you want first access at the early price, reply “PLAYBOOK” and I’ll put you on the list.