Straight answers · 2 min
How to write prompts for your business: the 20-minute skill.
Genuine DIY value, no purchase required: the single pattern that turns 'AI wrote me something generic' into 'AI wrote me something usable' — and honest notes on where the skill's ceiling is.
Straight answers · Updated 24 September 2026
The one pattern
Every useful business prompt has four parts, like what you'd tell a temp on their first day. WHO it's for and from, such as 'a reply from a small garage to a customer'. WHAT you need, like 'a two-paragraph email declining the job but recommending someone'. The FACTS must be right, including dates, prices, and names, since the model can't know these. Every missing fact gets invented. The STYLE should be clear, e.g., 'friendly, no exclamation marks, sign off as Dave'. Practise this structure for twenty minutes on your tasks. That's the whole skill. There's no deeper secret; the £300 prompt-engineering courses are just this paragraph with worksheets.
Worked examples (hypothetical, as ever)
Weak: 'write a post about our opening hours'
Strong: 'Write a short, warm Facebook post for a village café telling regulars we now open Sundays 9–2 from this weekend. No hashtags, no exclamation marks.' The difference is entirely in decisions made by you instead of defaults chosen by the machine.
Weak: 'reply to this complaint'
Strong: 'Reply to this review from a salon owner's voice: apologise for the wait without excuses, offer a redo with a named stylist, keep it to four sentences, stay warm not grovelling.' Paste the review under it.
Weak: 'summarise this document'
Strong: 'Summarise this supplier contract into: what we pay, when we can exit, and anything unusual I should query. Bullet points, plain English.' Naming the decisions you need turns a summary into an answer.
The honest ceiling
Prompting skill enhances your manual work, but it can't do the job without you. Each prompt needs your input. You must paste the context, check the facts. A general tool knows nothing about your business at the start. That's by design, not a flaw. If you find yourself typing the same context repeatedly, it's time to consider a built tool. A built tool keeps the WHO, the FACTS, and the STYLE, so only the task changes. Until then, practising with me or any free tool is the best zero-pound investment in this field.
Free tool · runs right here
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See how your business looks online — findability, website health, reviews and more — with the few fixes worth doing first.
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I'm free to practise on. Try the pattern below against a real task from your week and see the difference it makes.
Practise on me →Prefer to just ask? Chat with Katalis · More from the blog