Then $60K from a SaaS I built without writing a line of code.

Then $30K from my first digital product.

I am not flexing. I am telling you because every dollar in those numbers came from the same thing.

The same map.

The same 5 ways money gets made online. Every single one.

Open your phone right now

Scroll for ten minutes.

You will see fifty different "ways to make money online" before you put it down. Side hustles. Drop ship this. Sell that. Print on a t-shirt. Become a coach. Start a podcast.

Almost none of them are actually different.

They are all flavors of the same 5 things.

The internet wants this to sound hard. 1,000 gurus selling 1,000 "secrets." Most of them are dressing up the same 5 shapes in different outfits.

Once you see the 5 shapes, the noise stops.

You stop chasing the next side hustle video. You stop buying courses you never finish. You stop opening 14 tabs that all say the same thing in different words. You stop feeling 6 months behind everyone else.

You start asking the only question that matters.

Which one of these 5 fits me?

What this article does

In plain English. On one page.

I am going to show you all 5 shapes. The classic version. The 2026 version. The AI version of each. The prompts to pick yours. The traps that waste 6 months. And the exact play I would run if I started over from $0 today.

By the time you close this tab, you will know which one of the 5 is yours and the exact first move.

Why trust me on this

I made $100K in my first 27 days online with zero experience.

I built a SaaS that does $60K without writing a line of code. My first digital product made $30K. I have 241K followers on Instagram. Over 100K readers on Substack.

I am not selling you a course about it. I am doing it again from $0, in public, so you can copy the moves as they happen.

Every income claim I just listed comes from these 5 shapes. They are not theory. They are the map.

Who this is for

• You have been jumping between side hustle ideas for months and you cannot pick one

• You built something but nobody is buying and you cannot figure out why

• You have one thing working but you do not know what to add next

• You are tired of guru videos and you want a real map from someone actually running this

• You are broke, scared, behind, or just confused about what you should be doing online

If any of that is you, keep reading.

What you get below the paywall

• All 5 income shapes laid out in plain English (a 10-year-old could follow)

• The classic, 2026, and AI-leveraged version of each shape (so you see where AI changes the game)

• 16 prompts to pick your shape, your flavor, and your AI angle (you can run them today)

• The 3 wrong-shape traps that waste 6 months (skip these, save the year)

• Why most empires stack 2 to 4 shapes but every empire started with ONE

• The exact order to stack them in (which shape first, what to add next, when)

Paid subs get the whole map.

Free subs get the headline.

If you want the prompts, the stacking rule, and the exact play I would run from $0 right now, keep reading.

Upgrade to read the full playbook

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They open Instagram. They scroll. They save. They screenshot. They try to remember what made one post pop and another one die. Then a week later, they cannot remember what they learned.

I have done that for years. It is the most useful work in content. It is also the most annoying.

So I stopped doing it that way.

I gave the job to Claude Code instead.

I told it to find 50 viral posts in my niche from the last month, look at every one of them, find the patterns, and write me a clean report I could actually act on.

It did the whole job in one sitting. I watched it work.

It handed me back a content playbook with new post ideas tailored to my brand.

This article walks through exactly how I had it do that. I am going to explain it like you have never touched AI or code before, because most of my readers have not.

If you do not know what is working in your niche right now, you are guessing every time you post. AI can stop the guessing.

Who this is for

This is for you if:

• You have been told to "study viral posts in your niche" and have no idea how to actually do it without losing a Sunday.

• You are a founder or small business owner who knows AI can help, but does not want to fight with prompts and code for hours.

• You are not a coder. You do not want to be a coder. You just want better content.

• You are tired of guessing what to post next.

If that is you, keep reading. This is one of those Bitchwork projects that saves you hours every month and quietly changes what your content can do.

Why you should trust this

I run 33 brands. I ship two real SaaS products that real people pay for (PRISM and AutoviralApp). My flagship account @liz.on.the.web has 241,000 followers.

I do not have a marketing team. I do not sit on Instagram with a notebook open. That is exactly why I built this workflow.

I am not selling a tool. There is no paid tool here. I am giving you the prompts I actually used, in plain language.

What paid subs get below

The free version stops in a minute. Paid subs get all of this:

• The 4 prompts I used, word for word, ready to copy and paste into Claude Code today.

• The full Chrome browser setup in plain language. What to install, what to turn on, how to keep yourself safe while AI uses your browser.

• A real look at the shape of the report Claude Code hands back, so you know what to expect.

• The 3 warnings I would not skip (bad data, login state, how to not get flagged).

• The "how this works in other niches" map. Use this for SaaS sales, local services, coaching, agency work, anything.

• The bridge into next week's Bitchwork: how to rewrite one of your own viral posts and regenerate the images without writing or designing anything new.

If you have been wanting to make AI do real work for your content but did not know where to start, this is the first project I would hand you.

Paid subs get the full playbook below. Free subs get the headline and the framing.

Upgrade to read the full playbook

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"Liz, how do I make money online?"

The person asking is almost always smart. They have a real job. They've thought about this for months. Sometimes years.

But they're stuck.

Here's the thing nobody tells you. The reason you're stuck isn't that you're missing some secret. It's that you're trying to answer the wrong question.

"How do I make money online?" feels like the right question. It's the question on every YouTube thumbnail. Every Substack post. Every TikTok side-hustle reel.

But it's the wrong question.

The right question is much smaller. Much simpler.

Who can I help?

That's it.

If you can answer "who can I help and what would they pay me to fix," everything else lines up. The product. The price. The marketing. The AI tools. All of it just follows.

If you cannot answer "who can I help," nothing else matters. You'll build the wrong product. Pick the wrong price. Send the wrong marketing. Burn 6 months. Quit.

This article fixes that.

By the end of this you'll have one line that tells you who you're helping and what their problem is. That one line is your niche.

Yes. You. By the end of this article. One line. Done.

I'll walk you through it. Slowly.

First, what is a "niche"?

A niche is just the kind of person you help.

Like "first-time moms." Or "new realtors." Or "engineers who want to quit their corporate job."

It's NOT "everyone." It's NOT "small business owners." It's NOT "people who want to make money."

Those are too big. Too broad. Too vague.

A real niche is small. Specific. You can picture one person in your head when you think about it.

Got it? OK, keep going.

Why "everyone" is the wrong niche

Imagine you walk into a coffee shop and yell, "DOES ANYONE HAVE A PROBLEM I CAN HELP WITH?"

Nobody answers. Right?

Now imagine you walk into a coffee shop and say, "I'm here for the new moms struggling to get the baby to sleep. I figured out a 30-minute trick that worked on my own kid. Free to anyone who wants it."

Three new moms walk over.

That is the difference. Smaller is bigger.

When you pick a small specific group of people, they recognize themselves. They listen. They pay.

When you pick "everyone," nobody hears you.

This article is for you if

• You want to make money online but you don't know what to sell.

• You've thought, "I'd start a business, but I have no idea what."

• You keep starting and stopping. You can't pick a lane.

• You're scared of picking the wrong thing.

• You've tried before and got overwhelmed.

If any of those is you, keep reading.

I'm not selling you a course. I'm not telling you to go all-in. I'm walking you through one question. One simple thing.

Pick the people. The money follows.

Why trust me on this

I've picked niches that worked. I've picked niches that flopped.

The flops taught me what to skip. The wins taught me what to lock in.

The 5 AI prompts below are the exact prompts I use today when I'm picking a new lane. Not a course version. Not a "for beginners" simplified version. The real ones.

Behind the paywall (what you'll get)

I'm going to walk you through, step by step:

• The 3 things that make a niche profitable, with real examples

• 5 AI prompts you can copy, paste, and run tonight

• A 48-hour plan, literally hour by hour, to find and validate your niche

• The 6 wrong-niche traps that waste 6 months

• The exact non-salesy DM you can send to 3 strangers to validate your niche

Plus, what you get as a paid sub

• Every article in the One-Person Empire series, full thing including the paid sections

• Monthly receipts: what I shipped, what it cost, what made money, what didn't

• Every Notion template, swipe file, and checklist I publish

• The full prompt library I use every day. This article's 5 prompts plus dozens more.

• Early access: paid subs see new articles 7 days before free subs

If you want the prompts you can paste into Claude tonight, paid subs get the rest.

Paid subscribers get the rest: the prompts, the 48-hour plan, the offer test, and the exact next move.

Upgrade to read the full playbook

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Most "make money online" content is written by people who made money once, sold a course about it, and now sell courses for a living.

That's not me.

I've built multiple online businesses. I've sold millions in digital products. I've grown to 241K+ followers on Instagram. I've built SaaS products like PRISM and Uprise. I've automated half my workflow with AI. And now I'm combining everything I've learned into one series.

This series is the distilled playbook from everything I've built and everything I’m building right now (starting from scratch and scaling).

If I were starting completely over in 2026, this is exactly what I'd do. Every step. Every tool. Every decision. Written down. In order.

And I'm not just writing about it. I'm building a brand new business from $0, in public, to prove it all works.

No audience leverage. No name recognition. No shortcuts. Just the playbook, applied fresh, in real time, right here.

This is the "start here" article. It tells you who this series is for, what's in it, and how to use it.

Why I'm doing this

Every time I tell someone how I built my businesses, they say the same thing.

"Yeah, but you already had an audience. I don't."

Or: "Sure, but you've been doing this for years. I'm starting from zero."

Or: "That works for YOU. It wouldn't work for me."

I get it. I used to think the same thing about the people I learned from.

So I'm going to fix that.

I'm taking everything I know from selling millions in digital products, growing audiences from zero, building software, and automating with AI. I'm turning it into the playbook I wish existed when I started.

Then I'm proving it works by building a brand new business from scratch. In public. With receipts.

If the playbook works starting cold in 2026, with AI and automation doing the heavy lifting, it works for you too.

That's the deal.

Who this series is for

This series is for two kinds of people.

You're starting.

You've never made a dollar online. Or you've made some but you're stuck below $1,000 a month. You've read the threads. Watched the videos. Maybe tried Etsy or freelancing or a side hustle. But every time you sit down to build something real, you feel overwhelmed and close the tab.

This series will walk you from $0 to your first dollar, then to $1,000 a month, then to real income. No jargon. Plain English. Step by step.

You're scaling.

You already have an online business. You're making real money. But you're maxed out. You're working too many hours. You can't grow because you ARE the bottleneck.

This series will show you how to use AI, systems, and automation to get yourself out of the way. So you can grow without burning out.

Whether you're at $0 or $10K a month, there's a phase in this series that starts where you are.

Who this series is NOT for

I'm not going to be polite about this.

Not for get-rich-quick people. Building a real business takes real time. If you want a magic button, this isn't it. Go buy someone else's "$10K in 30 days" course.

Not for MLM or pyramid schemes. I'm not going to pretend recruiting your friends is a business.

Not for "passive income" believers. There is no such thing. There's leveraged income. There's automated income. There's no income that requires zero work. Stop falling for that.

Not for people who want to copy someone else's life. I'm not selling you a path to be me. I'm showing you a path to be the version of you that has a real business.

If any of that stings, this series isn't for you. No hard feelings.

What's in this series

There are 100+ articles planned. They're organized into nine phases. Every reader enters where they are.

Phase 0. Mindset + Reality Check. Do you actually want this life? Honest gut checks before you start.

Phase 1. Pick Your Thing. What are you going to sell? Stop overthinking it.

Phase 2. Set Up the Basics. The 6 tools you need (and the 40 you don't). Tax stuff. Legal stuff. The boring stuff that saves you later.

Phase 3. Get Your First Dollar. How to land your first customer in 7 days. No cold-email cringe.

Phase 4. Get to $1,000 a Month. Audience, content, pricing. Consistency without burnout.

Phase 5. Get to $10,000 a Month. Productize. Package. Sell while you sleep.

Phase 6. Scale Past the Wall. Where every solopreneur gets stuck. The three ways out.

Phase 7. Build the Engine. Systems, automation, and the AI-powered business that runs without you.

Phase 8. Diversify + Protect. Multiple income streams. Savings. The boring wins that matter most.

Plus a running thread of AI deep-dives woven through every phase. Because AI, systems, and automation are the only reason any of this works for one person in 2026.

The AI, systems, and automation thread

Here's what makes this series different from every other "make money online" newsletter.

I'm not telling you to work harder. I'm telling you to do less.

Every article will show you the specific way to use AI, systems, or automation to replace the part of the work you hate. Or the part that's slow. Or the part that needs a team you can't afford.

Some examples of what's coming.

• The 5-tool AI stack I use to run my one-person business.

• How to use AI to find a profitable business idea in 30 minutes.

• The "AI employee" setup. Train it once, reuse forever.

• How to automate customer support without sounding like a bot.

• The AI-powered content workflow that turns 1 post into 14.

• If you've ever wanted to start a business but said "I don't have the time" or "I don't have the team," this is the workaround.

AI is the team. Systems are the structure. Automation is the leverage.

You stay in your zone of genius. The robots do the busywork.

That's the whole point.

How to use this series

Don't try to read it in order.

Find your phase, start there, and work forward. If you're already at Phase 4 and reading Phase 0, you'll get bored. If you're at Phase 0 and reading Phase 6, you'll get overwhelmed.

Here's the quick map.

• Total beginner, no business yet? Start with Phase 0 and 1.

• You have a side hustle but it's stuck? Start with Phase 3 or 4.

• You're full-time but capped at your own time? Start with Phase 6.

• You want AI to do more of the work? Read the AI deep-dives in any order.

Every article will tell you which phase it's in, what level it's written for, and which articles to read next.

The promise

Here's what I'm promising you.

Plain English. No jargon. If a 10-year-old can't understand it, I rewrote it.

Step by step. Not theory. Not motivation. Actual instructions you can follow today.

No BS. When something doesn't work, I'll tell you.

AI, systems, and automation, everywhere. Because the only way one person can do all this in 2026 is leverage.

Last week, my own AI system posted 8 times a day to my Substack Notes. Every two hours, from 7 AM to 9 PM. Three years ago, that was a full-time job. Now the AI does all of it. I didn't touch a single post. I spent the afternoon at the park with my kids.

That's the whole game. Build the systems. Let AI do the busywork. Stay in your zone of genius.

Paid subscribers get the full playbooks. The exact tools. The exact prompts. The dollar-by-dollar receipts from the new business I'm building in public. The templates. The deep dives on what's actually working versus what isn't.

If you want the receipts and the full playbook, including the public build happening right now, upgrade.

That's the only difference.

What's coming next

This week and next, I'm publishing the first four playbooks paid subscribers will get in full.

1. The 5 Lies About Quitting Your Day Job (And the One Truth Nobody Tells You)

1. Every Online Business Is Just One of These 4 Things. Pick One.

1. The Only 6 Tools You Need to Start a One-Person Business (Stop Buying More)

1. My AI Stack: The 5 Tools That Replaced $1,200/Month of Subscriptions and Most of a Team

If you want all four in full, plus the public $0-to-real-business build as it unfolds, upgrade now.

One last thing

I'm not doing this because I need another business.

I'm doing it because I'm tired of watching people get sold a fantasy by gurus who forgot what it feels like to start.

I've built the businesses. I've made the money. I've learned what works and what doesn't. Now I'm putting all of it into one place, in order, so you don't have to figure it out alone.

If you've ever read a "make money online" article and thought "yeah, but how?", this is the answer.

The full how. Step by step. In 2026. With AI and automations (made simple) so you can focus on your zone of genius and let your systems do the rest on autopilot.

Welcome to One-Person Empire.

Liz

If you want to watch someone rebuild a real business from scratch, and learn every move along the way, you’re in the right spot. Upgrade to the paid (very affordable) to get it all .

Subscribe now

Usually it is the homepage. Or one generic service page. Or one link-in-bio site.

That is fine if someone already knows the brand name. It is bad if they do not.

If a person searches best AI social media scheduler, Buffer alternative, or how to schedule Instagram posts with AI, your homepage usually is not …

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Light in the day is nice.

Dark at night is nice.

Having to remember to switch things myself is not nice.

So I had my AI do the b*tchwork.

This time, the job was simple:

I had it make a program follow my computer's light and dark mode.

I used VS Code as the example.

But the bigger idea is what matters.

If an app …

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• Open ChatGPT

• ChatGPT Images

• Projects in ChatGPT

• Upgrade to paid for the full system

• Join PRISM

Most people are using ChatGPT Images 2.0 like a toy.

They type one prompt, hope for the best, then wonder why the output looks random.

That is not the move.

The better move is to turn it into a carousel engine.

That means one ChatGPT Project that already knows:

• who you help

• what your brand looks like

• how your hooks work

• how your carousel structure works

• what kind of CTA you want at the end

Once that is set up, you are not starting from zero every time.

You are running a system.

And systems are how you make content faster, cleaner, and more consistent.

I think this is one of the biggest missed opportunities inside ChatGPT right now.

Not because the image model is magic.

It is not.

It still needs direction.

But it is finally good enough at text, layout, edits, and instruction-following that beginners can use it to make carousel content that looks sharp, on-brand, and built for reach.

If you set it up the right way.

What changed

The new ChatGPT Images experience is much better for carousel work than the old "make me a random AI image" flow.

Here is what matters most for this use case:

• it follows detailed instructions better

• it handles text inside images much better than older image tools

• it can edit and improve an image instead of making you restart from zero

• it works well inside a Project, so your instructions, files, and context stay together

• it keeps your generated images in one place so you can reuse and refine them

That is the unlock.

Not "wow, it can make a pretty image."

More like: it can now hold enough context to behave like a repeatable content system.

What most people will do wrong

They will tell ChatGPT:

make me a viral carousel about productivity

Then they will get something generic.

Generic hook.

Generic colors.

Generic layout.

Generic CTA.

That happens because the model was never given the things a good designer or strategist would need.

It does not know:

• your audience

• your offer

• your voice

• your brand colors

• your favorite font direction

• your slide count

• your text density preference

• your swipe cue style

• your CTA goal

• your content formula

So it fills in the blanks with average choices.

Average in = average out.

The real play

Use one ChatGPT Project like your own mini carousel studio.

Inside that Project, load:

• your brand profile

• your carousel rules

• your viral slide formula

• your style pack prompts

• your CTA rules

• your "avoid this" list

Then every time you want a carousel, you do not ask it to "be creative."

You ask it to run your system.

That is a huge difference.

What your carousel engine needs to know

If you want this to work well, your Project needs six layers of instruction.

1. Brand basics

This is the foundation.

It should know:

• brand name

• niche

• target audience

• tone

• voice profile

• color palette

• font direction

• CTA style

2. Audience language

This part matters more than people think.

Your carousel should sound like your audience.

Not like a marketer trying to sound smart.

If your audience is beginners, your words need to feel simple, clear, and fast.

3. Slide structure

This is where most reach comes from.

A strong carousel is not just pretty.

It has structure.

It pulls people forward.

That means:

• a scroll-stopping hook

• one main point per slide

• open loops

• curiosity-gap leading lines

• a clean end CTA

4. Visual rules

This is where you stop the model from drifting.

You want it to know things like:

• use `4:5` portrait unless told otherwise

• default to `6` slides for educational carousels

• keep text large and easy to read

• do not cram too much copy on one slide

• keep strong contrast

• use subtle swipe cues on early slides

5. Style packs

Not every carousel should look the same.

That is why the best setup is one master Project with style add-ons.

So your base system stays the same, but the visual flavor can change.

I like having separate add-ons for:

• infographic

• ultra-bold

• minimalist

• editorial

• whiteboard / sketchnote

6. Self-check rules

This is one of the biggest upgrades you can make.

Tell ChatGPT to check its own work before it shows you the final result.

It should ask itself:

• Is the hook strong enough?

• Is the text too small?

• Is each slide focused on one idea?

• Do the leading lines make me want to swipe?

• Does the CTA fit the goal?

• Does this feel on-brand?

That one layer will save you a lot of ugly drafts.

The simple beginner workflow

If you are brand new to this, keep the process simple.

This is the order I would use:

1. Create one Project in ChatGPT for carousels only.

2. Add your brand profile and your carousel rules.

3. Add one style pack.

4. Ask for hook options first.

5. Ask for the slide outline second.

6. Ask for the production pack third.

7. Generate the slides one by one after that.

8. Ask for fixes after that.

The mistake is asking for everything at once.

That is how people get bad output and blame the tool.

Split the job into stages.

First strategy.

Then structure.

Then visuals.

Then cleanup.

The five style directions I would build first

These are the first five I would load into the Project.

They cover most of what creators need.

1. Infographic

Best for:

• tutorials

• frameworks

• checklists

• process posts

• comparison posts

It feels smart, useful, and saveable.

2. Ultra-bold

Best for:

• hot takes

• myth busting

• strong opinions

• fast hooks

• simple punchy ideas

It is loud in a good way.

3. Minimalist

Best for:

• premium brand feel

• simple ideas

• authority content

• quiet confidence

It looks clean and expensive.

4. Editorial

Best for:

• founder content

• premium personal brand content

• trend breakdowns

• more grown-up thought leadership

It feels like a magazine, not a meme.

5. Whiteboard / sketchnote

Best for:

• teaching

• step-by-step lessons

• simple systems

• beginner education

It feels more human and less polished.

That can help.

Mistakes that make AI carousels look cheap

This part matters.

Because the tool can do a lot now.

But it can still make bad work very fast.

Here are the biggest mistakes I see:

Asking for a whole carousel with no strategy

If you do not give it the hook style, slide goal, and CTA goal, it will make random choices.

Putting too much text on one slide

This is the fastest way to make the output feel low-quality.

Big text wins.

Tiny dense paragraphs lose.

No brand rules

If you do not load your colors, voice, and visual direction, it will keep drifting.

Weak hooks

If slide one is boring, the rest does not matter.

No leading lines

People need a reason to keep swiping.

That reason should be built into the copy.

One generic style for everything

That makes your content feel flat.

Different topics need different looks.

Posting the first draft

Do not do that.

Always run one clean-up pass.

Where this gets really powerful

Once your Project is loaded correctly, you can use the same system for:

• Instagram carousels

• LinkedIn slides

• X visual threads

• lead magnet graphics

• mini educational decks

• visual breakdowns inside your own paid content

You are not just learning a prompt.

You are building a reusable content engine.

That is the part most people are sleeping on.

What paid readers get below

Paid readers get the full copy-paste system.

That includes:

• the exact master ChatGPT Project instructions

• the fill-in-the-blank brand setup

• my viral carousel structure

• hook rules

• curiosity-gap leading line rules

• style add-ons for fifty-four carousel looks

• repair prompts for messy drafts

• CTA bank

• QA checklist

If you want the full reusable version, upgrade here:

Upgrade to paid and unlock the full carousel engine

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• Upgrade to paid

• Join PRISM

There is a kind of work I want AI doing for me now. Not the big creative decisions. Not the final judgment. Not the part where my name, my product, and my account are on the line. I want AI doing the annoying middle: the sorting, checking, narrowing, and first-pass research that are not hard, but still somehow eat hou…

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That means if your real code is on a Mac Mini, server, or cloud box, you do not need to move it first.

Codex can connect there and work in that setup.

What this is

Remote connections let Codex talk to another computer over SSH.

Plain English:

• Your project stays on the other computer.

• Codex connects there.

• Codex works there.

The fast setup

• Open this doc: https://developers.openai.com/codex/remote-connections

• Paste that link into Codex on your computer.

• Say: Read this and set up Codex remote connections for me.

• Follow the steps.

If the feature is hidden, the doc says to add this to your config:

[features]

remote_control = true

Then add your host in Codex under Settings > Connections.

That is it.

The tool that did it: Perplexity's new Personal Computer. It dropped yesterday. It runs Claude Sonnet 4.6 subagents on your actual desktop, in parallel. You give it…

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Five minutes later, the article you are reading right now existed. The cover image was rendered. The Substack draft was created. The paid post was published to my 102,000 subscribers. The social posts were queued to go out…

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I was on a bike ride with a photographer friend today. She was venting about how hard it is to stay consistent on social media when you just want to shoot photos. Not wri…

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This is a paid post in the "Bitchwork My AI Is Doing For Me" series. Every week I break down one piece of tedious work my AI handles now, with the prompts so you can set it up yourself.

I was on a bike ride with a photographer friend today. She was venting about how hard it is to stay consistent on social media when you just want to shoot photos. Not wri…

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By the time I got home, I had a full app idea. By the time I finished my water, Claude had alre…

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I decided to test it. And I wasn't expecting what happened.

The Experiment

Last Tuesday I sat down and thought about what my audience actually needs to know right now. I've been getting a lot of DMs asking how I scaled from 0 to 243K followers and started making real money. People want the framework. They want the behind-the-scenes.

So I gave Claude a simple prompt. I told it: create a 10-slide Instagram carousel about the exact framework I used to grow and monetize. Make it punchy. Make it actionable. Include a hook that actually makes people stop scrolling. Tell a story. Make each slide feed into the next. Then write a caption that makes them comment. Then post it.

One prompt. One instruction.

What I got back was insane.

Claude didn't just write some generic advice. It created a narrative arc. Slide 1 was a controversial hook ("I ignored the follower count"). Slides 2-4 were about my actual framework (audience obsession, value first, monetization last). Slides 5-7 were case studies. Slides 8-9 were the tactical breakdown. Slide 10 was the CTA.

It wasn't just good. It was my voice. It sounded like me texting a friend. Short sentences. Conversational. Zero fluff.

But here's where it gets crazy.

But Here's The Wild Part

Claude didn't stop at writing the carousel.

Using PRISM, Claude actually POSTED the carousel to my Instagram account. Directly. No copy-paste. No me opening the app. No scheduling tool. No friction.

I watched it happen in real time.

The carousel went live. The design was clean. The copy was aligned. The engagement started rolling in within minutes. People were commenting on the hook. They were saving the slides. The algorithm was picking it up.

And I did... nothing. Literally nothing after I hit send on that prompt.

This is the part that made me stop and think about what just happened. Most of us think about content creation in steps. You write the copy. Then you design it. Then you format it. Then you post it. Then you monitor it. Each step is a tiny friction point. Each one costs time and energy and maybe money (if you hire someone).

Claude + PRISM just erased all of those steps.

OK But What Is PRISM And Why Am I Obsessed With It

Let me back up because PRISM deserves its own moment here.

PRISM is a multi-platform content creation tool, and it's one of the most impressive things I've come across in the creator space. The tagline is "Create fast. Publish everywhere. Grow faster." — and that's not marketing fluff, that's literally what it does.

Here's what makes PRISM different from every other content tool I've tried (and I've tried a lot):

It turns anything into content. You can feed PRISM an article, a video, a PDF, a podcast transcript, a blog post — literally any source material — and it transforms it into platform-ready social media content. Carousels, posts, stories, threads. It doesn't just reformat. It actually rethinks the content for each platform. An Instagram carousel looks and feels different from a LinkedIn post, and PRISM gets that.

It knows your brand voice. This is the thing that sold me. PRISM doesn't give you generic, robotic-sounding content. It learns your voice, your style, your aesthetic. The carousels it creates look like my carousels. The copy sounds like me. That's incredibly hard to do and most tools completely fail at it.

It publishes everywhere. Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and more. You're not just creating content in PRISM. You're distributing it. One workflow, multiple platforms, all optimized for each one. No more reformatting the same post five times for five different platforms.

It has pre-built templates that actually slap. Carousel templates, hook templates, CTA frameworks, caption structures. These aren't generic Canva templates. They're built specifically for engagement and conversion. Claude pulls from these templates and the output is genuinely better than what I was paying designers and copywriters to create.

But here's the thing that really sets PRISM apart and makes this whole Claude integration possible:

PRISM has an MCP tool.

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. If you're not familiar, it's basically a way to give AI tools like Claude direct access to external apps and services. Think of it like a bridge. Normally, Claude lives inside a chat window and can only talk to you. But when you connect an MCP tool, Claude can actually reach out and use other software on your behalf.

PRISM's MCP integration means Claude can directly access PRISM's entire template library, your brand settings, your connected social accounts, and your publishing workflow. Claude isn't just writing content and handing it to you to post manually. Claude is reaching into PRISM, selecting the right template, applying your brand voice, generating the carousel slides, and publishing it — all in one seamless flow.

That's why this felt like magic. It's not two separate tools duct-taped together. It's Claude and PRISM working as one system.

No other content tool I've used has this kind of AI integration. Most tools make you copy-paste between apps. PRISM built the bridge so AI can do the whole thing end to end.

What This Actually Means

We're at an inflection point.

The creators who start using Claude + PRISM right now have an insane advantage. They can create 10-30+ pieces of content in the time it used to take them to make one. The quality isn't lower — it's actually higher because Claude is thinking through narrative and psychology and pacing, and PRISM's templates are built around what actually performs. And they can do it while they're doing other things.

Everyone else is still opening Adobe. Still hiring designers. Still copy-pasting. Still waiting.

In six months, this won't be a competitive advantage anymore. Everyone will be doing this. But right now? You're early.

The creators who figure this out first are going to grow faster. They're going to make more money. They're going to have more leverage because they have more assets. And they got there with less time investment.

This isn't hype. I don't write about things that don't work. I tested this. I watched it work. The numbers backed it up. The engagement backed it up. The practicality backed it up.

How To Actually Get Started

If you want to try this yourself, here's what you need to do:

• Get Claude (go to claude.ai, set up an account if you don't have one)

• Head to prism-app.com and set up your account — connect your social platforms and set your brand voice

• Install the PRISM MCP tool (there's a setup wizard, takes about 30 seconds) (or just use prism-app.com and do everything there).

• Open Claude and tell it what content you want to create

• Claude connects to PRISM, picks the right template, creates the content in your brand voice, and publishes it

That's it.

You don't need to be technical. You don't need to know code. You don't need to hire a designer or a VA. Claude handles the intelligence. PRISM handles the templates, design, and distribution. Together they handle everything.

The first one might feel weird. You'll probably second-guess it. That's normal. Do it anyway. Post it. Watch what happens.

By the third one, this will feel like magic.

One More Thing

I've been thinking a lot about what prompts actually work best with Claude for carousels. What hooks land hardest. What story structures make people stop and actually read. How to write captions that make people comment instead of just scrolling.

This is the beginning of something big. You get to decide if you're part of it or if you're going to wait until everyone's doing it.

I know what I'd choose.

Want to see the carousel that started this? Head to my Instagram (@liz.on.the.web) and check the latest post. And if you end up testing Claude + PRISM, come back and tell me how it goes. I want to know.

In captions. In blog posts. In LinkedIn essays that feel weirdly polished but say absolutely nothing.

You just didn't know what to call them.

AI writing has specific fingerprints. 18 of them. And once you see them, you can't unsee them.

I'm going to break down every single one. With real examples. So you can spot them instantly, whether you're reading someone else's content or checking your own.

Because here's the thing that should bother you: a lot of people have started writing like this themselves. Without even realizing it. We're absorbing AI language patterns just by consuming AI-generated content every day.

Let's fix that.

Sentence Structure Patterns

1. Negative Parallelism

The "It's not X, it's Y" pattern. Before LLMs, people simply did not write like this at scale. It includes the causal variant "not because X, but because Y" where every explanation is framed as a surprise reveal.

Examples:

• "This isn't just technical, it's a mindset change."

• "The question isn't whether to optimize. The question is when to stop."

• "Half the bugs you chase aren't in your code. They're in your head."

2. Not X. Not Y. Just Z.

The dramatic countdown pattern. AI builds tension by negating two or more things before revealing the actual point. Creates a false sense of narrowing down to the truth.

Examples:

• "Not ambition. Not ego. Just a person who never learned to say enough."

• "Not broken. Not behind. Just building something no one has a name for yet."

3. False Ranges

Using "from X to Y" constructions where X and Y aren't on any real scale. AI uses it as a fancy way to list two loosely related things. "From innovation to cultural transformation" ... what's in between? Nothing.

Examples:

• "From innovation to implementation to cultural transformation."

• "From fundamental physics to medicine and neuroscience."

4. The X? A Y.

Self-posed rhetorical questions answered immediately. The model asks a question nobody was asking, then answers it for dramatic effect.

Examples:

• "The result? Devastating."

• "The worst part? Nobody saw it coming."

• "The impact? Immediate."

5. It's Worth Noting

Filler transitions that signal nothing. AI uses these to introduce new points without connecting them to the previous argument. Also includes: "It bears mentioning", "Importantly", "Interestingly", "Notably".

6. Tricolon Abuse

Overuse of the rule-of-three pattern. A single tricolon is elegant. Three back-to-back tricolons are a pattern recognition failure.

Example: "Products impress people; platforms empower them. Products solve problems; platforms create worlds."

7. Anaphora Abuse

Repeating the same sentence opening multiple times in quick succession.

Example: "They assume that users will pay... They assume that developers will build... They assume that ecosystems will emerge..."

8. Superficial Analyses

Tacking a present participle ("-ing") phrase onto the end of a sentence to inject shallow analysis. Things like "highlighting its importance" or "reflecting broader trends" or "contributing to the region's rich cultural heritage."

Tone Patterns

9. Grandiose Stakes Inflation

Everything is the most important thing ever. A blog post about API pricing becomes a meditation on the fate of civilization.

Examples:

• "This will fundamentally reshape how we think about everything."

• "You are not running a race. You are setting the pace for everyone behind you."

10. Invented Concept Labels

AI appends abstract problem-nouns (paradox, trap, creep, divide) to domain words and uses them as if they're real, established terms. "The supervision paradox." "The acceleration trap." "Workload creep." Name a thing, skip the argument.

11. Here's the Kicker

False suspense transitions that promise a revelation but deliver a point that didn't need the buildup.

12. Think of It As...

The patronizing analogy. AI defaults to teacher mode and assumes you need a metaphor to understand anything. Often the analogy is less clear than the original concept.

13. The Truth Is Simple

Asserting that something is obvious instead of actually proving it. If you have to tell the reader your point is clear, it very likely isn't.

14. Vague Attributions

Attributing claims to unnamed authorities. "Experts argue..." "Industry reports suggest..." If you can't name the expert, you don't have a source.

Word Choice, Paragraph Structure, and Formatting

15. Tapestry and Landscape

Overuse of ornate nouns where simpler words would do. "The rich tapestry of human experience..." "Navigating the complex landscape of modern AI..." Other offenders: paradigm, synergy, ecosystem, framework.

16. Short Punchy Fragments

Excessive use of very short sentences as standalone paragraphs. "He published this. Openly. In a book. As a priest." RLHF training pushed models toward one thought per sentence. No real person writes first drafts this way.

17. Listicle in a Trench Coat

Numbered points dressed up as prose. "The first step is research. The second is drafting. The third is review." It's a listicle pretending to be an essay.

18. Unicode Decoration

Unicode arrows, smart quotes, and special characters you can't easily type. Real writers produce straight quotes and --> or =>. Claude especially loves the arrow character.

The Fix: One Prompt That Handles All of This

I wrote a single prompt you can paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI before you write anything. It tells the AI to avoid every single one of these 18 patterns. I use it myself every day.

Here it is. Copy the whole thing:

Write in a natural, human voice. Avoid these patterns: no 'It's not X, it's Y' constructions, no em-dashes, no 'Not X. Not Y. Just Z' countdowns, no fake 'from X to Y' ranges, no inflating stakes to world-historical significance, no self-posed rhetorical questions answered immediately, no filler transitions like 'It's worth noting' or 'Importantly', no invented compound labels like 'the supervision paradox', no ornate words like 'tapestry' or 'landscape' where simple words work, no tricolon or anaphora abuse, no excessive short punchy fragments as standalone paragraphs, no 'Here's the kicker' false suspense, no patronizing 'Think of it as' analogies, no asserting something is simple instead of proving it, no listicles disguised as prose, no superficial -ing analysis tacked onto sentences, no vague 'Experts say' attributions, no unicode arrows or smart quotes. Write like a real person thinking out loud. Vary your sentence length naturally. Let some thoughts be messy. Not everything needs a punchline.

That's it. Paste it at the top of any conversation where you're asking AI to write for you.

It won't make AI writing perfect. But it removes the most obvious tells. The stuff that makes people scroll past your content because their brain pattern-matches it as "AI slop" in half a second.

Your audience deserves better. And so does your voice.

Original research sourced from tropes.fyi and Wikipedia's Signs of AI Writing page. Shoutout to @ameerahbadr for the original carousel that inspired this breakdown.

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