Use ChatGPT to rapidly brainstorm growth ideas for your company
ChatGPT's brainstorming is limited only by your prompt
A lot of people like brainstorming. Personally I have found brainstorming exercises to be frustrating, because they’re usually done in concert with other people. When a group gets together and tries to create output, what tends to happen is that the loudest and quickest thinkers tend to dominate the discussion. That’s not a problem for you if you’re both confident in your ideas and high bandwidth, but I suspect most people don’t tick both boxes.
A much more promising way to brainstorm is to sit by yourself and just write or type out a kind of stream of consciousness that comes to you. But this brings with it another problem: you may censor your thoughts. Further, you may not be able to write or type quickly enough to get everything on to paper (or screen). You’ll quickly become frustrated with the wave of fresh new ideas crowding your mind.
So, why not outsource brainstorming to ChatGPT? Even better, you can use ChatGPT to further investigate ideas that it comes up with. Let’s make this more concrete. Assume that you own an architectural services firm, and that you are looking for ways to grow your business. So here’s the prompt: Give me 10 ideas to grow an architectural services firm.
Here’s ChatGPT’s output:
Networking and referral marketing: Building relationships with other professionals in the industry and encouraging satisfied clients to refer new business can be a powerful way to grow your architectural services firm.
Online presence: Develop a strong online presence through a professional website and social media platforms. Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to increase visibility and attract new clients.
Niche specialization: Focus on a specific market or type of project to differentiate your firm and attract clients looking for specialized services.
Diversify services: Offer a range of services, such as interior design, project management, and construction management, to provide clients with a full-service solution and increase your value proposition.
Collaboration and partnerships: Partner with other firms or professionals in the industry to offer complementary services and expand your reach.
Continual education and professional development: Invest in your team's education and professional development to stay ahead of industry trends and provide clients with the latest, cutting-edge solutions.
Client engagement and satisfaction: Prioritize client engagement and satisfaction by actively seeking feedback and working to exceed their expectations.
Strong project management: Implement strong project management processes to ensure projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards.
Marketing and advertising: Develop a targeted marketing and advertising strategy to reach potential clients and showcase your firm's capabilities.
Embrace technology: Adopt technology solutions, such as building information modeling (BIM) software, to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and offer clients more advanced solutions.
Let’s say you want to drill into 7. Client engagement and satisfaction. You can prompt ChatGPT: Write a phone script for calling up clients and inquiring about their level of satifaction.
Here’s ChatGPT’s script:
Hi, this is [Your Name] from [Architectural Services Firm]. How are you doing today?
Great, I’m calling because I wanted to check in with you and see how you’re enjoying the services we provided for your [Project Name]. Is now a good time to chat for a few minutes?
Great, I’m so glad to hear that! Can you tell me a bit more about what specifically you’re happy with?
That’s fantastic to hear! Our goal is always to exceed our clients’ expectations, and it sounds like we’re on the right track.
Is there anything that we could have done better or any areas for improvement that you can think of?
I appreciate your feedback. We always strive to provide the best possible service, and your input will help us to continue to improve.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. It was great to hear about your positive experience, and we look forward to continuing to work with you in the future.
Have a great day!
What if you want a script for a voicemail? Easy: Rewrite this script to make it appropriate for leaving a voicemail.
Here’s ChatGPT’s suggestion:
Hi, this is [Your Name] from [Architectural Services Firm]. I hope this message finds you well.
I wanted to touch base with you to inquire about your level of satisfaction with the services we provided for your [Project Name]. If you have a moment, I would greatly appreciate a call back to discuss your thoughts and feedback.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you. Have a great day!
Maybe you don’t run an architectural services firm. Maybe you run an oilfield services firm, and you’re looking for new customers. Your prompt: How can I find new customers for my oil field services business?
ChatGPT’s suggestions:
Networking: Attend industry conferences and events, join industry associations, and reach out to other businesses that serve the oil and gas industry. Building relationships with others in the industry can help you learn about new opportunities and connect with potential customers.
Online marketing: Create a website for your business and use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to make it easier for potential customers to find you online. You can also use social media and online advertising to reach a wider audience.
Cold calling: Reach out to potential customers directly by phone or email. This can be a time-consuming process, but it can also be an effective way to generate leads and build relationships with potential customers.
Referrals: Encourage your current customers to refer new business to you. Offer incentives for referrals and make sure that you provide excellent service to your existing customers so that they are more likely to recommend you to others.
Offer a free trial or demo: Offer a free trial or demo of your services to potential customers. This can help you build trust and demonstrate the value that you can provide.
Partner with other businesses: Consider partnering with other businesses that serve the oil and gas industry. This can help you reach new customers and expand your market.
Maybe you want to know more about the first suggestion—Networking. Prompt: What are industry conferences relevant to oil field services?
Here’s its output:
SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE)
Offshore Technology Conference (OTC)
European Oil & Gas Conference
ADIPEC (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference)
Gulf Coast Oil & Gas Expo
African Oil & Gas Summit
CERAWeek by IHS Markit
Arctic Technology Conference
Deep Offshore Technology International Conference & Exhibition (DOT)
Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition (APOGCE)
Or maybe you ask ChatGPT for information about SEO and how it is relevant to oilfield services. Here’s its output:
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) for an oil field services business, the keywords you target will depend on the specific services you offer. Here are some examples of keywords that you might consider targeting:
Oil field services
Drilling services
Well completion services
Oil rig maintenance
Oil field equipment rental
Oil field consulting
Petroleum engineering services
Offshore drilling services
Fracking services
Oil field transportation services
It's important to target keywords that accurately reflect the services you offer, as well as keywords that your target audience is likely to search for. You can use tools such as Google Keyword Planner to research keywords and determine which ones have the highest search volume and relevance to your business.
In addition to targeting specific keywords, it's also important to ensure that your website is optimized for search engines in other ways, such as having a well-structured website with clear headings and descriptions, and high-quality, relevant content. This will help improve your website's visibility in search engine results and attract more organic traffic to your site.
As you can see, ChatGPT allows you to quickly brainstorm. Further, you can drill down on points of interest arise as you read its output. Everything that I did in this post, for two completely unrelated businesses, took less than ten minutes of prompt design.
And, as for prompt design, earlier today, I asked ChatGPT for ten tips for good prompt design, and I turned its list into a Twitter thread:
ChatGPT has a wide variety of uses. One of its most promising is for quickly and efficiently brainstorming. You’re limited only by your ability to design a good prompt which elicits useful information. If you find that its brainstorming output isn’t great, consider whether your prompt needs to be refined.