Each prompt below uses the skeleton the OpenAI prompt engineering guide recommends: **Role** (register), **Context** (real numbers, real customers), **Constraints** (word count, banned phrases, tone), **Format** (markdown table, JSON, labeled options).
### Prompt 1 — Offer pricing analysis
```
You are a pricing strategist who has worked with 50+ solo SaaS founders.
My offer: [one-sentence description].
My cost to deliver one unit: $X (software, fees, time at $Y/hr).
Three competitor prices: $A, $B, $C (one-line description each).
My target customer's stated budget from 10 interviews: $L to $H.
My current price: $P.
Give me three price ladders:
1) Anchor (highest, premium add-ons) — list the add-ons.
2) Target (where I should sit) — one-line reasoning.
3) Decoy (makes Target look obvious) — reasoning.
For each, give gross margin and positioning ("budget", "mid-market", "premium").
Output as a markdown table: Tier | Price | Inclusions | Margin | Positioning | Reasoning.
```
**Why it works.** Three tiers uses the price-anchoring structure from Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational research.
**Sample output.** "Anchor — $497/mo — 1:1 onboarding + priority support + custom integration — 84% margin — anchors the perceived value of the Target tier."
### Prompt 2 — Sales page draft
```
You are a direct-response copywriter who writes like Joanna Wiebe — clear, specific, customer-language driven.
Product: [name + one-sentence description].
Target customer: [job title, company size, one specific pain].
Top 3 objections from interviews: [list].
Top 3 outcomes (verbatim where possible): [list].
Price: $X.
Write the page in this order:
1) Headline (10 words max, outcome-led, no metaphors).
2) Subheadline (20 words max).
3) Three-paragraph problem section using the objection language.
4) Solution: 3 outcome-led bullets, each with a 2-sentence proof element.
5) Pricing block: 3 sentences, price-first, no hedging.
6) FAQ: 5 questions from the objections, plain-English answers.
7) Closing CTA: 2 sentences, action verb first.
Banned phrases: "unlock", "leverage", "synergy", "game-changing", "revolutionary", "world-class".
```
**Why it works.** Naming a real copywriter sets register. The banned-phrase list does more than the role line. Joanna Wiebe's customer-language method is documented at Copyhackers.
**Sample output.** Headline: "Stop writing tickets at 11 p.m. — DDH replies in your voice."
### Prompt 3 — Weekly priorities triage
```
You are a chief of staff to a solopreneur. Your only job is ruthless prioritization.
Here are 20 candidate tasks for the week. Each line: task, estimated hours, estimated revenue impact, risk if not done.
[Paste 20 tasks.]
Rank with this rubric:
- DO THIS WEEK: top 3 by revenue impact / hours. Explain why each.
- DELEGATE OR AUTOMATE: tasks above 4 hours where impact < $500. Suggest the automation or freelancer specialty.
- DROP: impact ~$0 AND low risk.
- DEFER: the rest, sorted by descending impact.
Four markdown sections with task counts in each header.
```
**Why it works.** Solopreneurs over-rate fun work. The `revenue ÷ hours` ratio surfaces the real top three.
**Sample output.** "DO THIS WEEK: 1) Renewal-reminder to 47 expiring annuals — 0.5 hours, ~$11,000 impact. 2) Fix broken Stripe webhook — 1 hour, prevents leak."
### Prompt 4 — Customer onboarding email sequence
```
You are an email-sequence strategist for SaaS onboarding.
Product: [name + 1 sentence].
Customer job-to-be-done: [1 sentence].
The "aha moment" that predicts retention: [specific, e.g. "created their first prompt template"].
Current activation rate: [X%]. Median days to aha for activated users: [X].
Write a 5-email sequence sent on days 0, 1, 3, 5, 7. Each email:
- Subject under 40 characters.
- Opens with a sentence specific to the day's milestone — no "Hope you're well".
- Drives one action (the action is the link).
- Under 120 words.
Email 1: smallest possible first action.
Email 2: what unlocks after aha.
Email 3: most common objection.
Email 4: customer story (templated with [name]/[outcome] blanks).
Email 5: ask one question, no pitch.
Output each: subject, preview text (50 chars), body.
```
**Why it works.** Activation-driven onboarding is the framework Lenny Rachitsky popularized — see his activation analysis. Giving the actual aha-moment is what makes the emails feel like they came from someone who runs the product.
**Sample output.** Subject: "Step 1 takes 90 seconds." Body opens: "You created an account yesterday — the next action is one click."
### Prompt 5 — Refund handling reply
```
You are a customer-support specialist for a solopreneur business. Voice: direct, warm, no corporate-speak, no over-apologizing.
Refund request: "[paste verbatim]"
Order context:
- Days since purchase: [X].
- Refund window per policy: [Y].
- LTV if retained: $[Z].
- Reason given (one phrase): [reason].
Write three reply options:
A) Approve. Acknowledge the reason in one sentence. Confirm refund timeline. Leave the door open. Under 80 words.
B) Save: 1 month free + 30-min 1:1 call, framed as "give us one more shot." Under 100 words.
C) Decline (only if outside window): cite policy plainly, offer 50% credit on future purchase. Under 90 words.
Banned phrases: "We sincerely apologize", "Thank you for your patience", "Unfortunately at this time".
```
**Why it works.** Over-apologizing trains customers to extract concessions. Three options force you to pick. Help Scout's State of Customer Service reports tone consistency as a top CSAT driver.
**Sample output.** Option B: "Hey — fair feedback. Here's what I can do: a free month, plus 30 minutes on a call so I can show you the workflow that gets the result you wanted. Worth a try?"
### Prompt 6 — Content repurposing
```
You are a content strategist. Write once, distribute six ways.
Source: [paste 1,500–2,500 word post OR podcast transcript].
Generate:
1) X thread: 8 posts, hook first, soft CTA last. No emojis. <240 chars each.
2) LinkedIn post: 1,200 chars, story open, ends with a question.
3) YouTube Short script: 45 sec, hook in first 3 sec, 3 beats, end-card CTA.
4) Email newsletter: 350 words, one idea, link to original at end.
5) Pinterest pin: title (60 char), description (200 char), 3 hashtags.
6) Quora answer: identify the question (exact wording), 400-word answer that links back without sounding promotional.
Preserve the original's examples and numbers. Do not invent facts.
```
**Why it works.** "Preserve specific examples and numbers" prevents drift into generic content. The Content Marketing Institute B2B benchmark reports repurposing as a top tactic among small-team marketers.
**Sample output.** Thread hook: "I priced my SaaS wrong for 18 months. The fix took 90 minutes and one ChatGPT prompt."
### Prompt 7 — Lead-magnet outline
```
You are a top-of-funnel marketer for a solopreneur business.
My customer: [one-sentence profile].
Their #1 stated pain (verbatim): [quote].
My core offer: [one sentence].
The bridge: lead magnet → 5-email nurture → core offer.
Design a lead magnet that:
- Solves a small, specific version of the #1 pain in under 30 minutes of effort for the customer.
- Hints at the larger system the core offer delivers.
- Is downloadable (PDF, checklist, calculator, template) — not a webinar.
Output:
1) Working title (60 char).
2) Subtitle (15 words).
3) TOC (5-9 sections, each with one-line description).
4) The single "wow" asset — describe it in 80 words.
5) Three CTA placements inside the magnet pointing to the core offer.
6) The first nurture email (subject + 120-word body).
```
**Why it works.** Most lead magnets fail because they try to solve the whole problem. The "30-minute version" forces a tight scope.
**Sample output.** Title: "The 7-Question Pricing Audit." TOC item 5: "The decoy-price worksheet — paste your three tiers, the worksheet tells you which one customers will pick."
### Prompt 8 — Churn-reason classification
```
You are a customer-research analyst.
Below are verbatim cancellation reasons from 80 customers over the last 90 days.
[Paste 80 reasons, one per line.]
Classify each into:
- PRICE — perceived too expensive.
- FIT — wrong product for their use case.
- ACTIVATION — never got value.
- COMPETITOR — switched to a named alternative.
- LIFE EVENT — job change, business closed, paused.
- BUG / BAD EXPERIENCE.
- UNCLEAR — insufficient information.
Output:
1) Markdown table: count and percentage per category.
2) The 3 categories with the largest counts, with 3 representative verbatims each (no editing).
3) For each top-3, suggest one intervention I could ship in 14 days, with expected impact range.
```
**Why it works.** Solopreneurs over-index on the most painful cancellation emails. Categorical counts surface what's actually big vs. loud.
**Sample output.** "FIT — 31% — three verbatims about an integration we don't offer — intervention: add a 'we don't have X' line above the CTA, expected 1-2 point retention lift."
### Prompt 9 — P&L narrative
```
You are a fractional CFO for solo founders.
P&L for the last 6 months (one row per month):
Revenue: [X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6]
COGS (Stripe + hosting + tools): [...]
Marketing spend: [...]
Owner draw / salary: [...]
Other opex: [...]
Write a 400-word narrative for my monthly review:
1) The headline number (one sentence).
2) What changed direction this month (and by how much).
3) The one ratio that worries me, with the trend.
4) The one ratio that's healthier than I think, with the trend.
5) The single decision I should make before the 15th of next month.
Use actual numbers, not "approximately". No hedging. If you don't know, say "I don't know from the data provided."
```
**Why it works.** Most solopreneur reviews stall at "revenue went up, I think?" Forcing a comparison and a decision makes output usable. The hedging ban matters more than it looks.
**Sample output.** "Revenue grew 14% MoM, $18,200 → $20,750. Worry ratio: marketing CAC, $42 → $61 as you scaled paid ads. Healthier-than-you-think: gross margin at 78% as Stripe-fee-as-percentage fell with annual prepays."
### Prompt 10 — Podcast pitch
```
You are a publicist who has booked solopreneurs on 200+ podcasts.
Podcast: [name + 1-sentence description + 3 recent episode titles].
Host: [name].
My credibility (1 sentence): [e.g., "I run a $400K/year solo SaaS"].
The evidence-backed story their audience hasn't heard 50 times: [1 sentence].
The 3 takeaways from my episode: [list].
Structure:
- Subject under 40 chars, includes a specific number, no clickbait.
- Opener: real reference to one of the host's recent episodes — what I agreed or disagreed with.
- One-sentence credibility.
- Story angle: 2 sentences.
- 3 takeaway bullets.
- Offer a 90-second voice memo.
- Sign off with calendar link.
Under 180 words. Plain text.
```
**Why it works.** Hosts get 50+ pitches a week. The episode-specific opener is what gets the open. Tom Hunt's Fame studies show personalized openings drive much higher reply rates than generic ones.
**Sample output.** Subject: "$400K solo SaaS, 0 employees." Opener: "Loved your episode with [name] on activation rate — the part about defining the aha moment by session three matched what I found in my own data."
### Prompt 11 — Customer research synthesizer
```
You are a user researcher.
Below are transcripts from 8 customer interviews (5-15 minutes each).
[Paste transcripts.]
Synthesize across the 8:
1) Top 5 pains by frequency. Count of mentions + one verbatim each.
2) Top 3 "magic-wand wishes" ("if you could change one thing...").
3) The 3 best testimonial verbatims (job title only, no name).
4) The 3 features people thought we had but don't.
5) One surprise — something I didn't ask about but multiple people brought up.
Be conservative. Only report what's in the transcripts.
```
**Why it works.** Solopreneurs do research in spurts then never revisit. A synthesizer keeps transcripts useful for months. "Be conservative" is the guardrail.
**Sample output.** "Surprise — 4 of 8 interviewees mentioned using the product on mobile while commuting. You don't market mobile anywhere. Test 'works on the train' as a homepage line."