5 AI Prompts to Steal When Your Brain Goes Blank
Let's play a game. It's called "I know I need to email my list, but I'd rather scrub my grout with a toothbrush."
Sound familiar?
It's not that you don't have anything to offer. It's that the pressure to be brilliant, witty, and profound in every single email is enough to make your brain shut down completely. So you just… don't. And another week goes by, your list gets colder, and the cycle continues.
AI is supposed to help with this, right? But if you've ever typed "write a newsletter" into ChatGPT, you know the generic, soul-crushingly boring garbage it spits out. It's a robot trying to sound like a human, and it fails spectacularly.
Here's the secret the AI bros won't tell you: AI is a tool, not a magic wand. It's only as good as the instructions you give it. Garbage in, garbage out.
So, let's give it better instructions. Here are 5 copy-paste-ready AI prompts you can steal to break through writer's block and finally get that email out the door. These are tested, they work, and they won't make you sound like a LinkedIn bot.
The Prompts
(Note: Use these with any AI tool like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Just copy, paste, and fill in the blanks.)
Prompt 1: The "Relatable Story" Hook
Act as a marketing strategist with a dry, witty, and slightly cynical tone, like [insert your favorite witty personality, e.g., Tina Fey, David Sedaris]. I need to write an email about [TOPIC, e.g., the pressure to be perfect]. Start the email with a short, relatable story about a time I experienced [FEELING/SITUATION, e.g., a moment of total imperfection, like burning dinner or tripping in public]. The story should be no more than 3-4 sentences and connect back to the main topic of the email. Make it feel personal and a little self-deprecating. Avoid marketing jargon and corporate-speak at all costs.
Prompt 2: The "Give a Gift" Generator
Use this when: You need a quick, valuable tip to share (the "gift" part of the framework).
Why it works: It forces the AI to generate something genuinely useful and actionable, not just vague advice.
The Prompt:
My audience is [TARGET AUDIENCE, e.g., overwhelmed service-based business owners]. They struggle with [COMMON PROBLEM, e.g., creating social media content]. I need a list of 3 unconventional, immediately useful tips to help them with this problem. These tips should be things they can do in 10 minutes or less. Frame these tips as a "gift" within an email. For each tip, explain *why* it works in one sentence. The tone should be helpful and direct, like a friend giving advice over coffee.
Prompt 3: The "Subject Line That Doesn't Suck"
Use this when: You've written the email but your subject line is a snoozefest.
Why it works: It focuses on curiosity and emotion, not just keywords. It generates options you can choose from.
The Prompt:
My email is about [TOPIC, e.g., how to stop procrastinating on marketing tasks]. The main feeling I want to evoke is [FEELING, e.g., relief and a sense of being understood]. Generate 10 subject line options. They should be short (under 50 characters), use informal language, and create a strong sense of curiosity or urgency. Include at least two that are phrased as a question and two that are slightly provocative or shocking. Avoid generic subject lines like "My New Blog Post" or "This Week's Newsletter."
Prompt 4: The "Repurpose This Mess
Use this when: You have a bunch of old content (blog posts, videos, etc.) and no time.
Why it works: It turns your existing assets into fresh email content, saving you hours.
The Prompt:
I have a blog post titled "[BLOG POST TITLE]." The main idea is [MAIN IDEA OF POST]. Your task is to transform this blog post into a short, engaging email for my newsletter. 1. Start with a punchy, relatable hook that grabs attention. 2. Summarize the 3 most important takeaways from the blog post in a way that's easy to digest. 3. End with a strong call-to-action that encourages readers to click through to the full post. The tone should be conversational and energetic. Assume the reader is busy and has a short attention span. Here is the full text of the blog post: [PASTE BLOG POST TEXT HERE]
Prompt 5: The "What the Hell Do I Write About?
Use this when: Your brain is a barren wasteland of ideas.
Why it works: It mines your audience's pain points for content ideas, ensuring your emails are always relevant.
The Prompt:
Act as a content strategist for a business that helps [TARGET AUDIENCE] with [THEIR MAIN GOAL]. My audience's biggest struggles are: - [Struggle 1, e.g., Feeling overwhelmed by social media] - [Struggle 2, e.g., Not knowing how to attract clients] - [Struggle 3, e.g., Hating the sales process] Generate 5 email topic ideas that directly address these struggles. For each topic, provide a compelling subject line and a brief (1-2 sentence) summary of what the email would be about. The tone should be empathetic but direct.
Your Invitation
AI isn't going to save your business. But it can absolutely save you from the agony of the blinking cursor. Steal these prompts, tweak them, make them your own.
Your list wants to hear from you. It's time to give the robots the right instructions and finally hit 'send'.
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