Getting Started with AI: What Actually Works

After helping hundreds of people get started with AI, we've found a middle path that actually works. It's not about learning everything—it's about learning the right things in the right order.

The 80/20 of Getting Started

You don't need to understand how AI works to use it effectively. You need to understand how to communicate with it. Think of AI as a brilliant but literal-minded assistant from another culture. They're smart, but they need clear instructions.

Focus on these four things first:

1. Choosing the right tool (not learning all of them)
2. Writing effective prompts (not memorizing techniques)
3. Getting useful results (not perfect results)
4. Building a workflow (not solving everything at once)

Step 1: Choose One Tool and Stick With It

Tool hopping is the #1 mistake beginners make. You don't need to try every AI tool. You need to get good with one.

Our recommendation: Start with ChatGPT (free tier) or Claude (free tier).

Why these?

• They're free to start
• They work well for most common tasks
• They have good interfaces
• Everything you learn transfers to other tools

What to avoid: Don't sign up for 10 different tools. Don't pay for anything yet. Don't worry about "missing out" on other options. Mastery of one tool beats superficial knowledge of ten.

Step 2: Learn to Write Better Prompts

Bad prompt: "Write a blog post"

Better prompt: "Write a 500-word blog post introduction about getting started with AI for small business owners who are skeptical but curious. Use a conversational tone and include 3 specific examples of how AI could save them time."

The difference is specificity. AI needs context to give good answers.

The Prompt Formula That Works

Use this template for most tasks:

[Role/Context] + [Task] + [Specifics] + [Format] + [Tone]

Example breakdown:

• Role/Context: "You're an experienced marketing consultant"
• Task: "help me write email copy"
• Specifics: "for a SaaS product that helps restaurants manage inventory"
• Format: "3 options, each 100-150 words"
• Tone: "professional but friendly"

Put together: "You're an experienced marketing consultant. Help me write email copy for a SaaS product that helps restaurants manage inventory. Give me 3 options, each 100-150 words, with a professional but friendly tone."

This simple formula improves results immediately.

Step 3: Start with Low-Stakes Tasks

Don't start with your most important work. Start with tasks where mediocre results are fine.

Good starter tasks:

• Brainstorming ideas for a project
• Drafting emails you'd normally write
• Summarizing articles or meeting notes
• Generating outlines for content
• Answering simple research questions

Bad starter tasks:

• Writing your company's strategic plan
• Creating legal documents
• Making important financial decisions
• Anything where errors have serious consequences

The goal is practice, not perfection. You're building a skill, not solving your biggest problems.

Step 4: Iterate, Don't Perfect

Beginners often write one prompt, get mediocre results, and give up. Professionals write a prompt, get results, then refine.

The iteration process:

1. Write your best prompt
2. Get the output
3. Ask: "What's good? What's missing?"
4. Refine: "Make it more [specific quality]" or "Add [missing element]"
5. Repeat 2-3 times

Example:

First prompt: "Write a social media post about our new feature"
Result: Generic post

Second prompt: "That's too generic. Make it more specific to project managers who struggle with team communication"
Result: Better, but too long

Third prompt: "Good direction, but make it shorter and include a question to encourage engagement"
Result: Usable post

Each iteration takes 30 seconds. The third result is dramatically better than the first.

Step 5: Build a Workflow

Once you're comfortable with basic prompting, start building workflows. A workflow is a repeatable process that uses AI at specific points.

Example: Content creation workflow

1. AI: Brainstorm 10 topic ideas
2. You: Choose the best 3
3. AI: Create outlines for those 3
4. You: Refine the best outline
5. AI: Write the first draft
6. You: Edit and add specifics

Notice the pattern: AI does the heavy lifting of generation, you do the critical thinking of selection and refinement.

Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

• Expecting perfect first results: AI is a collaborator, not a magician.
• Giving up after one try: Iteration is the secret.
• Using AI for everything: Some tasks are better done by humans.
• Believing everything AI says: AI makes things up confidently. Verify important facts.
• Comparing yourself to experts: They have months of practice. You're on day one.

Your First Week Plan

Day 1-2: Sign up for ChatGPT or Claude. Use the prompt formula above for 5 different low-stakes tasks.

Day 3-4: Practice iteration. Take one task and refine it 3 times. Notice how the results improve.

Day 5-7: Build one simple workflow. Pick a recurring task and design how AI fits into it.

Next Steps

Once you're comfortable with these basics, explore:

• Our prompt library for ready-to-use templates
• Prompting techniques for advanced methods
• Advanced prompting guide for next-level skills

Remember: Everyone starts somewhere. The people getting amazing results from AI today were beginners yesterday. The difference is they started, practiced, and iterated.