Freelancer Magazine | Issue 14 | The AI Edition by freelancermagazine

+ What AI means for freelancers

Do you need a Custom ChatGPT?

Using AI to prevent mental burnout

FORGE YOUR OWN PATH

From essential protection to expert advice, we're here to help the self-employed achieve their version of success.

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Editor’s Letter

Dear Freelancer Mag Fan,

Iknow,I know. Before you roll your (lovely, human) eyes, I get it. It’s everywhere, isn’t it? AI-enhanced this, AI-generated that. Our social feeds, our events, our email inboxes… stuffed with the dreaded AI. There’s no escape.

An artful dodge isn’t the best plan here. AI is like the internet: it is going to change everything at work, and at home. We’re on the cusp of something indisputably major. So the best plan is not to bury your head, but to learn the instructions, have a play and see where it can help you.

So where’s the instruction manual? Erm… I’m afraid to say there isn’t one. These techie types have shoved these magical tools in our faces and left it up

to us to work it out. But you’re in luck – this issue of Freelancer Magazine does a brilliant job of guiding you through it all.

AI can do some serious good: helping freelancers avoid burnout (p22), setting refugees and migrants up with new careers, and creating more inclusive content (p48). It can also create precious time in our crampacked days, helping us with LinkedIn (p82), upgrade our copy (p34) and even build our own mini-ChatGPTs (p30).

Pick a couple of things, have a play. I suspect you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.

Heather

n Issue 14 - The AI Edition

For your Issue 14 playlist, curated specially for you while you read, search “The AI Edition - Freelancer Magazine” on Spotify.

Search “Freelancer Magazine” on Spotify and you should find our playlists for all issues.

Cover image credit: Original image by Rosie Parsons plus AI effect

Your Freelancer Magazine Dream Team for Issue

Sophie Cross Editor & Publisher

Serial house mover & loves unpacking /SophCross

Angela Lyons Creative Lead

Selfie snapper & beach hut desirer (donations welcome) /AngelaLyons1

Jo Watson

Features Writer

Woman of a certain age & Woman of a certain rage /Jo-Watson-AGoodWriteUp

Louisa Ellins

Proofreader

Overpacker & podcast binger /LouisaEllins

Penny Brazier Features Writer

Spills food down her top, typical Scorpio /Penny-Brazier

Abi Sea Features Writer

Always turns left when driving (especially when it should be right) @TheLaunchLifeline

Nia Carnelio

Features Writer

Collector of stickers, with occasional courage to stick ‘em too /Nia-Carnelio

Mary Cummings VA

Accidental plant killer /MaryCummingsVA

Amy Nolan Doodler Maker Bewildered but loving it @InkyPix4U

Anita Ellis Features Writer

Becky Adlington’s doppelganger /AnitaEllis

Charlotte Ciel

Customer Service

Sudoku savant, mediocre at crosswords /InlineInternational

8. YOUR MESSAGES

11. WATER COOLER

15. THE FREELANCE DOODLER

16. AI JARGON BUSTER

18. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… DANIEL PRIESTLEY

20. THE BEST AI TOOLS FOR FREELANCERS

22. FREELANCE WRAPPED: YOUR YEAR IN REVIEW WITH AI INSIGHTS

26. A META CONVERSATION WITH CHATGPT

30. DO I NEED A… CUSTOM GPT?

34. SUPERCHARGING YOUR GROWTH WITH AI X HUMAN COPYWRITING

37. JUST START AINYTHING

40. THE FREELANCER’S COPING KIT: CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH AI

42. DO GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB WITH HEATHER MURRAY

48. AI FOR GOOD

52. NEWSLETTER LOVE

56. DESPERATELY SEEKING THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT AI MEANS FOR FREELANCERS

60. FOOD: WHAT’S FOR TEA, CLAUDE?

66. COWORKERS

freelancer

68. TOP OF THE SHOPS

70. WHAT WE’RE READING, LISTENING TO, LEARNING

76. FREELANCE MEET UPS

freelancer

82. HOW TO USE AI FOR LINKEDIN WITHOUT TURNING BLAND

84. ASK LINKEDIN

86. FREELANCER STATS

87. VIRTUAL COWORKING FOR FREELANCERS

89. JO WATSON’S, WE WERE ALL THINKING IT

Thank you so much for all your emails and messages. Please keep sending them in and let us know what you want to see more of.

 I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say how much I enjoyed being part of the Zoom coworking meeting this morning – it is great having some company beside me as I was working on a project – I met some really super new contacts and loved hearing about their freelance experiences.

Lucy Lawson-Paul, arts and auctions/client and customer services

 Normally when Freelancer Magazine lands on my doormat I read it straight away. But this issue arrived in the midst of several events and it went on the tbr pile.

That pile fell off my desk this morning, a sure sign it needed attention.

So now I am engrossed in issue thirteen with a (now cold) coffee by my side. You’ve done it again, answering questions I didn’t know I had and motivated me to think differently. If you haven’t read it, do it now.

Nicola Webster, social media strategist

 Being a creative person, I’m always looking for ideas and nothing can be more satisfying than Freelancer Magazine. It is full of creative ideas, remarkable strategies to uplift freelancing business and most importantly it has interviews of experienced personalities which help me make my decisions carefully and strategically. Indeed the magazine has a lot to offer and whenever I read an issue, there is a sudden burst of energy for doing something new and extraordinary, the fact that my business ideas are derived from my reading of the magazine. My wishes to the amazing team of Freelancer Magazine.

Astitva Singh, research scholar and writer

 I’ve got two approaches to reading my copy of Freelancer Magazine – I either sit and binge it as soon as it arrives, or I make myself savour little bites over days’ worth of coffee breaks. For the most recent issue, I chose the latter – which is why I’ve only just discovered that the brilliant Emma has quoted me in her article ‘It’s giving: freelance gift culture and why we love it so much’.

It’s an absolutely lovely article! And if you’re in the gifting industry, you’re missing out on a captive market if you don’t have an advert in Freelancer Magazine.

Think I’ll challenge myself to see how long I can make this issue last!

Claire McCabe, copywriter

Feeling the Freelance Love

Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts on the future of Freelancer Magazine…

We had over 100 responses, and these are just a few of the highlights:

I’m part of the Freelancer Magazine community for…

• Thought-provoking content, ideas and interesting people!

• Feeling like I’m part of something bigger.

• Inspiration, connection, motivation.

• To share the highs and lows of freelancing.

• The gorgeous community and to support other freelancers!

• Tips on how to improve my freelance business.

• Inspiration, upliftment!

• Motivation to help me get stuff done.

• Learning and community.

• Connection and seeing things from other perspectives.

• A sense of solidarity.

One word or phrase you would use to describe Freelancer Magazine…

• A hug and a high five in one

• Insightful

• Resourceful

• Joyful

• Friendly

• Canny

• Community

• Supportive

• Encouraging

• Colourful

• Square

What’s your favourite part of the magazine?

• The thud when it falls through the letterbox.

• In-depth interviews about people’s career journey and route into freelancing.

• The ‘in-betweeny’ snippets of information between longer articles.

• Jo Watson’s column (it’s the first thing I read).

• Features on financial matters (because that’s my toughest area).

• The happy design and positivity always puts me in a good mood.

• It gives me a kick up the bum to get out there and do what I want too instead of overthinking it!

• I find the newsletters section super interesting.

• Peeks into other freelancers’ lives.

• I love how you make a real effort to feature people from all over the world.

• It’s so attractive.

• Top of the Shops.

• Book + podcast recommendations. :)

• Penny Brazier’s articles. They are always outstanding.

• Amy’s doodles.

• So far it’s changing every issue!

• I just love the whole thing.

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Portfolio of investee companies means your eggs aren’t all in one basket

Micro Column

Klarna’s AI Takeover: The

A Call to Action for Freelancers

Klarna, a fintech giant, recently replaced 700 customer service agents with an AI chatbot.

As freelancers, we can’t ignore this growing trend of companies prioritising artificial intelligence over human talent.

Do we passively accept this new reality or advocate for the irreplaceable value of human creativity, empathy, and collaboration?

Let’s build a human-centric freelance economy to fight back:

• Prioritise people: When building your business, work with fellow humans. Hire, mentor, collaborate, and share knowledge. Create a thriving freelance ecosystem that celebrates human ingenuity and connection.

• Vote with your wallet: As consumers, support companies that prioritise people alongside profits. Invest in businesses that value human potential, not just AI efficiency. Choose companies consistently hiring and nurturing freelancers and employees.

• AI is a tool, not a replacement:

AI can expand our skills and perspective, but it can’t replicate the warmth of empathy or the spark of collaboration. Use AI to streamline tasks, sharpen your thinking, and expand your creativity, but let’s always bring our human touch to the forefront of our work.

• The future of freelancing is ours to shape:

Klarna’s story is a warning and an opportunity to redefine our purpose as freelancers and double down on what makes us human.

Let’s build a future where freelancers thrive because of our uniquely human abilities.

A future where we prioritise collaborating with fellow humans and support companies that value human potential, not just AI efficiency.

Kira Hug Marketing strategist & conversion copywriter /KiraHug

The Dunker Takeover ��

The Dunker is now written by different experts from our freelance community on specific themes. To check out the upcoming themes and take over The Dunker (£99 + VAT), visit freelancermagazine.co.uk/advertising

One of last quarter’s most popular Dunkers, with a 50.4% open rate, was on Productisation by Joelle Byrne, a business strategy specialist who wrote about bottling our business brains! Here are three tips from Joelle…

1. Be inquisitive. The pathway to productisation is via your inbox and social feeds. The conversations that didn’t convert, and the leads that got lost along the way… look at the threads in common — and pull on them.

2. Be measured. Once you’ve got an idea, qualify the market BEFORE you invest any time or cash into creation. Pre-selling is essential, otherwise you’re out of pocket before you’ve even sold anything — and that’s not the point of passive.

3. Be strategic. Timing is everything for the release of your product. Don’t be tempted to broadcast on a whim. Get a marketing strategy in place and be intentional with your actions. You’ve got one shot to make this launch.

Have a Pawsome Summer!

The Power of Words

“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”

Stewart Brand

Where I ♥ to Work

I’ve never been great at sitting still. I get bored and lazy if I’m in one place for too long. So, when I started freelancing, I knew I would never manage working from home in the regular sense. Luckily, the TikTok algorithm served me a video of a remote worker pet sitting in Greece, “I could do that”, I thought. Two years and twenty-five house sits later, I’ve mastered the art of dodging household bills and travelling wherever I can find a pet in need of some company. I’ve spent six weeks in Vienna, a month in Berlin, explored UK neighbourhoods I never knew existed, walked puppies, comforted cats and even bathed a tortoise. As I write this, I’m preparing to leave Edinburgh and head to Bristol. But perhaps the most exciting sit is yet to come: three weeks in Paris during the Olympics.

Emma Truscott /Emma-Truscott

Writer | Where’s Ems?

Three Tips Using AI for Social Media and Video

Katherine Banks is a social media manager for AI companies. She’s currently at HeyGen and previously worked for Otter.ai. She divides her time between Los Angeles, Bucharest and Greece.

HeyGen is a video generator that allows you to create avatars; there is also a video translation feature, which allows us to communicate in ways we were never able to for edtech (educational technology), HR training and influencer marketing (to name a few use cases). If you’re an e-commerce seller, you can drop in a link and generate an ad (with one of our premade avatars or your personal avatar) in five minutes.

1. How we should be using AI

Life is moving at such a fast pace, and that includes our daily workflow. Using AI will enhance your productivity, allowing you to flourish and compete with those that have already adopted AI. We shouldn’t be expecting it to do our thinking for us. I use AI to enhance my creativity, not replace it.

2. The three AI tools I love

I’m a writer and have found Otter.ai invaluable for interviews and documenting my thoughts. What’s great about it is that it transcribes whatever it records, which I then use for articles or blogs. The app Productivity-wise increased my productivity by 50%, and, of course, I happily pay for ChatGPT – my lifesaver.

3. My top tip for a beginner using AI

Just dive in with an open mind.

Find Katherine Banks on Instagram @TravelingGreek and at travelinggreek.com

AI Jargon Buster

By Heather Murray

AI

Stands for artificial intelligence. Computer systems that can do tasks that normally require human thinking (like seeing objects or translating languages).

Examples: Siri, Alexa.

Machine Learning

A type of AI where computers learn on their own from data instead of just following programming rules. Example: Face recognition software. Neural Networks Machine learning models loosely based on the human brain. They can find patterns in large amounts of data. Example: Dog breed classification apps.

Deep Learning

A complex machine learning approach based on artificial neural networks with many layers. It can recognise sophisticated patterns for computer vision, object detection, speech etc. Example: Selfdriving car systems.

Generative AI

Types of AI models that create new content like text, images, audio and video that closely matches examples made by humans. Example: DALL-E image generator.

Large Language Models (LLMs)

A type of generative AI trained on huge text data that can write human-like text. Examples: ChatGPT for natural language generation.

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)

Tools that let different apps and programs communicate with each other. Many AI services use APIs.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

AI that helps computers understand, interpret, and generate human languages. Key tasks include translation, identifying emotion, and speech recognition. Example: Chatbots.

Algorithm

A process or set of steps for accomplishing a task. AI algorithms enable computers to complete intelligent tasks.

Bias

Errors or unfairness in AI systems stemming from flawed data or algorithms. Managing bias is an important issue.

General Intelligence

An AI’s overall ability to learn a variety of intellectual tasks. Recreating humanlevel general intelligence is an aspiration of advanced AI called artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

A hypothetical future type of AI that can learn and master different intellectual tasks at a human level, across all domains. It would possess general cognitive abilities like problem solving, reasoning, planning and creativity.

Explainability

The ability to properly explain why and how an AI made a certain decision or prediction, instead of acting like a ‘black box’.

Baby AGI

Automation

Using technology like AI to complete tasks with little or no human input. AI automation is impacting many jobs and industries.

Resource from the AI For Non-Techies Learning Hub.

The Hub costs £25 a month, but you can get it for £15 a month for six months by using our Freelancer Magazine exclusive discount code when signing up. Type discount code FREEMAG15 for an immediate £10 off per month.

nontechies.ai/ai-learning-hub

A simpler form of AGI with more narrow abilities. While not fully human-like general intelligence, Baby AGI systems can still perform sophisticated reasoning and assist with complex tasks. They are a stepping stone towards more advanced AGI.

A Day In The Life Of...

Daniel Priestley

What do you do?

I’m the cofounder of ScoreApp, an AIenabled platform for creating surveys, assessments, and quizzes. Over 5,000 companies globally use it for lead generation and market research. I also run Dent Global, a multi-award-winning entrepreneur accelerator that coaches over 4,000 fastgrowing startups.

Where are you based?

I live in London with my wife Alena, our three kids and our cat, but I was born in Australia and moved here in 2006.

How did you start ScoreApp?

Before I started ScoreApp, I paid a lot of money to have someone build an online assessment tool for me. This tool allowed my

audience to understand their ‘Key Person of Influence’ score, i.e. how well their personal brand was performing.

We had over 90,000 people take the assessment, and it resulted in millions in sales. I also received hundreds of requests from business owners asking me to help them build their own assessment tool, just like the one I had. So I created ScoreApp as an affordable way for more people to achieve similar results.

How did you first start in business?

I was entrepreneurial as a teenager. I ran nightclub parties, sold flowers door to door, and had all sorts of little entrepreneurial ventures. My first real business was when I was 21. I ran an events business where I would find experts and leaders and organise

their events. We’d market their events, get people to attend, and take a cut of the tickets sold.

Tell us a bit about your most recent book, Scorecard Marketing.

I wrote Scorecard Marketing to help more people generate high-quality leads for their business. In the book, I walk through the exact steps I used to generate 90,000 leads and millions in revenue.

The book explains how to build an audience of ideal prospects using assessments, quizzes, and personalised marketing techniques. Humans love to score themselves, take tests, and get personalised feedback. Scorecard Marketing acts as a blueprint for building these resources in your business.

A Day in the Life…

I get up at… 7am most days. I’m not interested in 5am ice baths and meditation.

I won’t get out of bed for anything that…

Isn’t aligned with my mission and values.

My go-to breakfast is… Black coffee.

My go-to lunch is… Sushi.

A typical working day might look like… Podcast interviews, video recording sessions, writing content and running online workshops.

After work…

I play LEGO with my three children and go for walks every day.

The best part of my working day is… Running online workshops for our clients.

The part I’d happily hire someone to do is… I wish I could outsource fitness and exercise.

I wish I could…

Develop more entrepreneurs to stand out, scale up and make a dent in the universe.

What I’m excited about right now…

I’m most excited by AI’s potential and how it can free people from the functional parts of their business, allowing them to focus on becoming more vital.

Words to live by on a day-to-day basis… Be brave, have fun, and make a Dent.

Follow Daniel on LinkedIn /DanielPriestley and visit scoreapp.com

The Best AI Tools for Freelancers

By Heather Murray

Marketing Sales

Gong

AI-powered platform for analysing sales conversations and improving revenue intelligence.

Humanlinker

An alternative to Humantic for analysing prospects’ personalities and behaviours.

Dripify

Automated LinkedIn outreach and engagement tool.

Regie

AI-driven sales automation platform for streamlining sales processes.

Quantified

AI-powered software for sales training and performance improvement. Clay Tool for building targeted prospect lists and managing outreach campaigns.

Humantic

AI-based platform for analysing prospect personalities to improve sales approaches.

Sales Flick

AI-powered assistant for social media content creation and management.

M1-project

Tool for creating detailed buyer personas to guide marketing strategies.

Penfriend

AI-driven SEO article writing tool for content creation.

Seismic

Platform for automating and personalising content across marketing channels.

Midjourney

AI-powered tool for generating highquality, creative visuals.

HeyGen

Advanced AI video creation and editing platform.

Productivity

Taskade

Comprehensive suite of team collaboration and productivity tools.

mymind

Digital tool for organising thoughts, ideas, and information.

Sybill

AI-powered call recording and analysis tool for improving communication.

Grammarly

Writing assistant that checks spelling, grammar, tone, and style.

Merlin

AI tool for summarising long reports and videos to save time.

Wordtune

AI writing companion that helps improve and refine written content.

Talent/HR

EVA

AI-powered platform for automating various HR processes.

Fetcher

AI-driven tool for qualifying and sourcing ideal job candidates.

Paradox

AI assistant for preparing candidates for job interviews.

Skillate

Comprehensive AI-powered hiring services and analytics platform.

Manatal

AI-enhanced recruitment software for faster ourcing and hiring.

nontechies.ai/ai-learning-hub

Freelance Wrapped: your year in review with AI insights

Here’s how and why you should integrate AI into your operations to help prevent burnout and make freelancing better for you.

How much do you really know about your freelance business?

Maybe you know who’s your biggest client and how much they account for in your monthly/yearly income. But if you have to get granular for a second, do you know who your top five clients were last year? How many hours did you spend working on projects for them? What about marketing activities – do you know how many cold emails/LinkedIn DMs you sent and how many hours it took overall?

Most of the time, AI can feel like a threat, especially for creative folks, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its uses – especially for the boring, tedious

bits of freelancing. There are several uses of AI that don’t have to be creative. You can stave off mental burnout, reduce admin drudgery, and get a clear understanding of how you’re running your business (and where you could improve) with its help.

Preventing burnout with AI

Some freelancers already use AI or AI-adjacent tools in their business without even realising it. For example, if you run your LinkedIn post

intuitive time tracker for that client who needs an hourly breakdown, you’ve incorporated AI into your business. The entire point of using AI is to save time and reduce manual labour. You don’t need to use ChatGPT to generate entire blog posts; you could just automate the scheduling of your meetings with Calendly or Google’s Scheduler. Since the most valuable resource for a freelancer is time, reducing any time spent on monotonous tasks is already the best possible use for an AI tool in your arsenal.

Plus, the AI tools’ data insights can be helpful for several reasons (end-of-the-year humblebragging being one of them). When you use AI tools to track your time you’ll quickly realise that you probably work more than you think. It may seem like some tasks only take you a few minutes here and there, but they quickly add up.

“The entire point of using AI is to save time and reduce manual labour.”

Without even realising it, you might blaze through several hours’ worth of work in a day or a week and reach the dreaded burnout zone.

Burnout tends to creep in without warning when you overwork or work without taking enough breaks to recharge. This is why you need information – how many hours a day do you work? Do

you take regular breaks to stretch out? Which days of the week have the heaviest workload for you? When do your clients tend to ask you to join meetings? This data can help you plan your week better. You can keep meeting-only or no-meeting days and schedule focus work blocks to work smarter, not harder.

At the same time, knowing how much you (can) work can give you clear insights into your capacity. You’ll know when work will get lighter – giving you ample time to start marketing yourself, looking for new opportunities, or booking time off to recharge properly.

Not only that, but the level of granular information you can glean from AI tools can help you manage your business more efficiently. For example, when it comes to invoices, taxes, and money matters, weaving in AI reduces the margin of error and gives you a clear idea of the cash flow in your business. In practice,

this could look like using automated invoices (that send out late payment reminders), apps that automatically put a certain percentage of your income aside for taxes, or a sweep-in facility (when your balance goes over a designated amount, all of that excess is placed in a high-interest account). This can free up brainspace so you can focus on creative and fun stuff while AI mandates handle the more tedious financial and admin aspects of running a business.

Another critical element of a successful freelance business is knowing your biggest client(s) and how much they account for in your yearly income. It can help you plan for any changes – perhaps they want to pause on the retainer agreement as they restructure? Or maybe they want to reduce the scope of work? Putting most of your eggs in one basket is pretty risky, and while you may still want to take that risk, this info can help you create contingency plans in case things go wrong.

Using AI to celebrate your wins (both big and small)

The start of the (old) year always feels incredibly far away when the end of the year rolls around. This is when the best-of-this-year lists and ‘this is what I accomplished this year’ posts show up on your feeds. If you’ve not had a vividly great year, it can feel like a bummer to see them.

Even if you show up from an abundance mindset, freelancing can feel competitive, especially when it looks like others are doing much better than you. But mostly, that’s not the case – they’re just documenting and tracking their actions better; that’s why they know how much they’ve accomplished throughout the year.

When used to generate and analyse your freelance business data, AI can help

“When used to generate and analyse your freelance business data, AI can help you narrow down some pretty big (and some little but meaningful) wins.”

you narrow down some pretty big (and some little but meaningful) wins. Whether it’s crushing your to-do list for 42 days straight, celebrating 12 months of timely invoice payments, or checking a hundred thousand words on Grammarly, the bird’seye view of your business is immensely useful (not just to make you feel good, but also to share with others).

Year after year, this information creates an easy blueprint for how you want to run your business. You can analyse patterns – is Q1 always a bit slower than the rest of the year? Or perhaps clients in your industry often go quiet in May? This will help you plan your year better – and, in turn, place less blame and pressure on yourself if you don’t get as many clients as you expected to.

Whenever you review your business – every quarter, six months in, or at the start/end of a new year – you can ensure that you spend time working with clients you want to work with that pay you fairly for your skills and experience. When you have data in front of you about your work over the last quarter/year, you can quickly identify your best and worst clients, the types of projects that took too long but paid too little, and anything else you want to change going ahead.

Armed with this kind of valuable information, you can pick more projects at the intersection of things you want to work on and things that pay well, and well, isn’t that the freelance dream? 

[The author of this article has (rather ambitiously) set up a complicated dashboard to track clients, projects, timelines, and invoices in order to be able to generate her own Freelance Wrapped at the end of this year.]

Nia Lizia Carnelio is a freelance content marketer & writer, working with clients across B2B tech, eCommerce, SaaS, and book publishing. Subscribe to Nia’s weekly newsletter at niacarnelio.substack.com

5 steps to get started on your Freelance Wrapped:

Start tracking how long tasks take you (for both marketing your business or client work) on Toggl. The free plan is a great place to start. They even have a freelancer-specific solution to help you accurately track project completion times. You can even use these timesheets and reports in your invoices!

Add Grammarly as a browser extension and set up a shortcut to proofread your work quickly. From emails to tweets, you’ll get a snapshot of how many words Grammarly proofs/edits for you every week (and the number can be mind-boggling). You can give yourself a congratulatory pat on the back because it’s more words than you thought you could read in a week. Pro tip: the best time in the year to get Grammarly Premium is on Black Friday.

Use tools like Calendly that give you event and usage analytics while allowing people to schedule calls without a lengthy back-and-forth email chain. You’ll get a clear view of the time you spend peering at someone else’s Zoom background.

Pick a project management platform like Asana or ClickUp that offers project and task progress & completion reports so you know which tasks need troubleshooting, things that take more/less time than anticipated, a list of completed tasks, and the status of pending tasks. This is highly useful if you work with subcontractors or other industry experts. For example, a copywriter, a website designer, and an SEO specialist can all track their tasks within a larger project, check the report for roadblocks, and have complete clarity on everyone’s status updates!

Automate your finances using a finance platform like Harlow, QuickBooks, Bonsai, or FreshBooks. You can send out your invoices automatically and set parameters to ensure follow-ups for delays or late payments. Pro tip: Harlow regularly offers cheaper quarterly plans and discounts, so you can test how it works for your business before settling into it.

A Meta Conversation with ChatGPT

How does Freelancer Magazine’s Features Writer Nia incorporate AI into her work?

It’s time for me to think of ideas for my Freelancer Magazine article. I usually write articles at the intersection of mental health and freelancing: things that make us worry as freelancers, and anxieties we deal with as part of running our own business. But suddenly, I’ve forgotten every single anxious thought I’ve ever had about freelancing, mental health and wellbeing. What’s that? Never heard of it. Okay, that’s a bit exaggerated, but I really can’t think of anything that hasn’t already been written dozens of times by others or myself. How many anxious thoughts and worries can someone have anyway? (The limit does not exist.)

So I turn to an old enemy turned friend, one of the few awake at this time of night when I work best – ChatGPT. (ChatGPT responses have been edited because it likes to talk/type a lot.)

I like to approach my conversations with ChatGPT with a foot-in-the-door technique. I start with a small, basic request and then get to what I actually want from it. I’m not sure why; I feel like it’s just the polite thing to do, you know?

can you tell me about the anxieties freelancers have

ChatGPT (whom I’m yet to give a friendly name) tells me about eight popular freelance anxieties. From financial uncertainty to managing client relationships to feeling isolated and admin and legal concerns, it outlines them all. I’m not too thrilled about remembering them.

I go in with my main request; the rest is all set dressing:

give me article ideas on the intersection of AI, freelancing, and mental health

To its credit, ChatGPT comes up with six ideas. Some are even half-decent, but I’m not keen on any of them, not in their entirety, anyway. It tells me to talk about “How Freelancers Can Leverage Automation to Manage Mental Health” and “Ethical Considerations in AI-Powered Mental Health Support for Freelancers”. They’ve got good bones, but the titles alone make me want to hit snooze.

My next step is to Frankenstein my ideas – I have Spotify running in the background, and I remember how much I like their yearly Wrapped playlists. What if we could make freelancing business data fun like that? What if we could have a yearly snapshot (or report) about the number of clients we worked with?

The projects we completed? In December, January feels so far away – we all forget things throughout the year unless it’s a mega-win. I take ChatGPT’s idea #4…

“Data-Driven Insights: How AI Can Help Freelancers Monitor and Manage Their Mental Health” (something about fusing AI analytics, data tracking, and insights to identify areas of improvement)

…and marry it to something else I’ve been meaning to write about: celebrating small wins in my freelancing business.

My final idea is to use AI data and analytics to identify when you’re making steady (even if it’s slow) progress because it tells you more about your capacity, when you’re hitting burnout, etc.

Franken-idea created, I then run it by ChatGPT, wondering if it cares that I’ve completely ignored its individual ideas. I want the validation, but more importantly, I need a sense-check on whether this idea makes sense.

how’s this idea:

Freelance Wrapped –

Using AI to prevent mental burnout while freelancing (read the whole article on page 22)

“Your idea is excellent! It effectively highlights the potential benefits of integrating AI into the administrative aspects of freelancing to support mental wellbeing and prevent burnout. Here’s how you could further develop the article:”

(ChatGPT goes on to build a rough outline of the article, from an introduction to telling me to include case studies, and some practical recommendations/putting this in action that I can expand on further.)

I run a few more of my ideas by it: some I discard right off the bat, and others I place in my Google Doc graveyard (of ideas to get to sometime). Then, I draw some very literal inspiration and get a bit meta –

Hi! I’m writing an article based on a conversation I had with you a few weeks ago – take a look at the first half and let me know what you think?

Your draft is engaging, relatable, and captures the essence of a creative struggle many freelancers face. Here are some specific thoughts and suggestions to enhance the piece further:

ChatGPT is flattering: it likes my article! But it also gives me “suggestions” for each part of the article (something I didn’t ask for and I’m not too certain I really need). Also, some of it is its own fault!

3. Dialogue with ChatGPT: Your interaction with ChatGPT is humorous and informative. Make sure to keep the tone consistent and perhaps add a bit more personality to ChatGPT’s responses to make them feel

more conversational:

Example:

You: “Can you tell me about the anxieties freelancers have?”

ChatGPT: “Sure! Freelancers often worry about financial uncertainty, managing client relationships, feeling isolated, and juggling admin and legal concerns. Fun times, right?”

Luckily I’m not too inclined to add more “personality” to ChatGPT’s responses, or you’d be reading this over several more pages.

Next, we need some title ideas for this piece. I have to warn you – ChatGPT is notoriously bad at coming up with titles that don’t sound like they’ve been regurgitated from Google Search’s tenth page. But it’s a great starting place –

can I get some title ideas for this article? something funny, witty, and interesting?

Here are my favourites that I cannot really use anywhere:

Burnout Be Gone: AI Tips for the Weary Freelancer

Freelance Woes? Let AI Handle the Heavy Lifting

Mental Health Magic: AI’s Role in a Freelancer’s Toolbox

Freelance Life Got You Down? Meet Your New AI BFF

ChatGPT is a big fan of alliterations, and if you want some more inspiration, you can ask:

could i have some more options with puns? (puns are not my strongest suit, but maybe they’re not ChatGPT’s either)

Ctrl+Alt+De-Stress: AI Tools for Freelance Peace of Mind

Bot-tering on Burnout? Let AI Be Your Guide

AI’m Here for You: Tech Tips for Freelance Tranquility

Actually, the last one makes me think – should I change the title of any of my ideas to “AI’m Here for You – Preventing Mental Health Burnout?”

I already have a title for this article (the one you started reading with). But it’s fun to play around with ChatGPT’s ideas because it sparks new ones.

So, here’s a quick recap on how I use AI/ ChatGPT in my freelance business:

1. I use it to brainstorm ideas. It’s not the most creative, but ChatGPT gives me a solid foundation on which to base my ideas. It’s easier to work with mediocre ideas that exist than brilliant ideas that haven’t manifested yet.

2. I sense-check my work with it. It’s not a replacement for a proofreader or a friend who’ll review your work and offer suggestions and edits, but it’s a decent stand-in for a first pass!

3. I don’t let it write my articles – that may work for some folks, but it doesn’t for me.

I don’t think it can accurately capture my style and my love for the en dash. It can offer suggestions, and I may even consider/apply some, but it’s a helper, not a doer, for my work.

Oh, and as my final step, I run my article through Grammarly, where another AI waits to change all my commas to curly or straight ones. It has a question, though:

I hope you liked reading this as much as ChatGPT did!

Overall, your draft is well on its way to becoming an engaging and insightful article. The mix of humour, personal anecdotes, and practical advice creates a compelling narrative that many freelancers will find both entertaining and useful. Great job! 

I confess, I had mixed feelings about writing this article. When I meet people and tell them I’m a copywriter, they often ask how I feel about ChatGPT taking my job. But after interviewing AI expert Valeriya Pilkevich (which felt a bit like a therapy session) I feel reassured on behalf of creatives and freelancers everywhere. So, what’s all the fuss about a Custom GPT and do you need one? Let’s find out…

By Anita Ellis

Who are you and where in the world are you?

I’m Valeriya Pilkevich, I live in Germany and I help business owners, marketing and media agencies create custom AI solutions to optimise daily work life.

[At this point I ask if I can record the session in case I can’t type fast enough and we have a good giggle about the fact that I should probably be using AI to transcribe the interview – oh the irony!]

Do I Need a...

Okay, so what’s the difference between ChatGPT and a Custom GPT?

First up, what does GPT actually stand for? It means Generative Pre-trained Transformer.

What a terrible name. If you could rename it, what would you call it?

A super brain. Because it gives you the answer to literally everything.

I like it. And how would you explain a Custom GPT to an eight-year-old? Hmm, interesting question. It’s like a personal helper. It can help you do a very specific task like finding the perfect toy for your friend’s birthday.

ChatGPT is the name of the ‘no code’ platform developed by OpenAI. It’s useful for one-time tasks or if you need the answer to a question. A Custom GPT is a customised version of the chat, and it’s better for repetitive tasks where you already have some knowledge.

Top tip

To create Custom GPTs you need the paid version of ChatGPT which costs around $20 a month. But you can access other people’s Custom GPTs at the moment on the free version.

A GPT is like a super brain. Because it gives you the answer to literally everything.

How did you get into designing Custom GPTs?

It all started with the generative AI wave in 2023. There was a real hype around being able to make money from it. I joined PromptBase – a platform where you can sell Midjourney and ChatGPT prompts. This gave me an incentive to play around and it

grew from there. Then, when Custom GPTs appeared last autumn, I realised it could be much bigger than just selling prompts. So I started experimenting with a GPT Plus account and The Negotiator tool, and my mind was blown.

And how is it going?

Businesses are excited about optimising and automating repetitive business tasks that people do every day but there’s still lots of fear around AI, especially in Germany. Some people think it’s a wave that will pass.

What would you say to people who think it’s a wave that will pass, or who are worried about their job?

Custom GPTs are important and here to stay. I reckon in the next five years we’ll all have around 50 personal assistants in the form of GPTs. But AI doesn’t take away your knowledge and expertise – it amplifies them. Anyone can write instructions or prompts, but not everyone has the knowledge to do it well. If you have years of experience and specific knowledge, AI makes you more productive and creative by automating tasks that take away your energy like email.

AI doesn’t take away your knowledge and expertise –it amplifies them.

Ooh tell me more about what a Custom GPT can do for my emails?

You can install a free plugin like Magical (powered by GPT4) to suggest an email reply, autofill information and automate repetitive tasks. You can also connect a Custom GPT to your email and, through actions, instruct it to retrieve emails and pre-generate personalised responses.

What golden nugget do you wish people knew about Custom GPTs?

A vague input = a vague answer. It takes a lot of practice to get your prompts right and it works best for specific use cases. Some people think if they pay for an OpenAI account, it will solve all their problems. But you have to be open to iterating and finding what works for you. It won’t solve all your problems but it will help you get there.

spreadsheet showing tabular data), analyses customer sentiment and extracts meaningful insights. You can even instruct a Custom GPT to analyse your LinkedIn data and get insights about engagements, connections and the days you get most likes. As a human it’s hard to go through all this data and make sense of the numbers, but ChatGPT is pretty good at this.

Any other good tips?

A vague input = a vague answer.

How can small businesses get the most out of Custom GPTs?

Lots of businesses are using Custom GPTs to scale labour-intensive tasks like generating multiple Insta ads or hooks for social posts. eCommerce companies are also using Custom GPTs to generate mass product descriptions, headings and images too.

What’s the most amazing thing you’ve done with a Custom GPT?

Getting insights from data. I built a bot that takes customer reviews from a CSV file (a

You can use Custom GPTs to chat with a manual. [Yes, you read that right.] If you have a 200-page LinkedIn report but no time to read it, or if you have a problem with your fridge but you can’t face reading the instructions, you can upload the manual to your knowledge base and use a Custom GPT to ask it questions. It’s like having a chat with a document.

You can even use Custom GPTs to chat with a manual.

What are other benefits of Custom GPTs for freelancers?

They give you time back and make you more productive. It may sound counterintuitive but they can also give you a creative boost – if

you are stuck on something, you can use a Custom GPT to get going. It’s a great tool for brainstorming.

How do you create a brilliant Custom GPT prompt?

The best way to create a prompt is to use a pre-defined structure with hashtags. My secret skeleton structure is: ###Role###, ###Task###, ###Output###, ###Context###, ###Example###.

Example Custom GPT structure

###Role## I’m a LinkedIn copywriter with 10 years’ experience.

###Task### Generate specific hook examples based on my hook templates and knowledge base. The first line of the post needs to get attention, create intrigue or ask a question to get the reader to stop scrolling.

###Output### The only task is to generate three hooks using the knowledge base and make them sound fun.

###Context### [Add info about you, your company and the content you write about.]

###Example### [Add examples of posts and hooks.]

all the time. Also, I’d say play around with the free account first. Start with the tasks you do most often and browse the existing Custom GPTs – they’re all rated, so look for ones that have 4* or above. If you see the value and you’re excited about how it helps, then you

could consider building your own Custom GPTs. For me, personalised is always better.

Any recommended reading?

What advice would you give to fellow freelancers about getting started with a Custom GPT?

Stay open-minded. If you’ve tried and it didn’t work, experiment and try again – it’s changing

Custom GPTs are like tiny personal helpers – they save you lots of time and you can use them for so many personal and business tasks.

Quick-fire questions

What’s your favourite ChatGPT prompt?

A collection of prompts I created (a chain prompt) to define an ideal client persona.

What are your top Custom GPT tips?

✔ Take time to structure and group your knowledge-base files

✔ Use CSV or text format for knowledge-base info

✔ Use Markdown (a free, easyto-use markup programming language) to format PDF files

✔ Use delimiters (hashtags) in your instructions.

I’d highly recommend the book AI 2041 for great storytelling about the future of AI. The author suggests that people who are creative or work with people won’t be replaced by AI. It’s jobs that are less human-centric and less creative that will be the first to be replaced.

Any mistakes you’ve made that we can learn from?

Not being specific enough in your instructions. And expecting GPTs to do too much. They work best when you give them one specific task at a time (not ten tasks in one).

Best thing about a Custom GPT?

GPTs are accessible to everyone. And the tool is very beginner-friendly. There are no technical skills required, so basically anyone can become a pro AI tool developer.

Worst thing about a Custom GPT?

Expectations. A GPT can do a lot but it’s not perfect and it won’t always give you what you want. 

Catch Valeriya on LinkedIn at /Valeriya-Pilkevich

Anita Ellis is a copywriter. She specialises in brand messaging and punchy website copy. /AnitaEllis

Supercharging your growth with human x AI copywriting

Audrey Chia began her copywriting career at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Asia Pacific doing campaigns for global brands like Nike, IKEA and Samsung.

A self-confessed side-hustler, she started working for herself while she was still at BBH, picking up projects with startups and SMEs.

Do you remember the moment AI piqued your interest?

Brand copywriting is great, but I also know that you have to have effective conversion copy in order to help the smaller businesses and the startups to thrive. So I started to play a middle ground with creative work, but with something that also drives results.

A couple of years later, I launched my own consultancy, Close With Copy and at the same time, ChatGPT launched. It was a very interesting point in my life where one of my clients reached out and he sent me the link to ChatGPT and said, ‘Hey, Audrey, you are going to be replaced.’

That was a horrifying moment for me as a writer and as a founder of a new consulting firm and I had to decide how I was going to navigate that. I reached a decision point where I could pretend that it doesn’t exist and just do what I do best or I could learn how to leverage it and use it as a strategic positioner for me and I chose the latter.

I started posting on LinkedIn because for marketers and copywriters, the idea of being

Ok, so how do I get started blending AI use into human copywriting?

What is your brief for the brand? Who is your audience? What is your unique value proposition? What are the insights? So first you need to understand how you want to win. What is your roadmap? Only then do you go to AI and you create a prompt for it. And when I prompt for my end outcome, what I’m looking for is not to ask AI to think of the ideas, I want to guide it to think like me.

So here’s an example: when I create a landing page, I don’t just tell AI, “Hey, can you create a landing page for my business?”

That does not work. You will get very generic answers. Instead, I hop on a chat with my clients and I pull their audience insights. Then I use an AI tool to get the full transcripts and I use AI again to understand my audience insights, their pain points, frustrations and desires. Next I look into what are my key value propositions for the product and their competitors. And then use AI to do a competitor analysis of XYZ. I figure out their market positioning, and then come back to creating a full prompt where I now tell ChatGPT or Claude, “Hey, given my audience insights, my competitor analysis, and my value proposition, let’s create version one of my landing page.” And I will tell it specifically what sections of the landing page I want. So I can tell it, ‘Hey, I want you to have a header that has this call to action.’

So the more specific you are, the better the outcome, right?

Yes, because you are the artist and AI is your canvas. You are basically saying, this is the shape I want, this is the final product I want. Mould it in that direction. And the ability to break down your own systems and processes into tiny steps is what will get a writer to a super good quality final output. And after you get that final output you should go back to the

Audrey’s current top five AI tools:

“If you are able to change your skillsets and have the capacity to see things at a much higher level, I think that keeps you relevant as a writer.”

human part… reviewing and refining the work, making sure it aligns with your strategy.

What I have done for myself is created an AI system or tool that allows me to create content at scale, but still with my background, expertise and my thoughts.

So for example, this transcript that we are having right now from this interview, I can take the entire transcript, I can pop it in and because the tool is trained on my persona and it’s trained on top performing frameworks, what the tool can do is to create different LinkedIn posts for me based on this transcript. So I might have 10 to 15 different posts that you can use to then upload online after tweaking a little. This is one example of how I would streamline my own workflow to get content out at scale without wasting too much time but there are lots of different ways.

Another thing that someone could do would be to create agents or mini GPTs. In this case, whenever I have a certain task, for example, if I have to write weekly emails in a specific template or framework, I can train that mini GPT or the agent to recreate content in that framework or that style. And then this helps me to cut down the time that I need to create anything. And then I can just again review and refine the work.

1. The first tool I like is the meeting note taker we are using now called Sybill. I like it because it also transcribes the audience’s pain points.

2. The second tool that I build a lot of things on is called Relevance. So Relevance is where I built that bespoke LinkedIn content system and you can build different workflows on it.

3. The third one is called Opus Clip. Basically it takes one long form video and automatically cuts it into many short form videos. And the great thing about it is that it identifies hooks for you. So, for example, we’re having a conversation and I say, ‘You wouldn’t have guessed this…’, Opus Clip will identify these hooks and clip it into multiple tiny clips and that saves time again on content creation.

4. The fourth tool that I think is really cool is called Adeli. I think this is a tool that is very interesting for creatives, copywriters and marketers. So Adeli is trained on every single award-winning ad creative there is out there. It’s a great place for inspiration.

5. And if I have to pick a fifth tool, I think it would be Plot at this point in time because I use it for writing. Plot is great for long-form content. ChatGPT used to be great but right now, Claude is a bit better. Of course, with the new ChatGPT advancement it could be different again.

Follow Audrey on LinkedIn /Audrey-Chia and visit closewithcopy.co

Just Start AInything

Liam Lawson is the editor of AI Tool Report, the weekdaily email keeping us abreast of all the latest AI news. It’s been going for a little over a year and has half a million subscribers (see Newsletter Love on page 52), such is the business world’s appetite to try and frantically keep up with AI, not to mention the newsletter is really good. By

Sophie Cross

Liam was having a bit of time back in his home town of Glasgow when I spoke to him, before he’ll fly out to Austin, Texas where his boss is based and he spends a few months a year. The remaining time he works from wherever he fancies as a digital nomad (although he’s not overly keen on the term). Luckily though, he’s flattered when I call him the young Tim Ferriss. It was meant as a compliment and is also entirely accurate.

At 25, Liam is young for an editor, what’s even more impressive is that he got the job by Twitter (X) DMing the CEO.

“I was on Twitter one day, looking through the AI community tweets and I saw Martin Crowley (CEO of AI Tool Report) had started a newsletter and was looking for someone to write it. By this

point, I’d been writing personal articles on Medium for a couple years about philosophy, lifestyle and stuff like that. So I just threw him a Twitter DM saying, ‘I know I can write, I’ve been writing online for a while, and I’m super interested in AI and testing out the different models, I’d love to come on board.’

“I’d been paying attention to AI and the different models coming out, mainly via Twitter, for a while. In the past, I’d invested in crypto, but had always been quite dissatisfied with it because I could never really understand the tangible value. So when AI came around and all these models came out, and I could actually go on ChatGPT and have a play with it and see what was happening, it sparked more and more interest.”

How to just start

With his infectious, entrepreneurial and early-adopter energy, it’s not surprising to me that Liam studied business enterprise and marketing at university, has had his own podcast, ran a vegan protein business with his brother, and started a nootropics company. He likes the idea of seeing himself as a human guinea pig (I told you – a young Tim Ferriss) and I talk to him about an idea that friend of Freelancer Magazine, Dan Nelken, shared recently about your success being determined by how many “I don’t knows” you leave in your wake. Similarly, Liam’s advice for freelancers is to “just start anything”.

Until planning this issue of Freelancer Magazine, I was one of the ones guilty >

of burying my head in the sand about AI, or at least putting off diving in, despite liking to think of myself as someone who is comfortable being uncomfortable. It was one of the reasons I thought we had to cover the theme as I knew many other freelancers were in the same mindset. I knew I had to just start but I really didn’t know where, or more, what to do with it. I saw lots of people saying “it doesn’t work” but it’s a bit like picking up a saxophone for the first time, trying to play ‘Baker Street’ and then complaining it doesn’t work.

Liam wisely advises us to, “Start with the problem then have a play around with Claude and ChatGPT and figure out how you can use it to help solve the problem. That’s where you can really start to supercharge your business. Create new Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and only follow people in AI to immerse yourself in the space.”

Digital nomading

At this point, I can’t hold off any longer asking Liam about travelling. His LinkedIn profile mentions he’s been to Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, USA, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia in the last few years (is that all?). Would he call himself a digital nomad?

“Yeah, it makes me sound sad, pretentious and wanky, but yeah, let’s go for it.”

It’s boring but I have to ask him where’s

his favourite place, of which (as well as Mexico and Vietnam), one is fortunately Nepal where (of course) he hiked Annapurna and Everest Base Camps. He wants to go back to hike the length of the country. Having been myself a couple of years ago and having (somehow) struggled around an ultramarathon there, I get to feel cool for a minute as we swap stories (dal bhat power, 24 hour, no sleep, no shower). He tells me that travelling is the only thing he’s ever consistently wanted to do for as long as he can remember and I can relate. He’s never been happier than taking trains through Europe at 18, living on peanuts, meeting new people, being thrown into unfamiliar scenarios and having to problem solve.

Essential AI tools for freelancers to know about

I reluctantly steer us back to AI. What tools does Liam think are essential for freelancers to know about? “Just start with ChatGPT and Claude. There is so much you can do with those two and it’s a really

close race between them. Claude usually has a larger context window so if you’re dealing with lots of PDFs and graphs that’s normally the better model for you, whereas if you’re using ChatGPT 4o, you can literally have a conversation with it. So in terms of brainstorming through a plan or something like that, ChatGPT is awesome for that. I’d say a notetaker like Otter, Xembly or Fireflies is essential too.

“Just start with ChatGPT and Claude.”

“In terms of specialist tools and ones that will handle an entire department within a business, look at Jasper for marketing or Artisan for sales. Last year there were 1000s of tools being released every day but now we’re seeing a period of consolidation. Where you might have needed four tools to do something before, you’re now getting that whole workflow in one tool, under one subscription.

“Tools like HubSpot for CRM (customer relationship management) or Notion for organisation are really good as they are traditional big tech companies with the infrastructure in place, that are now just layering this level of intelligence on top of it for automation. For example, you can put your Apple Notes into Notion and it will sort it into a colour-coded table for you. It’s really great for visualising and structuring data.”

This is one of the most intelligent and inspiring conversations I’ve had about AI to date and I feel I now need to get Liam’s take on the dark side of it – the ethical considerations and the things that give me the heebie-jeebies like plagiarism issues. Do you want the bad news or the good news?

The good news

Liam thinks we will see a swing in the opposite direction of AI in terms of creativity. “Because our social media landscape is so polluted with generic content, people are going to really value authentic content like video where you can see some sort of watermark that it’s not AI generated and it’s actually a human producing the content. Podcasting has just kept growing because people just love listening to real conversations. We’ll see an even greater appreciation for

“Authenticity always wins.”

really high value content, and trust coming from human back-and-forths and no fancy edits. Authenticity always wins.”

The facts

“AI is going to happen regardless. Whether we like it or not, companies and governments are pouring billions and trillions into it as they build the data centres.”

The bad news

Liam tells me about the predicted intelligence explosion, AI models that will train themselves and the race for world superpower (USA versus China). He mentions the podcast Dwarkesh and a particular (four and a half-hour) episode. I listen to most of it and sort of wish I hadn’t.

Liam is excited to see how the global landscape develops and I try to channel some of his excitement while really wondering if the reason he travels like he does is to get in as much as possible before AI takes over. And maybe that’s not such a bad plan. 

Connect with Liam Lawson on LinkedIn /Liam-Lawson-674b3120a and subscribe to the AI Tool Report at aitoolreport.beehiiv.com/subscribe

The Freelancer’s Coping Kit: created in collaboration with AI

Here are a few practical ways to incorporate AI into improving your physical and mental wellbeing.

Maybe you don’t want to download another meditation/deep breathing app. Maybe you just need to vent for a quick second but aren’t sure who to reach out to. Or maybe the people you usually talk to are busy, and it’s such a trivial matter that you just want to get it off your chest and be done with it?

Before we get into the ways AI could help you during tough moments, it’s obvious that AI (ChatGPT or otherwise) is not a substitute for actual human connection, whether that’s a friend or a mental health professional. That said, there are a few ways that AI can offer immediate, practical support during moments of mild anxiety or trepidation. It can also help you reinforce positive habits, distract you, and help you reflect without judgement.

Okay, disclaimer done, let’s talk about how you could (theoretically) use AI to make your day better.

Ease any day-to-day business anxiety

Picture this – you have a meeting booked on your calendar: it’s a call with a new (prospective) client you’d love to work with. It’s natural to feel a bit of anxiety. You’ve got a spare few minutes before the call and you want to reduce some of the nerves. What if you spoke to a chatbot about your worstcase scenarios and asked for some last-minute help?

When I asked for help, ChatGPT came up with ten reasons that it (the client call) was going to be okay. It told me that I’ve likely prepared for the meeting

(I had); I’m an expert and the client sought me out knowing my work (I am, they did); I’ve done this before and successfully onboarded clients like them; I’m adaptable, confident in my skills, and that I have people I can commiserate or celebrate with, however this meeting went. It was also kind enough to remind me that the person on the other end of this meeting is just that, another human, who will do their best to be nice (I hope) and that it’s okay to be nervous. It ended with this:

Practical Tips

Take a Deep Breath: A few deep breaths can help calm your nerves and centre your mind.

Focus on the Client’s Needs: Emphasise how your services meet their specific needs and solve their problems.

Have Key Points Ready: Make sure you have a few key points that you want to convey clearly.

Listen Actively: Pay close attention to the client’s questions and feedback. This shows respect and helps tailor your pitch on the spot.

You’ve got this! Your dedication, preparation, and expertise will guide you through. Remember, this is just one step in your journey, and regardless of the outcome, you’ll continue to grow and succeed. Good luck!

“I’m good at what I do, and there are no limits to what I can achieve.”

Who doesn’t like to be reminded that they’re capable, kind, and good at what they do? Or you’d like a clear reminder about three tasks you’d like to do before actually getting started on your day.

There are many other ways to use ChatGPT – daily affirmations, reminders, and goal setting – to have a direct (positive) impact on your wellbeing and business health.

1. Affirmations: You can set up keywords within a conversation with ChatGPT, and every time you use that keyword, it’ll remind you of your affirmations or anything else you want to be told. This is a valuable process to set up, especially when it’s time to send a quote to a new client – ChatGPT can remind you that your work is worth what you charge, that you’re great at what you do, and that the right client will value your expertise and happily pay the price. Your own personal 24/7 cheerleader, a few words away.

2. Accountability: ChatGPT can help you manage your workload better to prevent stress and burnout (from overworking). You can discuss your daily or weekly plans with ChatGPT and strategise using time blocks and pre-made schedules. Then, you can present it on virtual coworking calls (like the ones we run) or send it to your accountability partner (even if it’s ChatGPT in another conversation).

3. Actionable goal setting: When facing a large, ambitious goal, it can feel daunting, especially if you don’t know where to begin. ChatGPT can help alleviate some of that ‘What do I do first?’ stress by breaking down your goals into daily, weekly, or monthly actionable tasks. It can also be a progress marker so you’re consistent in working towards achieving your goals.

AI’m here for you

It’s important to understand that ChatGPT is fairly neutral on its own; it won’t serve your specific needs unless you teach it how to. If you build a Coping Kit in a specific conversation or two, you could use it in a myriad of ways. It could be a brainstorming partner (and you can completely ignore its ideas, unlike a real human’s) or a sounding board to sense-check your suggestions and work.

Or you could use it to calm yourself down by programming it with responses that resonate with you. For this to work you have to tell it what to say and how to respond to your prompts and messages – and who knows you better than yourself? You may not listen to a friend when they’re saying very sensible things to calm you down about a client’s feedback. But you may be more receptive to your own words from the past – especially if you’ve added some evidence to support your past successes and boost your confidence.

Don’t worry; it doesn’t have to be very deep. You can keep it surface level in your ChatGPT conversations – as long as they do the job. Whether it’s redirecting to past positive client feedback or sharing a funny limerick to distract you, you can customise ChatGPT to support your mental wellbeing in a way that works for you.

Oh, and if ChatGPT is at capacity or unavailable when you need it, it may even write you a helpful, actionable note while you wait for your reminders or affirmations:

As you read this message, please take a moment to pause and breathe.

Notice the sensations in your body and the rhythm of your breath. Remind yourself that you are not alone in wanting to try out ChatGPT. Many others are interested in it as well.

Be patient and know that the website is doing its best to accommodate everyone. Trust that the right time for you to try ChatGPT will come.

In the meantime, continue to focus on your breath and stay present in the moment.

Our guest editor, Heather Murray, takes us on her career journey from KPMG and keyword stuffing copy for dental implants to loving working for herself and being a female at the forefront of AI learning.

Do Give Day Job Up Your

Can you take us on a bit of a career journey, what did you do before AI For Non-Techies – let’s start right at the beginning if that’s okay?

I was straight out of school into the big corporate world. I worked in legal for KPMG in PA (personal assistant) and marketing roles. I absolutely hated it. I thought that’s just what work was. I didn’t realise that you could actually enjoy your job. I just thought of it as something to tolerate and I stood out like a sore thumb. Nothing felt right, down to the fact that I didn’t even like working in an open plan office.

After 13 years, I decided to do something completely different and halved my salary going to work at a community centre in Bristol and it was absolutely incredible. It changed everything for me. I saw all these wonderful people doing wonderful things for other people just selflessly, helping others and doing good

Image credit:

Rosie Parsons

stuff. I’ve always been involved in volunteer work, but this really helped me step it up and helped me start a lot of charity projects, including my Festive Friends. This is a project that I do twice a year in two cities but I’d like to expand it much more than that. We take 400 isolated older people who have no friends or family, we collect them from their houses in lovely accessible transport and we take them somewhere really nice and we do them a three course meal with presents and all sorts of things. We do one at Christmas time and an afternoon tea in the summer. There is nothing that gives me more joy in life than that and 20% of the profits of every business I’ve had has gone to funding that.

And then you became a copywriter – how did that happen?

The only problem with working at the community centre was that I couldn’t afford to live, especially in Bristol. These third sector jobs can’t afford to pay very well. So although I’d found something that really made my soul sing, my purse was completely empty all the time.

I moved back to Birmingham and ended up having lots of different jobs when one day someone said to me on the phone, “do you fancy doing some copywriting?” With my legal background, I thought it had something to do with copyright and patents and Googled it while on the call and found out it was writing and thought, “okay, I’ve always been good at writing” so I pretended I knew what it was and got the job at a marketing agency. I worked my way up over four or five years to

head of business development and found I had a love for sales.

That job went a little bit south, I won’t go into why, but I was made redundant.

Can you remember the first piece of copy you wrote?

My first piece of paid copy would have been a dental implants piece because we >

“And I fell completely head over heels in love with running my own business.”

specialised in dental clients. It was absolutely horrendous, bottom of the barrel type of copy with no creativity. It was the days of keyword stuffing for SEO (search-engine optimised) articles: “Here are some keywords, you must fit them in 100 times.” I found it so restrictive and unenjoyable to just have to put ‘dental implants in Bromley’ in all of these different sentences and it just didn’t make sense to me.

And finally, in the first Covid lockdown, you start your own agency…

Yes. And I fell completely head over heels in love with running my own business. I didn’t realise that work could be this enjoyable.

How did you get your first client?

My first client was an old friend – somebody I used to party with way back in the day offered to pay me a retainer of £3,000 a month and see what I could do for them. I thought the agency would be my side hustle and I’d have to get a job too soon but I was very lucky to hit the ground running. Since then, LinkedIn has always been important for me in landing clients.

How did you go from agency owner, to AI expert?

Being an AI expert came from being an agency owner. We had a really big client and they

had a £10-million-per-sale item but were struggling with selling it. I looked at how they were segmenting their audience and thought they could go further, so I spent the afternoon looking at all the different research tools and I stumbled across an AI tool called Crystal Knows (now Crystal) and it was amazing and at the time about £50 a month. (I don’t use it any more as it got prohibitively expensive but tools like Humantic and Humanlinker are good.) We managed to get all these digital breadcrumbs to profile prospects with a playbook that told us how to sell to them and what words and approach to use. We ended up getting $60 million worth of pipeline for that client and

then $15 million for another client so I thought that would be my business from now on. It piqued my interest in AI and then a few months later, ChatGPT came out and I remember sitting there, seeing what it could do, and then running into the husband going, “This is it, this is how I differentiate our agency. We’re going to be the UK first or maybe even the global first AI-first agency.” I could see almost instantly the potential of what you could do. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. I decided there and then to dedicate three to four hours a day to learning as much as I possibly could.

Wow, three to four hours a day!

I hyperfocus on things sometimes so it really worked for me. I’m a completely non-technical person and I started to tell people about what I’ve learned on LinkedIn in an easy-to-understand way. My following grew and I launched a

“I could see almost instantly the potential of what you could do.”

newsletter that grew really fast as well. I’m now at 50,000 followers on LinkedIn and 30,000 on the newsletter. [Crikey, it was at 16,000 when we featured it in Newsletter Love in Issue 12.]

It got to a point where I had to choose between the marketing agency or AI For Non-Techies and I made the choice to go for AI For Non-Techies.

What’s the hardest thing about running AI For Non-Techies?

Keeping up to date with everything. It’s constantly stressful. I dedicate a lot of time to doing and it’s a massive pain for my audience and it’s a massive pain for me because things change so quickly. But I think learning is one of life’s greatest pleasures. It keeps me really happy and it keeps me sharp.

What do you love about what you do now?

I love the freedom and how exciting it is that there’s always new things. It never gets dull or boring. It’s so wonderful to be a woman at the front of this. AI itself isn’t new, it’s been around since the 1950s and it’s fully integrated into our lives but generative AI is new and I was one of the first people to to learn as much as I possibly could about it and that’s something that I’m really proud of myself for.

What do you get up to when you’re not working?

What is not working? I don’t understand. When I’m not working I love spending time with my husband. We try to plan adventures because it’s really hard for him to get time off too. We’re about to go on a cruise around Norway for our much belated

Image credit: Rosie Parsons

“I think learning is one of life’s greatest pleasures.”

honeymoon. And I’m absolutely head over heels in love with my dog so I spend a lot of time walking her.

I’m also a big fan of escape rooms. I’ve done over 30 of them all over the world. I absolutely love puzzles and all that sort of stuff. And Wordle, I’m a big massive Wordle fan.

What’s next for you?

I am planning to scale my AI Learning Hub to be a really big business and fast. So at the moment we’re only up to 250 members but

I’m planning to make that 4000-5000 active members with a whole group of people working with me and to be seen as a really credible, no-brainer platform to use if you want to learn about AI for beginners and intermediates. There’s a lot of learning to do and I’ve never grown a SaaS (software as a service) but learning is a great pleasure of mine. ●

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AI for Good

Two startups using technology as a tool to make the world a better place.

By Penny Brazier

Joyann Boyce is an inclusive marketing consultant, and has worked with multinationals including Coca Cola and Adobe. She is the founder of InClued, software that helps marketers create more inclusive content.

In 2018, Joyann was making the switch from social media management into consultancy when H&M caused outrage with an ad campaign featuring a Black child wearing a sweatshirt that said ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’.

“The backlash was huge”, says Joyann. “I was like, H&M has this huge marketing team. How did nobody spot this?

“So I started to ask my techy friends, is it possible to build something that can tell marketeers when something is racist? They said that sounds like something AI could do. Around 2019 I started diving into it and speaking to a lot of people. Most of them said no, AI is just as biased as humans. It can’t be done.

“But then I found the work of (Canadian computer scientist) Dr Joy Buolamwini and her documentary on Netflix, Coded Bias. It was then I decided to do a Masters in Data Science to figure out how to build InClued.”

“AI tools are like puppies. They’re puppies that have been trained by someone else. They can be helpful and useful to you –they could be a guide dog, or a guard dog – but you don’t know how they’ve been trained, so you should always approach with caution. And train them yourself as well, if you can – train them to be useful for you.”

“Even if you have a big, diverse team to check your work, your team will never be as big and diverse as the world.”

This issue of who is doing the training is part of the reason why the bigger language models are so problematic when it comes to bias. “You can’t say to ChatGPT ‘don’t be biased’. It just can’t do it. There’s so much nuance and context that you need to consider, especially in marketing.”

Joyann’s goal with InClued was to develop models that focused on getting to grips with these complexities. The ultimate aim is to create multiple tools – or ‘clues’ –that marketers can use at all stages of the marketing cycle to develop more inclusive campaigns, from the earliest possible point.

“Take marketing personas for example. Whether your team is one person or twenty, there are going to be areas that you don’t consider. Could this person be a wheelchair user, an amputee, someone of darker skin tones? And are these people being included? If the answer is no – can we include them in the future? If the answer is yes – how can we represent them further down the line? Those early-stage decisions help to shape the whole campaign – from choosing stock photography, to the models you request from an agency, to the words you use when you’re writing the copy.”

Currently, InClued is in the midst of launching its first tool – a language checker

that flags biased words and harmful language in text, as well as giving advice on reading age. You simply cut and paste your copy in, and InClued responds instantly.

This first phase alone is likely to be seriously useful to anyone who creates content for their own business, as well as marketing professionals. Writing copy for an audience requires a lot of mental juggling – this tool is designed to make sure that you don’t drop one of those balls by hitting publish on something harmful.

“Even if you have a big, diverse team to check your work, your team will never be as big and diverse as the world. You’re always going to be limited by the number of people in it. And when you’re working on your own it sometimes feels like you’re talking to

yourself – often you are! So I’m keen for it to be accessible for a range of marketeers. It’s definitely something I would have wanted to use when I was working as a social media manager.”

As a marketing consultant who has worked with AI for the last five years, can Joyann give any advice to other self-employed folks who are concerned about just how good the technology is going to get?

“There are fears around AI, and I understand it – because it’s a new technology. And we’re going through the phase of everyone thinking that anyone can do it. Remember when social media became a thing? And everyone was like, ‘oh it’s so easy my little niece can do it’ – well, okay, good. Go ahead and give your niece

access to your Instagram and come back to me in two years – let’s see how far you’ve got generating money for your business! You need strategy behind it, you need to know what you’re doing.

“AI can be good, but it will never be all good. It’s going to contain bias. It’s going to contain errors. It’s going to be problematic – we’re so, so far away from sorting out all of that. A lot of it is down to the people who create it.”

So worry less about the puppy, and more about the trainer.

If more puppies are trained by InClued, I think we’ll be okay.

Find out more about InClued and get early access at inclued.ai

Connect with Joyann on LinkedIn /JoyannBoyce

Tanveer Mohammed is CTO (chief technology officer) at career management platform Niya. Their freeto-use platform helps refugees, migrants and low-income communities to access training, mentorships and jobs – all powered by AI.

“There’s a big gap between the skills companies need and what is currently available in the job market – 87% of large businesses cite skills gaps as a critical issue”, says Tanveer. “Even though there’s been a big push from the government to make training and apprenticeships more widely available, these opportunities aren’t always connecting with the people who need it most. There just aren’t enough people with the right skills to

Holly Simmons and Cameron Brown, Niya was born from the belief that background should not be a barrier to work – and that the solution to the skills gap lies with those who are often overlooked. Tanveer joined in 2023 as CTO to lead the platform’s development.

“Niya is completely free for anyone to use. It doesn’t matter what your background is or the career you want to pursue. If you have a degree in finance but want to break into tech: you log in, add your CV and information, and the AI will generate pathways that will get you where you want to go.”

As well as suggesting possible jobs and careers, Niya’s pathways show users the steps they can take to get there – like relevant and often free training courses, or mentorship opportunities. Niya will also flag companies or roles where users’ skills might be needed that they may not have initially considered. As well as giving jobseekers a roadmap, it helps businesses plug skills gaps too.

Founded in 2021 by Hugh Chichester,

“The cost of unlocking non-traditional talent routes has always been expensive and therefore the ROI (return on investment) is too risky for many businesses. We make it simple by using AI to generate pipelines of trained and vetted talent from non-traditional backgrounds for companies including Vattenfall, Endava and IBM.”

This joining of dots is what AI does fantastically well – connecting people to opportunities that may otherwise have remained inaccessible. Not only does the platform help Niya’s users learn about work opportunities, and help businesses connect with talent, it can help charities and training providers that are desperately trying to bridge these gaps but often don’t have the networks, contacts or resources to do it.

“Our vision is to build the world’s

largest marketplace for labour mobility, connecting users from various socioeconomic backgrounds with corporates, charities and training partners. At the moment we have more than 120 different partners in our platform across the UK, the EU and the US and we’re growing all the time.”

At Niya, AI isn’t just about the product. As a small, lean team, AI is also proving seriously useful to the team in getting their work done more efficiently day-to-day, so they can continue to grow the platform.

“We’re still a very small team, and we want to help more users. So we’ve started to automate some of our more repetitive tasks using AI.”

“For us, AI is about being able to do more.

“Connecting people to opportunities that may otherwise have remained inaccessible.”

Creating the same thing, but ten times faster.

It’s not about AI replacing you. It’s about, how do you remove the constant, repetitive work? How do you remove those barriers? and that is where I think AI will have the biggest impact.”

The next step for Niya is growing their community and becoming the go-to global marketplace for talent where everyone is welcome. “The question we’re trying

to answer is: if you had the perfect job marketplace where boundaries weren’t an issue, where it didn’t matter where you came from or what you wanted to do – what would that look like?”

It looks like AI is helping Niya and its users take a big step closer to that vision. ●

Find out more about Niya at niya.ai

Connect with Tanveer on LinkedIn /MHMDtanveer

Penny Brazier is a freelance writer and copy coach based in Leeds. /Penny-Brazier

Newsletter Love

Snooping behind the scenes on four of our favourite freelance newsletters.

Newsletter owner/author Ruben Hassid

I am the… Founder of EasyGen

I am based in... Tel Aviv

Name of newsletter

How AI Grows My Linkedin

What’s it about?

Growing my LinkedIn with AI :)

I reached 115 million impressions.

I started doing it for my employees too (using EasyGen) and they just reached 1.5 million views in 31 days.

What was the subject line of the last one you sent out?

How AI made more than a million views on LinkedIn for my employees (in 25 days)

What day is it sent on?

Sunday

How frequently?

Weekly

How long has it been going?

About a year

Number of subscribers 38,179

Email service provider used ConvertKit

How far in advance do you write your newsletter? On the same day

How do we subscribe?

rubenhassid.ck.page/linkedin or the paid rubenhassid.ck.page/products/arc

Where can we find you on social?

LinkedIn: /Ruben-Hassid/ X: /RubenHssd

YouTube: bitly.cx/xTOZt

Newsletter owner/author Andrew Mounier

I am a…

B2B SaaS growth architect & brand storyteller

I am based in... Seattle, Washington, USA

Name of newsletter Turing’s TOFU

What’s it about?

Weekly exploration of AI-driven strategies for SaaS growth, where cutting-edge tech meets practical marketing wisdom.

What was the subject line of the last one you sent out?

Turing’s Tofu #25: Streak CRM Teardown: Secrets to Their $4M Success Unveiled!

What day is it sent on?

Sunday morning at 9:01am (Pacific Time).

How frequently?

Weekly

How long has it been going?

6th January 2024 was the first release.

Number of subscribers

A little over 2,000

Email service provider used beehiiv

How far in advance do you write your newsletter?

First draft by Wednesday and then finalise on Friday before the Sunday send.

How do we subscribe? turingstofu.beehiiv.com

Where can we find you on social?

LinkedIn: /AndrewMounier

Newsletter owner/author Dean Fankhauser

I am a… CEO

I am based in... Lisbon, Portugal

Name of newsletter PromptPal

What’s it about?

A newsletter about AI tools, and how to prompt them and get the most out of them.

What was the subject line of the last one you sent out?

AI to require sleep to avoid catastrophe

What day is it sent on? Mon – Fri

How frequently? Weekdays

How long has it been going? 18 months

Number of subscribers 40,000

Email service provider used beehiiv

How far in advance do you write your newsletter? One day

How do we subscribe? newsletter.promptpal.net

Where can we find you on social?

@PromptPalNet

Newsletter owner/author Martin Crowley & Liam Lawson

I am an… Editor in chief

I am based in... Glasgow, Scotland

Name of newsletter AI Tool Report

What’s it about?

We’ll teach you how to save time and earn more with AI. Join 500,000+ free daily readers for trending tools, powerful prompts, and the latest news.

What was the subject line of the last one you sent out?

Perplexity threatens Google

What day is it sent on? Monday – Friday

How frequently? 5x per week

How long has it been going? 14 months

Number of subscribers 500,000

Email service provider used beehiiv

How far in advance do you write your newsletter?

Night before or morning of

How do we subscribe? aitoolreport.beehiiv.com/ subscribe

Where can we find you on social?

LinkedIn: /Liam-Lawson674b3120a

Desperately seeking the truth about what AI means for freelancers

AI is a topic of extremes – promising us the world one minute, threatening to destroy our livelihoods the next. But the reality is a lot more nuanced, complicated and a whole lot less dramatic. It’s time to step away from the hype.

By Penny Brazier

You’ve got evangelists preaching that AI is going to solve everything for everyone. You’ve got the “hell no” brigade who won’t touch it with somebody else’s barge pole. And you’ve got a whole bunch of hottake headless chickens running around spreading uninformed fear.

Then you’ve got folks like me, just sitting here quietly hoping a grown-up will step up and, you know, sort it all out. So that when we check again in 18 months’ time, AI will be solved and we can get on with living in peaceful harmony with our robot brethren.

Also known as denial.

But the really-real reality about AI is the vast, murky expanse in between the heaven and the hell – the space where people are actually working and engaging with the technology, rather than just speculating. Those narratives are quiet, complicated, often mundane, and a hell of a lot less clickable. But, if we’re being sensible business owners, that’s the bit we need to look square in the face.

I decided it was time to step off the LinkedIn carousel of horror and go and find some of those real stories.

Terminator, WALL-E or neither?

Dr Jennifer Chubb is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of York. Her work focuses on responsibility in science and the ethics of emerging technology. She says we should not underestimate the power of the stories we tell ourselves about AI.

“Historically, new technology has always been presented in this way. But one person’s dystopia can be another person’s utopia. On the one hand, we may fear losing part of ourselves or even our lives as part of the changes. But new technology

“New technology can pose solutions for workers and society.”

can pose solutions for workers and society.

“People love stories, but we’re naturally drawn to polarised opinions. We need to be careful because there’s often an agenda – a newspaper looking for attention and sales, or a business trying to sell products. And the danger of hype is that it’s selffulfilling. We need to follow what’s going on, without getting caught up in it.”

We have a stark choice here. We can continue to hide behind our sofas. Or we can venture inside the matrix and find out what’s really happening. Maybe it’s not as bad as we think?

If you can’t beat ‘em…

Freelance writer and editor Lauren McMenemy was attempting to

re-enter the freelance marketplace following a sabbatical due to burnout when ChatGPT exploded in the content world. When she spotted a part-time role as an ‘annotator’, training models for an AI company, she saw it as a chance to tackle the issue head on.

“I figured I could learn more from the inside than just reading up”, Lauren says. “This firm had good ethics, and that was a big reason for me joining them.

“Their focus is retrieval augmented generation – designed to augment the journey of research, rather than replace humans. We’re trying to teach the model how the human brain works when it’s digging into a complex situation – and how to generate an answer that is fully cited, so the user can follow the breadcrumbs for more information.”

She loved it so much she’s had her 6-month contract extended to 18 months.

“I got really interested in it. There are absolutely companies who are out there to replace creatives, no bones about it. But there are also those who are there to supplement the world of creativity.”

Am I livestock?

James Best is a freelance creative director for brands and agencies, based in New York. Earlier this year, he was approached by a large platform that sources writers and experts for the purpose of training Large Language Models (LLMs). Unfortunately, his experience could not have been more different from Lauren’s.

“It started off okay. I worked for about four weeks. And then there was five days of nothing. I was trying to find out what was going on, but there was no point of contact, other than being in a Slack channel. I couldn’t get a response from anyone.”

Freelancers are assigned a payment tier based on an online test – James was assigned the top level, platinum. But it turned out that his rate of pay was not guaranteed if sufficient work was not completed. “The interface was saying ‘if you don’t do 15 hours a week, you’ll lose your platinum status’. Everybody is freaking out because if there’s no work, how can you do your 15 hours? But there’s nobody to complain to.

“When it does move, it moves super quickly. You have to keep checking the website to see if there are any notifications. And if you get one

at, say, 9pm, you think ‘oh well if I work on this ‘til 2am I might make a little extra money’ – you’re aware the work might not be there in the morning. It feels exploitative. And it’s all so odd, you can never get hold of anyone. There’s a sense of – who are we doing this for? Why are we doing it? It’s like something out of Severance.”

James’ story seems to connect with recent pieces in the media about ‘AI sweatshops’ where workers around the world are working round the clock for a pittance to train large generative AI models – sometimes being penalised or not paid at all if work is not done to a certain standard. It’s worrying that companies can get away with this and fly it under a ‘freelance’ banner.

“There’s a sense of – who are we doing this for? Why are we doing it? It’s like something out of Severance.”

Paranoid androids

The weird, faceless ‘machines have taken over’ vibe is not a million miles away from the experience of Dana Yewbank, a freelance content writer and editor based in Illinois.

Dana had applied for a freelance content writing gig that specified ‘no AI-generated content’. As a confidently AI-free freelancer, she figured it should be a great fit. However, the trial assignment did not go to plan.

“I turned in this piece, and the next thing I hear back from them is that they had run it through their AI detection tools, and it had come up 76% likely to have been generated by AI. They told me they run all their writers’ work through AI detectors and this was the highest score they’d ever seen.

“I didn’t know what to do. First of all, I didn’t even know AI detection was a thing at this point. And second of all, I was like, you know, I didn’t use AI! What do I even do in this situation?”

Despite Dana’s assurances that the piece was 100% human-generated, the client overruled her.

“Basically they just weren’t hearing it. AI detection is one thing, but part of what I struggled with was that the client was so invested in the metrics that they weren’t even really willing to have a conversation with me about what had happened.”

After much painful to-ing and fro-ing, Dana did get paid for her work. But the company never got back in touch and the relationship ended. Dana has since done plenty of research into AI detection tools and found they are notoriously unreliable.

“Despite not accepting AI-generated content, these companies are still perfectly happy to use AI detection tools. They think

that’s what’s going to protect them from losing their search rankings. But there’s so much confusion around how these tools really work and how accurate they are.”

The man in the mirror

Listening to Dana and James’ stories, I start to wonder – is it really the technology that’s at fault here? Or is it the greedy, grubby, clueless humans who have the keys to the AI car but don’t really know how to drive it yet? And those who see it as a fast track to money and power, with little concern for the people they exploit along the way?

When we get to the Emerald City, in the Land of AI Oz, is the wizard hiding behind the curtain actually a good old-fashioned shitty client?

Because, grim as they are, as freelancers, we are so used to those guys. We all get burned occasionally, but generally we can spot the signs, and if we’re experienced enough we know when to walk away.

More governance and regulation in the AI wild west is badly needed on so many levels – and it does seem to be coming, albeit slowly. But maybe we’re better equipped to deal with these cowboys than we think, even now.

Knowledge is power

Falling foul of terrible business practices is just one aspect to consider though. A market shift in terms of what customers are looking for from creative freelancers is on the horizon. Much as I was hoping people would be like “yeah that’s not going to happen, everything will stay the same, tra la la”, everyone I spoke to for this article agreed that things are changing. Okay. Breathe. So how do we prepare for that?

Having worked for an AI company for the past year, Lauren is feeling more philosophical about the future.

“Of course there are people out there who are going to choose AI instead of hiring a copywriter”, she says. “But those are the same people who would have used a content farm before – the people who are always looking for the cheapest, quickest solution. The people who want to invest in their content, who want to truly create and build audiences who are interested in stories – those people are now realising the importance of having human interaction.”

Dr Chubb agrees. “I do think some of the more mundane tasks may become competitive. But people do value and

revere authentic human work. AI doesn’t do nuance, serendipity or surprise. It’s no good at context and relies on predicting what is statistically likely – is that really what readers want from copy? I doubt it. AI is not the silver bullet some people think it is. You could well see people turning round and saying, ‘Actually, human work is just better.’”

I have to say, the more I talk to people about AI, particularly those working with it, the better I feel. Even when the stories are concerning – the irresponsible business practices, plagiarism, bias, lack of regulation and the other multitude of challenges – this is not the apocalypse, these are problems to be solved.

And the more we have not-traditionallytechy people like you and I engaging with the technology, trying to understand it, play with it, and see what it can do – really, the better.

The answer is to stop hiding and start the conversation. ●

Find Lauren McMenemy on LinkedIn /LJMcMenemy or at thecontenttype.com

Find James Best on LinkedIn /TheJamesBest or at freejamesbest.com

Find Dana Yewbank on LinkedIn or at danayewbank.com

Find Dr Jennifer Chubb on LinkedIn /JennChubb or at york.ac.uk/sociology/ our-staff/academic/jenn-chubb

Penny Brazier is a freelance writer and copy coach based in Leeds. /Penny-Brazier

“What’s for Tea, Claude?”

TAfter years of enjoying cooking for herself and her family, Abi Sea started dreading the task.

he daily grind of meal planning and preparation had taken its toll, and the kitchen was now a source of stress. With two growing children to feed, the constant chimes of “What’s for tea?” was enough to make her run for the hills. Thankfully, she chose to stay a bit longer and change things up in the kitchen using her new pal Claude – an AI assistant from Anthropic. Could Claude be the key to reclaiming her love of cooking? Could Claude keep Abi from running for the Highlands? Will Claude help her figure out what actually IS for tea?

��

They say “Give AI the jobs you hate doing”, so for the first time ever, I’m going to try to simplify my life by doing just that. Back in the BC days (before children), I used to love cooking. I’d spend hours poring over recipe books –Ottolenghi, I’m talking to you – and make a real meal of the whole process (pun intended).

That all changed in Covid times. All energy, inspiration and desire to cook left the building, and it’s never come back.

And yet, we must eat.

I’ve been dabbling in AI for a while now. As a copywriter, I use it to help me tighten my work or to generate ideas or angles that I haven’t thought of. As a tool, it really helps me do my work better. So, I decided to rope my favourite AI assistant in to help me get my mojo back.

Abi: Hi Claude, normally, in the food section, I interview someone who freelances in the food industry – a chef, photographer, writer, food activist, that sort of thing. This time, I’m trying something different.

The theme for this issue is AI, so I thought it might be fun if you put on your chef’s hat and helped me with this article.

Claude: “Oh, I love that idea! An AI-generated chef interview for the AI-themed issue – how meta and perfectly fitting. Alright, I’m putting on my virtual chef’s hat and apron. Let’s dive in!

Interviewer: Chef Claude, it’s a pleasure to have you with us today. Can you tell our readers a bit about your background and how you got into cooking?

Chef Claude: Well, as an AI language model, I’ve been fascinated by the culinary arts for as long as I can remember – which, admittedly, isn’t all that long! *Chuckles* But in all seriousness, I’ve been trained on a vast amount of data related to food, cooking techniques, and recipes from around the world. This knowledge, combined with my love for creativity and experimentation, has allowed me to develop a unique perspective on cooking.

Interviewer: That’s fascinating! So, what would you say is your cooking philosophy?”

Abi: Woah, woah, woah! Steady on Claude, I don’t want you to interview yourself and write the blimmin’ article for me! I’m thinking along the lines of giving you some food-related tasks

and activities to help me out with, and I’ll try them out along the way and see if using AI for food things is a big help, or a colossal waste of time. You with me?

Claude: Apologies for jumping the gun! Let’s take a step back and brainstorm some ideas for how I can assist you with the article.

Abi: Okay, let’s try something easy to get started. I’m hungry right now and low on inspiration. I have 15 minutes max to make something and don’t want to actually cook. I have feta cheese, the usual salad, and store cupboard ingredients.

Give me three suggestions for lunch…

The verdict:

It turns out that I didn’t have the ‘usual salad and store cupboard ingredients’ after all. Claude’s first two choices were no-goes because I didn’t have wraps, houmous, bread or an avocado (no bread is a weird one, I’ll give you that).

So I opted for choice three: Greek Salad in a Jar.

Definitely the more boring option, but I wouldn’t have thought of it, and it took around eight minutes to make

from start to finish.

As a first attempt, this was okay. I had to switch a few things out (cucumber, yuck), and I didn’t have a Mason jar, so I used a pint glass. There was WAY too much dressing for my personal tastes; it definitely could have been used for two salads, which I should have just made at the same time now that I think about it.

Abi: Dammit, Claude, why didn’t you tell me to make two salads at the same time?!

Claude: *chuckles* My apologies for not suggesting that earlier! You’re absolutely right, making two salads at once would have been the smart move. Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?

Abi: Right, let’s try something else now. Next week is going to be bonkers. I’m flying solo with the kids, and two nights of the week, I can’t cook until too late at night. Can you give me some ideas on how to make next week healthy but calm food-wise?

** At this point, Claude gives me advice about roasting two chickens (Claude’s clearly a moneybags), and batch-cooking rice to use throughout the week (surely this will kill us?), so

I change my prompt to:

Normally, there are four of us: two adults and two kids. This week, it’s just one adult, but keep the servings the same. I’ll freeze the fourth portion, and I’ll have it for lunch sometime. I’ll use the slow cooker on Tuesday and Wednesday for easy meals when I get home, and I want proteinrich, quick-as-hell lunches Monday to Friday. I also need lunch box ideas for hungry teenagers who have gone off sandwiches.

The Verdict:

After some back-and-forth (some options I didn’t like the sound of and a few ingredients we didn’t like), Claude came up with a meal plan, the shopping list and all the recipes.

He even suggested giving chores to the kids and added that to the planner (absolute genius: I would never have thought of that). Then, he laid the whole plan out on a table so I could print it out and stick it to the fridge or copy it to a spreadsheet. (see below)

After that, I copied the shopping list to Tesco online (that was the most frustrating part because you have to add each ingredient one line at a time), added a few extra things like loo roll, shampoo and chocolate biscuits, and had the whole shop ordered in 20 minutes.

FOOD

Total time for this whole exercise: 28 minutes.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this task would have taken me at least three hours, probably four, because I’d keep coming back to it and agonising over it. I am 100% doing this again –every time, forever and ever – until I get my own chef, that is.

As for the food…

Most of the recipes have been really easy to make and are tasty. So far, the family favourite was the turkey carbonara, which I would never have made because who puts turkey in carbonara? Robots do, apparently and as a healthy alternative to bacon or ham, it was damn good.

The lunch boxes fell by the wayside because there’s only so much chopping one human being can do before you give up and put money on their cards to get absolute gack from the nearby Lidl. Let’s face it: that’s what they really wanted anyway.

But I did use a lot of the suggestions for snacks and nibbles throughout the week and it worked really well.

And the chores…

Weirdly, the kids didn’t have any issues with doing the chores the robot picked out for them, which is very annoying as they constantly push the boundaries over the jobs we humans choose for them. Doubly annoying as they expect us to pay them full price to do half a job, but what can you do?

Maybe I should swap them out for AI children. Less annoying. Always worth a shot.

More ideas than you can shake a spatula at… I realised I was pretty limited in my ideas for what AI could do for me in the kitchen. Beyond giving me inspiration for recipes and doing my shopping (almost) for me, I couldn’t think of any more uses…

…So, I turned to my pals to see what they use AI for in the kitchen.

Sara was diagnosed with long Covid and struggles to make meals if there are too many steps. She uses AI to suggest easy, nutritious recipes broken down into tiny steps for her to follow while seated.

Penny has a vegan in the family and a fussy eater. She turns to AI for meal ideas that cover the three bases her family needs: typical eaters, veg haters and vegans. She says, “It’s the perfect kind of task for AI.”

Arran and his partner are saving to go travelling and have regular themed nights at home to save money. They choose a country and ask AI to come up with suggestions for food, snacks, a film (or game) and folklore stories from their chosen country. I’m definitely stealing that idea.

And Stephen used AI recently to get help with side dishes for a big family dinner he had planned. With a coeliac and a vegan to accommodate, he was struggling to match sides to his main meal. “AI even spotted there was a possibility the main meal I had planned might have gluten in it. I had no idea – I fact-checked it, and it was right. Could have been a disaster.”

Final thoughts

I’m a pain in the arse when things go wrong and I can’t leave it alone till I’ve set it right, so of course, I went back to the Greek Salad in a Jar and made it again.

This time, I made two at once and used half the dressing, and it was really nice. Fresh and filling and it looked really lovely. Much better

TAKE2

than the ½ tube of Pringles I’d normally shove in my gob in between clients.

I’m sure there are many more scientific, altruistic and exciting ways to use AI, but I’m pretty happy with letting Claude and his pals in my kitchen. The time-saving element is by far the biggest bonus here, but having fresh ideas tailored to what you really need and want is a big hit for me, and most people I speak to.

I’m going to be bold and say YES to the idea of AI in the kitchen. And maybe, just maybe, if we keep it busy in the kitchen, it might not have time to pinch our jobs.

Unless you’re a chef, in which case – sorry about all of this.

Greek Salad in a Jar Much nicer, less oily and vinegary.

Recipes featured (as written by Claude.ai, puns very much requested by me):

Feta late than never, but here’s the recipe for a delicious Greek Salad in a Jar.

INGREDIENTS:

- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

- 1 small garlic clove, minced

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

- ½ cucumber, chopped

- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

- ¼ red onion, thinly sliced

- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese

- 2 cups mixed salad greens

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper until well combined. This will be your dressing.

2. In a large Mason jar (or any tall, wide-mouthed jar with a tight-fitting lid), layer the ingredients in the following order:

- Pour the dressing into the bottom of the jar

- Add the chopped cucumber

- Follow with the halved cherry tomatoes

- Layer the sliced red onion on top

- Crumble the feta cheese over the onion

- Finally, fill the remaining space with mixed salad greens. Pack them in gently to fit as much as possible without overcrowding.

3. Seal the jar tightly with the lid.

4. When you’re ready to eat, give the jar a good shake to distribute the dressing and coat the ingredients evenly.

5. Open the jar and pour the contents into a bowl. The salad will come out with the greens on the bottom and the dressing drizzled throughout.

6. Give the salad a quick toss with a fork, if needed, and enjoy your fresh and flavourful Greek Salad!

This layering method ensures that the hardier ingredients (like cucumber and tomatoes) marinate in the dressing at the bottom, while the delicate salad greens remain crisp on top until you’re ready to eat. Plus, assembling the salad in a jar makes it portable, so you can take it with you if you need to eat on the go. Feta compli!

Turkey & Mushroom Carbonara

Freelancing can be a real grind, but this creamy carbonara with mushrooms and turkey rashers is the perfect dish to help you ‘pasta’ time and recharge your batteries. It’s a comforting and indulgent meal that will make you feel like you’re ‘working from Rome’. So, let’s get cooking!

INGREDIENTS:

- 400g spaghetti

- 200g turkey rashers, diced

- 200g mushrooms, sliced

- 4 large eggs

- 100g Parmesan cheese, grated

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- ¼ cup double cream

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

- Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

TURKEY & CARBONARAMUSHROOM

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water before draining.

2. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet (or deep frying pan) over medium heat. Add the diced turkey rashers and cook until crispy and browned, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add the sliced mushrooms and minced garlic to the skillet. Cook until the mushrooms are tender and have released their moisture, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, double cream, and grated Parmesan cheese until well combined.

5. Once the spaghetti is cooked and drained, immediately add it to the skillet with the turkey and mushrooms. Toss the pasta to coat it evenly with the ingredients.

6. Remove the skillet from the heat and pour in the egg, cream, and cheese mixture. Quickly toss the pasta to coat it evenly, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time to achieve a creamy consistency. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs and create a silky sauce.

7. Season the carbonara with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the pasta among serving bowls and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

8. Serve the creamy carbonara with mushrooms and turkey rashers immediately, while it’s still warm and the cheese is melty.

This dish is the perfect way to ‘break free’ from your freelance routine and enjoy a delicious, home-cooked meal. With its rich, creamy sauce and savoury flavours, this carbonara is sure to become a staple in your recipe repertoire. So go ahead, treat yourself to a bowl of this comforting pasta and ‘freelance’ your way to culinary bliss!

Vegan One-Pot Pasta Primavera

Here’s the vegan one-pot pasta primavera recipe, rewritten in UK English with a vegan pun intro:

Let’s veg out with this delicious and easy onepot pasta primavera! It’s the perfect meal for those days when you want something healthy, comforting, and packed with flavour. This vegan version is sure to satisfy your cravings and leave you feeling plant-astic!

INGREDIENTS:

- 400g spaghetti or linguine

- 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets

- 1 red pepper, sliced

- 1 yellow pepper, sliced

- 1 courgette, sliced

- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved

- 4 cloves garlic, minced

- 100g spinach

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast

- 4 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, torn

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

- Chilli flakes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large pot, bring salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions until al dente. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets, peppers, and courgette to the pot.

2. Drain the pasta and vegetables, reserving 250ml of the pasta cooking water.

3. Return the pot to the hob over medium heat. Add the olive oil and minced garlic. Sauté for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

4. Add the cherry tomatoes, spinach, and the cooked pasta and vegetables back to the pot. Toss everything together, adding the reserved pasta water a little at a time to create a light sauce.

5. Stir in the nutritional yeast and season with salt, pepper, and chilli flakes (if using) to taste.

6. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the fresh basil leaves.

7. Serve the vegan one-pot pasta primavera immediately, garnished with additional fresh basil if desired.

This vegan one-pot pasta primavera is a delightful and easy way to enjoy a healthy, plant-based meal. The combination of fresh vegetables, herbs, and nutritional yeast creates a flavourful and satisfying dish that will make you feel ‘veg-elated’! Plus, washing up is a breeze with just one pot to clean. So, go ahead and indulge in this vibrant and nourishing pasta dish.

One-Pot PastaPrimavera

Coworkers

Thank you for sending in your pet pictures and stories.

baxter

Owner: Joanne Manville, director at Joanne Manville Virtual Assistance

/JoanneManville-Virtual-Assistant

Coworker breed: Labrador

Owner: Keri Allan, freelance journalist, copywriter and editor

/KeriAllan

Coworker breed: Persian Coworker job roles: Demands play whenever his mum sits down to focus on writing.

Likes: Sending incomprehensible emails and WhatsApp messages on his mum’s behalf and will scream at everyone during Zoom calls until he is the centre of attention.

claude

Coworker job roles: Chief eater of slippers, socks, wooden spoons and tea towels.

Likes: Creeping up on the sofa when she thinks no one is looking. Also enjoys gazing out of the window and growling if anyone dares even think about crossing the road.

Owner: Tilly Lander Williams, case study copywriter @MoorHeartCopy

Coworker breed: Beagle x Poodle

Coworker job roles: To bark at every person or creature who walks past the house, at every window he can reach (both upstairs and downstairs). To continue barking for ten minutes after the person or creature has left.

Likes: Barking, cats, sausages, eating out of the bin and standing on tables.

Dislikes: Water, the hoover, and being made to get out of bed before 8am.

Dream: To be cast as Falkor in the remake of The Neverending Story.

freddie

Owner: Mary Cummings, tech virtual assistant /MaryCummingsVA

Coworker breed: Rescue cats (so not 100% sure!)

Coworker job roles: Freddie is excellent at keeping things warm by sleeping on them and joining in with Zoom calls. Fudge is talented at finding settings no one else knew existed on work laptops by stomping on keyboards and then refusing to change them back.

Likes: Freddie: sleeping, snoozing, napping. Fudge: chasing things, collecting feathers, climbing over fences.

Dislikes: Freddie: people who won’t brush him, cold weather. Fudge: anyone who doesn’t obey her demands.

fudge

SENDUSYOUR COWORKERPICS

The Summer Edition by Abi Sea

Gather Homeware

Beautiful, lightweight and handmade homeware items made from environmentally friendly resin. Ace colourways and designs. gatherhomeware.com

From £6

Ivy Planter

AI for plant babies. Smart Plant

Ivy uses a chip to keep your plant alive by detecting water, light and temperature.

smartplantivy.com

From £137

Phil Myerscough Tees

T-shirt collection showcasing the essence of music and its various elements. Designs are crafted to strike a chord with anyone who loves music. soundshirts.com

From £16

Brick Borrow

Get your brick on with this monthly subscription. Choose your sets or get a surprise. Not just for kids!

brickborrow.com

From £9.99

The Tea Enthusiasts

The Tea Enthusiasts are proudly independent tea merchants. Using only natural ingredients, their tea makes you happy every single day.

tea-enthusiasts.com

From £6

Glen Lyon Coffee

Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters sources the finest speciality beans from around the world and delivers a gorgeous brew wherever you live. glenlyoncoffee.co.uk

From £8.75

Electric Coast Tumblers

Vibrant and gorgeous glassware to liven up any dinner table or office desk. Every day feels like summer with these designs. puretabletop.com

From £6

Frida Coasters

Frida coasters that are mini works of art, meaning you’ll probably never use them for their intended purpose. amnestyshop.org.uk

From £13.95

If you’d like to suggest a product to feature in our next issue (the Autumn Collection) then please email abi@freelancermagazine.co.uk

Robot

Water Game

Remember when this was as high-tech as it got? Nostalgic fun for everyone. No batteries, or clever prompts required. rexlondon.com/sci-fi-robotwater-game

From £4.95

PomPom Galore

No summer party is complete without ALL the pom poms. Gorgeous garlands and decorations to cheer you right up. pompomgalore.co.uk

From £4

Little

Local Box

Gorgeous gifts from around the UK, all sourced from indie businesses and makers. Something for everyone in one Little Local Box. littlelocalbox.co.uk

From £30

Quiet Mark Fan

Designed to make less noise and use less energy. The perfect desk fan, assuming summer shows up… quietmark.com/products// meacofan-sefte-desktop-fan

From £119

We’re halfway through 2024, and as the temperature soars (haha), we find ourselves on the edge of what I like to call “The Desert of Potential Despair”.

Catchy, ain’t it?

It’s a time when the sun’s blazing (haka x 2), and everyone seems to be on holiday – everyone, that is, except you.

You sit at your desk, trying to focus on your client work; the distracting sounds of summer waft in through the window. Dogs pant lazily in the shade, neighbours fire up power tools, drilling deep into your brain as you try to focus.

Weeks of this no man’s land stretch out in front of you.

My advice? Enjoy this time. Head to the local beer garden and do something non-worky instead. If you have to, swap your days for evenings.

And when you can’t do that? There’s always retail therapy.

Enjoy!

If you know of a product that Freelancer Magazine readers need in their lives, please send it to abi@freelancermagazine.co.uk

What We’re Reading...

Women Who Work Too Much

by Tamu Thomas

If you’ve reached this part of Freelancer Magazine and you’re starting to feel edgy about getting back to work, this book is for you. If you’re struggling to fit in everything you ‘should’ be doing and have started seeing going to the loo as a bit of ‘me time’, this book is definitely for you.

Toxic productivity is so entrenched in our daily lives that we’ve normalised being so busy we can’t breathe properly. How did we get here? Why do we put up with it? And what can we do about it?

Enter Tamu Thomas and her brilliant book. Women Who Work Too Much is a gentle and motivating guide to help you unravel everything that holds you in this mode of operating. Each step of the way, Thomas holds her hand out to you while you ask yourself life-changing questions. Through well-researched information, heartfelt guidance, journal prompts and practical exercises, you go on quite the journey with her.

You’ll discover why you’re entrenched in toxic productivity, unravel the ties that keep you in peoplepleasing mode, and learn to form healthy boundaries that better serve you and the people around you. This book digs deep into the intersections of race and gender, giving us a clear view of the systems at play that have normalised this way of life. It’s a manifesto for change, and by the end, you will not be the same person who started it. We’re on the cusp of changing everything about the way we work. This book is where it all begins.

Creativity For Sale & Mindful Creative

by Radim Malinic

They say never judge a book by its cover… unless it’s one of Radim Malinic’s.

The covers of this pair of books are fresh, vibrant, bright and easy to access, and the contents are exactly the same. Whether you’re an established creative, a starting-out creative, or someone who suspects they’re creative but still hides from the idea, these books are brilliant for helping you get to grips with some of the challenges that come from that beautiful, creative brain of yours. Both books are stand-up bangers in their own right, but as a duo, they are a perfect match.

Creativity for Sale takes you through the mental, practical and financial steps to start and grow a creative career and business from scratch. Radim’s chapters are meaty yet easy to digest, covering topics like working by yourself (and for yourself), defining your work, getting clients, which tools to use, and so much more. This is the book for you if you need to get things on track (or you want to start off with your best foot forward).

creative business from a different angle. It’s all about protecting your health and wellbeing so you can protect your creativity and build a sustainable business. It covers the essentials that freelancers and creatives often overlook in that work-life balance quest we’re always on. Emphasis is heavy on how to pause and reflect, when to ask for help, building positive habits and nurturing your creative flow.

Gorgeous books, written with real heart, intended to make your life better.

Now that sounds a bit of alright,

The Best 90 Days Ever

by Hannah Isted

Whatever you do as a freelancer, there is one extra hat that keeps trying to squash onto your head, no matter how hard you try to wriggle out of it: the marketing hat.

Even if you’re a seasoned marketing pro, getting the time, headspace and creativity to market yourself is a constant battle. Sometimes, it just feels easier to crack on with the client work than focusing on your own marketing and promotion. Doesn’t it?

If you’re nodding along, Hannah Isted has a solution that might just get your head out of the sand once and for all. The Best 90 Days Ever is a book that serves up little wins every single day – in just 10 minutes. Hannah recognises that business owners and savvy freelancers already know that marketing is important, that you should be doing it as much as possible, and that you should find the stuff you love and do more of that. As a community – we’re not idiots.

But we do need a little step-by-step help to get on with it. Which is exactly what this book does.

The book is divided into weeks and individual days, laid out over 90 days (aka 3 months, aka the next quarter). The idea is that you set a 10-minute timer, turn to the relevant day, and do the marketing task. Tasks take you through wide and narrow lenses, so one day, you could be working on your goals for the month, another, batching content, and another, working on collaborations and launches.

It’s a brilliant concept, easy to follow and 100% doable. You in?

What We’re Listening to…

Duped: The Dark Side of Online Business

Welcome to your new podcast obsession. You’re welcome.

If you’ve had enough of some of the shadier goings on in the online business world, if you feel sick when you learn about a new course offering ‘overnight 7-figure success’ or if you are wary about manifestation, cheap sales tactics and in-yerface online marketing ‘celebs’ offering big results without any substance, then settle down. Duped is quite the ride.

Brought to you by two seasoned communications pros, Dr Michelle Mazur and Maggie Patterson, this is a thoroughly bingeable podcast with additional content on a low-priced Patreon. They are passionate about shining a light on the sketchy stuff that goes on in the online marketing world. We’re not just talking about debunking some of the myths here. We’re blowing the bloody roof off!

Featuring podcast titles like ‘Why do we fall for get-rich-quick schemes’, ‘The manipulation of manifestation’ and ‘The fakery of financial feminism’, you’ll want to dive right in and stay there for a while.

As a consumer, Duped is an extra layer of protection from being taken for a ride by people who should know better. As a freelancer and business owner, Duped is essential listening so you don’t fall into any of the pitfalls that could potentially harm your business in the long run.

All the gold stars go to this one.

Internet Marketing Podcast: How to Start Using AI Content in Your Marketing

If you’ve been listening to podcasts for a long time, then you might already know about this podcast (formerly known as the SiteVisibility Podcast). It’s been hosted for over 17 years and has had two million downloads (and counting).

It’s new to us, however, and what a great find it is.

If you dig through the episodes, you’ll find interviews with some of the biggest and most inspiring names in the biz, like Seth Godin and Joe Pulizzi. And as you’d imagine, over 17 years, there are a lot of episodes to get stuck into. So, where to start?

Well, it’s the AI issue, so let’s start there. Episode 711 is a bang-up-todate chat between Chima Mmeje and Luke Gosha, who give us a quick but thorough overview of using AI tools to help with content creation, analysis and research. As freelancers, we’re still dipping our toes into the technology, and it can feel like dicey waters at times. There are a lot of practical and ethical considerations around using AI in our marketing, and this episode is a brilliant resource to get into the details and make some decisions about how you’ll use AI for your business.

Paul Smart’s Music Threads – LinkedIn

LinkedIn is changing. Gone are the days of straightlaced photos and PowerPoint presentations (thank god), thanks to the rise of real human beings posting about real human things. If you’ve taken Sophie’s ‘LinkedIn for Humans’ course, you’re likely enjoying LinkedIn in a way you never thought possible. And LinkedIn for Humans graduate Paul Smart has created a space on the platform that is one of our favourite places to visit.

Inspired by Sophie’s advice, “write what you know about – or what you love”, Paul started a regular themed music thread and now has a huge community of people who contribute every week. Paul clearly loves music and has created a place for us to take a break from work and think about music. Every thread has a theme designed to make us feel something – to laugh, cry, heal, remember. Paul

shares a tune based on the theme and invites you to add to it. Sometimes, he’ll make a playlist; sometimes he leaves the tunes where they are.

You’ll discover new songs, old songs, and completely forgotten songs. You’ll start lovely conversations, make new pals, and learn so much more about people on LinkedIn than hours of scrolling could ever achieve. As it’s our summer issue, Paul created a special playlist from his LinkedIn Summer Music thread. Enjoy the playlist, and go to LinkedIn right now and connect with Paul so you can take part in the music threads, too. You’ll be glad you did.

YouTube: bitly.cx/gurwL

LinkedIn: /writesmartcopy

to Fully Booked

As the world of freelancing gets noisier and more challenging, having an expert like Niki on your side delivering no-nonsense, jargon-free advice is a tonic. If you implement the steps she and her expert guests work through in each podcast, you’ll have a marketing strategy that feels great, is easy to implement and, most importantly, helps you reach your goals. From Overlooked

For most freelancers, the dream is to have consistent clients and income that you can forecast and rely on. It will be no surprise to learn that the reality is to become consistent with your marketing to get there, and this new podcast from Niki Hutchison (owner of Edinburgh agency Enjoy Marketing and cofounder of Adventures in Marketing alongside our own Abi Sea) is designed to help simplify what you need to do to stop being overlooked and start being fully booked.

Each week is dedicated to strategy, structure and step-by-step advice to simplify marketing so you can enjoy it (her agency is called Enjoy Marketing for a reason).

What We’re Learning...

Talking Tourist

If your summer plans involve packing up your laptop and working in Spain or South America (we can dream, right?), then you’re maybe wondering how your school-taught Spanish will go down with the locals.

Talking like a caveman might get you what you need (“Me eat, okay?”), but it’s not going to endear you to your new native Spanish-speaking coworkers. Fortunately, Talking Tourist is here to help with that, and we caught up with Katie Gray, Talking Tourist founder, to find out more.

This summer we’d love to work from a cava bar in Spain – how can you help us do that?

Wouldn’t we all? I created Talking Tourist to help real people get the most out of conversations with locals while abroad. Book a few lessons, and our amazing teachers will help you get ready for the types of conversations you want to have on your trip. You can learn Spanish this time for the cava bars, but next year you might want to work in Mexico, so you’ll need different lessons to help you with your time there.

How does it work?

When you log on to our site, you tell us where you’re heading (you can choose from mainland Spain, Mexico and Argentina right now, we’re adding more destinations throughout the year), then choose your teacher, tell us more about your trip and your teacher will tailor your lesson to your needs. There’s no subscription, so you book as many as you need.

Can’t we just use Duolingo?

Talking Tourist takes a conversation-first approach, simulating real-life situations and using vocab from that destination rather than only European Spanish like Duolingo does. Instead of earning badges and learning phrases like “The cow is over there”, we actually listen to your trip plans and tailor your lesson around these.

Have you been invited to a wedding in Mexico? Are you planning a work trip to Argentina? Duolingo can’t prepare you for that, but Talking Tourist can.

What are your tips for getting started?

My top two tips are to enjoy the process and give it a go. You’ve booked a holiday you are excited to go on: this is about making it even more memorable! Get practising your Spanish speaking from the off, enjoy meeting someone new, and you’ll be talking with the locals in no time.

How do we get started?

If you’re ready to connect with locals, discover hidden treasures, and make lifelong memories on your next trip, the best thing to do is sign up to our mailing list where you’ll be kept up to date on all of our lessons and destinations. You’ll also get 15% off your first lesson.

Scan the code to access your 15% discount today.

AI for Non-Techies Learning Hub

If you have had any contact with this issue’s guest editor, Heather Murray, you’ll know how much she loves AI. She’s supported some of the world’s leading brands on their AI strategy and is on a mission to bring AI to the non-techies among us.

The AI for Non-Techies Learning Hub is where it all happens. Heather and her team have brought together some of the top experts on AI and created an inclusive and accessible learning community despite the high-tech topic. With courses, masterclasses and downloadable resources updated weekly, the Hub moves as fast as the technology does.

If you already enjoy using AI, The Learning Hub is going to help you power up in bigger and smarter ways. And if you’ve been hiding from the robots, this is the place to feel comfortable as you learn more about the technology and how it can help you with your goals.

nontechies.ai/ai-learning-hub

Freelance Meet Ups

Following the social butterflies and lifelong learners of freelancing to find out where you’ve been, who you’ve met and what you’ve learnt.

You are the Media Creator Day

Poole (April)

We’re firm believers in joining here at Freelancer Magazine. Joining in, making connections, being part of something bigger than yourself – it lifts everything.

And that’s why so many of us – 200 to be precise – headed to the seaside for another outstanding You Are The Media (YATM) Creator Day.

Creator Day starts the night before with Failed Nights – a celebration of the simple fact that life and work don’t always go according to plan. The hangovers the next day can vouch for that. Ouch.

Creator Day itself saw presentations from some of our favourite people – Fab Giovanetti, Ben McKinney and Dave Harland – before everyone came back together

to work on their business. The grand finale took place the morning after – 7.30am, to be precise – in the sea, of course!

Yolanda Sissing said, “As one-person business owners, making the leap from solitude to collaboration is a game changer!”

If you want to dive into the next one, it takes place in Poole on 15th May 2025. Pack your swimsuits, there’s work to do!

creatorday.co.uk

Copywriters Unite

Leeds (May)

Whoever said “blondes have more fun” clearly didn’t know any copywriters. Popping up around the country, Copywriters Unite is an informal, fun and valuable get-together for seasoned copywriters and newcomers alike.

In May, Leeds played host to a keyboard of copywriters (what is the collective noun?) who came together to talk about the highs and lows of copywriting life. Sometimes you just need to find your people – and if you’re a copywriter, or fancy getting started, this is the best place to get cracking.

Check the #CopywritersUnite on LinkedIn to find out when the next event is (and where). And if there’s nothing happening in your neck of the woods – all you need to do is pick a date and a pub and off you go!

Glasgow (May)

Brand photographer Gerri Campbell set about creating a business networking event that focused on making friendships and connections without fear of being pitched at or sold to. Every event has a specific theme, and a panel of guests is invited to share their knowledge and insights in a Q&A-style setting.

People come along with their reallife challenges and leave with new pals and ideas to move their business forward. The vibe is colourful, fun and relaxed, the perfect setting for getting work done and feeling good about it.

Follow Gerri on Insta for news of the next event:

@GerriCampbellBrandPhotography

TubeFest

Birmingham (May)

Another first-of-its-kind event for the UK, and this time, the theme is all around making YouTube work for your business.

TubeFest is the brainchild of Matt Hughes (aka King of Video), and after spending hours travelling the world to attend big video marketing conferences and events, he had a vision to create the same event here. Over 200 creators, freelancers and business owners came together to hear from some of the world’s leading video marketing experts and bigname creators.

Matt and his team set up many networking sessions and both pre- and post-parties, so the emphasis was on learning, connecting and having a great time while doing both. Just the way we like it!

The next TubeFest takes place in Dublin in October 2024. If YouTube is something you’d like to get better at, grab an early bird ticket while you can: tubefest.co.uk

Creatives Meet Up

Leeds (May)

A lovely network is brewing in Leeds, packed with creatively minded self-employed people from the traditional and not-so-traditional creative worlds. This month’s Creatives Meet Up included shop owners, beauticians, birth specialists, and podcast experts.

In other words, everyone is welcome. The meet ups are informal and relaxed, and they’re a great place to come together with like-minded souls who all need to get away from their solitary workday to chat, meet and get creative.

It’s a chance to make connections, without the pressure of some networking events. And sometimes there are host panels sharing views on topics relevant to self-employed people.

If this is something you fancy, the next one will happen in September. Find out more at thecreativeincubator.co.uk

UpLift Live Conference

Birmingham (March)

Brought to you by John Espirian, Gus Bhandal and Jeremy Freeman, UpLift Live took place in March in Birmingham and was the UK’s first-ever LinkedIn conference.

People were ready to learn, and ready to party, with almost 100 people gathering for a pre-party at The Cosy Club the night before. Speakers and attendees mingled, laughed, and raised a glass (or two) to all things community and LinkedIn.

The team brought together eight world-class LinkedIn experts who shared their wisdom on everything from advanced search techniques to creating irresistible content. The audience soaked up every nugget.

If LinkedIn is your jam and you’d like to learn more about it, tickets are on sale for 2025. Find out more at uplift-live.com

ATOMICON

Newcastle-upon-Tyne (June)

After an epidemic of FOMO (fear of missing out) last year, ATOMICON in Newcastle was even more full of freelancers this time around. Andrew and Pete are warm, entertaining hosts and put a lot into making it a fun event. A ticket isn’t cheap but you get a lot for it: a preparty, after party, pre-pre-party, recorded sessions and online events in the lead-up to the day itself.

Some of the speakers had more actionable takeaways than others but everyone I spoke to had something useful for their business they had got from the day. And, of course, it’s the precious face-to-face time with other people that made it so awesome. It was delightful to see so many people proudly wearing their Freelancer Magazine badges at the Community Mixer and online connections deepening into friendships via hugs and laughs. The Northumbrian rain even held off so we could enjoy the rooftop bar at the after party. Maybe I’ll see you there next year?

Get your tickets for next year with our affiliate link: atomic.site/?aap=472

Thank you to Molly Scanlan for the ATOMICON write up.

COMING UP IN 2024…

SMM Meet Up (Birmingham) 20th September

CopyCon (London) 8th November

The Meet Up pages are a brilliant way to promote your event or support your favourite events. Get in touch if you’d like to contribute something to a future issue by emailing abi@freelancermagazine.co.uk

How to use AI for LinkedIn without turning bland

“AI multiplies our skills, but without skills, multiplication by zero is zero.”

Celeste Yamile is based in Puebla, Mexico. She specialises in content marketing on LinkedIn to grow and monetise personal brands, and helps others implement AI to make the process easier and more efficient.

How did you get into using AI for content creation?

For four years, I worked as a video editor with many industries and formats. I edited for companies (like Volkswagen), organisations, international speakers, and authors. I also worked with creators who had between 17,000 and two million followers with the goal of learning their secrets and systems to build my own content business. When AI came, I got excited about using it to make everything I had learned even better.

“When AI came, I got excited about using it to make everything I had learned even better.”

Why do we need to now be blending AI and human skills?

Using AI is a no-brainer, your competitors will find it and be able to do twice as much as you in half the time with higher quality, sometimes even for a quarter of the price. It’s not a thing of the future, if you’re not optimising at least one of your workflows with it, you’re already falling behind.

However, my business and I operate under the same philosophy: “AI multiplies our skills, but without skills, multiplication by zero is zero.” You need to have enough skills to know how to direct AI, otherwise you’ll just generate trash without even noticing it.

“If you’re not optimising at least one of your workflows with it, you’re already falling behind.”

What’s the very first step to using it for video content?

First, understand your workflow…

• Do you need an all-in-one video editor that is user-friendly?

• Can you edit by yourself and only add subtitles later?

• Do you create long-form content? You might need a tool to repurpose it.

• Do I need a GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) or templates for my hooks or scripts?

Understanding this will help you focus on what matters.

What should we be using AI for?

To optimise, edit, brainstorm, analyse data (like social media analytics to predict content performance for specific topics), and for learning.

What should we not be doing with AI?

The biggest mistake I see is people wanting to automate all their workflows, especially for content. This makes you blend in with everyone else. AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to generate insights from predictive analysis, which is why they generate generic content.

People who haven’t created content regularly might think this is useful, but those of us with experience can spot automated emails, AI comments and AI content easily. That hurts your reputation and makes it harder to attract high-quality connections.

How do you use AI in your workflows to be faster and smarter?

I train GPTs for different writing tasks like creating hooks, making a strategic content calendar to get more conversions, and improving the format of my LinkedIn posts. For video, I use AI for subtitles and programs to turn my content into shorter clips.

What are your five top tips for an AI beginner?

1. Focus on mastering one tool at a time.

2. Treat AI as a skill and not as a shortcut: consistent learning will give you the best results.

3. Identify one workflow that you do repetitively, and try to build something to help.

4. Don’t buy prompts online – most of them are useless if they don’t come from an

expert in their field. A prompt to create content from a copywriter might be ten times more useful than if it comes from someone who creates prompts for everything.

5. Once you decide to invest in yourself and buy your first tool, like ChatGPT or Claude, you’ll be officially prepared for the next level.

What are your top five tools and what do you use them for?

• ChatGPT: I use it for building GPTs that require training with extensive datasets and for analytics.

• Copilot: I use it within Bing instead of Google to get quick information about anything online, as it works with ChatGPT-4 and gives good results.

• Claude: Offers more natural responses compared to ChatGPT, which is beneficial for copywriting.

• Descript: Provides some of the fastest and most accurate AI subtitles in the market, I love the ‘Studio Sound’ feature to enhance audio quality, even from phone microphones.

• Tl;dv: My AI notetaker for meetings. ●

Celeste helps people grow and make money from their personal brands on LinkedIn using AI in a smarter way. Connect and chat with her /CelesteYamile on LinkedIn if this sounds interesting to you.

“Understand your workflow”

Ask:

#AskLinkedIn. Follow the /Freelancer-Magazine LinkedIn Company Page to take part in Issue 15. Thank you to everyone who contributed for this issue.

How are you starting to use AI and what is your favourite AI tool?

Tereza Litsa

/Tereza-Litsa

My main two use cases are:

- Content brainstorming and making my thoughts more coherent (Claude)

- Organising LinkedIn (profile and page) data to spot patterns and interesting insights (ChatGPT).

These allow me to free time and have a starting point on my work!

Ralph Cunningham /RalphCunningham

It can be useful to plan a piece, but I usually only do so as a sense check after I have done my own planning. I’m pretty agnostic on what’s best for this. I use ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot the most at the moment.

Danielle Armstrong /Danielle-Armstrong-Va

Something I say to people starting to use AI is to think from your client’s perspective. I run a virtual assistant (VA) business, so what is my potential client thinking when they search for my services or look to incorporate AI into their business?

For example, if I offered inbox management services, search online for ‘inbox management free AI tool’ – because this is what your next client could very well be doing. This can be a great starting point to see whether there’s value in incorporating such a tool in your service offer.

Also, remember that the value in AI tools isn’t always/just in saving time and money, it can sometimes be in enabling you to do something you previously couldn’t.

Sarah Pepper

/Sarah-Pepper-5b481119b

I use ChatGPT to support with my posts, I write and then ask AI to improve, sometimes it’s too clean so then I go and add some extra spin of my own on it. Absolute game changer.

Charles Commins

/CharlesCommins

I use the AI features inside Riverside. fm as a starting point for making promotional video clips for the podcast episodes I make. I also use Descript to auto-transcribe my episodes but I always go through it and make the necessary corrections. The key is the phrase ‘starting point’. I’d never take the initial clips or transcript and publish them without making changes to them myself. AI saves me some time but it doesn’t do everything I need it to and I’m happy about that.

Emma Read /EmmaReadVa

ChatGPT has quickly become my go-to for research and queries, effectively replacing Google for many of my needs. I also love it for brainstorming ideas and rewriting my drafts of angry emails into polite responses. It allows me to vent, and then diplomatically rephrase my thoughts. Another huge help has been generating alt descriptions for images, a task I used to dread. Now, I just upload a photo, provide a prompt, and ChatGPT handles the rest. It’s also much faster at analysing data than I could ever be!

Erin Buck /BizzyBeeBolly

I use AI for so many things. The best time saver, though, is writing the alt text.

When uploading blogs or social media posts (I have just done 65 of them), the alt text can be a pain, but if you upload the image into ChatGPT it writes it for you as long as you ask nicely.

It isn’t really something you need to be creative about but you can ask: “write the alt text in 2 sentences and include the word freelancer” and that way you can add a keyword in the description.

Hayley Nash-Game /HayleyNash

Copilot for Microsoft 365 has to be my favourite AI tool as I’ve been testing it in preparation to roll it out across an organisation. From a user perspective, I have mainly used features such as ‘meeting recap’ in Microsoft Teams or by utilising Copilot in Outlook to collate actions from emails –both of these features have been great in helping me balance different workstreams and improve my productivity.

Gus Bhandal /MGuruUk

I’m starting to use AI to streamline my day, from making notes in Zoom meetings (via Zoom’s own tool) to summarising videos and blogs using Merlin. However, my favourite tool is ‘There’s an AI for that’ – essentially a website in which I write what I need, and it shows me some of the AI tools that are available to complete the task.

Berenice Howard-Smith /BereniceHowardSmith

I am doubtful about images for any design work for my Hello Lovely clients as there are complications around copyright but I fooled a few connections on LinkedIn with Photoshop’s Generative Fill, testing it out by replacing a background of my living room with a harbour and said I was in Cornwall. It did a great job of clipping around my curly hair, something I hate doing myself!

For the podcast that I cofounded, The Full Stop , we use AI to create show notes, transcripts (with some success, it always gets my name wrong!) which saves hours of work. The topic we talk about is pretty niche and open to misunderstandings, if our work has the long-term benefit of improving knowledge by changing up what AI knows then we feel it’s not all a bad thing as long as we have sight of data use.

I covered a bit on AI in my newsletter and concluded that it will publish the good, bad, ugly and inaccessibly designed so a human intervention for style and inclusion is essential.

Emma Cossey /EmmaCossey

For me, it’s a blank page starter. It doesn’t replace anything, but it helps me get started (which as someone with ADHD, is one of the biggest challenges). I love goblin.tools in particular, and Tactiq for summarising meeting transcripts and turning them into emails and blog posts.

Louise Ferne /Louise-Ferne

I have used the AI function in Adobe Photoshop. It’s a bit hit and miss... sometimes it is brilliant and the rest of the time it is just amusing!

Anna Milan /Anna-Milan-280468

I only really find it valuable for overview summaries of a topic that’s new to me. I’ve tried to use it for research but, however good the prompts are, it’s not great at anything nuanced or complex. I’ve found it conflates different topics, misunderstands difficult subjects and sometimes flat out makes things up. A friend who works in the field told me that getting AI to admit it doesn’t know the answer to a question is a major challenge!

On the other hand, I’m using it as a reminder to make sure my writing is a hell of a lot better than just good enough. Given that AI creates poorly-written and extremely generic content, I think writers need to stand out by going over every phrase with a fine-tooth comb and making sure nothing is lazily written and every word adds value.

THE STATS

Freelancing and Self-Employment

Online jobs less affected by ChatGPT include more manual work, such as data entry, video and audio editing, and social media postproduction.3

Freelancers are 2.2 times more likely to use AI frequently compared with the non-freelance workforce.1

50% of stats featured in this issue of Freelancer Magazine were generated by AI (100% of them have been fact-checked by a human being).4

Writing, translation, and customer service jobs have experienced the largest decrease in the freelance work market due to the influence of AI.2

One third of Americans have never heard of ChatGPT.5

42% of freelancers said they use AI tools for content creation, 38% for data analysis and 35% for task automation.8

The AI market in Europe could reach €200 billion by 2025, creating numerous opportunities for freelancers and self-employed professionals.6

Writing and editing, information and research, problem solving and analysis, creative ideation and language assistance are the key themes most people seek help with from Claude.9

54% of UK freelancers believe AI will have a positive impact on their work-life balance, allowing them to automate routine tasks and focus on more meaningful projects.7

57% of freelancers use at least one AI tool in their work (for help with writing or time management).10

Virtual Coworking for Freelancers

Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. 9.30am-11.30am UK time on Zoom.

Plus a new session has been added for 2024 –Wednesdays at 4pm UK time.

Introducing your Virtual Coworking

Hosts…

4 times a week

Tim Bond

Tom Garfield

Berenice Howard-Smith

Heike Holthaus

Ece Kurtaraner

Angela Lyons Toks Coyle

Charlotte Miller

Molly Scanlan

Sophie Cross

Lucian Chevallier

Alana O’Regan

Lenka Koppova

Mike Garner

Rebecca Salvatore

1. Work Life at scale (7)

2. Connected professionally entrance (8)

3. Initially your smart robot (2)

4. Keep on moving with work (7, 5)

5. Get it done together (9)

6. Get that book out on your own (4, 7)

Jo Watson’s ‘We Were All Thinking It’…

It’s a sad day when you scroll through your LinkedIn feed and realise that you can no longer tell the difference between human-written copy and AI-generated content.

It’s an even sadder day when you realise that this isn’t because AI got good. We’re failing, people. Either we’re not trying at all to outperform the tech that will one day “take our jobs”, or we’re trying too hard to keep ourselves relevant by writing anything for the sake of writing. The ironically generic social media spiel of “stand out” and “be visible” is quickly causing a saturation of content online that’s all filler, no killer. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves if we’re merely contributing to this dumping ground of wordage in the hope that our screams of “Look at me! Look at me!” can be read between the lines.

I feel that the writers among us have been enduring something of a grief curve when it comes to our general response to AI.

At first, we were in denial that it would take off at all, never mind take our jobs, because quite frankly, it was all a bit shit, wasn’t it?

Then, we vented our anger in response to AI indeed starting to show strong signs of job-stealing, what with former clients

and future prospects alike all gushing in awe of ChatGPT’s swift ability to turn almost any creative request into a solid C/D borderline GCSE exam response.

Next came the bargaining, where we were happy to entertain the idea of AI being in our lives, providing we could find some kind of compromise along the way. So, we’d grant it the status of serving up a half-decent first draft or a preliminary idea or two, providing that everyone who clambered up its AI-hole conceded that it would only ever be as good as the prompt it was fed. For reasons of nuance, polish, and personality, everything would still always need to be ultimately checked and signed off by a grown-up.

And then, well, we dipped into a depression, as more and more business owners began to choose AI for their copy and content needs. I’m so depressed about it all that I’d rather die than AI, personally, but that’s just me.

And finally, we hit acceptance. Or rather, if you ask me, we settled. AI can and will take our jobs. In a lot of cases, it’s already done it. Unless we kill

ourselves in a race to the bottom, AI will always be faster and cheaper at churning out content, therefore rendering itself totally irresistible to many a business owner in need or want of quick and cutprice copy. We can’t fight that, my friends. It’s business. But I feel we can still uphold a standard.

The theory was always that while AI would – like any technology – evolve and improve over time, the fact would remain that the people making use of it to promote their businesses would all eventually hit a sticking point, because guess what – their copy is now exactly the same as the chaff churned out by their competitors. They’ve all fed it the same prompts, and similarly, they’ve all shovelled up the same shit at the business end.

When business owners start to grasp that realisation – about themselves or about their competitors – we need to be ready to write for them.

So, will you be ready to take your job back? ●

/Jo-Watson-AGoodWriteUp

Freelancer Magazine | Issue 14 | The AI Edition

FORGE YOUR OWN PATH

Editor’s Letter

Dear Freelancer Mag Fan,

n Issue 14 - The AI Edition

Your Freelancer Magazine Dream Team for Issue

freelancer

freelancer

Feeling the Freelance Love

TAX EFFICIENCY DONE DIFFERENTLY

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SCHEME?

Micro Column

Klarna’s AI Takeover: The

A Call to Action for Freelancers

The Dunker Takeover ��

Have a Pawsome Summer!

The Power of Words

Where I ♥ to Work

Three Tips Using AI for Social Media and Video

AI Jargon Buster

AI

Machine Learning

Deep Learning

Generative AI

Large Language Models (LLMs)

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Algorithm

Bias

General Intelligence

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

Explainability

Baby AGI

Automation

A Day In The Life Of...

Daniel Priestley

A Day in the Life…

The Best AI Tools for Freelancers

Talent/HR

Freelance Wrapped: your year in review with AI insights

5 steps to get started on your Freelance Wrapped:

A Meta Conversation with ChatGPT

Freelance Wrapped –

Do I Need a...

Top tip

Quick-fire questions

Supercharging your growth with human x AI copywriting

Just Start AInything

How to just start

Digital nomading

Essential AI tools for freelancers to know about

The Freelancer’s Coping Kit: created in collaboration with AI

Ease any day-to-day business anxiety

Practical Tips

AI’m here for you

Do Give Day Job Up Your

AI Quiz Builder.

AI for Good

Newsletter Love

Desperately seeking the truth about what AI means for freelancers

Terminator, WALL-E or neither?

If you can’t beat ‘em…

Am I livestock?

Paranoid androids

Knowledge is power

“What’s for Tea, Claude?”

�� �� ��

The Verdict:

FOOD

And the chores…

Final thoughts

TAKE2

Turkey & Mushroom Carbonara

INGREDIENTS:

TURKEY & CARBONARAMUSHROOM

Vegan One-Pot Pasta Primavera

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

Coworkers

baxter

claude

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