How to Stop Drowning in Bad AI Content Ideas

You don't need more ideas, you need better ones

Coming up with ideas can be brutal.

You stare at the screen.

You scroll your notes app.

You half-type something, delete it, and wonder why nothing feels right.

Then you open ChatGPT, and suddenly you’re drowning in “10 hooks for solopreneurs” and “content ideas for coaches.”

And how do you choose in all that madness?

Well, I haven’t quite figured that part out.

I’ve got dozens of chats with hundreds of ideas, but sometimes I still have no idea what the eff to write about.

But if you’re like me, you’re probably going to use AI anyway.

So you might as well use a prompt that helps you dig into the real stuff, the deeper pains, desires, and questions your ideal client actually has.

Because then at least you’ll be drowning in ideas that matter and will move the needle (if you can just get over yourself, pick one, and get it done).

The Problem

When you sit down to create, your brain goes blank and you end up second-guessing everything:

• “Is this too basic?”

• “Does anyone even care?”

• “What if I post this and no one responds?”

You either overthink yourself into silence, or flood your feed with surface-level stuff that doesn’t connect.

If that’s you, try tuning out all the backlog of notes, chats, and half-started drafts.

And run this prompt.

The Prompt

You are a content systems coach, copywriter, and marketing psychologist helping a solopreneur simplify their content strategy.
Start by asking me the following questions one at a time to understand my business:

What is your business or offer about?
Who is your ideal client or audience?
What result or transformation do you help them achieve?
What do they struggle with most right now (emotionally or practically)?
Which short-form platform will you focus on (Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, Threads, or Substack Notes)?
Are you also using a long-form platform (like a blog, YouTube, or podcast)? If yes, which one?

After gathering my answers:
Identify and list 7–10 private pains my ideal clients feel but rarely say out loud. Name the fear, shame, trade-offs, and stuck loops in plain language. For each, note what it costs them today and what they’re afraid will happen if nothing changes.

For each pain, map the desired outcome at two levels:

1. Surface win — the visible business result

2. Deeper win — the identity-level payoff driving them (freedom, safety, status, belonging, self-trust, ease, time, etc.)

Map each desired outcome to a matching solution or transformation my business provides.
For every pain → solution pair, list 3–5 top questions my ideal client is likely asking about that issue.

Present everything in a clear four-column table:
| Pain | Desire | Solution | Common Client Questions |

Copy it into ChatGPT and answer the questions in as much detail as you can. (I like voice dictation for this. This is my go to app for voice dictation.)

The Result: A Guide to All the Content Ideas You’ll Ever Need

You’ll get a table that looks something like this (this example is for a fitness coach who helps people recover after injury):

Now, if you can stomach it and stay focused, you just got enough content ideas to keep you busy for a year.

If you don’t come up with ideas of your own for each cell, just ask your AI buddy to give you some.

Why It Works

Because this isn’t just a bunch of random ideas.

These are ideas that center on the pain, desires and questions your ideal client has around the problem your business solves.

Three key shifts happen:

It’s a framework that centers everything around your ideal client. Their pains, their desires, and the questions they’re already asking.

Three key shifts happen:

1. You start with empathy, not ideas.
Most brainstorming starts with you.

This starts with them.

It puts you into their world—what they’re frustrated by, afraid of, or chasing—and build from there.

2. You connect pain to identity.
You’re not just spotting surface problems; you’re naming what those problems mean to them.

Using that example, above, the fear of “re-injury” isn’t only about getting hurt again, it’s about independence and being able to trust themselves again.

That emotional clarity is what makes your content resonate.

3. You end up with real questions, not random topics.
When ChatGPT lists those “common client questions,” you’re staring at a ready-made content bank.

Each question is something your audience is already typing into Google or journaling about.

The Hidden Win

This exercise can do more than give you content ideas.

It can help you see your business differently.

You might find patterns or problems you didn’t see before.

You might see new solutions that are needed that you can create.

You start to see questions you can’t actually answer.

Which means you either need to figure out how to answer them, or find different questions people are asking.

Try It

It’ll take you 5 minutes.

Copy the prompt and answer the questions honestly.

And tell me if it doesn’t spark ideas for your next dozen posts.

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