AI for Business and Branding
Starting your own business, or want to improve your company without paying expensive consultants? Let AI rate your logo, come up with a name, take your competitors apart or help with an unpleasant complaint. No marketing waffle, just practice that even a layperson understands.
🎨 Logo and visual identity
Not a designer, but you feel your logo or flyer isn't quite “it”? Have AI rate it and suggest improvements in plain language. You can also have a new logo designed; the guide is in AI images → vectors.
I'm sending you an image of our company logo. We're [a family bakery / a plumbing business / an e-bike seller] and we want to come across as [traditional and honest / fast and reliable / modern and luxurious]. Rate it honestly, like an ordinary person on the street, not like a designer: 1. Can you tell from the logo within 2 seconds what we do? 2. Does it convey what we want to get across (e.g. reliability)? If not, why? 3. What works on the logo and should I keep it? 4. Write 3 simple, specific changes (colour, simplifying the icon, a different font) I can do without an expensive designer. If the image is small or unreadable, say so before you start rating it.
I'm making a new flyer and business card myself in Canva. I sell [insurance / handyman services]. I don't understand graphics, but I want the flyer to say at first glance [“You can trust me with your money” / “I'll come fast and at a fair price”]. Advise me: 1. Two colours with HEX codes for Canva: which one for the background and which one for the headings. Check that the text will be easy to read on the background. 2. Whether to use sharp corners or rounded shapes, and why. 3. One main photo or symbol from which people immediately understand what I do.
💡 Company name and slogan (naming)
Forget boring names like “Smith & Son”. AI will help you find a catchy name and slogan that people remember and that instantly say what you do. Before you use a name, check that the domain is free (at any domain registrar) and search for trademarks, for example in the WIPO Global Brand Database or your national trademark office. AI won't do that for you.
I'm starting a new business: [a cleaning company that uses only eco-friendly products]. We target [busy parents and managers]. Come up with 10 name ideas and split them into categories: 1. Clear and descriptive (you know right away what it is) 2. Playful and funny (to make people smile and remember) 3. Modern and abstract (one word, sounds like a startup) Avoid dated names like “EcoClean Ltd”. I want something fresh that sounds good and is easy to pronounce in my language. You don't check domain availability and trademarks, I'll do that. But if a name reminds you of an existing brand, warn me.
I have a company [Company Name]. We [sell quality dog food]. Our biggest benefit is that [we deliver to the door on the same day]. Write 5 versions of a short slogan (5 words at most) that I'll put on the van or on the website under the logo. Make it rhyme, punchy, or playing on emotion (the dog won't go hungry and the owner doesn't have to worry). For each, say in one sentence why it could work.
🎯 Knowing the customer and your competitive advantage (USP)
A customer doesn't buy a product, they buy a solution to their problem. These prompts help you find why people should buy from you specifically.
Put yourself in the shoes of my target customer. I'm a company that sells [accounting courses for new entrepreneurs].
Answer these 3 questions from their point of view. Informally, emotionally and the way that person would say it to a friend over a beer in the evening, with no polished marketing phrases:
1. What's your biggest nightmare or frustration related to my field? (What do you complain about most?)
2. Why haven't you bought my product or service yet? What's your main fear or distrust (objection)?
3. What would have to happen (or what would I have to promise you) for you to send me money tomorrow morning?
Then step out of the role. This is your guess, not research, so suggest 3 questions I can use to check it with real customers.
You are a marketing consultant for small craft businesses. I'm [a carpenter in Leeds].
In my local market there are 20 other companies that do roughly the same. They all write clichés on their websites like “high quality”, “a long tradition” or “a personal approach”. I don't want to write that. I don't want to compete on the lowest price either.
Suggest 3 strong, specific and easy-to-picture USPs that set me apart. They should be things customers really value and that competitors don't do or don't talk about.
For each, write what it will cost me and how I can prove it to customers (a photo, a guarantee, reviews).
(Examples from other fields: “After every installation we vacuum the dust and wash the floor”, or “We reply to an enquiry within 2 hours, otherwise your quote is free”.)
🕵️ Competitor analysis and learning from mistakes
A useful trick to find out what competitors do badly, so you can do it better. Copy the reviews yourself; AI can't reliably read them from a link.
Here are the worst reviews of my biggest competitor in the field of [a fitness centre / pizza delivery], copied from Google Maps or Trustpilot: <reviews> [paste the reviews here] </reviews> You are a market analyst for small businesses. Your task: 1. Find the 3 main patterns of what annoys customers most about the competitor. For each, give how many reviews it appears in. 2. For each one, write a “counter-punch”: what we'll do differently and how to put it briefly in an ad (e.g. “No waiting for machines here” or “Pizza always hot thanks to heated boxes”). Work only from the text of the reviews, don't make anything up. Don't name the competitor in the ad, so our ad stays fair and truthful.
💬 Customer support and crisis communication
When a customer rages and writes negative comments, emotions run high. AI helps you keep a cool head and write a professional reply that calms them down.
A customer left me this angry review on Facebook / Google: “The order arrived 3 days late and on top of that it was the wrong colour. A disaster, never again!” The truth is that the courier caused the delay because of snow, and the customer picked the wrong colour in the online shop themselves. I'm angry and I'd love to argue, but hundreds of other customers will see the reply. I want to respond with a cool head, like a professional. Write the reply for me. Rules: 1. **An empathetic start:** Show understanding for their frustration. Avoid a defensive tone and the word “but”. 2. **Facts without arrogance:** Politely set the record straight. Don't blame them for the mistake; present it as a misunderstanding. 3. **A solution:** Suggest a solution or compensation (e.g. a free exchange or a discount next time) and give them a contact to get in touch. Write the compensation only as a suggestion; I'll decide. 5 sentences at most. The goal isn't to win the argument, but to show other readers that we're a serious company that cares about people, even when something goes wrong.
I need to write an email to a client, [Mr Smith]. He hasn't paid an invoice that is now [14 days] overdue. It's [$700] for [graphic design work]. I want to keep good relations — he's a regular client and may have just forgotten — but I need the money. Write a short, friendly but clear email asking for payment. Leave the invoice number and payment details as [fill in]. No threats. Below it, write a second, firmer version for the case that nothing happens even after another 14 days.
💰 Pricing and service packages
You sell your time (an hourly rate) and don't know how to ask for more money? Stop selling hours and start selling solution packages. AI will help you put them together.
I'm a freelance [IT support for companies / gardener / photographer] and I charge by the hour, currently [$30/h]. Instead, I want 3 packages with a fixed price (Basic, Golden middle, VIP Premium). Suggest what they could look like: - what the cheapest package contains, - what to add to the VIP one as value for demanding clients, so it can cost roughly twice the middle option (e.g. priority response even at weekends, a guarantee, an extra audit). Suggest the prices as a multiple of my hourly rate and say how many hours of work you're basing it on. I'll check the specific amounts against competitors. Give the packages catchy names.
🚀 Innovation and brainstorming new services
You feel you should offer something new, but you're out of ideas? Let AI come up with extensions of your current business.
I have [an online shop with coffee and accessories]. When someone buys [a pack of coffee beans] from me, I want to offer them a small extra (a cross-sell) just before they pay — one that makes sense, is cheap and makes the customer think “actually, that's handy”. List 5 specific ideas (physical products or small digital services). For each, an estimated price and one sentence on why it could work.