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No hype. No jargon. Just results.
"The best ideas are just old ideas in new clothes."
I was writing a welcome sequence for my new daily email list.
In one of the emails, I talk about how I was inspired by Ben Settle and his dead-simple business model:
"Build a list of people who want to hear from you every day, email them every day, and send them an offer every day."
As I wrote about that, I remembered a pdf of his I had gathering digital dust in my Google Drive.
It was his very first Email Players newsletter: a cheat sheet of 24 tips for writing subject lines and opening lines.
I got it 4+ years ago when I signed up for his list.
Can’t remember if I’d ever really read it or not.
But as I started looking at it again today, I thought: "Man, there's an easy way to do this now."
Result?
15 minutes later, I had a custom ChatGPT that suggests 4-5 subject lines and opening hooks based on Settle's proven formulas.
All from a PDF I'd never actually read.
How To Do It
The process was stupid simple:
1️⃣ Grabbed the PDF → Ben Settle's 24 email writing tips
2️⃣ Uploaded to ChatGPT → Asked it to give me a few ideas for a custom GPT. Decided on one where the user pastes their email copy/idea and gets 3-5 subject line and opening line ideas based on the tips in the cheat sheet.
3️⃣ Used a Self-Improving Prompt to create the instructions → Had ChatGPT create the system prompt for my custom GPT
4️⃣ Tested it → Fed it an email idea, got back 4-5 subject line options + opening hooks
5️⃣ Tweaked it → Refined the prompt until the suggestions felt right
Total time: 15 minutes.
Now I have a writing assistant trained on one of the best email copywriters alive.
My Take
I had this thing for 4+ years and never read it.
Now that it's a GPT?
I can get practical use from it.
Lesson: You don't need to create anything new.
Look around your desk, your downloads folder, your course library.
What's already sitting there that could become a custom GPT?
That framework you use?
That checklist you reference?
That guide you bought but never opened?
All of it can become an AI assistant.
The barrier isn't technical knowledge.
It's just remembering to look.
Dig Deeper
Two ways I can help:
The Email List Launchpad - Everything you need to start or restart your email list—no burnout, no blank screens, just emails that get results. Grab it here
Chat one-on-one - If your email list isn’t growing or you’re overwhelmed by tools and strategy, book a session. I’ll help you cut through the noise and build a plan that fits how you work. Find a time here.
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