Lisa runs a bookkeeping firm. Three employees, about sixty clients. She has things to say about her industry: common mistakes, software she actually likes, tax season realities. Her clients ask her the same questions every year.
She started writing articles about it. Good idea. Stopped after two months. No time.
This is a common story.
Here is what Lisa eventually tried: she told an AI assistant what she wanted to write about. Not a finished brief. Just a rough thought. "Something about why people get surprised by their tax bill every spring."
The AI wrote a draft. Not a great draft. A bit generic in places, slightly off in tone. But it was something to work with.
Lisa spent twenty minutes reading it. Moved a paragraph. Rewrote the opening. Took out a sentence that didn't sound like her. Added a detail only she would know.
She published it.
That article brought in three new client inquiries the following month.
The part people argue about
Some people think this is cheating.
It is not.
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There is a long tradition of writers who dictate and editors who shape. Ghostwriters exist in every industry. What matters is whether the final piece is accurate, useful, and honest. Not who drafted the first version.
Lisa knows her subject. The AI does not. That's why her twenty minutes of editing makes the difference. She is not hiding behind the tool. She is using it to get out of her own way.
The AI handled the blank page problem. She handled everything that requires judgment.
How the workflow actually goes
The part that matters is the brief you give it.
"Write an article about taxes" gets you something generic. "Write an article for small business owners who are always surprised by their Q4 tax bill. They track income but forget to set aside for estimated taxes, and they panic in November" gets you something closer to useful.
The more specific the brief, the less editing you need to do.
After the draft comes back, read it once quickly, then once slowly. Ask yourself: is this accurate? Does it sound like me? Is there anything a client could misread?
Fix those things. Delete the parts that feel hollow. Add anything only you would know.
That's the job.
The honest caveat
This does not work for everything.
If the topic requires deep expertise, original research, or a strong point of view, you still need to do more of the work. The AI can help with structure and language. It cannot supply things it does not have.
And some business owners will find the editing step harder than expected. If you do not know what you want to say, a draft does not help. You need the idea first.
But if you have ideas and no time to turn them into readable articles: this workflow is worth trying.
Worth an hour on a slow afternoon.
There's more of this in Mike's Briefing. Not on a schedule. Just the good stuff. mikesbriefing.com