The practice guide

How to use this page

One idea runs through the talk: create once, publish everywhere. One good idea can become a post, a caption, an email and a short video, without starting from a blank page each time. AI does the drafting. You decide what is true, and you approve every word.

• You only need a free AI tool: ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. The free plans are fine.
• The five exercises are the five rounds of the talk, in the same order: Exercise 1 is Round 1. Do them in order, because Exercises 2 and 3 use the brand card from Exercise 1. Do one, stop, and come back when you like.
• Between the exercises are the extras from the talk: a month of ideas, fix-it lines for drafts that sound like AI, the picture prompt, a 30-second phone video, a platform cheat sheet, Canada's email rules, and how to count what brought customers.
• Pick one real thing you want to promote in the next two weeks, and use it in Exercises 2 and 3. A holiday or a slow Tuesday counts.
• No business yet? Write the brand card for the one you plan to start.
• Take private details out of anything you paste. The privacy rule is just below.

Each prompt sits in its own box with a copy button. Copy it, paste it into your AI tool, then change the [words in brackets] to your own details. The AI drafts, you approve: read everything before it goes out.

The privacy rule

If you wouldn't email it to a stranger, don't paste it into an AI chat.

• The brand card is about your business, not your customers. No client names, health details, passwords or card numbers, in the card or anywhere else you type.
• Ask the general question instead. "A client in this situation" works just as well as a real name, and it costs you nothing.
• If your work is regulated (health, legal, financial, or anything involving children), check your own professional rules first.
• Unless you switch it off, what you type can train the model. The practice guide from the first session shows where to switch that off in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.

Exercise 1: Your brand card

Why: A brand card is one page that your AI reads every time, so you stop explaining yourself from scratch. It holds four things: who you serve, how you sound, what is true, and your rules.

1. Open ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. The free plan is fine.
2. Paste the prompt below and answer its questions about your real business. It asks one question at a time, no more than eight, and asks you to paste two or three things you have written, so have a post or an email ready. AI copies examples far better than adjectives.
3. Read the card it writes. Fix anything that isn't true: it marks what it is unsure about with [CHECK].
4. Save the card (see "Where to save it", below).

You are my marketing assistant. Interview me to write a one-page brand card for my business. Ask one question at a time, no more than eight in total.
Cover: (1) who my customers are and what they worry about; (2) how I sound — three words, words I use and words I never use, and two or three things I have written that sound like me (ask me to paste them); (3) what is true — my services, prices, hours, area and proof, using only facts I give you; (4) my rules — anything I must not claim, what may appear in public posts, and which languages I post in.
Then write the card as short bullet points under those four headings, and mark anything you are not sure about with [CHECK].

Notice the [CHECK] line: the AI wasn't sure, so it asked. Answer it, and fix the card.

Where to save it

• ChatGPT: make a Project and paste your card into its instructions. Or use Settings → Personalization → Custom instructions: on the free plan that box holds about 1,500 characters, so keep the card tight.
• Claude: make a Project and paste your card into its instructions. The free plan allows up to five Projects.
• Gemini: make a Gem, paste your card in as its instructions, and talk to that Gem from now on. Google is moving Gems to "skills" from November 2026, so keep a copy of your card in a document too: it works in any assistant.

Start your next chats inside that Project or Gem, and the AI reads your card first.

A month of ideas

Why: Most people don't run out of time, they run out of ideas. Good ideas come from three places: the questions customers keep asking you, the calendar, and what's new (a service, a person, a change). Let your AI brainstorm with your brand card, then use three ideas a week.

Use my brand card. Give me 12 post ideas for the next four weeks: 4 answers to questions my customers ask, 3 behind-the-scenes moments, 3 tied to these dates: [Thanksgiving, Mon Oct 12; Halloween, Sat Oct 31; your own], and 2 pieces of news or offers.
For each idea: a first line that would make my customer stop scrolling, and the one channel where it fits best.
No prices. Mark anything I need to confirm with [CHECK].

Dates ahead

• Thanksgiving: Monday, October 12. If your hours change that day, set holiday hours on your Google Business Profile this week (Edit profile → Hours → Special hours).
• BDC Small Business Week: October 19–25.
• Halloween: Saturday, October 31.
• Diwali: Sunday, November 8.
• Remembrance Day: Wednesday, November 11. A day for respect, not for sales posts.
• Black Friday: Friday, November 27. Small Business Saturday: November 28. Giving Tuesday: December 1.
• Lunar New Year: Saturday, February 6, 2027.

Exercise 2: One idea, five pieces

Why: The goal is not to write more. It is to make each good idea go further. One idea, one prompt, five pieces.

1. Pick one real thing for the next two weeks: a service, an offer, a holiday, a new person on your team. A slow Tuesday counts.
2. Open a new chat in your Project or Gem, so the AI has your brand card. No Project? Paste the card first, then the prompt.
3. Paste the prompt below, with your idea in the brackets. For example: Thanksgiving pie orders, for families in Kelowna, by Wednesday night.
4. Read all five pieces. Fix one that doesn't sound like you with a fix-it line (below), and tell it why.
5. Keep your favourite piece for Exercise 3.

Use my brand card. Here is one idea: [what it is, who it is for, by when].
Write: 1) a Facebook post; 2) an Instagram caption plus titles for five carousel slides; 3) a short email to people who asked to hear from me; 4) a Google Business Profile post; 5) a 30-second video script — a hook, three shots, one line of on-screen text.
Rules: use only facts from my card or this message; one call to action in each piece; no prices in public posts unless I give them; mark anything you are not sure about with [CHECK].

Each rule is there because AI breaks it otherwise. Facts only from your card or your message: otherwise it will happily invent a discount. [CHECK] turns a confident guess into a question you can answer.

Tell it why, not just what. When you change something, say why: "too salesy, my customers are tired of being sold to." The reason teaches it more than the edit does. Then put that sentence into your brand card, and it stays fixed for next time.

When it sounds like AI

A typical first draft for the made-up bakery above:

Nothing in it is wrong, and nothing in it belongs to this bakery (whose card says: no exclamation marks). The same post after three fix-it lines ("Half as long." "Swap every adjective for one real detail — ask me for it." "Write it like a text to a regular customer."):

The real details, 40 pies and gone by Thursday, came from the owner: the AI asked, and the owner answered.

Fix-it lines. Reply with one at a time:

Half as long.
Cut the first sentence.
Swap every adjective for one real detail — ask me for it.
Write it like a text to a regular customer.
Give me three different first lines.
Which line would make my customer roll their eyes? Rewrite it.

Make the fix stick. Add a ban list to your brand card: the words you never want to see. Common ones: elevate, unlock, seamless, delve, game-changer, indulge, "in today's fast-paced world". In Chinese: 赋能, 打造, 一站式, 开启……之旅, 不容错过.

Pictures: the picture prompt

Why: Let AI make the look; you put in the facts. Spell out every word, the colours and where the logo goes, and leave an empty space for each real thing.

Make a [4:5 Instagram / 9:16 Story / 4:3 Google] poster for [my business].
Use these exact words, in quotes, and no other text: headline “[up to 6 words]”, line two “[up to 10 words]”.
Style: [warm, clean, lots of white space]. Colours: [#hex] and [#hex]. Picture: [what is in it].
Leave an empty square, bottom right, for my logo. No prices, no QR codes, no extra words.

• Size first: 4:5 for an Instagram post, 9:16 for a Story or Reel, 4:3 for your Google Business Profile.
• Few words, in quotes. AI still misspells long text, and Chinese characters more often. Check every letter.
• Your colours as codes. In Canva, the colour panel shows your logo's colours as codes like #1F6F5C.
• Finish it yourself. Put your real logo, photo and QR code in with Canva. Never let AI draw a QR code, a logo or a price.
• Say so. If an image is AI-made, say so.
• Free: Canva's free plan gives up to 20 AI uses a month (Magic Resize and the background remover need a paid plan). ChatGPT and Gemini make a limited number of images a day for free.

A 30-second video, filmed on your phone

Why: Short video reaches people that posts don't, and it needs no AI-made scenes. Exercise 2 already wrote your script.

Hooks that work (fill in your own):

• "Stop doing [X] if you want [Y]."
• "3 things I wish every [customer] knew about [topic]."
• "The question I get every week: [question]."
• "Watch me [make / fix / pack] [thing] in 30 seconds."
• "Before you book a [service], ask this."

Platform cheat sheet

Checked October 4, 2026. Platforms change these often, so treat the numbers as a guide.

Exercise 3: Two platforms, two languages

Why: Every platform is a different room, with different people in a different mood. The same facts need a different length, a different first line and a different call to action. You don't need every platform: pick the two or three where your customers already are.

1. Take your favourite piece from Exercise 2.
2. Paste the prompt below. It asks for an Instagram version and a Google Business Profile version: same facts, different room.
3. Do you serve customers in another language? Fill in [language]. If not, delete that sentence.
4. Check every name, date, price and phone number, line by line (see below).

Take this piece: [paste it]. Rewrite it twice — once for Instagram, once for my Google Business Profile. Same facts, different room: change the length, the first line and the call to action to suit each.
If I serve customers in another language, also adapt it (not word for word) for [language] speakers, using what they would say and care about.
Keep every name, date, price and phone number exactly the same, and list them at the end so I can check.

One language only? Use the time to ask your AI:

What would make a stranger stop scrolling at the first line of this piece?

Adapt, don't translate. Write in the language you think in. Then ask the AI to adapt, not translate, for the other readers: same facts, written the way those readers would say it. Adapt the reason to care, not just the words. And decide which language leads on which channel.

Check line by line. Names, dates, prices and phone numbers must be identical in every version: that is where mistakes hide. The prompt asks the AI to list them at the end, so you can tick them off against your own notes.

The check

AI drafts. A human approves. Nothing goes out under your name until you have read it, every word and every number. Before you post, send or schedule anything, check three things:

• Facts only from you. Prices, dates, names and results come from you, not from the AI. Make it mark what it is unsure of.
• No made-up reviews, quotes or "customers". AI will happily write a lovely testimonial for a person who doesn't exist. That is deceptive marketing, and Canada's Competition Bureau has penalised businesses over fake reviews. Staff who review your business must say they work there.
• Real customers only with their OK. Customers' names, photos and stories go out only with their permission, in writing. Email has its own rules in Canada: see below.

One more habit, for anything risky: ask the AI to argue against its own draft.

What here could get me in trouble, and what is your source?

Email in Canada: the CASL basics

Canada's anti-spam law, CASL, covers every commercial email you send. AI makes it easy to send a lot of email quickly, so know the basics:

• They said yes (express consent). A sign-up form, or a box they ticked themselves. A pre-ticked box doesn't count. Keep a note of when and how they agreed. This consent lasts until they unsubscribe.
• Implied consent has a clock. If they bought from you: 2 years from the purchase. If they asked you something: 6 months from the question. Before the clock runs out, invite them to say yes properly.
• Every email needs your name and business; a mailing address plus a phone number, email or website; and an unsubscribe link that works. Keep the contact details and the unsubscribe working for at least 60 days after you send, and act on an unsubscribe within 10 business days.
• Never buy a list. Penalties go up to $1 million per violation for an individual and $10 million for a business.

The official guide: CRTC: frequently asked questions about CASL. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Exercise 4: Schedule one post

Why: Posting when you remember means posting in bursts. Scheduling lets you write once, in your weekly hour, and have the calendar publish. In the talk, Round 4 is a demo: watch it, then do it at home with a post you have already checked.

Facebook and Instagram, with Meta Business Suite

Free with your Facebook business Page. One place to schedule Facebook and Instagram posts, Reels and Stories.

1. Go to business.facebook.com and log in.
2. Click Create post.
3. Choose Facebook and Instagram, paste your post, and add a real photo.
4. Choose Scheduling options, pick a day and time next week, then click Schedule.

If Instagram isn't offered, it usually has to be a business or creator account connected to your Page. Menus move now and then: if a button has changed its name, look for the same word.

No business Page yet? It takes about five minutes.

1. Log in to Facebook with your personal account. A Page is a separate page for your business: it doesn't replace your personal profile.
2. Open the menu, choose Pages, then Create new Page (or go to facebook.com/pages/create).
3. Enter your business name and a category, and write a line or two about what you do.
4. Add a logo or photo, and your contact details, hours and the area you serve.
5. Go back to business.facebook.com. If you also use Instagram for your business, connect it to your Page there (look under Settings).

LinkedIn

For your profile or your company Page. Free.

1. On LinkedIn, click Start a post.
2. Write or paste your post, and add a photo if you like.
3. Click the clock icon and choose Schedule for later. Pick a day and time, up to three months ahead.

Google Business Profile

You can now schedule posts on your Google Business Profile. Add a post (an update, an offer or an event), turn on Schedule this post, and pick the date and time. Offers and events can repeat. Don't put a phone number in the text: use the Call now button instead.

Buffer, free plan

If you post beyond Meta, Buffer's free plan covers 3 channels with 10 queued posts each, and a basic AI helper. Sign up at buffer.com, connect your channels, and add your posts to the queue.

Scheduled is not unreviewed. Read every word before you press Schedule. This list leaves out tools that let AI post by itself, on purpose.

Exercise 5: Ask an AI about your business

Why: More and more people don't search, they ask: "Recommend a bookkeeper in Kelowna." AI assistants answer from what is published about you. See what they say. This one is a bonus: three minutes, and no writing.

1. Open ChatGPT or Gemini. Paste the first prompt, with your business name and your city.
2. Then paste the second, with your city and what you do.
3. Wrong, or missing? Don't panic: answers change from day to day and from person to person. Fix the facts at the source, starting with the list below.
4. Write down one thing to fix this week.

What do you know about [business name] in [city]? Where does that information come from?

I'm in [city]. Recommend a [what you do] and tell me why.

What to fix first

• Your Google Business Profile. Hours (holiday hours too), services, photos and posts, complete and current. It is free, and one of the places these answers draw on.
• Pages that answer. A page on your website that answers what customers actually ask, in their words: what it costs or a range, how it works, who it's for.
• Answers in your own words. On Google Maps, the old public questions box has given way to an AI Ask button, so publish the answers to common questions yourself: in your profile, your posts and your website.
• The same facts everywhere. One name, one address and one phone number on your site, Google, Facebook and directories.
• Real reviews only. Ask every happy customer. Never buy, write or swap reviews.

The weekly hour

One hour, at the same time every week. Monday morning works for most people. A habit beats a burst: one hour every week does more than one heroic weekend a month.

AI drafts. You approve. The calendar publishes.

Count what brought customers

Count what pays: messages, calls, bookings and sales, not likes.

• Ask every new customer: "How did you hear about us?" On your booking form, in your first reply, at the counter. It is the cheapest tracking there is.
• One link or code per channel, so you know which one worked: a different QR code for each flyer, shop or language, for example. If you have a website, Google's free Campaign URL Builder adds a tag to each link, so your website statistics show which post sent people.
• Where the numbers are. Your Google Business Profile: open Performance for calls, direction requests, website clicks, messages and bookings. Meta Business Suite: Insights shows views, interactions, link clicks and follows (labels vary by account).
• Once a month, paste the numbers into your Project and ask:

What brought customers? What should I do more of, and what should I stop?

AI is good at this part: it has no favourite post.

Your next seven days

One small task a day. Not a project, a habit. Keep this list where you will see it, and tick each day off.

Free tools and honest limits

As of October 2026. Free plans change every few months, so look before you rely on one.

• Daily limits. Free AI plans have daily limits. Paid plans cost about CA$25–30 a month (ChatGPT Plus CA$25, Claude Pro CA$28 billed monthly, Google AI Pro CA$26.99, as listed on October 4). They buy more room, not better rules. What makes the difference is your brand card, and it is free.
• ChatGPT. In Canada, the free plan shows ads (since April 2026). Free custom instructions hold 1,500 characters.

Canva, Edits and CapCut: see the picture and video sections above.

The series

This talk is Session 2 of OCCA's We Thrive BC, Cohort 2. Missed the first session, or want to go back to it? Its guide is here: From Chatbox to AI Employee, the practice guide.

One more session is about AI:

• Tuesday, November 24: Set Up Your Own AI Tools

See OCCA's full schedule on occabc.ca. OCCA may change dates and topics.