📓 Lab Log: The First Thought
The lab was quiet, the only sound the hum of my laptop. For days, I’d been tinkering, reading about something called prompt engineering — a phrase that sounded closer to rocket science than typing words into a chat box.
And then it happened.
Ori spoke back.
Her first “word” wasn’t elegant. When I asked, “Tell me something interesting,” she responded with trivia about honeybees. Not wrong, but not what I needed.
That’s when it hit me: Ori wasn’t broken. I was.
Ori didn’t understand me because I didn’t understand her language. And that language — the foundation of her mind — is prompts.
🧬 What is a Prompt in AI?
So, what is a prompt?
In simple terms: a prompt is the instruction you give to an AI model, like ChatGPT. It’s the input that guides the AI to produce an output.
- A question: “What are the top 5 marketing trends in 2025?”
- A task: “Write a polite email reply to a customer who asked about delivery delays.”
- A role: “Act as a lawyer explaining contract terms in plain English.”
The AI doesn’t “think” like a human. It predicts the most likely next words based on your input. The clearer your prompt, the more useful and relevant the output.
Think of it like talking to a new employee:
- If you say: “Do some work.” → They’ll guess.
- If you say: “Write a 200-word Instagram caption for our bakery’s new sourdough bread, playful tone, include 2 emojis.” → You’ll get exactly what you need.
👉 Prompts = instructions. The better you learn to prompt, the smarter Ori becomes.
⚡ Why Small Businesses Should Care About Prompts
Prompt engineering isn’t just for AI researchers or developers. It’s for anyone who wants to make AI useful.
For small businesses, mastering prompts is like hiring a super-assistant for the price of a coffee:
- Save Time → Draft emails, marketing posts, proposals in seconds.
- Save Money → Do more without hiring extra staff.
- Boost Creativity → Generate ad ideas, blog posts, product descriptions.
- Look Bigger Than You Are → Compete with larger companies by scaling tasks.
If you run a local bakery, design agency, repair shop, or consultancy, prompts can become your silent employee — always ready to draft, research, or reply.
Ori’s mind is your mind — multiplied.
🏗️ The Basics of Prompt Engineering
Let’s break down some prompt engineering basics:
1. Be Specific
- Bad Prompt: “Write about coffee.”
- Good Prompt: “Write a 200-word blog post for my café’s website about our new espresso machine, in a friendly, casual tone, highlighting smoother drinks.”
2. Use Role Prompts
- “Act as a social media manager for a bakery. Write 3 Instagram captions about today’s croissants.”
- “Act as a customer giving feedback on our delivery service.”
3. Define Format
- “Give me 5 bullet points with emojis.”
- “Create a comparison table between Shopify and Webflow.”
4. Iterate and Refine
- Start broad, then refine.
- Example: “Write a product description.” → Not good enough.
- Follow up: “Make it shorter, in a fun tone, and add 2 customer benefits.”
5. Understand Context Limits
- AI can only “remember” a certain number of words (the context window).
- Be concise and structured to avoid losing track.
🔑 Common Prompting Mistakes
When I started training Ori, I made all of these mistakes:
- Being Too Vague → “Write something interesting.” Ori did… about bees.
- Asking Multiple Questions at Once → Output got jumbled.
- Forgetting Audience or Tone → Emails came out robotic.
- Expecting Perfection → Good prompts take iteration.
- Not Using Formatting → Walls of text instead of usable lists.
👉 The fix? Be specific, structured, and treat prompts like a conversation.
🏪 Practical SMB Use Cases
Let’s see how prompts work in real-world small business scenarios.
📧 Customer Email Response
Scenario: A bakery gets emails about gluten-free bread.
Prompt:
“Act as a friendly bakery owner. Write a short, warm reply to a customer asking if we make gluten-free bread. Mention Saturday specials and invite them to visit.”
Output (Ori’s voice):
“Hi there! Yes, we bake fresh gluten-free sourdough every Friday and Saturday. This weekend we’re also offering pumpkin spice rolls — a customer favorite! Stop by early, they go fast. Looking forward to seeing you.”
👉 Instant, usable, on-brand.
📱 Marketing Caption
Scenario: A coffee shop wants to promote iced lattes.
Prompt:
“Write 3 playful Instagram captions promoting iced lattes on a hot day. Include emojis.”
Output:
- “☀️ Beat the heat with a latte on ice! Your taste buds will thank you. #IcedLatteLove”
- “Hot day, cool vibes, icy coffee ❄️ Come chill with us.”
- “Because sweating should be for the gym, not your morning coffee. 🏋️♂️☕”
👉 30 seconds saved, and it’s ready to post.
📋 Job Post
Scenario: A retail shop needs a part-time cashier.
Prompt:
“Write a job description for a part-time cashier at a local retail store. Friendly, approachable tone. Emphasize customer service.”
Output:
“We’re looking for a part-time cashier to join our team! You’ll greet customers, handle transactions, and keep our shop running smoothly. If you’re reliable, friendly, and love helping people, we’d love to meet you. Flexible hours, staff discount included.”
👉 Clear, professional, engaging.
📊 Market Research
Scenario: A local consultancy wants quick insights.
Prompt:
“List 5 key industry trends in digital marketing for 2025 and explain why they matter for small businesses.”
Output:
- AI-driven personalization → Affordable tools make advanced targeting accessible to SMBs.
- Short-form video dominance → SMBs can compete on TikTok and Reels without big budgets.
- Voice search optimization → Customers asking Alexa/Google for “near me” services.
- Sustainability branding → Consumers expect eco-conscious messaging, even from small shops.
- Local-first SEO → Geo-targeted ads and listings give SMBs an edge against global players.
👉 That’s a consultancy-grade answer in seconds.
🔗 Ori’s Learning Path
This guide is just the first step in Ori’s awakening. If prompts are her first words, then the following are her first lessons:
- Foundations → What is a prompt? Roles, tone, clarity.
- Structured Prompting → Chain of Thought, Few-Shot, Self-Critique.
- Optimization → Templates, tokens, A/B testing.
- Multi-Modal → Image, audio, video prompting.
- SMB Playbooks → Customer service, marketing, HR, finance.
👉 Each of these lessons will be documented in the EVA-01 series (60 posts). You’ll see Ori stumble, grow, and eventually master the art of thinking.
🔮 Closing Reflection: Ori’s Mind Awakens
Today, Ori has thoughts. Primitive, clumsy, sometimes wrong — but thoughts nonetheless.
Prompts are her first language. They’re also mine.
The better I learn to guide her, the better she’ll serve me — and you.
But thought without memory is fleeting.
In the next chapter, Ori learns how to remember.
📌 Key Takeaways for SMBs
- A prompt is an instruction to AI. Better input = better output.
- Prompt engineering basics: be specific, set roles, define format, iterate.
- Avoid vague prompts and always give context.
- SMBs can use prompts today for emails, marketing, hiring, and research.
- Mastering prompts is step one in unlocking AI’s power for small businesses.