This week, Digital Copywriter sat down (metaphorically) with Yvette Ward to discuss how she uses AI in her business… and how you can use AI tools to help your own clients, as well.
Yvette had worked for more than a decade leading development and operation and configuration management teams driving automation and compliance across Department of Defense programs when she decided to make a big change.
It 2020, she set out on her own. Now she combines the copywriting skills she learned from AWAI with the systems knowledge she gained from her earlier career to help Christian women entrepreneurs publish their expertise and build systems they can grow their business on.
Yvette embraced AI early and uses it to build customized, automated systems that allow her clients to focus on the more creative aspects of their businesses.
In the interview below, she shares how she went about integrating AI into her business, the advantages these tools have offered, and how she uses them to accomplish specific tasks.
Let’s dive in…
Digital Copywriter: How did you first start using AI, and what steps did you take to become proficient with the tools?
Yvette Ward: AWAI introduced me to AI when ChatGPT publicly launched. In those early sessions, Rebecca and Katie were excited to introduce us to this new opportunity. I was in sessions with Guillermo Rubio, who helped me see it as a useful tool, not something to fear. Then Nick Usborne covered various use cases with his Money-Making Website content.
I started with small steps, using ChatGPT for brainstorming and outlining. I quickly learned to train it, so I didn’t have to start with the basics every time. I built proficiency through testing, refining, and integrating AI into real projects.
More recently, at the encouragement of Steve Mauer and Tina Matras, I added Claude.ai into my toolkit. It expanded the way I use AI for longer-form writing and editing. Today, AI is woven into both my publishing work and the automation systems I design for clients.
DC: What were some of the challenges you encountered as you were initially learning?
Yvette: I was hesitant at first. My career in the Defense Industry trained me to be cautious. It initially seemed AI might compromise privacy, in general, and our authenticity as writers. But, for more than 25 years, I’ve worked with innovative and emerging technology. There was enough conversation in our writing world that helped me see the potential. So, I embraced it.
The next challenge was the noise. There are so many tools, hacks, and “must-have” shortcuts. I had to quiet that noise and focus on what actually works with my business model.
Another challenge was finding the balance between automation and the human perspective. I write faith-based content and incorporate “Human in the loop” thinking. I never want someone to feel like AI is a replacement for a writer’s authentic voice.
DC. You mention using AI to build systems within your business… can you share one or two of the systems you’ve built and the process behind the building?
Yvette: My assessment automation tool was the first system I built. Using Google Forms and App Script, I created a proprietary assessment that instantly scores responses, delivers personalized results, and triggers targeted follow-up emails. This system is based on my framework and is used to identify client needs, guide them toward relevant products and services, and nurture leads without managing each interaction. It helps me deliver a personalized experience at scale, while building trust and engagement with my audience.
Using system prompts, AI acts as my technical partner, writing code, scripts, test steps, and complete deployment guides. I use these when setting up environments. For instance, when setting up a new email system, AI helps me fully document the configuration, tags, and automated workflows, ensuring everything is implemented correctly and runs smoothly.
DC: How did you connect your technical skills to copywriting?
Yvette: I’m a solopreneur who values tools. But there are a lot of them. Without automation, I’d pay for software to connect customer data from my website to my email system. With AI plus my technical background, I can build a simple but sophisticated system at a fraction of the cost I’d pay for those tools.
And that’s just the beginning. I use AI to streamline client projects, too.
During a recent client project that was proving particularly tedious, I thought, “This is a delivery nightmare.” It took hours to complete some of the tasks, even after AI helped with the content. That “nightmare” reminded me of the way I worked within my career. I collaborated with a team to create automations that were repeatable and configurable, based on specific inputs, and capable of providing reproducible outputs.
I knew AI could do the same thing, as long as I was able to explain what I need. Now, instead of troubleshooting with a team, I collaborate with AI.
DC: And you mention adapting your systems to apply to your client businesses… can you talk more about that?
Yvette: Sure! For example, I adapted my system for a client who was spending hours manually communicating with prospects through DMs and texts.
Using screenshots of the messages they were already using, I tapped my AI tools to help me build a custom Google Form + automation system. It’s a single-link tool for my clients to use that delivers all the necessary information to their prospects, collects key details, and clearly shows the next steps on screen. Instead of managing recurring emails, the system notifies the business owner right away when a customized follow-up is needed. This creates a smooth, seamless prospect experience that makes follow-up easy and personalized.
This implementation frees the business owner from a time-consuming and repetitive task. The prospect submits information after clicking a link. And there aren’t any recurring costs associated with it.
One of my favorite projects was building an email-marketing journey for a client. This project used my automations to set up a new email system. I created a seamless journey that delivers the lead magnet, bridges the gap between website and email, and sends a welcome series to nurture new subscribers automatically.
What makes this unique is that AI helps me scale the solutions using my content and customized strategy. My technical skills allow me to handle the setup.
What clients value most isn’t just the time saved, but the mental freedom to focus on strategy and growth, while their systems handle the routine work behind the scenes.
DC: What are your favorite AI tools, and what do you like best about them?
Yvette: ChatGPT is my everyday tool. I use it for brainstorming and content generation. I like the system-wide memory function. Over time, ChatGPT has come to have a deep knowledge of my business model.
Claude.ai has been great for giving me different content perspectives and for handling the technical scripting. Together, they help me combine speed with depth.
I also use Claude.ai to help create my system processes, checklists, test steps, and deployment documentation. This is important to me, because I handle my own tech. In my career, I created 80-page deployment plans. Now AI generates documentation that includes every detail, from the automations AI put in place to the content I create to the validation and verification processes needed to ensure quality. That level of documentation gives both me and my clients confidence that nothing has been missed.
What I like most is not the tool itself, but how AI extends my ability to serve. It saves time on the heavy lifting when it’s time to deploy, while letting me focus on strategy, storytelling, and results.
DC: What are some of your go-to prompts for different tasks?
Yvette: I rely on prompts that balance structure and creativity. Every prompt requires iteration and follow-on details. Some of my favorite starting points are:
- For publishing projects:
Acting as a Christian life coach and publishing strategist, create a chapter outline that connects this theme to real-life application with a faith-based perspective, including discussion questions for small groups.
- For marketing automation:
Acting as an email-marketing specialist for faith-based women entrepreneurs, write a 5-part email sequence introducing this lead magnet. Blend biblical encouragement with practical next steps, maintaining an authentic, conversational tone.
- For technical workflows:
Acting as a Google Apps Script developer with expertise in marketing automation, generate code that triggers a personalized email sequence when form responses match [specific criteria]. Include error handling and testing protocols.
- For system documentation:
Acting as a technical writer specializing in business-process documentation, create a step-by-step deployment guide that includes validation checkpoints, troubleshooting steps, and quality-assurance protocols.
- For content strategy:
Acting as a brand strategist for faith-based solopreneurs, analyze this content piece and recommend ways to weave in biblical principles while maintaining professional credibility and market appeal.
Being able to audit these processes has expanded my capacity to deliver great results to my clients… and has also given me a way to help them free up more of their time to focus on the work they love most.
