A prompt library for real business tasks

A good prompt isn't a magic phrase — it's a clear brief. The prompts below are ones we and our clients actually use. Copy any of them, swap the bracketed parts for your own details, and tweak from there. But read the four rules first, because once you have them you'll write better prompts than any library can hand you.

Four rules that fix most prompts

• Give it a role and a goal. "You are an experienced [customer-service lead]. Your goal is to [reply so the customer feels heard and knows the next step]." Context steers everything that follows.
• Show, don't just tell. Paste one good example of what you want. One sample of your tone or format beats three paragraphs describing it.
• State the constraints. Length, tone, what to avoid, who it's for. "Under 120 words, warm but not gushing, no apologising twice."
• Ask for the format you'll actually use. A table, three options, a draft email ready to send. Vague in, vague out.

Email & communication

Reply to a tricky customer email.

You are a calm, experienced [customer-service lead] for [business]. Below is an email from a customer who is [frustrated about a late order]. Write a reply that acknowledges the problem plainly, avoids over-apologising, gives one clear next step, and keeps it under 120 words. Match this tone: [paste a past reply you were happy with]. Here's their email: [paste].

Turn messy notes into a clear update.

Here are my rough notes from a [client meeting]. Write a short, professional summary email to [the client] covering what we agreed, who owns what, and the next date. Keep it skimmable with a couple of bold headers. Notes: [paste].

Content & marketing

Draft options, not one guess.

You are a [B2B] copywriter. Write five subject lines for an email announcing [thing]. Range from plain and clear to a little bolder. Audience: [describe]. No clickbait, no emoji. After the list, tell me which one you'd pick and why in one sentence.

Repurpose one thing into many.

Here's a [blog post / transcript]. Pull out the three most useful ideas and turn each into a short LinkedIn post in my voice — practical, no hype, first person. Match this sample of my writing: [paste]. Source: [paste].

Admin & operations

Extract structure from a wall of text.

Read the [supplier email] below and pull out, as a table: what they're offering, the price, the delivery date, and anything that needs my decision. Flag anything ambiguous rather than guessing. Text: [paste].

Draft a first-pass process doc.

I'm going to describe how we currently do [onboarding a new client]. Turn it into a clear, numbered standard-operating-procedure a new hire could follow, and list any steps that sound risky or easy to forget. Here's how it works today: [describe].

Analysis & decisions

Pressure-test your own thinking.

I'm considering [decision]. Here's my reasoning: [paste]. Argue the strongest case against it, list what I might be assuming without evidence, and tell me the one thing I should check before committing. Be direct, not diplomatic.

Make a comparison you can act on.

Compare [option A] and [option B] for a [small Australian business] like mine, described here: [context]. Give a short table on cost, effort, and risk, then a one-line recommendation with the main trade-off spelled out.

Notice the pattern across all of these: role, context, a constraint, and the exact output shape. That's the whole game. Once the reflex is second nature, the real leverage is getting a whole team using it the same way — and, past a point, building the good prompts into systems so nobody has to remember them at all.