
In this solo episode, host Cary Weston records from the parking lot during his kids’ sports practices and dives into a hands-on tip about creating Custom GPTs—specialized versions of ChatGPT tailored for specific tasks. Cary walks through the...
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Kerry Weston
Hey there. Welcome to the show. My name is Kerry Weston. I am your host and I am doing yet another parking lot podcast here on my phone. If you've listened before, you know that I'm a travel sports teenage sport parent. So I'm in the parking lot yet again waiting for track practice and baseball tryouts to get done. It's a double double header today and luckily for me, that's the same complex. So here I am soaking in all the glory of podcasting from my truck. How you doing it? Sunshine's out here. It's all good. It's all good for you. Hope you've having Hope you're having a good spring and it's not snowing where you're at. We had a beautiful mix of ice and wind and snow and sunshine over the past week, so we're hoping to get more of the latter here soon. Couple housekeeping things to take care of here. If you are interested in some tips, if this is maybe one of your first episodes, you're just joining the show and looking how to get started. I want to share with you that on the website chatgptexperiment.com I've got two things. One is a free download. These are five of my most frequent tips that give people the most value to get started. Okay, so there's going to be some tips. There's going to be links to various podcast episodes as well to go along with those tips. So if you are just getting into this if you're just finding the podcast. Welcome. Glad you're here. That's a great place to start. Chatgptexperiment.com you'll see it right on the homepage. Just fill out some basic information and it will email it to you along with those resources. Yep. And then if you want to get a little deeper, you'll also notice on the homepage, I do do one on one sessions, ChatGPT sessions, and the hour is yours in terms of what you want to pay attention to, talk about, learn, explore. I will shoot you a note with some questions so I can best prepare to make our time just as valuable as possible. But we got a few of those this week. It's awesome. I love helping. I love hearing people chime in that the podcast's been helpful, the guide's been helpful, and they want to take that a little deeper. And I'm always amazed at how surprised people are at how flexible, valuable and deep you can go with ChatGPT. So even when people come on and they said, I'm very familiar with it, I use it every day, but I know there's more I can do. When they got done with the session, they just say, wow, I never really thought of it that way. So if you are someone that's interested in going a little deeper, finding out how you can use this tool for your work, home life, whatever it might be, check that out. The free guide and the sessions. So today, now, I wanted to share with you a quick tip about custom GPTs and how to create them. I want to give you my best advice for what works well for me. Okay, so let me start at the beginning because some folks here may not know what custom GPTs are, and as far as I know, it's only a function for the paid chatgpt. So if you are using a free one, I don't believe this is available. But if you are utilizing the paid version, chat custom GPTs is a tool that you can have. So just as a big background, custom GPTs is the ability for you to create a very specific tool that allows you to focus and hyper focus on one specific outcome, one specific task. Establish a data source, kind of give it a frame of reference so you can go to it over and over again. Let me give you an example of a few that I have. I have one that writes like me. So I've taught a custom GPT. My language, my tone, my style, my approach, my philosophy, what I like, what I don't like, words I don't like, to use. I've given it transcripts of conversations with me and clients. I've given it previous articles that I've written. So it's really hyper focused, as I call it, narrowing the band. It's really hyper focused on how I write words, I use my approach, my mission, that kind of stuff. I've also got one that will write for a client, right? So there's a writing one. I've got one that will duplicate a proposal. So I've, I've created a custom GPT where it asks me a few questions and then from that creates a document because 80, 90% of the document is fixed language. And then it includes variables and the answers to my questions. When it creates the document. I've got one as well that creates articles for me. So I have trained it to go through a series of questions and get feedback and follow the consistent path time and time again. It asks me the topic, it asks me the audience, it makes some assumptions, it goes out and gets the most likely questions or topics that we need to cover. It gives me an outline, it gives me an introductory paragraph and I can edit these all along the way. These are individual steps and then it gives me a draft. So it's becoming my writing assistant, it's becoming my proposal development assistant, it's becoming my voice. There's a lot of things here that, that I've done. I've also got one where I've modeled a best fit client or a best fit customer for a client. And why would they need that? How could they use that? Well, what they're doing is they put all of the emotional points, the questions, concerns, fears, anxieties, things that come up in the sales process, conversations that they typically have, all that kind of stuff into it. And we've created a custom GPT that takes on the personality of that customer. So it's like a, it's like a dedicated focus group for the best right fit customers for this particular, for this particular client. So they can run questions by it, they can put copy through it, they can ask it, you know, look at this stuff that I'm doing through the eyes of the customer. What questions would they have? Does this work? Is this attractive? That kind of thing? Right. So custom GPTs is a way in which you can create a hyper focused partner in ChatGPT for a task, a situation, for an outcome or a need that you're going to go to time and time again. And creating those has been terrifically helpful for me as well as people I teach people I work with, clients of my own and I wanted to share with you if this is something that's of interest to you, two things. Number one, on the website, before I forget to share it with you, not in the show notes. If you're listening to this to Apple or Spotify, I can't put a download into a document link into that. But on chatgpt experiment.com under this episode I will put a document that you can download and it's a multi parter but it shows you the thought process of what I'm talking about right now, which is there are some prompts, there are some things that you can do with ChatGPT and then you can turn that into a custom custom GPT. The one I'm sharing on the website link is the one that I just mentioned earlier, which is creating attributes for a customer. The empathetic position, the worries, the fears, the concerns, taking on that Persona, right, that role play and then creating a, creating a model custom GPT that would be like the focus group that you could use for that particular thing so you can kind of see how it goes together. But I want to give you some, some tips here today on things that have worked well for me in case there is something that you go to time and time again and you think it would be helpful and useful to have a partner that is hyper focused there inside ChatGPT to do one specific thing or deliver certain value. So the first thing I would share with you is whatever is you, you are looking to do, ask ChatGPT how to do it. Okay, so tell it that this is what you're looking to do. Now you don't have to mention custom GPT at this point. What you're saying is let's stick with this customer. Okay? Tell custom, tell ChatGPT. Listen, this is what I'm looking to do. I really want to get to understand a certain customer set, right? How can you help me do that? And again have that conversation with ChatGPT, say this is the goal. How can you help? It'll come back and it'll tell you certain things that it can do and then just follow its lead. Okay, great. Tell me more. Let's do that. Let's keep going right and refine what it's giving you and follow its lead until you get what you're looking for. That's really good. Now go as deep as you can. Remember in previous episodes I've told you, tell me more is my favorite word. So tell me more on some of these other stuff so I can do this. Tell me More about it, take its lead and follow it. If you have a conversation with ChatGPT and you're telling it, hey, listen, this is my task. How can you help? And it gives you, let's say, eight different things that it can do. Go one at a time. Let's focus on number one first, and then whatever it might deliver. And then, great, let's move on to number two, and then let's move on to number three. You're going to, over the course of this conversation, get more and more details and more and more specific on the outcome of the task that you have, okay? So you're going to end up with a whole bunch of attributes. For instance, if you're looking for characteristics of a customer set like we've been talking about, you're doing this exercise with ChatGPT. You're going to have a whole bunch of attributes and characteristics of that, right? And depending on where you go with that conversation, that list may be long, that may be detail, that may be multipart. You may have questions, concerns, you might have variations. You may have three or four different groups of these folks, categories or whatever. But the key here is to let ChatGPT help you and then get to the point where you say, boy, this is really what I was looking for. Okay? And then when you're done, you say, I want to use all of this information in a custom GPT. Now, again, you've got to have a goal. So in this case, now that you've got all of these attributes and characteristics of a customer per se, you can share with ChatGPT. I really want to create a custom GPT that thinks and acts like this person that we've just defined. How do I do that? Okay? And it'll come back and it'll tell you, this is the steps that we take, and these are some of the things that we do. Now, here's the kicker. When you've gone through this conversation with ChatGPT and it's given you the answers and you're satisfied with the conversation, you can say, now give me the specific configuration details that I can use to literally copy and paste into a custom GPT to create this. Okay, so let me back up for a second because I just threw a lot at you. Three parts here. Number one, tell ChatGPT where you're after, what's your goal? What's the thing you're looking to accomplish? And let it lead you, okay? And then get to the point where you are satisfied with the outcome of that conversation and you say, great, now I want to talk about creating a custom GPT that will fill in the blank, act as this person, or create this document or whatever it might be, because it's the, it's the goal that you've shared with Chat GPT at the beginning, right? And it'll come out and give you all the details. And then the third part, once you're satisfied with what they're sharing with you, the capabilities, it's going to come back in this code. Yes, we can do that. And this is what we can do and we can do and we can do. Great. Now give me the exact detailed configurations that I can use to copy and paste directly into a custom GPT to make this happen. Okay, you are going to see now that it's going to say, I understand what you're doing here is the literal paragraph or series of paragraphs, or copy whatever it might be, and you can take it, you can literally copy it and paste it into your custom GPT. Now, the document that I shared with you at the beginning, I said if you go to the website under this episode, you're going to be able to download a document that's going to walk you through this for this literal customer GPT that I'm talking about. In that document I have included screenshots so you can see where to put and how to use the information that you're creating. Okay, Now I'm referencing a customer focus group, ideal customer, chatgpt. In this conversation and in the document that I'm sharing with you. However, the same methodology, the same approach, right? The same details are true for whatever your goal might be. I just want you to be able to see the approach that I took to talk with ChatGPT to share the goal, to explore the outcome, to get the list and the details so then we can use it and replicate it over and over again. The bottom line for this is once you create the goal and the specifics behind it, whatever it might be, the ability for ChatGPT to say, if you want to do this over and over again, here's the instructions and I'll go paste this somewhere so you can is terrifically powerful because you're going to spend time, effort, building that list, building that characteristics, building those recipes, you only have to do once, you only have to do it once, and then you can use it over and over again. Now, this could be for creating recipes, it could be creating articles, it could be writing content, creating documents, could be anything. The methodology is the same. So chatgpt experiment.com under this episode on the website, download that document and then try it out for yourself if it's of interest to whatever it is that you're doing. Maybe you're in business and having a focus group for the right, best fit customer for your business would be highly valuable if you're creating social media and articles and website copies and emails and whatnot. It certainly would be. But at the very least, check out the methodology. Try it, just literally copy and paste what it is that I put in that document and just see how ChatGPT talks to you, right? How it reacts to you, how it responds to your needs and your goals. Right? And then use it for whatever goal is that you have. So you can model your own assistant, right. And have it available to you 247 on your computer, on your phone, whatever it might be. And by the way, you can talk to this custom GPT, you can type to it, whatever you need to do. But it really is a powerful way for you to do an exercise once, get an incredible amount of detail and focus and outcome and then kind of model that and then use it over and over again. So that's been the approach for me that has enabled some really powerful, some really effective custom GPTs to be created. Okay, chat TPT experiment.com. the practices are coming to an end. I see kids walking to the truck. Boy, I time that just right. And you know what? Watch this. As I get in here, I'm gonna have my daughter say hi to everybody and just embarrass the heck out of her, right? Watch this. Hey, Serena Bell. Say hi. Hi. Hi. There she is. That's my daughter on the podcast. So until next time, stay curious, okay? Until we talk soon. Be good.
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The ChatGPT Experiment - Simplifying Chat GPT For Curious Beginners
Episode 64: The Custom GPT Process That Works Best For Me
Host: Cary Weston
Release Date: April 9, 2025
Introduction
In Episode 64 of The ChatGPT Experiment, host Cary Weston delves into the nuanced world of Custom GPTs, sharing his personal experiences and best practices for creating highly specialized AI tools tailored to specific tasks and outcomes. Recording the episode from a parking lot while managing his responsibilities as a sports parent, Cary exudes a relatable and down-to-earth demeanor that sets the tone for an engaging and informative session.
Housekeeping and Resources
Cary begins by welcoming both new and returning listeners, emphasizing the wealth of resources available on the podcast's website, chatgptexperiment.com. He highlights two key offerings:
Free Downloadable Guide: "On the website chatgptexperiment.com, I've got two things. One is a free download. These are five of my most frequent tips that give people the most value to get started" ([02:15]).
One-on-One ChatGPT Sessions: "On the homepage, I do do one-on-one sessions, ChatGPT sessions, and the hour is yours in terms of what you want to pay attention to, talk about, learn, explore" ([05:40]).
These resources are designed to help listeners transition from curiosity to capability, whether they're newcomers or looking to deepen their understanding of ChatGPT.
Understanding Custom GPTs
Cary introduces the concept of Custom GPTs, explaining that this feature is available to paid ChatGPT users. Custom GPTs allow users to create specialized AI tools focused on specific outcomes or tasks by establishing a tailored data source and frame of reference.
"Custom GPTs is the ability for you to create a very specific tool that allows you to focus and hyper focus on one specific outcome, one specific task" ([07:30]).
Examples of Custom GPTs
Cary shares several examples of his own Custom GPTs to illustrate their versatility and effectiveness:
Writing Like Cary: A GPT trained on his language, tone, style, and philosophy by feeding it transcripts of conversations and his written articles.
Proposal Duplication: Automates the creation of proposals by asking a series of questions and integrating fixed language with variable responses.
Article Creation: Assists in drafting articles by generating outlines, introductory paragraphs, and complete drafts based on specified topics and audiences.
Customer Focus Group: Models an ideal customer persona, incorporating emotional points, concerns, and common questions to serve as a dedicated focus group for testing ideas and copy.
"I've created a custom GPT that takes on the personality of that customer. So it's like a dedicated focus group for the best right fit customers for this particular client" ([12:10]).
Creating Your Own Custom GPT
Cary outlines a three-part process for creating effective Custom GPTs:
Define Your Goal and Engage with ChatGPT: Start by clearly stating your objective to ChatGPT without mentioning Custom GPTs. For instance, "I really want to get to understand a certain customer set, right? How can you help me do that?" ([08:45]). Follow ChatGPT's guidance, asking for more details and refining your requests to build a comprehensive understanding of the task.
Develop the Custom GPT Configuration: Once satisfied with the outcome, ask ChatGPT for specific configuration details that can be directly copied and pasted into the Custom GPT interface. Cary emphasizes the importance of having a clear and detailed goal to ensure the GPT meets your needs.
Implement and Utilize: Copy the provided configuration into your Custom GPT setup. Cary points listeners to a downloadable document on the podcast's website that includes step-by-step instructions and screenshots, making the process accessible even for beginners.
"The same methodology is true for whatever your goal might be. I just want you to be able to see the approach that I took to talk with ChatGPT to share the goal, to explore the outcome, to get the list and the details so then we can use it and replicate it over and over again" ([15:20]).
Resources and Next Steps
Listeners are encouraged to visit chatgptexperiment.com to download the accompanying document for this episode, which provides a practical example of creating a customer-focused GPT. Cary reiterates the versatility of Custom GPTs, suggesting applications ranging from recipe creation to content generation.
"Maybe you're in business and having a focus group for the right, best fit customer for your business would be highly valuable if you're creating social media and articles and website copies and emails and whatnot. It certainly would be" ([16:40]).
Conclusion
Cary wraps up the episode with a personal touch, introducing his daughter Serena and sharing a light-hearted moment before signing off. He reinforces the podcast's mission to make AI approachable and practical, encouraging listeners to stay curious and explore the endless possibilities that ChatGPT offers.
"Until next time, stay curious, okay? Until we talk soon. Be good." ([17:20]).
Key Takeaways
Custom GPTs enable users to create specialized AI tools tailored to specific tasks by defining detailed objectives and configurations.
Process for Creating Custom GPTs:
Resources: Utilize the free guides and one-on-one sessions available on chatgptexperiment.com for comprehensive support.
Versatility: Custom GPTs can be applied across various domains, including writing, proposal generation, and customer analysis, enhancing both personal and professional workflows.
Notable Quotes
"Tell me more is my favorite word." ([10:05])
"Custom GPTs is a way in which you can create a hyper focused partner in ChatGPT for a task, a situation, for an outcome or a need that you're going to go to time and time again." ([09:15])
"The ability for ChatGPT to say, if you want to do this over and over again, here's the instructions and I'll go paste this somewhere so you can… it's terrifically powerful." ([14:30])
For those eager to harness the full potential of ChatGPT through Custom GPTs, Cary Weston's insightful guidance in Episode 64 provides a clear roadmap to transforming curiosity into actionable AI capabilities. Whether you're a beginner or looking to deepen your engagement with AI, this episode offers valuable strategies to enhance your productivity and creativity.