Podcast Summary: The Martell Method w/ Dan Martell

Episode: These 6 ChatGPT Hacks Will Make You So Much Money It Feels Illegal
Host: Dan Martell
Date: January 28, 2026

Overview

In this high-impact episode, Dan Martell shares the top six ChatGPT hacks that can transform your business—whether you’re just starting out or scaling fast. Drawing from his experience launching companies and building custom AI tools, Dan reveals advanced strategies that position business owners in the top 1% of AI users. He covers everything from upgrading to ChatGPT Plus to building high-leverage, repeatable systems using master prompts and custom GPTs, all while emphasizing the importance of personalization, context, and becoming a “director” of your business.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Upgrade to ChatGPT Plus (01:22)

• Main Point:
  Investing the small monthly fee in ChatGPT Plus is a non-negotiable for serious business owners. The advanced features and increased speed are essential for the other hacks.
• Quote:

  "Stop being cheapy cheapy pants. ... One seat will cost you less than a lunch meeting with your team. If your goal is to buy back your time, there's no easier way." (01:25)

• Why:
  Plus unlocks features needed for advanced workflows and response precision.

2. Build Your Role Master Prompt (02:27)

• Main Point:
  Feed ChatGPT detailed information about your role, business, team, products, and goals so every response is fully personalized.
• How:
  • Ask ChatGPT to interview you for a master prompt.
  • Use voice mode for ease; transcribe answers.
  • Save the output as a PDF and reuse it as a “canvas”.
• Quote:

  "ChatGPT can now draft playbooks and SOPs, analyze financials, stress test ideas, generate strategies... It’ll basically know everything it needs as a baseline starting point to give you very actionable and personalized answers." (04:05)

• Insight:
  Properly sequenced answers depend on rich context—“sequencing equals success”.

3. Create System Prompts (09:25)

• Main Point:
  Develop detailed, structured prompts ("system prompts") for each department or recurring process. This becomes new intellectual property for your company.
• How:
  • Describe your desired output and constraints (tone, structure, timeline, etc.).
  • Refine the output in a “canvas” within ChatGPT.
  • Ask GPT to write a detailed prompt that, if reused, replicates the output.
  • Save your system prompts as PDFs.
• Pro Tip:
  Use these “power keywords” for advanced prompting:
  • Act as [role]: “Act as a world-class copywriter.”
  • /deep research: Instructs GPT to aggregate & verify data with citations.
  • First principles: Guides GPT to break tasks down to fundamentals.
  • Devil’s advocate: Stress tests assumptions & identifies risks.
  • Constraints first: For specificity (time, budget, tools).
  • Format as [structure]: E.g., YAML, table, numbered list.
  • Verify and cite: Requests sources and references.
• Quote:

  "The right system prompts can be so powerful… This is the future of intellectual property." (10:50)

4. Use Projects to Store Context (19:12)

• Main Point:
  Organize your work in ChatGPT “projects”, letting you save all relevant documents, media, and threads for each initiative.
• How:
  • Create a new project for any business initiative.
  • Upload all relevant info—brand guides, market research, email threads.
  • Instruct ChatGPT to act on all this context (e.g., analyze sales data as an investor).
• Key Concept:
  Compounding Context: The more data you feed per project, the smarter and more relevant GPT’s responses become, especially for ongoing work.
• Quote:

  "The key concept here is compounding context. The more context that compounds, the better the response are going to be." (22:19)

• Example:
  Asking ChatGPT to analyze investment reports and draft investor emails in Dan’s voice.

5. Update Your Custom Instructions (24:18)

• Main Point:
  Set permanent behavior and style instructions for your ChatGPT account so replies consistently match your preferences and business needs.
• How:
  • Under Settings > Personalization > Custom Instructions, define how you want answers (e.g., concise bullet points, specific language level, always format as ASCII, etc.).
• Quote:

  "Think of your ChatGPT account like your company's brain. ... You can even say, 'respond in 8th grade language at all times to be direct and avoid fluff.'" (25:00)

6. Build Custom GPTs (26:48)

• Main Point:
  Productize your best system prompts for repeated use and to empower your team. Custom GPTs save hours and ensure consistency.
• How:
  • Go to ChatGPT > GPTs > Create (browser only, not app).
  • Input your system prompt (and master prompt if needed).
  • Upload files for added context.
  • Share the custom GPT via link with your team or clients.
• Quote:

  "These custom GPTs literally will save you hours. You set them up, it takes minutes, and then you never have to do this ever again." (27:12)

• Example:
  Dan built a custom GPT that could generate a full 2000-word book outline in the style of any expert—then shared the tool with friends and team for reuse.

Closing Insights

• Director vs. Doer Mindset:
  As AI handles more creation, your value as an entrepreneur shifts to deciding what to work on.

  "In the future ... all the problems that you need to solve are no longer problems because you can get the answer from GPT, then the real skill to develop is figuring out what problems to work on. And to solve those you have to be a director, not a doer." (31:46)

• Leverage and Freedom:
  Aim to automate 92% of your work via AI and focus your energy on the highest-value 8%.

  "My vision is for you to have 92% of all your work done by AI so that you can spend the 8% on your craft, your genius…” (32:26)

• Intellectual Property of the Future:
  Custom system prompts and GPTs become key business assets, raising your company's valuation and scalability.

Notable Quotes

• "Sequencing equals success." (05:41)
• "It's not magic, it's a system." (11:42)
• "The more these custom GPT tools you build within your company, the faster you can grow." (29:58)
• "As long as they're using the output and they're not freestyling, they can't mess it up." (30:22)

Episode Navigation

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 01:22 | Upgrade to ChatGPT Plus | | 02:27 | Build Your Role Master Prompt | | 09:25 | Create System Prompts & Power Keywords | | 19:12 | Use Projects for Compounding Context | | 24:18 | Update Your Custom Instructions | | 26:48 | Build Custom GPTs for Leverage | | 31:46 | Director vs Doer Mindset / Closing Insights |

This episode is jam-packed with hands-on tactics and mindset shifts. Dan urges listeners not only to use but productize ChatGPT for maximum leverage, and to view these hacks as foundational assets for explosive business growth.