247. If You’re Not Using Custom GPTs Yet...Start Here!

If you've ever wondered how Joe somehow whips up a custom GPT for literally everything, from content creation to arguing with him when ChatGPT gets too agreeable, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for. Carly finally asks the question the whole community’s been thinking: “How is Joe doing that?” And this time, he actually shows us.

Step-by-step.

On-screen.

In real time.

Whether you want a GPT that writes in your brand voice, handles your workflows, or just keeps you honest (looking at you, You’re Wrong GPT), Joe breaks down exactly how he builds them: what’s easy, what you need to prepare, and what most solopreneurs totally overlook.

If you’ve ever said, “I wish a GPT could do this for me…” Good news: after this episode, it can.

FAQs From The Episode

Do I actually need a paid ChatGPT plan to create my own GPTs?

Yes. As Joe explains, GPT creation isn’t available on the free plan. You’ll need the $20/month subscription to access the “Create” option. The good news? If you use even a handful of AI-powered tasks in your business, you’ll easily make that cost back in saved time.

What kind of “training material” do I need to upload to build a useful GPT?

Think brand voice guides, examples of past content, frameworks you use, instructions you follow, or any assets that show how you want your GPT to think and write. More clarity = better output. You don’t need a huge pack of documents, just a few strong examples go a long way.

How do I know what kind of GPT I should create for my business?

Start with the tasks you repeat constantly or the ones that drain the most time: content creation, email drafts, lead gen messages, customer onboarding, proposals, social captions, etc. If you’ve ever said, “I wish someone could just do this for me,” that’s the perfect candidate for a custom GPT.

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Episode Transcript

Carly Ries (00:00):
Ever wonder how Joe keeps whipping up custom GPTs

(00:02):
like it's no big deal? In thisepisode, he finally pulls back
the curtain, and I sit in as astudent while he walks step by
step through exactly how hebuilds the tools that power our
content, systems, and hisfavorite, the You're Wrong GPT.
If you've been curious howsolopreneurs can create their
own AI assistance or how fast itreally is, you're going to love
this episode. And if you wannasee Joe do it in under ten

(00:25):
minutes, head over to ourYouTube channel for the screen
share version. You're listeningto The Aspiring Solopreneur, the
podcast for anyone on the solobusiness journey, whether you're
just toying with the idea,taking your first bold step, or
have been running your own showfor years and want to keep
growing, refining, and thriving.
I'm Carly Ries, and along withmy cohost, Joe Rando, we're your

(00:48):
guides through the crazy butawesome world of being a company
of one. As part of LifeStarr, adigital hub dedicated to all
things solopreneurship, we helppeople design businesses that
align with their life'sambitions so they can work to
live, not live to work. Ifyou're looking for a get rich
quick scheme, this is not theplace for you. But if you want
real world insights fromindustry experts, lessons from

(01:09):
the successes and stumbles offellow solopreneurs, and
practical strategies forbuilding and sustaining a
business you love, you're in theright spot. Because flying solo
in business doesn't mean you'realone.
No matter where you are in yourjourney, we've got your back.

(02:07):
Joe, I've been meaning to askyou this for a long time. I know
that a lot of people in ourcommunity are curious about
this. You, I feel like, are aGPT creation wizard. for
anything we need to do, you'relike, oh, I'll create a GPT for
that. Oh, I'll create a GPT forthis. We even talk about, even
in our book, the You're WrongGPT you created to argue with

(02:29):
you, because chat GPT can bevery agreeable with whatever
you're saying.

Joe Rando (02:33):
Yeah, it's the best thing I ever did.

Carly Ries (02:37):
It was so smart, but you're just like, oh, I created
GPT for that. And it's just sogreat. And the question we've
been getting is, how is Joedoing that?

Joe Rando (02:44):
It's not that hard. It's really not that hard.

Carly Ries (02:47):
Glad you said that. Because I feel like we should
show people. So if you arelistening to this podcast, Joe
is gonna walk you through thesteps, but we're also going to
show it on the screen. So besure to go over to our YouTube
channel so you can seeeverything that he's putting up
there, which is just TheAspiring Solopreneur. But, Joe,
if you can just walk through it.
The other disclaimer we need tomake is Joe is using a paid

(03:11):
ChatGPT version for this. So,Joe, correct me if I'm wrong,
you cannot create a GPT ifyou're using free ChatGPT.
Correct?

Joe Rando (03:19):
I couldn't figure out a way to do that. It seems to be
missing. So, yeah, I think yougotta chip in that $20 a month.

Carly Ries (03:26):
Okay. So that's our disclaimer. But, Joe, I'm eager
to learn. I'm gonna be yourstudent today. Let's see how you
do this and hear how you dothis.

Joe Rando (03:33):
So it's, chatgpt.com. You probably knew that. And what
we have here, if you look overon the left, panel, is this
section under GPTs. These areall the ones I've created, but
there's one that says explore atthe top. At least that's the way
it works this week. And if yougo in here, you can, look at all

(03:56):
kinds of other GPTs that peoplehave made, but you can click
this upper right hand buttonthat says a plus sign and
create. So now you're creating aGPT. And what you do here is you
can give it a logo if you want.I won't bother with that because
it's just to kind of identify iteasier. And then you gotta give

(04:16):
it a name. I'm gonna name thisone, LifeStarr branding
expert. And I'm gonna give it adescription. Creates content
that matches the LifeStarrbrand. Okay. And I'm gonna tell

(04:43):
it what to do.
So here, I'm gonna say, I wantyou to create social media
posts, blogs, and articles thatmatch LifeStarr's brand.
Conversation starters is, Iguess, something that it will

(05:05):
kinda show that they could ask.I don't really need that, but
I'll just say, what are wemaking? And down below, I can
upload files. So I'm gonna clickon that, and I don't know if you
can see the files search, butI'm gonna go down here.
I'm gonna look for a file herethat I call our current brand.

(05:34):
And I'm gonna upload that file,and then I can choose a
recommended model. What thatmeans is, GPT our 40 , which is
the older one. Now they have afive pro and a five
I'm thinking. The problem is, Ithink the four o is free.
Five is available on the $20 amonth plan, and, the pro and or

(05:58):
maybe it's the thinking is onlyavailable on the expensive plan,
the $200 a month plan. So I'mgonna leave it at no recommended
model. Let them use the one thatthey prefer. Not really gonna
share this with anybody outsideof the LifeStarr family because,
I don't want other people makingour content to our brand. So now
we've got the capabilities.
Web search is obviously a usefulone. Canvas, if you've used

(06:21):
that, it kind of overwritesitself as you work. So you're
not using this whole long screenand having to scroll back. So if
you create a document and thensay, I wanna fix this, it'll
rewrite it over. And imagecreation is nice.
I don't need any code for this.and then create a new action.
I'd explain that, but I don'treally know what it is yet. I

(06:43):
think it's got something to dowith being able to log into
things on authentication, but Ihaven't used that. So here, I've
basically created a simple GPT,and I could go to the upper
right, and click create.
And then I have the choice forhow this is gonna be used. So I
can share it only with myself. Ican give it to anyone with the

(07:06):
link, and I can give it to theGPT store and try to sell it.
I've never done that. I don't dothat because all of my stuff
goes to creating content forLifeStarr and for our members.
This one, I'm gonna leave anyonewith the link because I'll
probably share it with Carly andStacy and some other people. So
I click save, and it's thinking.And here's the link that I could

(07:28):
share. I'll get that later. Igotta go to view GPT and close
that little box.
So what are we making? we aremaking create a blog article on
making a GPT. Let's get realmeta, and it will come back.

Carly Ries (07:50):
And for people that are listening, he just typed
that into, the normal prompt boxin ChatGPT

Joe Rando (07:57):
Using this particular GPT. And it's writing a very
nice little blog. I mean, Iwould definitely want to edit
this, but it's a nice littlestart. I probably would have
given it much more seed materialthan that, but I don't wanna
take the rest of the day doingthis. but, yeah, it just cranks
out a nice little blog, which Ican then, copy and edit to make

(08:19):
it work. Now the last thing iswhen you wanna get to your GPT,
you're gonna look in the leftcolumn, And as you scroll down,
you'll see LifeStarr brandingexpert. You'll see it twice
because I actually created thisbefore, but in my screen.
But yeah. And then you just lookthere, click on it, and it'll
create a new well, if you go andcreate a new chat, and then you

(08:41):
go back to it, you can thencreate a new conversation. So
that it'll be there for youanytime you need it. So that's
really it. Like I said, nothard. the main thing is to think
through things , the trainingmaterial is obviously critical.
You have to have good trainingmaterial. Thinking through the
instructions and that kind ofthing is really, really

(09:01):
important. But, you can also useChatGPT to help you create
training material for aparticular GPT that you're
making. So sometimes I would goin and say, hey, This is what I
wanna do.
This is all the kind of thingsI'm thinking. Can you turn that
into training content? And, letme just go back here. If I go

(09:23):
back to, edit this GPT again,you can see here in the
instructions, I can put a lot ofmaterial in here. We could put a
lot of details about what to doand not to do, and ChatGPT is
really good at creating thoseinstructions if you give it kind
of an outline.
So that's the last I thinkthat's maybe the last hack that
I would be able to share interms of doing this. So that's

(09:49):
the basics. Go out there, crankout something cool, and, let me
know if you can make somethingneat and and wanna share it.

Carly Ries (09:58):
Awesome. Joe, thank you so much. That's really
helpful. And to follow just tosee what you've been doing
because, like I said, he seemedto crank these out quickly. And
as our listeners and viewerssaw, that took less than ten
minutes.
Obviously, some prep work wouldhave to go into the documents
you upload and all that. But toactually build the GPT does not
take that long. So thank you,thank you, thank you. And

(10:19):
listeners, thank you so much fortuning in. As always, leave that
five star review, share thisepisode with a friend, and
subscribe on your favoritepodcast platform, including
YouTube.
And we'll see you next time onThe Aspiring Solopreneur. You
may be going solo in business,but that doesn't mean you're
alone. In fact, millions ofpeople are in your shoes,
running a one person businessand figuring it out as they go.

(10:42):
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.
Be sure to join in onconversations at
community.lifestarr.com.