How I Used AI to Create How I AI

I’m kicking off How I AI by sharing how I used AI to help me develop the idea for How I AI.

Again, if you forgot why you’re getting this, it’s because you had signed up for my AI Biz Mentor newsletter on Substack.

That newsletter has evolved into How I AI. My goal is to keep this real and practical.

Instead of lists of tools you’ll never have time to check out or news roundups you won’t have time to read, I’m sharing what I’ve been able to do using AI that has helped me in some way.

You’ll get real-world applications that can spark ideas on how to use AI better to get more done, be more creative, save some time, or make some money.

If that sounds interesting, please stick around.

If not, you can unsubscribe using the link in the footer.

With that, let’s get started!

How I Turned My Newsletter Struggles Into "How I AI" With Grok’s Help

I wasn’t happy with my AI Biz Mentor newsletter.

I’d gone through few iterations, but it felt pretentious, inauthentic, and like a chore.

Worst, I didn’t think it was helping others in the way I wanted and the way I knew I could.

In one of those late-night light bulb moments, the name How I AI jumped at me.

It had a ring to it, and it felt like exactly what I wanted to do - share how I use AI in my daily work and life.

But I wasn’t sure if a rebranding was the right move. Or should I start fresh?

On top of that, I was torn between sticking with Substack or switching to Beehiiv.

I tend to overthink and get into analysis paralysis.

So, I did what I usually do in these instances.

I asked AI.

Specifically, Grok.

I am not a fan of Elon Musk. I left Twitter when he took over and had, up to that point, avoided Grok.

But Grok 3 was just released, and I saw articles about how great it was, so I decided to give it a shot.

Here’s how I used Grok to sort through the chaos, make decisions, and get moving—and how you can replicate this for your own business or life challenges.

You can try Grok for free here.

Step 1: The No-Filter Brain Dump

I started by unloading on Grok—no polished prompts, just a raw mess of thoughts:

“help me think through my newsletter strategy. my current brand is AI Biz Mentor. i started it as an atomic newsletter (5x / week) sharing a couple curated AI tools/resources. That got me up to 50 subs or so, but I never quite felt like I was providing the value I wanted. I ran it from jun to sep like that, then stopped after a vacation. it's end of feb 2025 now and I just restarted it. trying a format of 3x/week and doing a quick review of one tool in each issue. still not feeling like am at product market fit though. this is on substack and I am not otherwise active there, though I think I should be. I also need/want to monetize my knowledge around AI but haven't done that yet with this newsletter. here's my current opt-in page message: "Cut Through the AI Noise. Subscribe for three weekly, no-fluff breakdowns of the latest AI tools that can streamline your workflow and spark growth." My target audience is solopreneurs, solofounders and creators (and maybe small business owners), but that is a bit broad and I haven't gotten clear on exactly what problem I solve for them or what transformation/big result I help them achieve. I'm thinking about a rebrand to something like "How I AI" which feels like it could give me more space to share my day-to-day uses of AI (both for business and fun). but that also could be unclear what the result/transformation is, though it would help better showcase my expertise, keep it very unique so I don't blend into a thousand other AI newsletters, and I think make it easier for me to create. added in here is that I am a dad, I work from home, I am a kind of entrepreneur kind of do it all marketing/backend funnel stuff for two businesses I am part of (not even sure how to describe it). and I have kids with a medical condition and have traveled a lot and live a lot of life and want to share about that too. I could have two newsletters on substack see a lot of people doing that. but I just am a bit stuck on what direction to go”

What I like about brain dumping on AI like this is that there is no judgment, and it can be therapeutic just to let it out versus trying to organize it into some templated prompt.

Grok took in my mess, then helped me organize it.

Here was its first response:

“Let’s think through your newsletter strategy step-by-step. You’ve got a lot of ideas, experiences, and goals swirling around, which is awesome—it’s a rich foundation to build from. But it also sounds like you’re wrestling with focus, audience clarity, and how to turn your expertise into something that clicks for both you and your readers. I’ll break this down into pieces, reflect your situation back to you, and offer some options to explore. Let’s find a path that feels right.”

Grok proceeded to break down the issues into a clear structure:

• Where You’re At Right Now

• Clarifying Your AI Newsletter

• Monetization Ideas

Each of these was further broken down into sub-sections and bullets:

Then it gave me detailed Next Steps and even Reflection Questions like, “Does ‘How I AI’ excite you more than tool reviews? Does it feel sustainable?”

Step 2: The Conversation

My first brain dump captured a lot of my thoughts, but not all of them.

What ensued was a messy back-and-forth.

I shared my interest in creating YouTube videos and asked how to combine that with Substack. Grok gave ideas.

I confided that I needed to get over the voices of doubt and perfection in my head.

Grok had a powerful reply that I am trying to keep in mind even as I write this:

“Before recording, say out loud, ‘This is for one solopreneur who needs this today—not the world.’ Takes the pressure off.”

We then got into the weeds of”

• finding the right domain since howiai.com was taken. (We settled on howiainow.com)

• writing the tagline

• choosing a Substack handle

• picking brand colors

• deciding on a rebrand vs new launch

• creating a logo (which involved me asking Grok for prompts and then using Ideogram and Google’s ImageFX to create the images - then cobbling parts from the outputs of each into the final logo in Canva:

I did all that before making an even bigger confession: I didn’t want to do this on Substack.

Everyone on Substack is hyping it up right now. But most of that centers around Notes.

This makes me uncomfortable, as writing and engaging in Notes feels painful.

Turning the process of growing my newsletter into a daunting task rather than something I find enjoyable.

By switching to Beehiiv, the focus is on creating, and I can use its built-in features to grow and monetize without being a slave to posting notes multiple times a day.

Grok outlined the factors I should consider regarding this move and asked me which direction I wanted to take.

Once I confirmed I wanted to move to Beehiiv, we moved on to Step 3.

Step 3: Turning it Into Action

With many of the big (and little) details out of the way, I needed to overcome my tendency to second-guess myself.

So I asked Grok to “create a step by step checklist for setting up my beehiiv newsletter so I don't miss anything”.

It gave me a detailed checklist that looked like this:

With Agentic AI, the possibility of AI being able to implement an action plan like this is (nearly) upon us.

But for now, actually getting sh*t done relies on humans.

Which I did with this helpful checklist. And why you’re reading this if you made it this far.

Step 4: Ongoing Help

One advantage of engaging in a continuous chat with AI is that it retains the entire history of your discussion.

This means that when you return the next day or week to seek ideas, advice, or content, it can assist you without requiring you to repeat the entire context of your project.

For instance, I needed a URL for a link shortener, and Grok helped me choose one that best aligned with my new brand. It also helped me decide whether I should import my old Subsack issues into Beehiiv.

It even assisted in drafting the initial version for this issue.

However, I was surprised to find that it hallucinated some parts of the story. I had to remind it of the actual conversation, and even then, it didn’t fully capture the flow of our discussion.

Ultimately, I ended up writing everything the traditional way—with my brain and my hands.

Still, those initial drafts from Grok were useful for getting started.

Your 4-Step “Get Moving with AI” Playbook

Got an idea, challenge, or problem to work through?

Here’s how I got unstuck with Grok (or your AI of choice):

1. Dump It: Spill your chaos—no filter needed.

2. Talk It Out: Bounce ideas and get feedback.

3. Do It: Ask for tiny steps to get moving, then start with one.

4. Keep Going: Chat again later; it remembers.

Try it—and let me know how it goes!

Thanks for reading,

Nathan