Prompt Playbook: Build in Public PART 1

Go to any AI tools directory right now. ProductHunt's AI section. There's An AI For That. Future Tools. There are many. And the story is the same.

What you'll find is heartbreaking.

Thousands of brilliant AI tools. Clever solutions. Impressive tech. Most with under 100 users. Many completely abandoned.

These aren't bad products.

I've tested dozens - many are genuinely innovative. But their creators made the same fatal mistake: they built first, thought about distribution later.

Field of Dream’s “Build it and they will come” doesn’t work.

Unlike Kevin Costner they discovered an uncomfortable truth.

Without an audience, you have two options: borrow someone else's (affiliates, partnerships, favours) or buy attention (ads, sponsorships). Both require either cash you don't have or relationships you haven't built.

So these tools sit there.

We are going to do better. We’re going to start building our audience right now. So when we have something built we can immediately take it to them.

"But Kyle," you're thinking, "shouldn't we be building by now? This feels like procrastination. We've done a week of research. Now we're making videos for social media? When do we actually BUILD something?"

Here's what those ghost-town creators wish someone had told them: Building is only 50% of the equation. Distribution is the other 50%. And if you start distribution after building, you're already too late. We won’t make that mistake.

Today changes everything. We're not delaying your build. We're ensuring it doesn't end up in the AI graveyard.

Let’s get started

Summary

Distribution first

• Why brilliant AI tools die (hint: it's not the product)

• The two expensive alternatives to having an audience

• Pre-build, during-build, and post-build audience advantages

• Why this isn't about becoming an influencer

The AI Graveyard Problem

I talk to lots of founders building products with AI.

Their marketing plans? Post on ProductHunt, share in a few Reddit threads, hope for organic discovery. When it doesn’t work send DMs to someone like me and ask for free shout outs. Here’s one that just landed as I write this:

I get 5-10 requests like this every day. I wish I was exaggerating here.

Hope isn't a strategy.

Meanwhile, I recently watched another founder launch a much simpler tool - basic AI prompts for real estate agents. Nothing revolutionary. But she'd been posting daily TikToks about AI in real estate for three months before building anything.

Launch day: 500 people on the waitlist. First week: 200 paying customers.

The difference wasn't the product. It was the audience.

My own businesses only took off once I had an audience. Before that? Struggle and hustle for every sale.

Now? I can build and launch something knowing I'll get paid. I use my audience to validate demand, build to their needs and finally for sales.

Why Audience Before Building Isn't Procrastination

Let's be clear about what we're doing: content marketing. Building an audience through valuable content that attracts your future customers.

Now, before we dive in, let's acknowledge the elephant in the room. There are 100% alternatives to content marketing:

• Plenty of “normal companies” (ie. plumbing companies) are happily doing millions without a single social post

• Accountancy firms crushing it through referrals alone

• B2B software companies using pure outbound sales

• And so on…

They're not on social media. They use referrals, partnerships, or have cash to spend on ads and salespeople. Plenty (the majority!) of businesses operate quite happily and profitably without TikTok.

Perfectly doable. But here's the catch - they need size or cash. As a solopreneur starting from zero? You have neither. Damn.

Content marketing is your unfair advantage because

• It costs time, not money

• It builds while you sleep (content works 24/7)

• It compounds (post 100 helps post 1 get discovered)

• It pre-qualifies buyers (they already know and trust you)

It’s also (sorry to be brutal) probably the only viable avenue open to you. Unless you have investment and can spend heavily to acquire customers.

Building an audience before you build your product isn't delaying - it's de-risking. Having abnormal audience makes every stage of making money simpler, easier and more scalable. It’s hard to overestimate how useful an audience is - but let me try to list it all out!

Here's what an audience gives you at each stage

Pre-Build Benefits

• Test ideas with real people who might pay

• Validate problems before writing code

• Get feature requests from actual users

• Build anticipation and waitlists

• Start relationships with potential customers

During-Build Benefits

• Real-time feedback on features

• Beta testers who actually care

• Avoid the "build in stealth mode" death trap

• Course-correct based on user input

Post-Build Benefits

• Launch to customers, not crickets

• Word-of-mouth from day one

• Social proof and testimonials

• Lower customer acquisition cost

• Feedback loop for improvements

Without an audience, your only options are expensive

Borrowing Distribution

• Affiliates (need attractive commissions, 50%+ in most cases)

• Partnerships (need existing relationships and they’ll want to see track record)

• Guest posting (need credibility)

• Influencer deals (need budget)

Buying Distribution

• Paid ads (£10-50 per customer)

• Sponsorships (£500-5000 per placement)

• PR services (£1000+ per month)

• Cold outreach tools (time + money + technical expertise)

See the problem? Both paths require resources you probably don't have. Producing content on the other hand requires neither.

It requires a phone. And your willing participation. And that’s it.

Not Becoming an Influencer (Important Distinction!!)

Let me be crystal clear: we're not turning you into a content creator or influencer. Their business model is attention. Views, likes, shares, brand deals. Their audience is their product (which they sell to advertisers).

Your business model is solving problems. The audience is just distribution infrastructure.

Think of it like this

• Influencers: Audience IS the product

• You: Audience is the CHANNEL to deliver your product

I’m not telling you to become an influencer. We are still building our business here!

You’re reading week 2 from the special ‘10-week AI Summer Camp’ series.

Make your first $1,000

Want to chat with others following the series?

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Your Platform Decision: Speed Over Everything

For the next 45 days, you need one platform. Just one. And it needs to prioritise speed over perfection.

My recommendation: TikTok or Instagram Reels.

How to choose

1. Where are your potential customers? → Use that one

2. Don't know? Where are your favourite creators in your niche? → Use that one

3. Still don't know? Which do you actually use daily? → Use that one

4. Never use either? → TikTok. The algorithm is more beginner-friendly because each video is judged independently of your follower count

Don't overthink this. You'll eventually repost content across platforms anyway. What matters now is starting the creative habit, not picking the "perfect" platform.

Why these two?

• Built-in recording (no external tools)

• Zero editing required (they have start-stop recording, I’ll show you how to use it in the next Part)

• Quicker to produce and publish

• Algorithm favours consistency over polish

• Short-form forces clarity

• Your market is already there scrolling

Not YouTube (too much production). Not LinkedIn (too much text). Not Twitter (too much noise).

Video. Short. Daily. Done.

Your First Video Script

Here's your intro video generator. Use this with everything we covered in Week 1

You are a video script writer helping someone introduce themselves and their AI Summer Camp journey. Create a 30-60 second video script based on their Week 1 work. Their details:
- Market: [From Day 1]
- Specific problem: [From Day 2] - Competition gap: [From Day 3]
- Their wedge: [From Day 4]
- Customer insights: [From Day 5] Create a natural, conversational script that:
1. Opens with "I'm taking the AI Summer Camp challenge"
2. Mentions their specific market and problem they're solving
3. Explains why this problem matters (use customer language from Day 5)
4. States their 50-day goal ($1K revenue)
5. Invites viewers to follow the journey
6. Ends with clear next step Keep it:
- Conversational (like talking to a friend)
- Specific (use exact problem, not vague statements) - Honest (including being at the beginning)
- Under 60 seconds when spoken naturally
- No stage directions or b-roll, just script text Example opening: "I'm taking the AI Summer Camp challenge to build a real AI business in 50 days. I'm focusing on [specific market] who waste hours every week on [specific problem]..."

Record it 3 times. Post the best one. Don't aim for perfect - aim for done.

Tag me (@iamkylebalmer) and I'll engage with your intro video. Nothing beats early momentum like having a larger account give it an engagement bump.

Your Day 6 Deliverable

By end of today

1. Choose your platform using the decision framework above

2. Set up your profile

3. Generate your script using the prompt above

4. Record and post your intro video (tag me!)

No fancy equipment. No editing software. No perfectionism. Just your phone and commitment.

Also don’t worry about your profile picture, bio or anything like that yet. It doesn’t matter.

What's Next?

Right now just shoot and post. Don’t overthink it.

Tomorrow I’ll show you how I produce content at speed. No editing suites. No perfectionism. Just you, your phone, and 5 minutes per video.

Keep Prompting,

Kyle