The $0/hour freelancer

G’Day Sellouts

Woah, what a week.

Between tariffs, inflation scares, and stock markets tumbling, it's easy to get overwhelmed.

But zoom out for a second, we've been through storms before.

COVID showed us that panic-driven, short-term thinking is a fast track to trouble.

The brands that thrived were those that took a breath, played the long game, and made decisions backed by data and strategy, not anxiety.

With that in mind, let's chat about something big, real big, that's changing the creative landscape faster than anyone predicted: AI-driven image generation.

If you're dropping thousands on Meta creatives, email designs, or branding visuals, it's time to pause and pay attention.

Special Guest Edition: Mike Dalton

Today’s Sellout features a special guest, my good friend and mentor, Mike Dalton.

Mike was the VP of Marketing at UNIKRN (before its impressive acquisition), and is now lending his marketing brainpower to brands like Budgy Smuggler, Invisible, and Hyro. 

Mike's the type of marketer who thrives on bold, slightly-crazy ideas, the kind that actually make money.

Over to you, Mike:

Implementing GenAI In Your Business

Until recently, most tech developments felt like background noise, crypto, NFTs, the Metaverse, interesting but hardly transformative for daily marketing.

Then came ChatGPT and the world took note.

Fast forward to 2025, and now advances to AI image generation like GPT-40 are a serious game-changer.

We’ve entered what we’re seeing affectionately called the "Glow Marketing" era: a new way of thinking where speed, creativity, and scalability intersect.

Here's why you should care (and how to leverage it in your own e-commerce business):

Welcome to the "Concept Fast, Refine Later" Era

The real magic in this tech is speed.

You can go from a vague idea to a polished visual in minutes, whether it's internal presentations, product mockups, packaging designs, or experimental ad creative.

But here's the catch:

The Last 10% Still Matters (A Lot)

While AI gets you incredibly close to the finish line, it's rarely flawless.

A weird logo here, an extra finger there, or typography that’s just slightly off, often, these little hiccups mean passing it to your designer for final touches is still needed.

AI hasn’t replaced designers; but it’s repositioned them and freed up their time.

Now, brilliant designers focus their energy where they deliver the most value: refining, polishing, and applying strategic thinking.

The playing field is leveling up, small brands can now punch way above their creative weight class without blowing their budgets.

Your job as a business owner? Understand clearly what's AI’s 90% and what's your designer’s 10%.

Mastering this workflow will set you apart.

What Should You Be Learning?

The marketers who'll dominate this next phase are those who master the art of prompting. 

Prompting isn't just typing instructions, it's knowing exactly how to guide the AI, like briefing a veteran designer who's been with your brand for years.

Tone, style, layout, all tailored instantly.

Soon, these tailored prompts will flow directly into automated workflows, updating your ads, emails, PDPs, and social posts at scale.

Remember when digital marketing emerged? Those who jumped early on web, social, and paid digital crushed it.

The same is true now, build your prompt muscle today, and it'll compound into a serious competitive advantage.

Sharpen Your Prompting Skills

Here’s a fun piece of homework to start levelling up your prompting game. It’s mind blowing how small tweaks in your prompt can produce such different (and often fascinating) outputs.

Try this daily drill:

1. Follow ChatGPT on Instagram.

2. Pick one compelling visual each day and recreate it using GPT-4o.

3. Save the original, then prompt GPT-4o to describe it, this becomes your base prompt.

4. Add your brand’s unique spin.

5. Refine your prompt with a tool like Prompt Perfect.

6. Rinse, repeat, and watch your strategic visual thinking sharpen dramatically.

Here’s an example:

1. I found a recent OpenAI inspiration post:

   

2. I uploaded this OpenAI reference image and then a reference image of my favourite ice cream sandwich with the tagline “The Perfect Dessert For The Couch” as a prompt.

   

3. Waited 60 seconds for the magic. The end result is a concept any great marketer can sell into your broader team and then have a designer take the last mile (last 10%) to have it perfect for release.
   

   

Practical Ways to Integrate GenAI into Your Brand Today:

Here's what we're actively doing with our portfolio companies right now:

• Rapid Concepting for packaging, campaigns, and brand launches.

• Instant Thumbnails & UGC Visuals to test and iterate quickly.

• Ad Creative Experiments and rapid reference visuals.

• Moodboards & Photoshoot Guides done in minutes, not hours.

• Automated Copywriting across tones, hooks, and styles.

• Creative Mockups to explore directions before briefing larger teams.

• Asset & Headline Variations easily scaled across channels.

Future Bets (That You Should Think About):

• Brand-Guided AI Image Generation: Build tight brand guidelines now; AI is only as good as your input.

• Stock Imagery 2.0: Runway, Magnific, Kaiber are redefining stock visuals to feel uniquely custom.

• Creator & Influencer IP Licensing: Soon, creators will license their likenesses, enabling AI-generated content without repeated shoots. This will reshape influencer marketing fast.

• Scalable Brand Characters: Mascots, personas, and spokespeople scaled rapidly without repetitiveness.

• AI-powered Product Explainers: Tools like Pika, Runway, and Sora delivering product demos without expensive shoots.

• Localized AI Content: Deliver consistent visuals and messaging across languages and markets instantly with HeyGen and D-ID.

• Hyper-Fast Creative Testing: One idea, multiple variations in minutes, allowing rapid iteration and optimization.

Tools Worth Testing:

There are hundreds of shiny AI tools promising the world but as an e-commerce owner or digital marketer, here are a few that are genuinely helpful:

• Pika for scroll-stopping product videos.

• Runway for advanced AI-driven campaign visuals.

• Midjourney for ultra-polished creative directions.

• D-ID & HeyGen for multilingual AI-powered video presentations.

• Ideogram for embedding slick logos and typography.

• Magnific for enhanced image quality at scale.

• Gamma for quickly building slick presentations and pitch decks.

Speed, not perfection

Using AI in your business isn’t about being flawless, it’s about leveraging it to move faster, test more boldly, and empower your talented team to spend their energy where it really counts: creating amazing work that drives results.

So dive in, experiment, and keep me posted. I’d love to hear what’s working for you (or what’s hilariously failing).

If you’re stuck, just hit reply. I’m here to help sharpen your prompts and keep you one step ahead of the robots.

Happy creating,

Mike (& Luke)

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