The Santa Barbara Web Design and Marketing Blog

In today’s digital-first world, the role of artificial intelligence in everyday business operations is no longer futuristic—it’s our reality. One of the game-changing tools driving this transformation is ChatGPT, and more specifically, its custom “GPTs” feature. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur eager to automate advice gathering or a small business owner craving actionable guidance without an army of consultants on payroll, building a virtual team of GPT-powered advisors is a cutting-edge solution you can start using now.

In this comprehensive blog post, we’ll walk through the process of creating a virtual advisory board using ChatGPT’s custom GPTs, explore their potential for small business growth, and dive into practical tips for harnessing their full power. By the end, you’ll have a blueprint for assembling your own team of tireless digital experts—all tailored to your specific needs and ready to fine-tune your business strategies.

Understanding GPTs: Custom Digital Experts at Your Service

OpenAI’s “GPTs” lets users create customized chatbots designed for unique tasks, roles, and expertise. With the paid version of ChatGPT, you can instantiate individualized assistants that mimic professional personas: an SEO expert, a content strategist, a social media consultant—you name it.

What’s remarkable is how interactively these GPTs can be programmed and tested, putting specialized know-how at your fingertips. Whether you need marketing inspiration, website audits, or guidance on content strategy, building GPTs for each field saves time, reduces costs, and lets you tap into collective intelligence—virtually.

Setting the Stage: Why a Virtual Advisory Board?

Small business owners constantly juggle a million questions: How do I boost online revenue? What’s the best way to get seen on Google? How do I create content that really converts? Traditionally, answering these would require hiring a consultant or piecing together advice from endless blogs and forums.

Imagine instead having a panel of “virtual experts” you can consult instantly, each trained for your business and ready to provide tailored answers, actionable strategies, and collaborative feedback. That’s the promise GPTs are delivering right now.

Let’s look at how to build and use this virtual team—with real-world prompts you can adapt immediately.

Step 1: Identify Your Key Areas of Need

Start by zeroing in on the types of expertise your business needs. For a small business aiming to increase online revenue, the primary areas might be:

- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

- Social Media Strategy

- Content Marketing

You might also want to add specialists such as digital advertising, email marketing, analytics, or even customer support. But for our demonstration, we’ll focus on the three core areas above.

Step 2: Create Your Custom GPTs

To begin, you’ll need access to the paid version of ChatGPT, which enables the creation of custom GPTs. Here’s how you can set up your virtual advisory team:

A) Build an SEO Specialist GPT

Within ChatGPT:

1. Go to “My GPTs” (typically accessible from the left sidebar).

2. Click “Create a new GPT.”

3. Name your GPT something clear, like “SEO Specialist.”

4. In the description, state the role: “You are an SEO expert providing coaching and advice to small business owners.”

5. Optionally, run a simple test. Prompt: “Hi, tell me about yourself.” If it responds appropriately, confirming its SEO focus, you’re set.

6. Save the GPT as “Only Me” (private) for personalized use.

B) Create a Social Media Specialist GPT

Repeat the above steps, naming this AI “Social Media Specialist” and describing its role: “You are a social media specialist that consults and coaches business owners.”

Test it with the same “Hi, tell me about yourself” prompt to make sure your assistant takes on the correct persona.

C) Launch a Content Marketer GPT

Finally, add a third custom GPT labeled “Content Marketer” with the description: “You are a content marketing expert.”

Again, test its identity and save.

Each of these GPTs is now a standalone digital expert, primed to answer detailed questions within their area of focus.

Step 3: Consulting Your Virtual Experts

You now have a multi-specialist team ready to help. Here’s how to use them in practice:

1. Initiate a New Chat:

Start with a fresh conversation and phrase your query as if you’re the business owner.

Example prompt:

_“As a small business owner, you’ve engaged an SEO specialist. What online revenue-increasing ideas can you suggest?”_

2. Iterate and Refine with Each Expert:

Get a set of recommendations from one GPT, then bring in another for cross-evaluation.

Example follow-up:

- After the SEO Specialist responds, ask:

_“You’ve also hired a Social Media Strategist. Please revise the plan provided by the SEO Specialist in terms of social media impact and tactics.”_

- Then do the same for the Content Marketer:

_“You’ve engaged a Content Marketer to further refine and enhance the strategy by focusing on messaging, content types, and storytelling.”_

This sequential approach ensures you’re layering perspectives, uncovering blind spots, and building a strategy that’s multi-dimensional.

Step 4: Unlock Advanced Features—Knowledge Bases & Customization

The power of GPTs isn’t limited to simple Q&A. With a little extra setup, you can supercharge each expert:

- Upload documents: Give your GPTs access to brand guidelines, existing marketing materials, or sales data. They’ll draw on this context to deliver answers perfectly tailored to your actual business.

- Set up web access: Point a GPT to your website, a competitor’s FAQ, or leading industry resources. This grounds their advice in current, real-world information.

- Custom instructions: Instruct each GPT to prioritize certain outcomes (e.g., focus on high-conversion strategies, budget-friendly ideas, or minimizing technical complexity).

With every round of feedback, you’re not just getting generic advice—you’re orchestrating a suite of tools that can learn and evolve with you.

Step 5: Teamwork in Action—Imagining the Future

Currently, ChatGPT’s native interface allows you to consult with each virtual expert in turn, asking each to refine and build upon the others’ recommendations. While you can’t yet have multiple custom GPTs “speak” in a true roundtable at the same time in a single thread, this workflow already unlocks enormous value.

The future will likely bring even richer collaboration, with AI advisors interacting together automatically—combining, challenging, and evolving their ideas live. For now, you’re the facilitator, steering the conversation and cross-pollinating insights.

Practical Example: Boosting Online Revenue with a Virtual AI Team

Let’s walk through a practical application of this workflow:

The Scenario

You run a small home décor e-commerce shop in Santa Barbara and want to increase your online revenue.

Step 1: Consult the SEO Specialist

You ask:

_“I want to increase my online store’s revenue. What SEO strategies should I focus on to drive more targeted traffic?”_

The SEO Specialist suggests:

- Performing a website audit for technical improvements

- Keyword research specific to home décor items

- Optimizing product pages with detailed descriptions

- Implementing a blog about interior design tips and trends

- Acquiring backlinks via local directories and guest posts

Step 2: Bring in the Social Media Specialist

You then say:

_“Our Social Media Specialist is revising the SEO recommendations above, adapting them to social media channels and audience engagement.”_

The Social Media Specialist adds:

- Sharing blog posts on Instagram and Pinterest, targeting home décor enthusiasts

- Using shoppable posts and stories for trending products

- Collaborating with local lifestyle influencers for reach

- Running targeted Facebook and Instagram ads on popular keywords

Step 3: Engage the Content Marketer

Now you ask:

_“How can our Content Marketer enhance and fine-tune both the SEO and Social Media strategies, ensuring consistency of voice and message?”_

The Content Marketer recommends:

- Crafting a monthly content calendar blending SEO, social, and promotional topics

- Developing downloadable “Style Guides” for lead generation

- Repurposing blog content into videos and infographics

- Using storytelling in all posts to highlight customer experiences and brand values

- Ensuring all messaging reflects local flavor, sustainability, and unique product features

Outcome

Within a day, you have a multi-channel strategy, rigorously refined by three “experts.” No billable hours, no meetings, just quick, actionable intelligence tailored to your business.

The Cost Advantage: High-Level Expertise, Zero Overhead

Building this digital team delivers massive value:

- Cost savings: No need to contract individual specialists; it’s all included in your ChatGPT subscription.

- Speed and flexibility: Get instant feedback, make changes in real-time, and iterate without waiting on a consultant’s schedule.

- Confidentiality and security: By keeping your GPTs private (“Only Me”), your sensitive business information stays safeguarded.

Best Practices for Custom GPTs

To get the most out of your AI advisory board, keep these tips in mind:

1. Be Precise with Instructions

The more detailed your custom GPTs’ instructions and descriptions, the more relevant their answers. Provide context, preferred tone, and any unique constraints upfront.

2. Iteratively Refine Roles

As you use each GPT, take note of what works and what doesn’t. Don’t hesitate to go back and edit their instructions to refine their focus or capabilities.

3. Use Real-World Knowledge

Whenever possible, provide your GPTs with real business documents, product catalogs, or even access to your company FAQ. This transforms them from generic experts to real virtual team members.

4. Leverage for Team Training

Share GPT session transcripts with your human team as ongoing training material. This helps keep everyone aligned and leverages AI feedback for brainstorming and upskilling.

5. Automate Routine Consultations

Once you’ve tuned your GPT advisors, use them to quickly sanity-check marketing campaigns, review website changes, or develop new content ideas—all before you ever roll out changes to the public.

The Big Picture: AI Partners for Every Business Owner

The paradigm shift here isn’t just about faster answers; it’s about fundamentally leveling the field for small businesses. With ChatGPT’s custom GPTs, you can leverage world-class SEO, social, and content expertise on demand, for pennies—and with zero HR overhead or recruiting headaches.

As the technology evolves, we will likely see even deeper integrations: AI experts that read your sales dashboards, trigger reminders when website metrics slip, and proactively suggest upgrades before you even ask.

But you don’t have to wait for tomorrow’s features. You can assemble a virtual advisory board today—right inside your ChatGPT subscription.

Ready to Start? Take These Next Steps

1. List your top three challenges: What expertise would help your business grow?

2. Create a custom GPT for each need: Follow the step-by-step instructions above to launch your own GPT advisors.

3. Iterate and refine: Consult your experts, tailor their instructions, and upload business documents to sharpen their guidance.

4. Apply insights immediately: Treat your new AI advisory board as a living, collaborative resource—there to guide, course-correct, and inspire you anytime.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, solopreneur, or digital marketer, the age of accessible virtual expertise is here—and it’s ready to help you work smarter, faster, and more creatively than ever.

Transform the way you work. Try building your own AI advisory team—and see how powerful it can be to have infinite expertise, on demand, whenever you need it.