profile

Letters From the Desk of Bryan Collins

I'm a best-selling author from Ireland and I can help you become a pro creator.

Do you want to grow a profitable content business? If so, join 25,000 readers. I share daily insights about personal brand building, writing online and growing a profitable business. It's for creators, coaches and business owners.

PostsLinksProducts
A person holding a cell phone in their hand
Featured Post

The weird way I generate content ideas

I take our youngest son to hurling and GAA football training on Saturday mornings at the local GAA club. For my American readers, hurling is an Irish sport, like stick and ball. We’re from the same town as Paul Mescal. (Google “Paul Mescal GAA”) Because I’m in the midst of a mid-life crisis, I’m also training for a long-distance triathlon in Roth, Germany, next July. So I’ll go for a two-hour run in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. Or I’ll spend an hour or two stuck on a turbo trainer while...

about 22 hours ago • 2 min read
a phone sitting on top of a laptop computer

"Great walk bro!" Nothing grinds my gears more than growth gurus preaching generic advice like "Comment for an hour every day and you'll grow your account." Do that, and you'll spend an afternoon commenting on post after post about daily walks! I don't have time for that. I'll wager you don't either. A few days ago, I wrote about a system I created to attract high-quality leads on LinkedIn. This system is particularly effective for coaches, consultants, and business owners. The LinkedIn...

2 days ago • 1 min read
A man with a beard using a laptop

I’ve worked with marketers who hid behind complicated words and terminology for years. They mistakenly believe this type of language conveys knowledge and expertise. The problem? Complex writing is like a maze - readers often give up before finding the exit. (The only exceptions are literary fiction and academic writing.) Savvy writers and content creators know people’s attention spans are strapped. Most of them scan while bored at work or waiting for a train. They’re not just reading. So,...

3 days ago • 1 min read
a black and green logo on a black background

You don’t need to write multi-thousand-word prompts to get a usable output from ChatGPT. Most creators overcomplicate writing AI prompts. They write paragraphs of instructions and still get mediocre outputs. A good ChatGPT prompt has four parts, and you can cover them in a few sentences. First, describe the Persona. This is where you tell the AI tool who it is. “You’re a master storyteller” or “You’re Steve Jobs.” This puts GPT in the right mindset. Next comes the Task. Be specific about what...

4 days ago • 1 min read
A person sitting at a desk using a laptop computer

Writing and creating online has never been easier. I’m a big tools guy. Here are 15 tools any creator can use to get started: 1) SEMRush or AHREFS—for keyword research 2) ChatGPT or Claude—for content ideation 3) Canva—for creating images quickly and easily 4) Grammarly—as an AI-powered writing assistant. 5) Hemingway App—for improving the readability of a piece of writing 6) Ulysses or IA Writer—for writing and formatting articles for the web 7) Workflowy—for creating outlines. Tutorial here...

5 days ago • 1 min read

Hey Reader, I’m working on something for you and want to make sure it’s exactly what you need. Can you take 10 seconds to answer this quick poll? 👇 Which product would you be most interested in? Newsletter Monetization Playbook – How to get sponsors, ads, and recurring revenue from your email list. Content Repurposing and Strategy System – A step-by-step system to turn one piece of content into multiple high-performing formats across platforms. Advanced LinkedIn for B2B Leads – A proven...

6 days ago • 1 min read
white and black typewriter on white table

I’ve spent over a decade creating content. I come across bad advice and lies about this type of work all the time. The first biggest lie about creating content? “You need a great idea before you start writing.” Here’s the truth: Your first piece of content, whether it’s an email or a post, will flop. And so will your tenth. Your hundredth post might pop off, though. But you’ll never write a great post, if you don’t publish lots of bad ones first. So write and press publish. The second biggest...

7 days ago • 2 min read
A person typing on a keyboard at a desk

I’m convinced Substack will be huge for creators in 2025. As I write this, the platform is spending $20 million to court TikTok users to migrate. Big-name authors and creators, including John Cleese and Hanif Kureishi, regularly write on the platform. I’ve also talked to many former journalists and creators who write on it and earn money from it. If you haven’t been writing on Substack regularly yet, let me share a few tactics for organically growing your publication. First, let’s discuss...

8 days ago • 2 min read

A few days ago, I invited you to join a beta program: AI Prompt Writing Studio In case you missed it, it’s an email course I’m writing for creators who want to use AI. Inside AI Prompt Writing Studio, you’ll learn:- How to make AI your precision execution tool while you focus on big ideas- Templates that turn one authentic story into a week’s worth of content- Systems to publish faster and scale your business without hiring- Ways to stand out when everyone else’s AI content sounds the same AI...

9 days ago • 1 min read
A cell phone that is lit up in the dark

I spent last weekend reading Google’s massive guide to prompt engineering…. so you don’t have to. One thing stood out: a good prompt needs four different parts, not just one. According to Google, when using Gemini (or any AI tool), your prompts should include a persona, task, context, and format.Let me break this down. First, tell the AI who you are or who you’d like it to be. That’s the persona part. For the task, describe exactly what you want the AI to do. The more specific you are here,...

10 days ago • 2 min read