🗞️ MidJourney Alternative with 'Content Reference' 💥💪

Welcome to the 12th edition of the AI for E-Commerce newsletter, your trusted resource for actionable AI strategies in eCommerce, especially on Amazon! This is what our subscriber growth looks like 💥🔥! Please don’t forget to spread the word.

So, each issue has 4 sections:

1. Practical AI Use Cases

2. Cool tools that you can start using today to improve your eCommerce business

3. Nerd Bytes for all you nerds out there

4. Voices from AI Thought Leaders in the E-Commerce space

Our focus is on tangible benefits. No technical jargon, no pie-in-the-sky concepts—just straightforward, actionable advice to help you stay competitive and grow your online business. 

Let’s go!

For this first section on AI Practical Use Cases, we are talking about how high performers are leveraging AI to scale and optimize their organizations.

In a viral interview, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman predicts that the traditional 9-to-5 job will be obsolete by 2034. He sees a future where the gig economy dominates, with people juggling multiple freelance roles across various sectors. Hoffman believes advancements in AI will drive this shift, offering more flexibility but potentially less job security.

Since AI is taking over much of the in-the-weeds thinking, OUR JOB as humans now is to focus on familiarizing ourselves with well-known concepts that we can reference in our interactions with AI. These concepts are powerful shortcuts that save time and allow AI to deliver faster, better results. Here’s how you can apply this in your E-Commerce business:

1. Leverage Well-Known Concepts for Faster Results

AI thrives on clear, structured information. By feeding it widely understood concepts like Supply-Chain, TACoS, or Kanban, you give it a strong starting point. These frameworks act as shortcuts—AI already knows the fundamentals, so you don’t need to explain every detail. With a well-mapped process, AI can optimize and scale much faster.

For example, if you're optimizing warehouse logistics, you could ask, “How can we apply Lean principles to minimize waste in our inventory flow?” The AI can immediately recommend process adjustments, reduce redundancies, and suggest ways to improve stock management, using its built-in knowledge of Lean methodology.

2. Use Screenshots to Communicate More Effectively with AI

One lesser-known yet powerful trick is using screenshots to communicate with AI. AI can actually read the details within images, such as text, charts, or even tables. This can save time and minimize back-and-forth when you’re trying to convey something complex, like a data report or a specific error message from a tool you’re using. Instead of manually typing everything out, simply upload a screenshot, and AI can analyze it to provide relevant feedback or solutions.

For example, let’s say you’re troubleshooting an issue with your PPC data. Instead of explaining all the data metrics manually, you can upload a screenshot of the dashboard, and the AI can quickly identify any trends or outliers based on the data it reads. This approach not only enhances communication but also ensures that AI has all the visual context it needs to offer more accurate and effective solutions.

3. Document Everything—And Get the Team Involved

To get the most out of AI, you need to document your processes and workflows in detail. This isn’t just a one-person job—your team should be involved. Why? Because the more perspectives AI has access to, the better it will perform. High performers use AI to fine-tune their operations, but they make sure that the AI is working with accurate, well-documented information.

For instance, if you’re introducing a new product line, document every stage—from supplier agreements to shipping times. Feed this information into your AI system, and it can help predict potential bottlenecks or delays, optimize reorder points, and ensure smoother integration of new products into your supply chain.

4. Don’t Rely on Long Chats — Start Fresh with the Right Anchors

Due to the limited context window of any chat, you will notice that after a bit of conversation, ChatGPT loses focus and starts hallucinating. What I have learned is that I am better off having a Google Document open in parallel where I keep transferring the most important aspects of any chat. Once a conversation gets too long (especially when I am trying to generate code—like AppScript or SQL), I prefer now to start a new chat, and paste in the entire contents of my Google Doc to anchor the conversation with documented truths.

For instance, instead of asking an AI assistant to improve a workflow in the middle of a complex conversation, start a new chat and feed in your most recent performance metrics or pain points. “Here are the latest bottlenecks in our production line—can you optimize this using Kanban?” You’ll get far better results than if you’d simply carried on with an old thread. By grounding each new request with clean, structured data, you prevent confusion and keep AI working efficiently.

We are using all of the above actively at PPC Ninja!

For the Cool Tools section today, we are talking about a cool alternative to MidJourney called Leonardo AI that has been around for a while, but has been rapidly expanding it’s settings and capabilities.

I love that Leonardo AI it allows you to upload your own images as “content reference” and transform them with an AI prompt. In this case, the AI detects the shape of the object automatically and let’s you reimagine it. Let’s see an example.

These are paintable planters. Homemakers can design them any way they like to fit into their decor. For your A+ content or posts, you could provide some suggestive imagery that sparks the shopper’s imagination. Most people make a buying decision based on feelings.

Since these are paintable planters, let’s transform the ultra white look into something more warm and cozy. Here’s my prompt: Exotic Mexican prints and patterns, vibrant water colors, non-glazed.

And Voila! I was shocked and amazed at how well the objects were retained but reimagined.

There’s a lot more you can do with Leonardo AI including style reference, consistent characters and creative image upscaling.

Watch this video to learn more about how you can use Leonardo AI to transform images magically.

I pay $12 a month for these features. Totally worth it!

In this week's Nerd Bytes section, I want to highlight the new kid on the block: A model named ChatGPT4-o1.

GPT-4o1's standout feature is its ability to "think" independently, allowing it to handle complex tasks and adapt to evolving situations without constant user input. It excels at retaining context over long conversations, solving problems autonomously, and analyzing data in real-time to provide actionable insights. Currently, you have access to 30 messages a week with OpenAI o1-preview and 50 messages a week with OpenAI o1-mini to start.

Here are a few ways GPT-4o1 is seriously wowing people:

• Real-Time Image Identification: One of the standout moments was when GPT-4o1 correctly identified a missile wreckage from a photo and pinned it to North Korea. It didn’t just stop at naming the origin but backed it up with details about the design and materials. Users were left amazed at how sharp its visual recognition and reasoning capabilities are—it's like AI with a detective brain.

• Visual Creation and Stable Diffusion: GPT-4o1's ability to create visual content from a simple description is blowing minds. Whether it's turning photos into fun caricatures or nailing down specific art styles, users have been stunned by the accuracy and creativity of the results, especially for an early-stage feature. This isn’t just a small tweak in AI; it’s a leap in how we interact with and generate art.

• Human-like Conversations: GPT-4o1's conversational abilities are next level. It doesn’t just "talk"; it feels real—bringing empathy, humor, and subtle emotions into the mix. People preparing for interviews with GPT-4o1 have been shocked at how much it feels like they’re talking to an actual person. It’s like having a personal assistant who gets you—only it’s an AI.

• Data Analysis and Visualization: Users are absolutely loving how GPT-4o1 can take large, messy data sets (like sales or spreadsheets) and turn them into polished visual reports, charts, and insights in no time. What used to be time-consuming grunt work for businesses is now fast and intuitive—just let GPT-4o1 handle it.

• AI Talking to AI: One of the more mind-blowing experiments had two GPT-4o1 systems talking to each other, and the result? A surprisingly smooth and coherent dialogue—at one point, they even started singing! It’s wild to think about where this could go as AI-to-AI interactions evolve.

These moments aren’t just cool—they’re reshaping how we think about AI in everything from business to creative arts. GPT-4o1 is showing us what’s possible, and it’s only the beginning.

For the Thought leader section this week we asked our friend Chad Rubin from Profasee about the future of AI in E-Commerce and this is what he had to say:

"The search landscape is transforming at breakneck speed, driven by AI's growing influence. Gone are the days when Google reigned supreme—now, platforms like Perplexity and Grok (X) are redefining precision in search with AI-driven insights.

I’ve shifted to using Perplexity for social media deep-dives and Grok for community feedback—both deliver astounding accuracy. Check out this demo to see it in action: Video Demo

It’s crucial your brand thrives in this AI-centric era. Recently discovered HubSpot’s FREE AI Search Grader tool to measure your brand's visibility and discover how to boost your presence.

At Profasee, we're leveraging AI to transform how Amazon brands approach pricing, aligning customer willingness to pay with the value offered on the marketplace, boosting profits by an average of 10-15%. If you're not using AI pricing strategies, you're not just leaving money on the table—you're handing it to your competition.”