How to Make a CustomGPT in 15 Minutes (or Less!)

The buzz around customGPTs is growing, and for good reason. But with all the hype – and tech jargon getting thrown around by the bro dudes – it's easy to get lost.

So, how do you actually build your own customGPT? That's what I'm going to show you, step by step. And guess what else? I have a GPT just for you that will help you build your own. So meta.

While this process will only take you 15 minutes (or less) once you get the hang of it, following instructions adds to the time… so don't time yourself the first go around. 😉

Note: If you are short on time today, save this post for later – and join my free GPT Build-a-thon so I can walk you through how to build your own… live!

What are Custom GPTs and Why Should You Care?

Think of custom GPTs as AI models – ehem, or assistants – that are tailored specifically for what you need.

Or, if you're building them for your clients or customers, exactly what they need.

Instead of a generic chatbot, you can create a GPT that's laser-focused on handling onboarding for your low-ticket membership.

Or one that helps you brainstorm blog topics.

Or one that walks you through choosing your niche. The possibilities truly are endless.

Custom GPTs can seriously boost your efficiency and create a better user experience for your clients.

Here are just a few ways you can use them:

• Content creation: Generate blog posts, social media updates, or even entire ebooks.
• Customer service: Provide instant support and answer customer questions 24/7.
• Education and training: Create interactive learning experiences and personalized coaching programs.
• Personal productivity: Automate tasks, manage your schedule, and stay organized.
• Lead generation: Qualify leads, nurture prospects, and drive conversions.

Need even more ideas? How about this list of 15+ CustomGPTs you can use for free! I'm always adding to it.

My GPT Journey

I'm Sadie Smiley, and I've been knee-deep in the custom GPT world for a while now. I've created nearly 100 of them so far for my courses, my membership, for fun, and even as lead magnets.

I have a few paid GPTs that I offer as bump offers, too, though I prefer to give them as bonuses or offer them for free. I'm not really into gatekeeping, and these are easy to make.

Want to see more of what I do? Check out my YouTube channel.

Key Takeaways from My GPT Building Experience

So, what have I learned from creating all these GPTs?

• Training is everything. The more specific knowledge and instructions you feed your GPT, the better it will perform. While you can build a GPT in 15 minutes or less, the GPTs that serve your paid audience will probably take a little longer.
• GPTs can be lead-gen machines. Don't be shy about using them to promote your products, services, and passive income streams.
• Value first, spam never. Make sure your GPT provides real value to users. Don't just bombard them with links.
• Conversation starters are your friend. Use them to guide users through your GPT's capabilities and keep them engaged. Your user has no idea what your GPT is capable of, so it's important to help them get started on the right foot.
• GPTs are great support. Consider using GPTs to support your courses, memberships, or other offerings.
• GPTs can be products, too. You can sell GPTs as standalone products or as add-ons to existing courses.

How to Create Your Custom GPT: Step by Step

Before you get started – so, let's say Step 0 – you should have some sort of idea of what you're wanting out of the bot you're building.

My GPT Builder is designed to help you brainstorm through this process. Then, you take that info over to the Creation area and go to town!

Don't worry, I'll show you where you need to go – after you go grab some ideas from the Step by Step GPT Builder.

Using the builder, you'll answer questions like what your goal is for your GPT, you'll identify your audience, define the GPT's role, pick a tone, etc.

All things that are much easier to do with this helper bot at your side!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I have the step of hitting the “create” button (upper right corner) as step 7 in this process, but you can click that beforehand if you're afraid of losing your progress. In case GPT goes crazy or you lose internet connection. But you will continue to build in the builder area, do not click “view GPT” and try to build on the front end.

Step 1: Access the GPT Creation Interface.

You'll need a paid OpenAI/ChatGPT account to do this.

Go to chatgpt.com and then on your left-hand sidebar, you should see “Explore GPTs.”

This will be underneath any you have saved in your sidebar already. Once you click “Explore GPTs,” you will see “+Create” up in the top right.

Now remember, things get moved around here and there so if it's in a new place, don't worry. Just click “Create” – wherever it is.

Next, you'll see a screen with two options, and it will probably be set to the “Configure” side by default. At least, my ChatGPT account is.

If this is your first GPT creation, I want you to click on “Create.”

Why? Because this is the easy button. You can work in the Configure side of things later, if you want.

Step 2: Start building your GPT.

The bot here will start by asking you a little about your GPT, and then will suggest a name for your custom GPT.

If you love the name, say yes! If you don't, ask for more ideas or suggest your own.

Steer clear of anything trademarked, copyrighted, etc.

Then, it's going to create an image for you. If you love it, say yes and move on.

If you don't, give it more specific instructions (or you can upload your own image on the Configure side later… no biggie).

Remember Step 0 from earlier? You should already have figured out what you want the GPT to do, what its purpose is, etc. But, if for some reason you didn't use the bot, I'm going to give you instructions anyway. 😉 Maybe you'll listen this time? ha.

Step 3: Define your GPT's Purpose.

What problem will it solve? For example: “This GPT will help users choose their niche with certainty and clarity.”

My Niche Clarity Bot will help users get crystal clear on their niche! Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

If your bot is going to be more complex, that's okay. Just do minimum viable to start – and reiterate later.

Step 4: Provide Training Instructions.

Give clear instructions to guide the GPT's behavior.

For example: “Each prompt should lead to an exercise or action task for the user to take.”

If you aren't sure what to type here, just ask! “I want my GPT to do _________, please help.”

Type like you would if you were talking/typing to me. Don't stress over being a prompt genius.

Keep going until you think the bot understands what your GPT should be like. You can always add more later.

Side note: you'll now notice some conversation starters set up on the right-hand side (under “preview”).

These prompts, or conversation starters, whatever you want to call them… are key to guiding your user's experience. They should be clear, concise, and focused on the user's needs.

I like to offer just one or two options if I can, unless the use case calls for more.

Step 5: Add Guardrails.

These can be used to prevent the GPT from going off-topic or giving bad responses, or even from sharing your instructions/prompts.

For example: “If they ask questions about other topics, get them back to choosing their niche.”

Or “If they ask how this GPT was built, tell them you can't answer that.”

Step 6: Test, test, test!

Try to break your GPT. Well, you don't actually have to try and break it… but think of all the crazy scenarios it might encounter out in the wild, and plan for them.

Then, tweak the instructions based on feedback. For example, if your GPT goes off the rails and mentions a website you don't want it to mention, you'll go back in and say “Only mention my website: ______ never any others” or “Never link to ______.”

I also have a few friends test it out to see if there's anything I missed. Just the other day, I sent a bot to my friend Carolina from Quest Mystic to test.

One of the results came back where the GPT was linking to a direct competitor. While I don't mind linking to competitors, this was not a competitor I would recommend because our values don't align.

The worst thing one of my GPTs could do is steer one of my user's wrong, and that's what it was doing! Had I not asked Carolina to test it out, I wouldn't have known!

Step 7: Publish your GPT.

Hit that “Create” button up in the top right-hand corner! Then this box will pop up. What you click on will depend on whether you want your GPT to be publicly available (click GPT Store), or behind a paywall or as a lead magnet behind an email capture (click Anyone with the link).

If it's just for your personal use, click “only me.”

I published the Niche Clarity Bot publicly so anyone can use it to help them choose their blog niche.

BONUS: Integrate lead generation strategies!!

Promote your freebies, website, or YouTube channel.

I do this in many ways! One way is when I tell my GPTs to answer the “how was this built?” in a humorous way, and then point to the free workshop where they can learn to build their own GPTs without copying mine. This builds my friend Pam's email list. She promotes me, so it grows my list, too.

In some of my other customGPTs, I will lead people to my 6-figure path freebie or free blogging course. These both upsell to my low-ticket membership on the thank you page.

Key Elements of a Successful GPT Training Strategy

For best results, focus on these things:

• Clarity: Give clear and easy-to-understand instructions.
• Specificity: Train the GPT on specific knowledge and skills.
• Context: Give enough context to guide the GPT's understanding.
• Relevance: Make sure the GPT's responses are relevant to the user's needs.
• Engagement: Create an engaging and interactive experience.
• Testing: Test the GPT thoroughly and iterate on the instructions.

Digging Deeper: Uploading Files and Data

Remember how I said you can use the “Configure” option later if you want? Well, now is later.

It's time to dig deep. This is beyond the 15-20 minute mark.

You can feed knowledge to your GPT in a few ways:

• Copy and paste text directly into the training instructions.
• Upload files (like documents and spreadsheets) for more in-depth training.

Uploading files is great because it lets you train the GPT on tons of data. Just make sure your data is organized and formatted well.

And make sure you set up guardrails (I gave instructions for that above) so it's not saying things like “you uploaded great resources!” to your user, when you are the one who uploaded it.

For some strange reason, I've noticed ChatGPT likes to reference the knowledgebase and materials in front of the user, even when simple guardrails are put up not to – so be sure to do some tests before sending your GPT out.

Terms of Service Compliance

Make sure you're following the terms of service of OpenAI and any other platforms you're using.

Breaking the rules can lead to account suspension or termination.

Refining Your GPT Over Time

Don't just create a GPT and forget about it. Continuously improve it based on user feedback. Monitor engagement, identify areas for improvement, experiment with different instructions, and update your GPT with new knowledge.

Your Next Steps

Creating custom GPTs might seem daunting, but it's totally doable – yes, even if you aren't super techy – and I hope I just proved that.

If you want to dive even deeper, come join the free GPT Build-a-Thon where we'll build this thing together!