What's the first thing I should actually do after signing up for ChatGPT?

The first thing you should do after signing up for ChatGPT is give it context about who you are and what you need, rather than jumping straight into a one-off question. Most beginners open the chat, type something like 'write a blog post about productivity,' and get disappointed by the generic result. A better approach is to spend 60 seconds setting the stage. Tell it things like: 'I run a small marketing agency. My clients are mostly SaaS companies with 10-50 employees. I write in a casual, direct style. When you give me advice, assume I know the basics but not the advanced stuff.' This one-time setup dramatically improves every answer that follows because the AI isn't guessing who it's talking to. For example, without context, asking 'how do I grow my email list?' gets you textbook advice about lead magnets. With context about your specific business and audience, it might suggest a lead magnet idea your exact customers would actually download. I've seen this simple step cut the number of follow-up prompts people need by half. Once you've done that, your second move should be learning how to write effective prompts — not complex ones, just clear ones. For a deeper dive, see our guide on how to write AI prompts. **Related**: How do I write a good ChatGPT prompt? | Why does ChatGPT give me generic answers?