Use this skill when the user is a domain expert building for their own industry and wants to leverage their professional expertise as a competitive advantage. Also use when the user mentions 'I'm a [profession] building for [same profession],' 'I know my industry,' 'I have connections in my field,' 'how do I reach other [professionals],' or 'industry-specific marketing.' Covers using professional networks for sales, authority content, industry distribution channels, and positioning 'built by a practitioner' as a moat.
You spent 20 years becoming an expert. That expertise is your unfair advantage — no VC-backed team can out-understand a practitioner. This skill helps you turn your professional knowledge, network, and credibility into distribution, content, and positioning that competitors can't copy.
| Advantage | What It Means | How to Use It |
|---|---|---|
| You ARE the customer | You know the pain firsthand | Your experience is your product spec and your marketing copy |
| Professional network | You know 50-500 people in your industry | Warm outreach, beta testers, first customers, referral partners |
| Industry credibility | Peers trust a practitioner over a tech company | "Built by a [role]" positioning, authority content, conference speaking |
| Domain vocabulary | You speak the language | Copy that resonates, SEO keywords nobody outside the industry would know |
| Workflow knowledge | You know the real process, not the textbook version | Build for how the job actually works, not how it's supposed to work |
Forget generic startup advice about Twitter threads and Product Hunt. Your customers are somewhere specific.
Tell AI:
I'm a [profession] building a SaaS tool for other [professionals].
Help me identify where [professionals] actually spend time and make buying decisions:
1. Professional associations and organizations (national, state/regional, local)
2. Industry conferences and trade shows (annual, regional)
3. Trade publications and newsletters (online, print)
4. Online communities (forums, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Slack/Discord)
5. Continuing education / certification programs
6. Industry-specific software review sites or directories
7. Referral networks and peer groups (masterminds, study groups, local meetups)
For each, tell me:
- How to get in front of this audience (speak, sponsor, contribute, advertise)
- What it costs (free, cheap, expensive)
- Expected timeline to results
Start with ONE channel. Master it before adding another.
| Priority | Channel | Why | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Your personal network | Warmest leads, fastest feedback, free | Low |
| 2nd | Professional association | Concentrated audience, built-in credibility | Medium |
| 3rd | Industry online community | Scale beyond your network, free | Medium |
| 4th | Trade publication/newsletter | Authority positioning, broad reach | Medium |
| 5th | Conference speaking | Highest credibility, face-to-face | High |
You don't need to "do sales." You need to tell your peers about the thing you built to solve the problem they all have.
Week 1-2: Inner Circle (10-20 people)
Week 3-4: Extended Network (50-100 people)
Month 2+: Community Outreach
Tell AI:
Write outreach messages for my SaaS product:
- I'm a [profession] who built [product] to solve [pain]
- Target: other [professionals] in my network
Write 3 versions:
1. Personal message to a close colleague (informal, asking for feedback)
2. LinkedIn message to a professional connection (warm but professional)
3. Post for an industry online community (value-first, not salesy)
Use the language [professionals] actually use. No startup jargon.
Don't say "excited to announce" or "revolutionize." Say what it does and why it matters.
Generic content marketing advice doesn't apply to you. You can write things no content marketer could because you've lived it.
| Content Type | Example | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
| "I did X wrong for 10 years" | "Why I stopped [common practice] after losing $50K" | Credibility through vulnerability |
| Industry myth-busting | "3 things every [role] gets wrong about [topic]" | Only an insider can call this out |
| Behind-the-scenes workflow | "How I actually handle [complex task] (not how the textbook says)" | Real-world > theory |
| Tool/process comparison | "I tried 5 [category] tools. Here's what actually works." | Peer recommendations convert |
| Regulatory/compliance clarity | "What [new regulation] actually means for your practice" | Expertise as a service |
Tell AI:
I'm a [profession] with [X] years of experience building a SaaS for [audience].
Help me create 5 content pieces that leverage my domain expertise:
Topics I know deeply:
- [Topic 1 — something you have strong opinions about]
- [Topic 2 — a common mistake in your field]
- [Topic 3 — something that recently changed in your industry]
For each content piece:
- Title (specific, not clickbait)
- Platform (where my audience will see it — industry publication, LinkedIn, forum)
- Key insight only a practitioner would know
- Natural mention of my product (if relevant, or skip it)
Write in the voice of an experienced [professional] sharing with peers — not a marketer.
Your content goes where your audience already reads — not where startups post:
When a dentist evaluates two scheduling tools:
Tool B wins on trust every time. The practitioner understands the specific workflow, the specific pain points, the specific edge cases.
On your landing page:
In conversations:
In content:
Tell AI:
Write homepage copy for my SaaS product:
- I'm a [profession] with [X] years of experience
- I built [product] because [specific pain I experienced]
- It solves [pain] for other [professionals]
- Key result: [specific outcome — hours saved, errors prevented, revenue recovered]
Position this as "built by a practitioner, for practitioners."
Use the language [professionals] use with each other — not marketing speak.
The reader should think "this person gets it" within 5 seconds.
Your deepest risk: you know every edge case from 20 years of experience, so you want to handle all of them in v1. Don't.
You've seen the rare scenario 50 times. Your users have seen it twice. They don't need it on day one.
Your workflow is optimized. Theirs isn't. Build for the 80% workflow, not your power-user workflow.
You want perfection. Your users want "better than what I'm doing now" — which is a much lower bar than you think.
See prioritize skill for frameworks to cut scope ruthlessly.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Marketing like a tech startup (Product Hunt, HN) | Market where your profession hangs out — associations, trade pubs, peer groups |
| Cold outreach to strangers | Start with your professional network. You already have warm leads. |
| Generic landing page copy | Use industry-specific language and pain points only an insider would know |
| Hiding your practitioner background | Lead with it. "Built by a [role]" is your strongest positioning. |
| Building every feature you'd personally want | Build for the 80% use case. Your power-user needs can come in v3. |
| Writing content like a marketer | Write like a peer sharing advice. Your credibility is in your experience, not your copywriting. |