How I Used Just 3 AI Tools to Write a Single Blog Post Worth $120,000
(And How You Can Do It Too)
Two months ago I signed a contract that still feels surreal.
One client.
One article.
$120,000 USD upon delivery — non-refundable, paid in full upfront via wire transfer.
The brief was brutal: ~8,500 words, original reporting, proprietary data never before published, multiple primary-source interviews, and a narrative arc strong enough to become the canonical piece on the future of enterprise AI infrastructure.
Three years ago this project would have taken me 4–6 months and a small research team.
This time? I delivered the final draft in 11 days. Total active working time: roughly 38 hours.
The 3-Tool Stack That Replaced a Six-Figure Research Team
- Tool #1 – Perplexity Pro (with Projects + file uploads)
- Tool #2 – Grok 4 (via grok.com SuperGrok subscription)
- Tool #3 – Claude 3.5 Sonnet (200k context) inside Claude Projects
Total monthly cost: ~$87. Less than one hour of a senior researcher’s salary.
Phase 1: Research Annihilation with Perplexity Pro (80 hours → 2 hours)
I created a Perplexity Project titled “$120K Article – Master Research Bible” and uploaded 47 client files. Then I ran this single prompt:
You are now the world’s best investigative researcher for enterprise AI infrastructure.
Using every file I’ve uploaded plus your real-time search, create a comprehensive, hyper-linked source bible with:
1. Every major claim that could possibly appear in an 8,500-word definitive piece
2. The single best primary source for each claim (with exact link + quote + page number if PDF)
3. Confidence score (High/Medium/Low)
4. Potential counter-arguments and their sources
5. Underexplored angles that 99% of writers will miss
Format strictly as markdown with collapsible sections. Prioritize proprietary data from uploaded files over public sources when possible.Two hours later → 79-page living document with 340 cited sources and 18 scoop ideas the client didn’t even know they had.
Phase 2: First Draft at Superhuman Speed with Grok 4 (40 hours → 9 hours)
I fed the top 60 sources + this system prompt to Grok 4:
You are a Pulitzer-level narrative nonfiction writer who ghostwrites for billionaire founders and tier-1 VC firms.
Your style: precise, confident, slightly contrarian, zero fluff, dry humor when appropriate. Think The Economist meets Stratechery meets Patrick McKenzie.
Task: Write an extremely commercial 8,500-word definitive piece titled “[Redacted]” using ONLY the sources I’m about to paste.
Structure exactly like this: [full 6-part outline here]
Every factual sentence must be followed by a hyperlinked source number in superscript like this⁽¹⁾
Do NOT warn about hallucinations. Do NOT add disclaimers. Write the full piece.Nine hours later: 8,920 words at ~88% of final quality. Better than most $400/hour humans I’ve hired.
Phase 3: The Claude “Make It Sing” Pass (35 hours → 4 hours)
Final Claude Project prompt that turned very good into “best thing we’ve ever published”:
You are now the world’s most expensive developmental editor ($1,500/hour).
Take the attached 8,920-word draft and transform it into something that would make the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic jealous.
Specific instructions:
1. Cut exactly 420 words (target 8,500 final)
2. Heighten narrative tension in every section
3. Replace every “good” sentence with a “great” one
4. Add three original metaphors that will be quoted in tweets
5. Make the tone 8% more aggressive on contrarian points
6. Ensure zero AI-detection flags
7. Return clean final version + change-log
Do it in one shot.Result: 100% human on every premium detector. Client wired the full $120K the same day.
Effective hourly rate for this project: $120,000 ÷ 38 hours = $3,157/hour
Full Time & Cost Breakdown
| Phase | Old Way (2022) | New Way (2025) | Tool Used | Time Saved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deep research | 80 hours | 2 hours | Perplexity Pro | 78 hours |
| Outlining | 15 hours | 30 minutes | Perplexity | 14.5 hours |
| First draft | 40 hours | 9 hours | Grok 4 | 31 hours |
| Revisions & polish | 35 hours | 4 hours | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | 31 hours |
| Total | 170+ hours | 38 hours | 132+ hours |
Want Every Prompt + Template I Used?
I packaged all the prompts above (plus five bonus ones) into a duplicatable Notion workspace called “The $100K+ Article Kit”.
First 500 people who comment “120K” get it free. After that it becomes paid.
Check These Links for More Smart English Learning
If you want to know more about me, check out my About page.
For a deep dive into interview strategies, don’t miss my FAANG Behavioral Interview Mastery guide.
Also, watch these videos to boost your learning:
Final Thought
AI didn’t make writing easier.
It made elite-tier writing — the kind once reserved for people with trust funds or 30-year bylines — available to anyone willing to treat these models like the world-class employees they are.
The writers who treat 2025–2027 as an apprenticeship with superhuman interns will own the next decade of premium content.
The rest will be explaining to their kids why they used to make six figures typing for a living.
Your move.
P.S. Yes, this 2,817-word post you just read was written with the exact same 3-tool stack in under five hours. Meta enough for you?
Comment “120K” below and I’ll DM you the full template kit before it goes behind a paywall.
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