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Compare two photo gigs on real hourly pay
Practice: Giving the right context. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
Two photo gigs landed on the same Saturday. Count every hour each takes (shooting, editing and travel) and subtract out-of-pocket costs. Write exactly 2 numbered lines, each as Gig: ($fee − costs) ÷ total hours = $X/hr, then one unnumbered last line: Take: [gig]. Plain text, under 60 words.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Counting only shooting hours. The AI divides by shoot time, so the wedding looks like $250/hr. Try: Add: "Count shooting, editing and travel hours."
- Forgetting costs. The AI ignores the $40 parking. Try: Add: "Subtract out-of-pocket costs from the fee."
- Not asking to see the work. You can't sanity-check a bare hourly rate. Try: Add a line to copy: "1. Gig A: $2,000 ÷ (8 + 10 + 2) = $100/hr"
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each line: "each line under 16 words."
- Forgetting where it goes. AI loves markdown tables and bold, which show up as clutter in your gig tracker. Try: Add: "Plain text, no bold, headings or tables."
What a strong prompt includes
- Counts all hours
- Subtracts costs
- Asks to show the math
- Sets a word limit
- Asks for plain text
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