"Ever wondered what a day in the life of a plumber looks like?"
That line opened 31 of the 52 posts in Tallow Creek Plumbing's (a made-up 11-person plumbing shop) first staff posting contest. Dee, the owner, ran it for one reason: she needs another licensed tech, and job ads were getting her nobody.
So she copied a media founder's play: an AI writing tool for everyone, a month-long posting contest and a prize pool. She called it the Wrench Cup.
AI Prompts, Reviewed takes one prompt or workflow from How I AI, Claire Vo's show where guests share their screens and walk through how they really use AI. We run it on a small-business job, score it, and tell you what we'd change.
Credit: Based on "Launch an AI-Powered Employee Advocacy Program to Boost Brand Reach," a workflow from How I AI (hosted by Claire Vo, written up by the ChatPRD team), shown by Alex Lieberman (co-founder of Morning Brew; the episode page also ties him to Tenex) in the episode "How I AI: Alex Lieberman's 6-Step Claude Workflow to Beat AI Slop." Read the original workflow on How I AI. Watch the full episode. Guest site: none listed on the How I AI workflow page.
What the original does
Alex turns employee posting into a supported team program. The workflow runs in 5 steps:
- Give everyone an AI tool that drafts LinkedIn posts from their own notes about a recent project.
- Launch a time-boxed challenge with a name, dates and a clear announcement.
- Score it simply: 10 points for a post, 3 points for engaging with a teammate's post.
- Set a prize pool with weekly games and editor's picks, so people with big followings don't win by default.
- Open a team channel where people share posts, ask for feedback and cheer each other on.
The runbook notes hold the line we'd tape to the monitor: "Require one personal observation or example and prohibit shared final copy." Dee skipped it.
The test
Everything here is made up.
Run 1, the original as written: Eight of Dee's 11 people joined. Each got the same ghostwriter prompt: strong hook, project, outcome, end with a question. The prize pool was $600 in this example, $400 for first and $200 for second.
After 4 weeks, the team had 52 posts. Here is what the scoreboard showed:
- Kyle won with 14 posts and 60 comments on coworkers' posts. That is 14 x 10 = 140 plus 60 x 3 = 180, or 320 points.
- Rosa finished 6th with 3 posts and 4 comments: 30 + 12 = 42 points.
- Thirty-one posts opened with the same "day in the life" question, because everyone Fed the same prompt similar notes.
- Only 9 posts said in plain words that the writer works at Tallow Creek. None mentioned the prize.
The shop got exactly one job applicant all month. She named the post that made her apply: Rosa's photo of a frozen pipe she thawed at 6 AM in a crawl space, with one line about what she checks first.
That is $600 for 1 applicant, or $600 per applicant, and the person who earned it came in 6th.
A leaderboard counts what you tell it to count.
The rerun
Run 2: same shop, our prompt below, same $600.
The AI first asked what Dee wanted from the month. Answer: applicants for a licensed tech role. So it built the scoring around that goal.
- Optional, and capped: no more than 2 posts a week, so nobody spams to win.
- One real detail per post: something only the writer saw that week, or the post scores zero.
- Engagement capped: comment points stop at 5 a week, so the most anyone can earn that way in 4 weeks is 5 x 3 x 4 = 60 points.
- Weekly editor's pick: 25 points and $100, judged by Dee on usefulness. Four weeks of picks is $400, plus a $200 grand prize, for the same $600.
- Plain disclosure: every post says "I work at Tallow Creek Plumbing" and mentions the team contest.
That last rule is not decoration. The FTC's endorsement guides list the possibility of winning a prize as a connection that may need disclosing, and its FAQ says "#employee" on its own may not be understood. See 16 CFR 255.5 on eCFR and the FTC's endorsement guides FAQ. This is not legal advice, so check your own posts against them.
Seven people joined month 2. They posted 19 times, and no 2 posts shared an opening line. Kyle scored 6 x 10 = 60 plus the capped 60, or 120. Rosa scored 50 for 5 posts, 24 for 8 comments and 50 for 2 editor's picks: 124 points, and first place.
Three applicants named a staff post when they applied. That is $600 / 3 = $200 per applicant.
Verdict: 7/10
Strengths: A named, time-boxed program with a feedback channel is the right instinct. Weekly editor's picks keep big accounts from winning by default, and the runbook already names the 2 failures we hit.
Weakness: The scoring rewards volume. Ten points a post and 3 a comment is how Kyle won. The ghostwriter prompt gives everyone the same template, so the feed fills with the same hook. And while the page lists disclosure guidance under what you need, no step or prompt builds it in, even though a prize pool creates the very connection the FTC guides talk about.
Founder tweak: Pick one business goal first, like applicants or booked jobs. Cap posts and comment points, require one detail only the writer saw, judge editor's picks on that goal, and put "I work at" in every post.
Copy the MCAFax version
This is our own rewrite, not the original. Copy the original from Alex Lieberman on How I AI.
I own [business type] with [number] people. I want a 4-week staff posting program that helps with ONE goal: [applicants for a role / booked jobs / local awareness].
Do not write any posts yet.
PART 1. Goal and rules.
Ask me what success looks like at the end of 4 weeks and how I will count it.
Then write rules: participation is optional, max [2] posts per person per week, no customer names, faces or addresses without written permission, and no prices or promises I haven't approved.
PART 2. Scoring that rewards quality.
Points for a post only if it includes one specific detail the writer saw or did that week.
Cap comment points at [5] per person per week.
Add a weekly editor's pick worth more than any single post, judged on my goal, not on follower counts.
Split my prize budget of $[amount] between weekly picks and one grand prize. Show the math.
PART 3. A drafting helper for each person.
Write a short prompt my team can use: it asks them 3 questions about their week, then drafts a post in their words using their answers.
It must never reuse an opening line from another post, never invent facts, and always include: "I work at [business name]" and a mention of the team contest.
PART 4. Launch kit.
Write a short, friendly announcement with dates, rules, scoring and prizes.
Give me a one-page weekly tracker: posts, points, editor's pick and how many people came in through a post.
Remind me to check every post for the disclosure line before I award points.
Paste into any AI chat, and have a human check every post before it scores.
Try this week
- Pick the one goal the contest serves and how you'll count it.
- Rewrite the scoring so a post without a real detail scores zero.
- Cap posts and comment points, then split the prize money into weekly picks.
- Add "I work at" plus the contest mention to every post before it scores.
- Give your team a better drafting start with our social media content assistant prompt, and when applicants arrive, sort them with the job application screening prompt.
More owner prompts: browse the MCAFax prompt library.
