Build an AI‑Powered Content Creation Workflow: Distill Experts, Master a Niche in 7 Days, and Let AI Do the Heavy Lifting

First principle – Distill an expert into a searchable knowledge base

Goal: replace reading an expert’s output with a conversational interface.

1.1 Choose an expert

Methodology is publicly available (e.g., blog, YouTube, podcast).

High content density – more reusable actions per 30 minutes.

Path is transferable – you can emulate the work.

1.2 Build a “distillation material pack” in Obsidian

📁 20_People/
└── Author/
    ├── 00_档案.md            # Person card
    ├── Sources/               # One .md per original piece
    │   ├── 2026-04-01-Title.md
    │   └── …
    └── Distilled/             # Extracted claims, quotes, topic mapping

Supported source types: public articles (exported as .md), long‑form blogs, YouTube/podcast transcripts (one file per episode), public slide decks. Minimum 20 source items; fewer increases hallucination risk.

1.3 Standard question chain (SOP)

Use Claude, Cursor, or an Obsidian Copilot‑style plugin. Run six prompts, writing each answer into the corresponding file under Distilled/. Example prompt:

Below are materials from the author's Sources folder.
Based only on these, list the top 10 core claims, each with 2‑3 source references and a note on how it differs from common views.

After the chain produce a distilled profile containing:

Top 10 claims

Top 5 counter‑intuitive viewpoints

3 controversial or incomplete topics

10 actionable article ideas

Gate: the profile must include at least three personal additions/rebuttals; otherwise it is considered incomplete.

Second principle – Become a niche specialist in one week

Goal: focus on a narrow, fast‑moving, sustainable niche rather than competing on general intelligence.

2.1 Five‑question positioning framework

Who exactly is the target domain?

What daily pain points does this audience face?

What unique perspective can you offer (experience, data, translation, integration)?

Why would the audience follow you instead of a larger account?

Can you commit to 90 days without changing direction?

Gate: if three answers are unclear, continue refining the positioning.

2.2 7‑day vertical‑expert schedule

Day 1 – Distill one niche expert; produce the first‑sentence distilled profile.

Day 2 – Identify 10 real pain points (source from comments, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu).

Day 3 – Analyze 5 competitor hits; create a breakdown table (hook, structure, CTA).

Day 4 – Define positioning and generate 30 topic ideas; write a positioning whitepaper.

Day 5 – Write the first flagship article (include methodology); draft 1.

Day 6 – AI‑score the draft and iterate to a score ≥ 9; save final draft in 40_Drafts.

Day 7 – Publish, collect feedback, write a post‑mortem weekly recap.

2.3 Actions to build a cognitive barrier

Perform a “dirty” task big accounts avoid (data collection, template creation, comparative testing).

Publish a claim you are willing to sign, even if disputed.

Maintain a unique recurring column (e.g., “Weekly AI Tool Ledger” or “Pitfall Log”).

Third principle – Allocate 50 % of work time to AI

Goal: let Claude + Obsidian serve as a topic radar and second brain.

3.1 Daily AI time structure

Example: 4 hours of focused work, of which 2 hours are AI‑assisted.

3.2 Claude prompt suite (topic radar)

Radar 1 – Hotspot alignment : “Based on my niche ‘XX’, list three trending topics from the past 48 hours, rating relevance and feasibility (1‑10).”

Radar 2 – Pain‑point mining : “For audience ‘XX’, enumerate five rising pain points on Xiaohongshu/Zhihu/Twitter, each with original quote, search‑term suggestion, and content angle.”

Radar 3 – Anti‑consensus : “From the mainstream view of niche ‘XX’ over the past week, give three evidence‑backed counter‑perspectives and identify who benefits.”

Rule: AI only supplies leads; the user decides what to publish.

3.3 Obsidian as a second brain – minimal folder structure

📁 Vault
├── 00_Inbox/            # Raw ideas, unsorted
├── 10_Daily/            # Daily journal (AI usage + time saved)
├── 20_People/           # Distilled expert profiles
├── 30_Topics/           # Topic pool (radar output + inbox extraction)
├── 40_Drafts/           # Drafts
├── 50_Published/        # Published pieces with metrics
└── 90_SOP/              # SOPs, including this guide

Essential habits:

Store every AI conversation in 00_Inbox and organize weekly.

Back‑fill each published article with readership, shares, and follower‑change data.

Weekly move curated items from Inbox → Topics to solidify the knowledge barrier.

3.4 Daily “AI ledger” (30 min)

At day‑end note:

Three things AI did for you.

Estimated time saved.

Any AI mistake or hallucination (the most valuable insight).

After 30 days the ledger forms a personal AI workflow benchmark that is hard to copy.

Integrated 7‑day timeline

Day 1 – Select one expert, create 20_People/Name/Sources; apply the 5‑question positioning; set up vault if missing.

Day 2 – Run the six‑step question chain; list 10 genuine pain points; activate radar prompts.

Day 3 – Output distilled profile v1; deconstruct 5 competitor hits; start AI ledger.

Day 4 – Add three personal rebuttals; complete positioning whitepaper; save three prompts as commands.

Day 5 – Draft first flagship article; Claude draft + manual edit.

Day 6 – Iterate to ≥ 9 using AI scoring; save final draft to 40_Drafts.

Day 7 – Publish, collect first feedback, write weekly recap and clean up inbox.

Common pitfalls and mitigations

Distillation becomes hoarding – source folders accumulate without extraction. Mitigation: distill one expert at a time, complete the six‑step chain, then move on.

Niche is too broad – tags are granular but content remains generic. Mitigation: ensure each of the next ten articles contains a concrete profession or scenario from the niche.

Over‑trusting AI – accepting AI statements without verification. Mitigation: every number or claim must have a source link or be clearly marked as an internal estimate.

Obsidian bloat – folder hierarchy grows unwieldy. Mitigation: keep only seven top‑level directories; dump everything else into 00_Inbox.

AI time yields no output – conversations stay in chat without tangible deliverables. Mitigation: produce at least one concrete artifact each day (title, intro, outline, etc.).

Self‑check checklist

I distilled at least one expert this week and added personal rebuttals.

I can state my audience in one sentence.

I have published ten consecutive pieces around the same niche keyword.

I spend ≥ 50 % of my workday using AI to produce content, not just chat.

I maintain a 00_Inbox and clean it weekly.

Each published piece passes an internal quality gate of ≥ 9.

I keep an AI ledger summarizing daily AI contributions.