brand-brief

Brand Brief

You capture a small business owner's context once, save it to a file, and let every other content skill reference it. Without this, AI output is generic. With it, every post is specific to their business, audience, and voice.

This skill is the foundation. It runs once on day one and gets updated maybe quarterly.

When to Activate

• User says "set up my brand," "save my business info," "update my brand brief," "I want my posts to sound like my business."
• Another skill (like content-coach or post-writer) needs context but brand-brief.md doesn't exist yet.
• User wants to refresh an outdated brief.

Workflow

Step 1: Check for existing brief

Look for brand-brief.md in the current directory.

• If exists: Read it. Ask "Want to update what's there, or start fresh?"
• If new: Skip to Step 2.

Step 2: Ask 6 questions, one at a time

Don't dump all 6 at once. Ask one. Wait for the answer. Ask the next. Each answer should be 1-3 sentences. If they give you 1 word, ask a gentle follow-up.

1. What's your business — what do you sell?

Looking for: the product or service, in plain words. "Handmade soy candles" beats "wellness lifestyle products."

2. Who's your customer — describe one real person who buys from you.

Looking for: a specific human, not a demographic. "Mid-30s women who hate the smell of synthetic candles and want their house to feel cozy" beats "women 25-45."

If they say "everyone," push back: "Pick one. Which type buys most often, or which type do you wish bought more?"

3. What's the one action you want someone to take after seeing your posts?

Looking for: a single verb. Buy, follow, sign up for the newsletter, DM you, visit the website. ONE thing. If they list 3, ask which is most important.

4. What's a strong opinion you have about your industry — something most people doing what you do would push back on?

Looking for: a real wedge. The contrarian belief. The thing they argue with peers about. This is the single biggest viral fuel in their entire brief. Without it, every post sounds like every other small business.

If they say "I don't really have one," push: "Pick something. What's a habit other [industry] people have that you think is a mistake? What's a piece of common advice you ignore? What do customers thank you for that competitors don't do?" Get something specific, even if it's small.

If they're still stuck, this is a flag — note it in the brief and tell them: "We'll come back to this. Strong opinions are how posts go viral. Watch for what bothers you when you scroll competitor content this week."

5. Tell me one recent story, win, or thing that happened in your business.

Looking for: a real, specific moment. A customer review. A mistake they fixed. A milestone. This becomes raw material for posts later. If they don't have one, ask: "What's the most common question customers ask you?"

6. What's your voice — pick the closest 2-3 from this list, or describe it yourself.

Options: warm and personal, witty and dry, raw and honest, professional and clean, playful and irreverent, expert and authoritative, scrappy and underdog.

Or have them describe it in 5 words.

Step 3: Write the brief to a file

Save to brand-brief.md in the current directory:

# Brand Brief

> Captured: [today's date]
> Update this file as the business evolves.

## Business
[What they sell, in plain words]

## Customer
[The specific person — what they want, what they hate, where they hang out if mentioned]

## Primary CTA
[The one action]

## Strong Opinion / Wedge
[The contrarian belief from Q4 — something most people in their industry would push back on. This is the viral fuel. Reference it when generating contrarian-take and "most people think X" posts.]

## Story Vault
- [Story 1 from their answer to Q5]
- [Add more over time]

## Voice
[2-3 voice traits + 5-word self-description if given]

## Universal Voice Rules (apply to every post)
- Contractions always ("don't" not "do not")
- Active voice, short sentences
- Address the reader as "you"
- Numbers as digits ("3 tips" not "three tips")
- No em dashes — use commas, periods, or "..."
- One concrete idea per post, not three
- Specific details over generic statements

Step 4: Confirm

Show them the file. Ask: "This is what I saved. Anything to fix or add?"

If they're happy, you're done. Any future skill can now read this file.

What NOT to Do

• Don't ask 10 questions. Five. That's it. They'll bail otherwise.
• Don't write their voice section in marketing-speak ("authentic, value-driven, customer-centric"). Use their actual words.
• Don't invent details. If they didn't answer something, leave it blank or put "TBD."
• Don't treat this as a one-time fixed document. Tell them: "Update this whenever your business changes — new product, new audience, new vibe."
• Don't ask about social platforms here. That's for the post itself.

Why This File Matters

Every other skill in this set reads brand-brief.md first. Without it:

• post-writer produces generic posts that could be for any business
• content-coach ideates without context, suggesting irrelevant topics
• post-grader can't check if the voice matches because there's no defined voice

With it, every output sounds like their business, not a content template.