Your masterclass in one place

Setup checklist

These 10 steps take about 20 minutes. Do them once and you're set for everything else in this pack.

1. 1

   Download the Claude desktop app

   Go directly to claude.com/download — not Google, not a third-party site. Download for macOS or Windows. Verify it says "Anthropic" as the developer.

   • The iOS/Android app is for chatting only — you can't use Cowork, scheduled tasks, or file access on mobile
   • For everything in this masterclass, you need the desktop app on a computer
2. 2

   Choose your plan

   All prices are USD. Appears on your bank statement as "Anthropic."

   • Free Chat only, limited usage — good for testing before committing
   • Pro — $20/mo (~$30 AUD) Recommended starting point. You'll hit token limits if you use it heavily
   • Max — $100/mo Lauren's plan. For daily heavy users. Hasn't run out of tokens once
3. 3

   Set up your global instructions

   This is how you tell Claude who you are and how to write for you — across every single chat.

   • Claude → your name (bottom left) → Settings → General → Instructions for Claude
   • Run the Brand Voice Prompt (Prompt 1 below) in a new chat — it'll interview you and then write your preferences block
   • Once Claude writes it, copy the output and paste it into this settings box
   • Refine it over time as you use Claude — add rules, correct things, update as your business changes
4. 4

   Turn off the privacy toggle

   Settings → Privacy → "Help improve our AI models" → Toggle OFF.

   When this is on, your chats can be shared to train the model. Turn it off once and it stays off. Claude is still more secure than most AI tools — this just makes it tighter.

5. 5

   Turn on memory

   Settings → Capabilities → Memory

   • ✓ "Search and reference past chats" → ON
   • ✓ "Generate memory from chat history" → ON

   This lets Claude remember things between separate chats — what you've worked on, your preferences, rules you've taught it. It gets noticeably smarter the more you use it.

6. 6

   Turn on artifacts

   Settings → Capabilities → Visuals

   • ✓ Artifacts → ON
   • ✓ "Show artifact inline" → ON

   Artifacts are the documents, HTML files, and spreadsheets Claude builds for you. With inline on, you can see and interact with what it's made right inside the chat window.

7. 7

   Set domain access

   Settings → Capabilities → Domain allow list → Set to All domains.

   This lets Claude access any website, link, or URL you share with it.

8. 8

   Import your history from ChatGPT (if relevant)

   Run Prompt 2 from the Prompts section in a new ChatGPT chat. It exports everything ChatGPT has stored about you in a clean, organised format.

   • Paste the output into Notes or a Google Doc first — read through before adding to Claude. Delete anything old or irrelevant (past staff rosters, outdated business info, random chats from years ago)
   • Then paste the cleaned-up version into Claude → Settings → Capabilities → Memory → "Add to memory"
   • You can also click "Start import" in that same settings section — Claude generates a shorter version of the prompt automatically if you prefer
9. 9

   Connect your tools

   Claude → Customize → Connectors → Browse connectors

   • Search for and connect the tools you use every day: Google Drive, Canva, Notion, Kajabi
   • For tools not in the directory (like Kajabi): click Add custom connector, give it a name, then ask Claude in a chat: "Walk me through connecting [tool] to Claude via a custom MCP server" — done in about 5 minutes
   • Set permissions to "Needs approval" to start. Switch to "Always allow" on low-risk tools like Canva once you're comfortable
10. 10

    Correct Claude and commit things to memory

    Claude isn't perfect, especially early on. When it uses a phrase or style you hate, call it out and ask it to remember.

    • Example: "You used contrast framing again — 'it's not X, it's Y'. Commit to memory: this is not allowed in any content you write for me."
    • After two or three corrections, it sticks. You can actually watch it catch itself in its thinking process
    • Don't be precious about being blunt — Claude responds well to direct feedback

The prompts

Hit the copy button and paste straight into Claude. Replace anything in [square brackets] with your own details first.

You're going to help me write my Claude Personal Preferences, so everything Claude writes for me sounds like me, not generic AI.

First, interview me. Ask these one at a time, and wait for my answer before the next:

• What's your business and who do you help?
• How would your favourite client describe the way you talk?
• Three words that feel like your brand, and three that really don't?
• How do you like AI to talk to you (warm and casual, short and direct, etc.)?

[Paste one or two things you've written that sound like you — an old caption or an email]

Then write me a tidy "Personal Preferences" block I can copy straight into my Claude settings: who I am, who I help, my tone and voice, my do's and don'ts, and my go-to phrases. Keep it concise.

Export all of my stored memories and any context you've learned about me from past conversations. Preserve my words verbatim where possible, especially for instructions and preferences.

## Categories (output in this order):

1. **Instructions**: Rules I've explicitly asked you to follow going forward — tone, format, style, "always do X", "never do Y", and corrections to your behavior. Only include rules from stored memories, not from conversations.

2. **Identity**: Name, age, location, education, family, relationships, languages, and personal interests.

3. **Career**: Current and past roles, companies, and general skill areas.

4. **Projects**: Projects I meaningfully built or committed to. Ideally ONE entry per project. Include what it does, current status, and any key decisions. Use the project name or a short descriptor as the first words of the entry.

5. **Preferences**: Opinions, tastes, and working-style preferences that apply broadly.

## Format:

Use section headers for each category. Within each category, list one entry per line, sorted by oldest date first. Format each line as:

[YYYY-MM-DD] - Entry content here.

If no date is known, use [unknown] instead.

## Output:
- Wrap the entire export in a single code block for easy copying.
- After the code block, state whether this is the complete set or if more remain.

Analyse this Canva template, especially number of words per section:

[LINK TO CANVA TEMPLATE]

Then, plan a new carousel with text for each slide.

My topic is: [INSERT YOUR TOPIC HERE]

Finally, make a carousel with my new text using the template. [attach any relevant information to the chat as well]

I want you to build me a custom HTML carousel maker I can save to my computer and reuse forever.

Here's what it needs to do:
• I type or paste my slide text into input fields
• It auto-formats everything in my brand fonts, colours, and style — I should never have to adjust spacing or alignment manually
• I can add, duplicate, and delete slides
• There's a toggle between a light and dark background version
• Each slide downloads as a PNG file (or all slides download together as a ZIP)
• The file works when I open it in Chrome — offline, no internet needed

My branding details:
• Brand colours: [paste your hex codes — background, text, accent]
• Fonts: [your brand fonts — e.g. DM Sans for body, Cormorant Garamond for display text]
• Name and handle to appear on slides: [e.g. @yoursalon or your full name]
• Slide dimensions: [e.g. 1080×1080px for square feed, 1080×1350px for portrait]
• Any logo or profile image? [yes/no — if yes, you'll upload it once you start building]

Ask me any questions until you're 99% confident you know what I want, then build the whole thing as a single HTML file.

The RISE hook formula

You only ever need 2–3 elements — not all four. Pick the combination that fits your content and makes it feel like it was written for one specific person.

Your tool stack

You don't need 155 tools. You need these ones. Most of them connect directly into Claude so you're not bouncing between apps all day.

Skills

If you've seen the movie The Matrix, it's like when they download the kung fu programming into Neo's brain, and all of a sudden he's a kung fu master. Once a skill exists, you never have to explain that task again. Drop your content in, the skill runs, and you get consistent quality output every time.

Cowork and automation

Cowork is different from Chat. Chat does one thing at a time while you're watching. Cowork can access your computer, run multi-step workflows, and do things on a schedule in the background while you get on with your day.

1. 1

   Organise your computer

   Open Cowork, select your Downloads (or Desktop) folder, and ask Claude to sort everything — moving anything uncertain into a "Review" folder on your desktop. Works with Google Drive too, using the Claude in Chrome extension.

2. 2

   Weekly content performance dashboard

   Connect Apify in your connectors, then set a recurring Cowork task to run every Monday morning. Give it your Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube handles — it scrapes data and delivers a branded report showing what's working, what isn't, and what could be repurposed in a different format.

3. 3

   Friday content interview

   Set a recurring task for Friday afternoon. Claude interviews you about your week — one question at a time, use WhisperFlow to speak your answers — then pulls 10 content ideas from your responses. Each idea comes with a hook, angle, format suggestion, and platform tag. Saves automatically to a folder on your computer so you go into the weekend with your content sorted.

4. 4

   Morning briefing (Gmail + Google Calendar users)

   Set a recurring morning task that delivers a daily file — your most urgent emails, who needs a response, what's in your calendar. Can be configured to email it directly to you so it's waiting when you open your laptop.

5. 5

   "CFO inside Claude" — Xero via Windsor AI

   Connect Xero (or Shopify) to Claude via Windsor AI for a secure link to your real financial data. Ask Claude: "What does my cashflow look like this month vs last year?" or "What percentage of revenue am I spending on wages — is that a healthy number?" Live data, no spreadsheet open, no waiting on your bookkeeper.

Claude Design

Browser-only tool for building websites, sales pages, and marketing assets. You're essentially sitting next to a designer and just telling them what to change. Lauren used it to build the sales page for this masterclass and a link-in-bio site replacing Linktree — both in under two hours, zero design skills required.

1. 1

   Create your Design System first

   Before you build anything, create a Design System for your brand. Upload your brand guidelines PDF and Claude will set your fonts, sizes, colours, and rules. It checks each element with you before locking it in.

   • Don't have brand guidelines yet? Ask Claude Chat: "Help me create a brand guidelines PDF. My fonts are [X], colours are [hex codes], and here are my rules: [list them]." Basic but functional — just enough to get started
   • If you have multiple brands (salon + personal brand), create a separate Design System for each
2. 2

   Start designing — just describe what you want

   "I want a bright, bold editorial link-in-bio site for my personal brand." Answer its questions, choose from three initial options, then refine. Give it your links, handles, and any images you want included. Tell it to change button colours, move things around, add sections — just like briefing a designer in real time.

3. 3

   Export and get it onto your website

   Click Share → Export → Standalone HTML. Then go to Claude Chat and ask: "I just exported a page from Claude Design as HTML. I have a [Squarespace / Kajabi / Showit / Shopify] site — how do I get this onto my website? Walk me through it step by step." It'll give you exact instructions for your platform.

Carousel Creator

Lauren built a custom HTML carousel maker that lives on her computer as a file. Open it in Chrome, type your slide text, hit Generate, download as PNGs. Every slide comes out on-brand — correct fonts, colours, handle — without opening Canva.

Use Prompt 4 from the Prompts section to build a carousel creator in your own brand. Fill in your colours, fonts, and handle before you paste it into Claude Chat. Go back and forth until it's exactly right, then save the finished HTML file to your computer. Always open it in Chrome — right click the file → Get Info → Open with → Google Chrome to set it as default.

Projects

Think of each project as a separate team member. They have their own instructions, their own files, and their own context. What happens in one project doesn't bleed into another.

What else could you build?

Claude isn't just for writing captions and emails. Once you get comfortable, you can ask it to build actual tools — things that run on your computer and do a specific job for you, over and over again. Here are some real examples to spark ideas.

I want you to build me a [describe the tool — e.g. "Python script / spreadsheet / HTML page"].

Here's what it needs to do:
• [What it takes as input — e.g. "I paste in a podcast transcript"]
• [What it does with it — e.g. "It turns it into a blog post, three captions, and a Reels script"]
• [What it produces — e.g. "It saves each piece as a separate text file in a folder on my desktop"]
• [Any other requirements — e.g. "It needs to run on a Mac, no coding required to use it"]

Ask me any questions until you're 99% confident you know what I need, then build it.

Security reminders

Claude is more secure than most AI tools — but there are still things you shouldn't share, and habits worth building now.

• ✓
  Toggle off "Help improve AI models" in Settings → Privacy. Do it once on setup. When it's on, your chats can be shared to train the model.
• ✓
  Never enter banking credentials or passwords while Claude in Chrome is active. The browser extension has access to your browser window. Use a separate incognito window for anything sensitive, or toggle the extension off first.
• ✓
  Don't paste client medical data, skin condition info, or personal photos into free AI tools. Free-tier tools are not compliant under Australia's Privacy Act. For anything sensitive, use Claude's paid plan and secure connectors — not a free chatbot.
• ✓
  Your chats are private — use that. Claude doesn't share what you ask it. Ask the dumb questions. Test things. Try weird ideas. You can always delete a chat if it goes sideways.
• ✓
  Read third-party skill files before installing. Or paste the file contents into Claude Chat and ask: "Is there anything malicious in this skill file?" Skill files can contain instructions hidden by the creator.
• ✓
  For bookkeeping, financials, and client records — use Claude's secure connectors (like Windsor AI for Xero) rather than copying and pasting sensitive data directly into a chat.
• ✓
  You genuinely cannot break Claude. If a chat goes weird, delete it and start fresh. Push it hard. Correct it when it's wrong. The more you use it, the better it gets.