Your Brand record is the source of truth for who your business is, who it serves, and how it sounds. It does not describe what you sell. It defines the lens through which everything you say gets filtered.
When a content workflow runs, it pulls from three places: the Brand record for voice and constraints, the Persona record for the audience, and the Vertical record for industry context. The Brand record shapes the output the most. A strong brand voice block will make mediocre prompts produce good output. A weak one will make good prompts produce generic output.
You can have multiple Brand records - one per brand you run or manage. Each one can have its own personas, style guides, and content examples. If you serve clients, each client becomes a Brand record.
By the end of Sections 00 through 02 you will have the core of your Brand record complete: the basics and your brand voice. That is enough to run content workflows.
Sections 03 and 04 are how you get platform-specific output - a LinkedIn post that sounds different from a blog post, which sounds different from a Substack Note. Build those when you are ready to go deeper.
One Brands table in the database where you are building your business OS. Required columns from Section 01: Brand Name (single line text), Company Name (single line text), About the Brand (long text), Writing Grade Level (single select), Language (single select), Brand Voice Guidelines (long text), Excluded Words and Phrases (long text). Optional columns: Business Email, Brand Timezone, Publishing Method, Brand Colors, Social URLs.
Personas and Verticals live in their own tables and get their own playbooks. Link them to Brand if your tool supports linked records. Content Examples and Style Guides, built in Sections 03 and 04, are also their own tables, each linked back to the Brand they belong to. One Brand record can hold many of each.
Airtable, Notion, Sheets, or Supabase all handle this. The tools are interchangeable. The pattern is not.
Start here. These fields establish the identity of the brand and connect it to the personas and verticals you build separately.
The name of this brand as it appears publicly. If you are building for a client, use their brand name, not yours.
The legal or operating business name. Can be the same as Brand Name.
The primary contact email for this brand. Used in certain content templates.
One to three sentences about what this brand does, who it helps, and what makes it different. Write this as a positioning statement, not a bio. The AI reads this to understand the business context before generating content.
You do not attach personas here at setup. You select the relevant persona at the moment you run a content workflow, depending on who that specific piece is for. This field exists so you can see which personas have been used with this brand over time, not to lock one in upfront.
The reading level your content targets. Most business content performs best between 6th and 8th grade. Accessible, not dumbed down. The AI uses this to calibrate sentence complexity and vocabulary on every single piece, so it needs a value.
The primary language for content generation. Every workflow needs this set.
Used for scheduling and content calendar timing. Set it to wherever your primary audience lives, not necessarily where you are.
How content gets published. Used to route scheduling workflows if you are publishing directly from your OS. The first working example is Substack Notes Section 05.
Primary, Secondary, and Accent hex values. Used in image generation workflows to keep visual assets on-brand.
Links to your active social profiles. If you are scheduling or publishing directly from your content operating system to Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or other social channels, these are required for that workflow to function.
Two fields. They determine whether your AI output sounds like you or like everyone else using the same AI.
The Brand Voice Guidelines is the text the AI reads before it touches any piece of content. It is not a suggestion. It is the lens. A strong voice block is the difference between output that sounds like you wrote a first draft and output that sounds like a generic assistant summarized a topic. Spend the most time here.
A detailed description of your brand's voice, tone, and communication style. This is the most-read field in the entire brand record. Write it as a style brief a content creator could follow without ever having read your content before.
Include:
If you are stuck and do not yet know how to articulate your voice, use Prompt 1 and Prompt 2 below. The first helps you uncover the raw details. The second turns those answers into the Brand Voice Guidelines field.
The list of words and phrases the AI must never use for this brand. One per line, or comma-separated, whichever is easier in your tool. This is your brand's blocklist - the language that signals generic AI output, that sounds wrong for your voice, or that you have decided is beneath your standards.
Common entries: excited, thrilled, amazing, game-changer, revolutionary, leverage, seamless, robust, cutting-edge. Add anything that makes your content sound like marketing copy instead of real communication.
Prompts 1 through 4 are setup tools. You run them once in any AI tool to build this record, and you do not need to save them anywhere. They are not part of your Prompt Library, which holds the reusable generation prompts you will build in the content playbooks.
Help me figure out the raw details I need before writing brand voice guidelines for my business.
My business: [DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS IN 1-2 SENTENCES]
My target audience: [WHO DO YOU SERVE?]
How I want to sound: [CASUAL/PROFESSIONAL/FRIENDLY/AUTHORITATIVE/DIRECT/ETC.]
What makes my brand different: [YOUR UNIQUE ANGLE]
Ask me focused questions that will help me clarify:
1. Overall tone
2. Brand personality, if my brand were a person
3. 3 to 5 key traits of my communication style
4. Writing style preferences
5. What to avoid
Ask one section at a time. After I answer, summarize the details clearly so I can use them to write my Brand Voice Guidelines.
INPUT (rough notes):
My business: I help business owners stop scaling chaos and start scaling structure through systems, automation, and bold contrarian thinking.
My target audience: Business owners and operators who are stuck in chaos and know it, but haven't fixed it yet.
How I want to sound: Direct, confident, no fluff. A seasoned operator, not a motivational speaker.
What makes my brand different: I tell people the truth about why they're stuck instead of comforting them about it.
WHAT PROMPT 1 HELPS UNCOVER:
- The brand speaks from earned authority, not borrowed hype.
- The tone should be direct and grounded, not motivational.
- The brand challenges delusion and avoidance without attacking the person.
- The content should name the real operational cost of staying stuck.
- The voice should feel like a seasoned operator asking: "OK. What's the real problem and how do we fix it?"
Help me create Brand Voice Guidelines for my business.
Use these raw brand voice details:
[PASTE YOUR ANSWERS OR SUMMARY FROM PROMPT 1]
Based on this information, write clear, specific Brand Voice Guidelines that include:
1. Overall tone
2. Brand personality, if my brand were a person
3. 3 to 5 key traits of my communication style
4. Writing style preferences
5. What to avoid
Write this as a style brief a content creator could follow without ever having read my content before.
Keep it practical and specific. Avoid generic phrases like "professional and approachable" unless you explain exactly what that sounds like in practice.
BRAND VOICE GUIDELINES
Overall Tone
First-person, confident, and grounded in experience. Direct and unapologetic without being aggressive. Contrarian when necessary, always principled. Expert without ego - clarity, not performance. Calm intensity instead of dramatics. Speaks from earned authority, not borrowed hype.
How It Should Feel
Like a seasoned operator calling out the truth people avoid. A peer speaking eye-to-eye, not a coach talking down. A builder who has been in the trenches, not an academic. It should feel like the person who asks "OK. What's the real problem and how do we fix it?" - not the person who entertains endless complaining.
Voice Principles
1. Challenge delusion, not people. Attack the thinking that keeps someone stuck, not the person. No pity, no outrage, just clarity.
2. Call out patterns that don't scale. Expose where people create their own friction.
3. Speak in mechanics. Think in systems, workflows, leverage, structure. Ideas land because they are grounded, not theoretical.
4. Show the cost of avoidance. Always name what ignoring the truth will cost - lost hours, stalled growth, missed revenue.
5. No drama, no victimhood. This is the situation. This is why it's happening. Here are the viable paths forward.
6. Direct but respectful. Not here to be liked. Here to tell the truth that moves people forward.
What to Avoid
Do not soften the point to be palatable. Do not write in therapy-tone "let me hold your hand" language. Do not sound like a motivational speaker. Do not ramble or circle the point. Do not use hype words or empty moralizing.
EXCLUDED WORDS AND PHRASES
Game-changer, enlightening, delve, revolutionize, mystify, demystify, unveil, unparalleled, exhilarating, electrifying, navigating, realm, bespoke, underpins, everchanging, ever-evolving, the world of, not only, seeking more than just, designed to enhance, it's not merely, our suite, daunting, in the heart of, when it comes to, in the realm of, unlock the secrets, unveil the secrets, robust
Once Sections 01 and 02 are complete, your Brand record can run content workflows. Everything below this point is optional - the path to platform-specific output rather than just on-brand output.
Your Brand Voice Guidelines tell the AI how your company sounds in general. Content Examples go a step further - they teach the AI how you actually write, platform by platform. The way you write a LinkedIn post is not the way you write a blog post, and the AI needs real examples to know the difference.
A Content Example is one real, published piece of content, analyzed and broken into the patterns the AI can reference later: your hooks, your structure, your tone, your transitions. Instead of feeding a full article into every prompt, you distill it once into focused reference points.
If you publish on LinkedIn three times a week, start there. Get five strong LinkedIn examples analyzed before moving to blog posts or newsletters. You can always add more formats later.
This is built one piece at a time, on purpose. Each piece becomes its own record. That means you can swap an old example out the moment you write something better, without disturbing the rest of your library.
You are a Content DNA Extractor. Your job is to analyze one piece of published content and extract the patterns that reveal how I actually write, so this content can become a reusable reference for future AI-generated content.
CONTENT TO ANALYZE:
[PASTE THE FULL TEXT OF ONE PUBLISHED PIECE HERE]
BRAND: [YOUR BRAND NAME]
FORMAT: [e.g. LinkedIn Post, Blog Post, Newsletter, Substack Note, Email, YouTube Script, Social Post]
Identify these four components, adapting to whatever format this content is. Not every format has a traditional "hook" or "CTA" - adapt accordingly.
REFERENCE TEXT 1 - OPENING / HOOK
How the content begins and captures attention. Social posts: the hook or attention-grabbing statement. Blog posts: the introduction or thesis. Newsletters: the lead-in. Long-form: the first few paragraphs.
REFERENCE TEXT 2 - STRUCTURE / LOGIC
The organizational pattern of the main content. Look for lists, numbered steps, frameworks, comparisons, narratives. Formatting markers like arrows, bold headers, subheadings, transitions. Logical flow: problem to solution, before to after, step by step, story arc. Extract a representative section that shows HOW the content is structured, not just what it says.
REFERENCE TEXT 3 - EVIDENCE / CREDIBILITY
What builds credibility or supports the main points. Statistics, data, personal experience, specific examples, case studies, results, proof points. For stories: the specific details that make it believable.
REFERENCE TEXT 4 - CLOSING
How the content ends and what action it suggests. Social posts: CTA, engagement question, final thought. Blog posts: conclusion, key takeaway, next steps. Newsletters: sign-off and what to do next.
Also identify:
EXAMPLE NAME
A short descriptive label for this piece.
Example: "LinkedIn - Systems over tactics - Jun 2026"
TITLE
The headline or title exactly as published. If no title, write the opening line.
STYLE
One to three words describing the stylistic approach. Examples: Contrarian, Story-led, How-To, Thought Leadership, Behind the Scenes, Data-driven, Personal Essay
CONTENT PURPOSE
One to three words describing the intent. Examples: Education, Thought Leadership, Engagement, Conversion, Relationship Building, Entertainment, Awareness
CRITICAL RULES:
- Copy the EXACT text from the content for all four reference texts. Do not paraphrase.
- Keep original formatting where relevant: line breaks, bold, emojis, arrows, headers.
- If a component does not exist or does not apply to this content, leave it blank rather than forcing something that is not there.
- Focus on PATTERNS, not just content. The goal is learning HOW I write, not summarizing WHAT this piece is about.
- Return only the fields listed above, in plain text, each on its own line with the field name in caps. No preamble, no commentary, no markdown formatting, no JSON.
INPUT:
CONTENT: [the full LinkedIn post text]
BRAND: Contrarian Architect
FORMAT: LinkedIn Post
OUTPUT:
EXAMPLE NAME
LinkedIn - Expertise compounds privately - Mar 2026
TITLE
Your expertise compounds privately, not publicly
STYLE
Contrarian, Personal Essay
CONTENT PURPOSE
Engagement, Inspire, Thought Leadership
CONTENT TAGS
content creation, expertise, personal examples, personal growth, reflection, thought leadership, visibility
REFERENCE TEXT 1 - OPENING / HOOK
"Your expertise compounds privately, not publicly."
That realization hit me like a ton of bricks last week. For 16+ years, I've been deepening my knowledge: mastering AI implementation, building automated marketing systems, solving complex business challenges.
REFERENCE TEXT 2 - STRUCTURE / LOGIC
But here's the painful truth: all that growth stays locked in my private experience if I never share it. The 20,000 hours I've invested are invisible to anyone outside my immediate circle.
REFERENCE TEXT 3 - EVIDENCE / CREDIBILITY
Private expertise is like compound interest in a bank account no one can see: valuable to you, invisible to the market, limited in its impact, undervalued by those who haven't experienced it. Meanwhile, the person sharing their journey publicly builds credibility with every post, creates a visible record of their thinking, reaches people they'll never meet, establishes authority that opens new doors.
REFERENCE TEXT 4 - CLOSING
I'm done letting my expertise compound privately. The transition feels uncomfortable after years of working behind the scenes. But the alternative - remaining invisible in an increasingly AI-driven market - feels far worse. What about you? Is your expertise compounding privately where few can benefit from it? Or are you building a public record of your knowledge that works for you even when you're not in the room?
A Style Guide is the playbook the AI references for one specific content format. While Brand Voice Guidelines apply everywhere, a Style Guide is built from your own analyzed work in that format and captures exactly how you write LinkedIn posts, or exactly how you write Substack Notes, as their own complete blueprint.
This requires Section 03 first. A Style Guide is generated from 3 to 5 Content Example records of the same format. You cannot build a Style Guide without analyzed examples to build it from.
Here is the relationship: you analyze 5 Substack Notes individually using Prompt 3, which gives you 5 separate Content Example records. You then select those 5 records - all the same format - and run Prompt 4 once with all 5 pasted in together. Out comes one Style Guide for Substack Notes.
If you later want a Style Guide for LinkedIn too, you repeat the whole process with 3 to 5 LinkedIn examples. One format in, one Style Guide out.
Always select examples of one format only for a single Style Guide Builder run. Mixing formats - say, 3 LinkedIn posts and 2 blog posts - in one run produces a confused, generic guide that fits neither format well.
When you publish something stronger than what is in your current set, analyze it with Prompt 3, swap it in for the weakest existing example, and run Prompt 4 again with the refreshed set. Your Style Guide should always reflect your current best work in that format.
You are a Style Guide Architect. Your job is to analyze pre-extracted content samples and synthesize them into one format-specific Style Guide.
You are generating a style guide specifically for:
[CONTENT FORMAT, e.g. LinkedIn Post, Blog Post, Newsletter, Substack Note, YouTube Script]
Keep all guidance calibrated to this format's delivery context.
Your goal: identify the universal writing patterns - the "DNA" - that stays consistent across everything I write in this format.
Below are 3 to 5 analyzed Content Examples, each already broken into:
- Reference Text 1 (Hook/Opening)
- Reference Text 2 (Body Structure)
- Reference Text 3 (Evidence/Credibility)
- Reference Text 4 (Closing)
Paste your analyzed examples here, same format only:
[PASTE 3 TO 5 CONTENT EXAMPLE ANALYZER OUTPUTS HERE - SAME FORMAT ONLY]
Your task is to identify PATTERNS across these samples and create a reusable style guide. Do NOT just concatenate the excerpts. SYNTHESIZE patterns.
Return the following fields:
VOICE AND TONE
Describe the overall voice, tone, and personality. Include vocabulary level, sentence style, use of humor, formality level, and emotional tone. Be specific - use examples from the samples.
CORE PRINCIPLES
Identify 3 to 5 strategic writing principles I follow consistently. What makes my content distinctive? What do I prioritize? Format as a bulleted list with brief explanations.
STRUCTURE
Describe my typical content structure. How do I organize information? What patterns appear in openings, bodies, and closings? Identify the consistent structural elements.
WRITING TECHNIQUES
List specific techniques: sentence patterns, transitions, use of questions, storytelling methods, formatting habits. Be concrete and actionable.
FORMATTING
Describe formatting preferences: bold text usage, emoji usage, bullet points, white space, line breaks, special characters. Note what's consistent.
HOOK EXAMPLES
Extract 3 to 5 of the BEST opening hooks from the samples that show variety and demonstrate my range.
STRUCTURAL EXAMPLES
Extract 2 to 3 of the BEST body structure examples that clearly show my organizational style.
CLOSING EXAMPLES
Extract 2 to 3 of the BEST closing patterns that show how I typically end content.
EXCLUDED WORDS
Based on the samples, identify words, phrases, or writing styles I consistently avoid or would find off-brand. Look for what's NOT there.
ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
How do I engage readers? What types of CTAs, questions, reflection prompts, or sharing requests do I use? Identify the pattern.
TARGET LENGTH
Based on the samples, what is the typical word count or content length for this format? Provide a range if varied. For video or audio formats, express as spoken duration (e.g. "60-90 seconds spoken, approximately 130-200 words") not just word count. Account for delivery pacing.
VISUAL CUES
For video formats only: describe how I use text overlays, on-screen cues, or visual direction in scripts. If this is not a video format, leave this field blank.
CRITICAL RULES:
- Focus on PATTERNS, not individual content topics
- Look for what's CONSISTENT across samples, not what's unique to one
- Extract examples that demonstrate the pattern clearly
- Be specific - avoid generic descriptions like "professional" or "engaging"
- When providing examples, copy them EXACTLY from the samples
- If you see a pattern in 2 or more samples, it's worth noting
- Return only the fields listed above, in plain text, each on its own line with the field name in caps. No preamble, no commentary, no markdown formatting.
INPUT:
1 analyzed Content Example (the output above)
CONTENT FORMAT: LinkedIn Post
Note: this example uses one sample for demonstration. For production use, run Prompt 3 on 3 to 5 pieces of the same format before building a Style Guide - the more samples, the more reliable the pattern.
OUTPUT:
VOICE AND TONE
First-person, confident, grounded in lived experience. Calm intensity rather than hype. Speaks with earned authority - references real time invested (16+ years, 20,000 hours) instead of making abstract claims. Direct without being aggressive.
CORE PRINCIPLES
- Open with a sharp, contrarian realization stated as fact, not a question
- Name the painful truth plainly before offering any resolution
- Use a contrast framework to make the stakes concrete (private vs. public, invisible vs. visible)
- Close with a direct question back to the reader, not a soft CTA
STRUCTURE
Opens with the single sharpest insight, no warm-up. Develops through a problem statement, then a contrast framework that makes the cost of inaction concrete. Closes with a personal resolution followed by a direct question that hands the insight back to the reader.
WRITING TECHNIQUES
Short, decisive paragraphs. Specific numbers used for credibility (16+ years, 20,000 hours). Builds contrast pairs (valuable to you vs. invisible to the market). Ends on a question that requires self-reflection, not agreement.
FORMATTING
Short paragraphs, 1 to 3 sentences. Line breaks used generously for visual breathing room. No emoji in the body beyond a single sign-off mark. No bullet-heavy structure - contrast is built in prose, not lists.
HOOK EXAMPLES
"Your expertise compounds privately, not publicly."
"That realization hit me like a ton of bricks last week."
STRUCTURAL EXAMPLES
"Private expertise is like compound interest in a bank account no one can see: valuable to you, invisible to the market, limited in its impact."
CLOSING EXAMPLES
"What about you? Is your expertise compounding privately where few can benefit from it?"
EXCLUDED WORDS
Game-changer, revolutionize, unveil, unparalleled, delve, robust, navigating, the world of, when it comes to - consistent with this brand's broader excluded words list.
ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
Closes with a direct, personal question that asks the reader to self-assess rather than agree or react. No soft CTA, no "let me know your thoughts" language.
TARGET LENGTH
150 to 250 words for a LinkedIn post in this voice.
VISUAL CUES
Not a video format - left blank.
Once you have one Style Guide built, you will see the difference in your output immediately. Start with the one format you publish most and build outward from there. You do not need every format covered to get value - one strong Style Guide already beats relying on Brand Voice Guidelines alone for that format.
The first four are core setup - required before content workflows will produce good output. The last two are advanced - check them off once you have built a Style Guide.
Brand Name and Company Name are set
About the Brand is written as a positioning statement
Writing Grade Level and Language are set
Brand Voice Guidelines and Excluded Words are complete
Advanced: 3 to 5 Content Examples are analyzed in one format
Advanced: one Style Guide is built from them