---
id: "10.14"
title: "No-budget playbook"
dept: marketing-and-growth
status: draft
owner: Param
branded: false
last_verified: 2026-10-26
sources:
  - "brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-10 four-hours, kit, checks"
  - "brand-directions folders dog/svg, dog/snd, bee, raccoon, octopus, cooker, _shared/sample/img, file counts on 26 Oct"
  - "brand-directions/BRIEF.md:92-97"
  - "handbook content/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand.md"
  - "memory: no-spend-while-building, treg-usage-rules, no-disclaimers-in-ads, brew-live-stores"
  - "handbook/AGENTS.md"
---

# No-budget playbook

## Answer

How the three of us grow Brew with no ad or creative spend: about four hours a week of posts made from templates, the character kit we already have and our own product's drafts, with two short checks before anything goes out.

## Today

### What we already have, free

| Asset | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Five character kits: poses, expressions, area props, voice lines, cues and a sonic logo for each direction | brand-directions/dog, bee, raccoon, octopus, cooker | [src: brand-directions folders, file counts 26 Oct] |
| Poses per kit: ten for the dog, 19 for the bee, ten for the raccoon, 11 for the octopus, 13 for the cooker | Each direction's svg, art or img folder | [src: brand-directions folders, file counts 26 Oct] |
| Recorded sound files per kit: 14 to 22 | Each direction's snd folder | [src: brand-directions folders, file counts 26 Oct] |
| Sample photos of the sample candle store: monsoon, jasmine, chai, trio, hands, ad in the rain | brand-directions/_shared/sample/img | [src: brand-directions folders, file counts 26 Oct] |
| The allowed figures and exact words | brand-directions/BRIEF.md lines 92 to 97 | [src: brand-directions/BRIEF.md:92-97] |
| Our own product, which reads a store and drafts Plays | feed.joinsquareup.com | [src: memory brew-live-stores] |

### Rules that already bind us

| Rule | Source |
|---|---|
| No paid image or video generation while we are only building; ask before any paid probe | [src: memory no-spend-while-building] |
| Never generate images, video or voice through treg | [src: memory treg-usage-rules] |
| No disclaimers or fine print on creative | [src: memory no-disclaimers-in-ads] |
| A studio make costs money, such as about $0.28 a static ad, and always shows its price first | [src: handbook content/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand.md] |
| The team is Param, Sai and Arvind; the old plan was written for two founders | [src: handbook/AGENTS.md] [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-10 four-hours] |

## Tomorrow

| Item | Version | Tag |
|---|---|---|
| About four hours a week for all organic marketing | v1 | New |
| Templates made once, refilled weekly: one per recurring format | v1 | New |
| Reuse poses; about ten cover every post | v1 | New |
| Our own product suggests our posts: a sample read gives the finding, Make it gives the draft, the brief is the checklist | v1 | New |
| One format a day, never two; if a post takes more than an hour, it is the wrong post | v1 | New |
| When posting ships, our own posts go through it, after our own yes | v2 | New |
| When results ship, our posts show what worked | v3 | New |

## How we do it

### The week

| When | Job | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Pick one finding from the sample read, fill the Monday template | 1 hour |
| Wednesday | The midweek format, or one new pose if needed | 1 hour |
| Thursday | One founder post on LinkedIn, in your own words | 1 hour |
| Friday | The Friday post, the weekly partner note, reply to every comment | 1 hour |

Who does which hour is open; see Open.

### Two checks before anything goes out, four minutes

| Truth check | Craft check |
|---|---|
| Does any line say the product posts, sends, schedules or measures? Tag it later or cut it | Does the character's face and one prop fill the first frame |
| Is every example the sample candle store, with Sample on the frame | Is there one clear line on screen, under 15 words |
| Any number? It must be an allowed figure, with its words | Run the writing checker on the caption |
| Any person? Real people only as themselves | Zoom every image: any stray letter, regenerate it free or redraw it |

Run the writing checker on a caption:

```bash
cd /Users/param/Documents/ChatGPT/brand-directions && node _tools/check.mjs
```

## Numbers

| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours a week | Time the team spends on organic marketing | Friday note | Proposed |
| Posts shipped | Posts that passed both checks and went out | The [campaign log](/marketing-and-growth/campaign-log) | Proposed |
| Asks per hour | Read asks divided by hours spent | The asks list and the Friday note | Proposed |
| Spend | Money spent on marketing creative | Must stay zero; the [spend ledger](/finance/spend-ledger) | Proposed |

## Open

1. **Who owns which hour?** Proposal: Param the Monday and Friday hours, Sai the Wednesday hour, each of the three one LinkedIn post a month.
2. **Which store do we run our own product on for sample drafts?** Proposal: none of the five partners; build the sample candle store as a test brand, labelled Sample, so drafts never show a real partner without permission.
3. **May we spend on a studio make for a post?** Proposal: no; drafts only, and Param says yes to any exception in writing.
4. **When does posting start?** Proposal: the day the direction and the name are picked, never before, so the grid starts in one voice.