{
 "id": "10.9",
 "title": "Word of mouth and referrals",
 "department": "Marketing and growth",
 "department_slug": "marketing-and-growth",
 "direction": {
  "id": "dog",
  "name": "Fetch"
 },
 "branded": true,
 "status": "draft",
 "owner": "Param",
 "last_verified": "Mon Oct 26",
 "holds": "Share a finding, partner gifts, referrals",
 "urls": {
  "html": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/word-of-mouth-and-referrals/dog",
  "markdown": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/word-of-mouth-and-referrals/dog.md",
  "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/word-of-mouth-and-referrals/dog.json"
 },
 "other_directions": [
  {
   "id": "bee",
   "name": "Buzz",
   "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/word-of-mouth-and-referrals/bee.json"
  },
  {
   "id": "raccoon",
   "name": "Scoop",
   "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/word-of-mouth-and-referrals/raccoon.json"
  },
  {
   "id": "octopus",
   "name": "Ocho",
   "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/word-of-mouth-and-referrals/octopus.json"
  },
  {
   "id": "cooker",
   "name": "Seeti",
   "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/word-of-mouth-and-referrals/cooker.json"
  }
 ],
 "tldr": {
  "headline": "A good find travels the park: gifts, not referral rewards",
  "points": [
   {
    "icon": "heart",
    "text": "No referral program or invite a friend flow exists, and no rewards are proposed."
   },
   {
    "icon": "box",
    "text": "One gift a week: brand book, plan PDFs, rival teardowns, community finds, viral references."
   },
   {
    "icon": "link",
    "text": "The brief page is a no login link; Fetch signs off small, no sales line."
   },
   {
    "icon": "warn",
    "text": "Share this finding is not built, and a gift that does not exist is never promised."
   },
   {
    "icon": "people",
    "text": "Fetch goes where the other dogs are, with a ball, not a sales pitch."
   }
  ],
  "stat": {
   "value": "3 percent",
   "label": "Duolingo referral reward lift"
  },
  "decide": "Do we ever reward referrals, or never before launch?",
  "mood": "building"
 },
 "sources": [
  "brew origin/main a559de6: handoff.js:7, 135; server.js:937-947; SCOPE.md:19, 20; git grep referr origin/main",
  "brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-9 share-loops, community, pr",
  "brand-directions/book/content/h2.js h-11 shelf, brand-book, plan-pdfs, the-read, rival-teardowns, community-finds, viral-references, when, how",
  "brand-directions/docs2/data/dirs.json dog",
  "memory: brew-brand-book, brew-copy-and-open, brew-viral-remakes, brew-lean-pipeline, sell-relief-not-discounts"
 ],
 "open_questions": [
  "**Does the brief page carry Fetch's sign off?** Proposal: yes, 32 px at the bottom, and nothing else.",
  "**Can a brand switch its public brand book off?** Proposal: yes, from Settings, with no need to ask us.",
  "**Do we ever reward referrals?** Proposal: no rewards before launch; revisit once pricing exists, and never as a discount.",
  "**Which founder communities first?** Proposal: three Param already belongs to."
 ],
 "parts": {
  "Answer": "We grow by word of mouth through things worth showing, a true finding, a clean brief page, a brand book and a shelf of gifts made from each partner's read, with no referral rewards; Fetch only ever signs off, small.",
  "Today": "| Fact | Source |\n|---|---|\n| No referral programme, reward or invite a friend flow exists | [src: git grep referr origin/main] |\n| The brief page is a signed read only link with no login, so whoever ships the work sees it | [src: brew/handoff.js:7] |\n| Share with my team copies the brief with that link; nothing is sent | [src: brew/SCOPE.md:20] |\n| Each brand's brand book is a public page plus brand.md, brand.json, llms.txt, a PDF and a kit zip, built 23 Oct | [src: brew/server.js:937-947] [src: memory brew-brand-book] |\n| Copy and open copies a drafted community reply and opens the exact thread; the brand posts it | [src: memory brew-copy-and-open] |\n| Make our version reads a rival's ad and writes the brand's own; a rival's picture never goes in | [src: brew/SCOPE.md:19] |\n| Viral videos: at least ten times the creator's usual views, with hook and beats | [src: brew/SCOPE.md:19] [src: memory brew-viral-remakes] |\n| Plan PDFs are drawn when someone taps download, and open only for the brand's team | [src: memory brew-lean-pipeline] [src: brand-directions/book/content/h2.js h-11 plan-pdfs] |\n| Share this finding, one shareable card, is not built | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h2.js h-11 the-read] |",
  "Tomorrow": "### What people share without being asked\n\n| Loop | Who sees it | What they think | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| The shared finding | The founder's friends and team | I want to know mine | v1 | New |\n| The brief page | Freelancers and agencies | I want my clients to brief me like this | v1 | Changes, Fetch's 32 px sign off added |\n| The brand book | AI tools and partners | A clear page about the brand | v1 | Stays |\n| How it went | Other founders | It works for stores like mine | v3 | New |\n\nFetch: A good find gets carried around the whole park.\n\n### The gift shelf, one gift a week\n\n| When | Gift | Status | Fetch hands it over |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Days 1 to 4 | Your store, read, with one finding first | Built; the shared finding is v1 New | Read it all. Look at this one first: 41 reviews mention the smell of rain, and your ads never do. |\n| Week 1 | Your brand book | Built | I fetched your whole brand and dropped it here. Yours to keep. I only kept the tennis ball. |\n| Week 1 | Your plan as PDFs | Built | Your plan, one PDF per step. Fetch them whenever you like. They do not run away. |\n| Week 2 | Rival ad teardowns | Built | Dug up the rival ads that have run longest. I chewed them apart so you can see the bones. |\n| Week 3 | Community finds with Copy and open | Built | Somebody asked about your kind of product. I wrote a reply. Tap Copy and open and it is your turn to bark. |\n| Week 4 | Viral video references | Built | Fetched a video doing ten times its usual. Here is the hook. Want to film your own? |\n| Week 5 | One page AI search report | Idea, not built | Walk through What AI search says until it exists |\n| Week 6 | Review highlights wall, brand sticker pack | Ideas, not built | Handed over at the keep going call, once built |\n\nA person hands every gift over by name and Fetch adds one line. No price, no discount, no paid make inside a gift. A gift that does not exist is never promised.\n\nA Friday note with a gift, Fetch's line: Fetched three threads. Copy and open is all you need. Back Monday.\n\n### Communities, partners and agencies\n\n| Where | What we do | Who | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| Founder WhatsApp groups and D2C communities | Answer questions, share one sample finding, offer a read only when asked | A founder | v1 | New |\n| Agencies | A drafted Monday list per client and a brief clients can read | A founder, by email | v1 | New |\n| Freelancers | They meet us on the brief page | The product, quietly | v1 | Changes |\n| Design partners | After week four, ask who else should get a read | A founder | v1 | New |\n\nFetch: I go where the other dogs are. I bring a ball, not a sales pitch.\n\n### Referrals\n\n| Item | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|\n| No referral rewards; the effort goes into the Monday habit and things worth showing | v1 | New |\n| A partner can pass a read on with a link, still under the cap | v1 | New, proposed |\n\nWhy no rewards: at Duolingo a referral reward lifted new users about 3 percent, while retention of current users mattered far more, as Jorge Mazal told Lenny's Newsletter on 28 February 2023 [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-9 share-loops].\n\n### PR\n\n| Item | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|\n| One press paragraph in plain words, a founder as the voice, Fetch as the picture only | v1 | New |\n| Story angles we can prove: small stores sit on their best copy, in their reviews; do AI answers name small brands; a marketing tool that does not post for you, on purpose | v1 | New |\n| Never in PR: customer counts, results, partner names without OK, or a claim that it posts or measures | v1 to v4 | Stays |\n\nFetch: I am in the photo. The founder does the interview. I fetch the coffee.",
  "How we do it": "1. Hand over one gift a week, in the Friday note or on a call, never two.\n2. Say what it is, what it is made from, and how it changes when the read does.\n3. Never share a partner's finding in a group without their written OK.\n4. When someone in a community asks for a read and reads are full, say so and take the link.\n5. Keep the brief page clean: Fetch's sign off at the bottom, no sales line, ever.",
  "Numbers": "| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Referred asks | Read asks that name a partner, a brief page or a shared finding | The asks list | Proposed |\n| Brief page opens | Opens of brief links by people outside the brand's team | Brief page logs, once kept | Proposed |\n| Shared findings | Taps on Share this finding | The product, once built | Proposed |\n| Gifts opened | Gifts a partner opened within a week of the hand over | Partner notes | Proposed |",
  "Open": "1. **Does the brief page carry Fetch's sign off?** Proposal: yes, 32 px at the bottom, and nothing else.\n2. **Can a brand switch its public brand book off?** Proposal: yes, from Settings, with no need to ask us.\n3. **Do we ever reward referrals?** Proposal: no rewards before launch; revisit once pricing exists, and never as a discount.\n4. **Which founder communities first?** Proposal: three Param already belongs to."
 }
}