Live online · Wed 6 May · 7pm Auckland
For business owners who want AI working today

Claude Cowork:
the beginner's workshop.

A 2-hour hands-on session for business owners who want AI working for them today. Not after the next webinar.

No tech background neededYou build it liveSmall group · real support
Recording included · Slides yours to keep
01 / 15
Agenda
What we're doing today

Two hours.
One real workflow.
Yours.

4 chapters · 1 finished workflow
ContentsDuration
01
Foundations
Chat vs Cowork vs Code
30 min
02
Setup
Set up your workspace
30 min
03
Build
Build a real workflow
45 min
04
Onwards
Keep going after today
15 min
Quick checkHave Claude Pro active and the desktop app installed? That's all you need to build along today.
creativecoast.co.nz
Agenda
Foundations
Understanding Claude

Three flavours.
Very different
purposes.

Claude Code is the third flavour — built for developers writing software. We're not covering it today.

Option A
💬  Claude Chat
Today's focus
🖥️  Claude Cowork
Best for
Quick questions, one-off tasks
Ongoing business workflows
Remembers your biz?
No — fresh each time
Yes — knows your context
Runs automations?
No
Yes — that's the point
Who is it for?
Everyone
Business owners
Price
Free / Pro
Pro · $20/mo
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Compare
Foundations
A little context

Why Cowork
exists.

A 3-year arc · 2023 → 2026
2023
Chapter I
Claude Chat launched

Anthropic launched Claude in March 2023 as a conversational AI. Great for quick questions and one-off tasks — but every session started from scratch. No memory, no files, no context carried over.

2025
Chapter II
Claude Code arrived — for developers

Launched as a research preview in February 2025, generally available in May 2025. Powerful for writing software — but built for developers. Not designed for business owners who just want to sort their inbox.

2026
Chapter III · today
Claude Cowork — built for you

Anthropic launched Cowork in January 2026 as a desktop AI agent for work tasks. Projects, persistent memory, file access, and automations. Finally, AI that works the way a business owner actually needs it to.

creativecoast.co.nz
Timeline
Capabilities · I
Cowork capabilities · part one

What it can
actually do
for your business.

006 ongoing workflows

These are the workflows we see business owners build first. Pick one. Get it running. Then add the next.

№WorkflowCadence
001
Competitor Move Tracker
Monitor what your competitors are doing and get a weekly briefing — without you lifting a finger.
Weekly briefing
002
Daily Command Centre
Start each morning with a clear picture of what needs your attention. Priorities, not noise.
Daily ritual
003
Daily Financial Position
Always know where you stand. Quick snapshot of cash, invoices, and key numbers.
Daily ritual
004
SEO Pulse
Track rankings, spot opportunities, and get content ideas — all automatically.
Weekly briefing
005
Customer Support Pulse
Summarise recurring issues, flag urgent ones, and draft responses in your tone.
Always on
006
Sales Pipeline Pulse
Know which leads need follow-up, where deals are stalling, and what to do next.
Always on
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Capabilities · I
Capabilities · II
Cowork capabilities · part two

And more.

Continued from previous page
07
All Content Types
Blog posts, social media, newsletters, case studies — written in your voice, every time.
08
Email Summaries + Action Plans
Never wade through 200 emails again. Get a digest, prioritised actions, and draft replies.
09
Proposals + Contracts
Generate polished client proposals in minutes. Just give it the brief — it does the rest.
Hot tipClaude Chat doesn't know about Cowork features. Don't ask Chat “what can Cowork do?” — it won't know. Use the Cowork app directly, or check the official docs.
creativecoast.co.nz
Capabilities · II
Setup · Folders
Getting set up

Folder structure:
get it right
first time.

This is the one thing people wish they'd set up properly from the start. Reorganising later is a pain.

One folder. Six children. Done.
~/My Business12 items
📁 My Business/
└─📁 Admin/
└─📄 company-info.md
└─📄 brand-voice.md
└─📁 Clients/
└─📄 [client-name]/
└─📁 Content/
└─📄 linkedin-posts.csv
└─📁 Finance/
└─📄 monthly-snapshot.md
└─📁 Templates/
└─📄 proposal-template.md
Do this
Use clear, plain language names you'll recognise in 6 months. If the folder name makes sense to you at a glance, it's good enough.
Don't do this
Don't create 20 folders on day one. Start simple. Add structure as you actually need it.
Hot tipChanging your folder structure later breaks your workflows. Set it up thoughtfully now.
creativecoast.co.nz
Setup · Folders
Skills
Prompting best practices

Prompting
is good.
Skills are better.

Skills vs Chat
Chat is for one-off questions. Skills are for anything you do repeatedly. If you've explained something to Claude more than twice, it should be a Skill.
Where Skills live
A Skill is just a file on your machine. Claude reads it when you run it. No magic — just a well-written instruction document in the right folder.
Today we're building one
By the end of this session you'll have a working LinkedIn posts Skill. Run it once a week, get 7 posts in a CSV. Done.
The 4-step Skills loopOnce · then forever
01
A Skill is a file that lives on your machine
Claude reads it each time you run it. Your instructions, your format, your rules — all in one place.
02
Write your context once
Your business, your audience, your tone. It's in the file — you never have to repeat it in chat.
03
Define the output exactly
7 posts, CSV format, specific columns — Claude produces it the same way every time.
04
Then just trigger it
"Run my LinkedIn posts skill" is all you type. No briefing. No repeating yourself. Ever again.
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Skills
Setup · Claude
First things first

Set Claude up
for your business.

Three settings · five minutes
01
Add your context in Settings
Settings → General
Write a short paragraph about who you are, what your business does, and how you like Claude to communicate with you. This applies across all your chats.
02
Review your Memories
Settings → Capabilities
Claude builds up notes about you over time. Check what's in there — you can edit or delete anything that's wrong or outdated.
03
Turn off training data use
Settings → Privacy
Toggle off "Help improve Claude." Your business conversations are yours — keep them that way.
What goes in your Profile
Your name, your role, your business type, your location, your audience, and your preferred tone. One paragraph is enough. Claude reads this on every conversation.
Memories ≠ Skills
Memories are things Claude picks up from conversations. Skills are files you deliberately write. Both matter — but Skills give you control.
creativecoast.co.nz
Setup · Claude
Build · Output
Hands-on · content creation

7 LinkedIn posts.
One CSV file.
Done.

Instead of writing posts one by one, you build a weekly batch. Claude generates 7, saves them in a structured CSV, and you review and schedule at once.

7
posts per batch
1
trigger phrase
∞
library that grows
linkedin-posts.csv
appends weekly · never overwrites
DatePost_№PillarHookFull_CopyVisual_AVisual_BVisual_CModeDraft_Input
6 May 202601How-toMost AI advice assumes you write code…[full post][typographic][diagram][statement]Fresh—
7 May 202602························
8 May 202603························
The CSV builds up over time — a searchable, reusable library
creativecoast.co.nz
Build · Output
Build · Prompt
Your LinkedIn skill prompt

Copy. Paste. Build your Skill.

Step 1In Cowork, select your folder first — that's where Claude reads from and saves the CSV.
Paste into Claude Cowork
~480 words

I want to build a LinkedIn Post Generator Skill.

Every run, read all files from the selected folder before doing anything. Derive my audience, tone, banned phrases, and content angles from those files. Do not use memory from previous runs.

Generate 7 LinkedIn posts. Every batch must include one educational how-to post. Derive the remaining pillars from my context files. No pillar repeats in a batch.

If I provide a topic or draft, build 4–5 posts around it and 2–3 complementary ones. Otherwise generate 7 fresh posts.

Every post uses the PRISM framework. 180–260 words. Short paragraphs. At least 2 posts must reference a specific tool, dollar amount, or time saving.

After each post, write 3 visual briefs: typographic, diagram/comparison, and bold statement.

Append all 7 to the CSV with columns: Date, Post_Number, Pillar, Hook, Full_Copy, Visual_A, Visual_B, Visual_C, Mode, User_Draft_Input. Never overwrite.

The PRISM framework5 letters
P
Pull
One specific, concrete moment. Drop the reader into a scene, number, or conversation.
R
Rift
Create unresolved tension. Name what's wrong without explaining why yet.
I
Intensify
Add concrete pressure: a cost, time, tool name, or number. Make the problem undeniable.
S
Shift
Show the pivot moment. Not the solution — the turn that changes things.
M
Meaning
One sentence. A truth, not advice. Earned, not tacked on.
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Build · Prompt
Build · No docs yet?
Starting from scratch

No business docs yet? Write them in 5 minutes.

Your Skill is only as sharp as the context you give it. If your folder is empty, paste this template into a doc, fill in each line, and drop it in. That's your starter brain.

HowSave as a Word doc or PDF inside the folder your Skill reads from.
Business context · template
fill every line
What the business does
[One sentence on your core service or product.]
Who you serve
[The target client or customer, in plain language.]
What problem you solve
[The specific pain point or gap you address.]
Your positioning / POV
[What you see that others miss — or what most people get wrong.]
Topics you cover
[What you usually talk or write about — and what your audience wants to know more of.]
Tone of voice
[e.g. direct, dry, warm, technical, conversational.]
Never say or do
[Banned phrases, punctuation, clichés, structural habits.]
Writing style notes
[e.g. British English, short paragraphs, real numbers over vague claims.]
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Build · No docs yet?
Bonus Asset
A parting gift

Build a Morning
Email Briefing skill.

SetupCowork will ask you to connect your email — Gmail and Outlook have native connectors (or add it under Connectors).
What you'll get
  • 01Reads last 48h of email, read-only
  • 02Categorises into 6 buckets
  • 03Sender, subject, summary, action
  • 04Self-contained HTML on your desktop
  • 05Filter tabs, search, bar chart
  • 06Top urgent actions, summarised
Paste this into a new Cowork task. Swap [Gmail] for [Outlook] if needed.
Prompt · copy & paste
~180 words

Build me a morning email briefing skill. Every morning, I want it to read my [Gmail] from the last 48 hours (read-only, never mark anything as read), categorise every email into one of these buckets: Urgent, Client, New Enquiry, Personal/Network, [AI] Newsletter, Other/Noise. For each email it should pull the sender, subject, timestamp, a 1-2 sentence summary, and a clear action if one exists. For newsletter specifically, write a 2-3 sentence gist of the actual content with any tools, models or ideas worth knowing about.

Then produce a single self-contained HTML file saved to my desktop (or a folder I specify) with: a header overview of the day's inbox, tab buttons to filter by category, email cards with action checkboxes, a keyword search bar, a simple bar chart of email distribution by category, and a tight 2-3 sentence summary of the most urgent things I need to act on today.

The file should work as static HTML by default, with JS only used for filtering and interactivity. No external dependencies. Mobile-friendly. Use today's date in the filename.

Run this everyday at [9am] automatically on schedule.

creativecoast.co.nz
Bonus Asset
Onwards
After today

Keep going.
Don't overthink it.

A 3-week plan · one workflow at a time
Week 01
Use what you built.

Add your first content workflow. Use the LinkedIn batch system you built today. One week of posts at a time.

01 of 03
Week 02
Build the habit.

Run your email briefing daily. Don't add anything new yet. Just build the habit of opening Cowork first thing.

02 of 03
Week 03+
Compound it.

Pick one repetitive task you do every week. Write the prompt. Add the workflow. Ship it. Repeat.

03 of 03
The ruleOne workflow at a time. Get it working, use it for two weeks, then add the next one. Don't try to automate everything in week one.
creativecoast.co.nz
Onwards
Reference
Take this with you

Your Cowork
quick reference.

Single page · keep it pinned
01 · When to use
Quick questionClaude Chat
Business workflowClaude Cowork
Building softwareClaude Code
Cowork features helpDocs, not Chat
02 · Prompt formula
  1. 01WHO YOU ARE
  2. 02WHAT YOU WANT
  3. 03WHO IT'S FOR
  4. 04TONE
  5. 05FORMAT
  6. 06WHAT TO AVOID
Stack them in this order, every time.
03 · Hot tips
⌁Set up your folder structure before you do anything else.
⌁Claude Chat doesn't know about Cowork features. Use the official docs.
⌁One workflow at a time. Don't automate everything at once.
⌁Bad output = bad prompt. More context = better results. Always.
creativecoast.co.nz
Reference
End of session
You've got this

You just built
your first
AI workflow.

The recording will be shared after the session. Your slides are yours to keep. Any questions — you know where to find us.

Web
creativecoast.co.nz
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/parisashademan
Recording
Sent to all attendees after the session
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