The 4 Claude Code Setups That Run My Entire Content Business
You commented SETUP. Here's the full breakdown.
I spent 3 months getting Claude Code to work the way I needed it to. Not coding — configuring. The difference matters.
Most creators open Claude Code, type a prompt, get a mediocre result, and close the terminal. They do this every day. Every session starts from zero. No memory. No context. No system.
I did this for months before I figured out what was wrong.
The tool wasn't broken. My setup was empty. Claude Code out of the box is a blank terminal with a powerful brain and no instructions. You'd never hand a new employee a laptop with no logins, no brand docs, no onboarding, and expect great work on day one. But that's what most creators do with Claude Code every single session.
Here are the 4 things I configured that changed everything.
Brand Memory
Claude Code can remember your brand. Most creators never set this up.
Inside your project, you create a file called CLAUDE.md (or use Project Instructions if you're on claude.ai). This file loads automatically at the start of every session. Claude reads it before you type a single word.
Mine includes:
→ Brand name, handle, audience description
→ Tone of voice (with examples)
→ Content pillars and topic boundaries
→ Best-performing hooks and formats
→ What I sell and how I talk about it
The result: I stopped re-explaining who I am. Every output sounds like me from the first draft. No "write in a professional but approachable tone" prompt gymnastics. Claude already knows.
In practice
I open Claude Code on Monday. I type "draft 5 carousel hooks about Claude Code skills." The output uses my hook format, my vocabulary, my audience framing. No context-setting required. The brand memory did that work before I said a word.
The file takes 30 minutes to write. You do it once. It works forever.
Skill Stack
Skills are text files that teach Claude Code how to do specific tasks. They sit in a folder on your machine and load when relevant.
A skill is different from a prompt. A prompt is a one-time instruction. A skill is a reusable capability. You build it once. It runs every time you need it.
I have skills for:
✓ Carousel copywriting — follows my 8-slide framework, structures demand creation
✓ Caption generation — matches my voice, includes CTA patterns that drive comments
✓ Content repurposing — one piece in, platform-specific versions out
✓ Research briefs — pulls recent trends and formats them into content angles
Each skill is a markdown file. No code. You write what you want Claude to do, what to avoid, and what good output looks like. Claude reads the file and follows the instructions.
In practice
I type "create a carousel about Claude Code rate limits." Claude loads my carousel skill, applies the 8-slide demand framework, uses my brand voice from the memory file, and outputs slide-by-slide copy. I edit for 10 minutes instead of writing from scratch for 2 hours.
Building a skill takes an afternoon. You refine it over a few sessions. After that, it runs on autopilot.
Content Pipeline
The pipeline connects setups #1 and #2 into a sequence.
Without a pipeline, you use Claude Code like a chatbot. You type, it responds, you type again. Every session is disconnected. With a pipeline, you give Claude one input and it runs through a structured sequence of steps.
My content pipeline:
| 1 | I give Claude a topic or content angle |
| 2 | Claude generates carousel copy using my carousel skill |
| 3 | Claude writes the Instagram caption using my caption skill |
| 4 | Claude drafts a Beehiiv post expanding on the topic |
| 5 | Claude creates repurposed versions for LinkedIn and X |
One input. Five outputs. All in my voice.
In practice
Monday morning. I open Claude Code. I type one sentence describing the topic. I walk away. When I come back, I have a full week of content sitting in markdown files. I review, tweak, and schedule.
The Orchestrator
This is the one I redacted in the carousel.
The orchestrator is a master file — a single CLAUDE.md at the root of your project — that tells Claude Code how to use all the other pieces together. Brand memory, skill stack, and content pipeline are separate components. The orchestrator is the wiring diagram that connects them.
Without it, you have three tools sitting in a drawer. You pull them out one at a time, manually. With the orchestrator, Claude knows which skill to load, in which order, using which brand context, for which output format.
routing:
When I say "carousel" → loads carousel skill
+ brand memory + caption skill, in sequence
I don't specify which files. The orchestrator handles it.
quality_gates:
After generating → checks against brand voice
Does it sound like me? Follows my framework?
If not → revises before showing me the result
output_formatting:
Every piece → saved to the right folder
Right format, right filename convention
I don't organise files. Claude does.
Why this is the piece most creators miss: You can have brand memory, skills, and a pipeline — and still spend 20 minutes per session telling Claude which files to read, which skill to use, and where to save the output. The orchestrator eliminates that friction.
You type a topic. Claude runs the full sequence. You review the output.
What this setup produces
Real numbers from my account, built on these 4 configurations.
|
293K
views on a single reel
|
8.4K
comments on one post
|
|
2hrs
to batch an entire month
|
Daily
inbound leads
|
I'm on the $200/mo Max plan. Before I configured these 4 setups, I was getting $20/mo results from a $200/mo tool. The price didn't change. The setup did.
Where to start
You don't need to build all 4 at once. Start with Brand Memory.
Write your CLAUDE.md file today. Include your name, what you do, who your audience is, how you talk, and what you sell. Save it. Open Claude Code tomorrow and notice the difference.
Once your brand memory is working, build your first skill. Pick the content type you create most often. Write a skill file that teaches Claude your format.
After that, chain them into a pipeline. Then build the orchestrator.
The whole process took me 3 months. It could take you less if you follow this sequence and don't try to do everything at once.
Coming next
Part 2: The exact CLAUDE.md template
What goes in each section, what to avoid,
and a template you can adapt for your brand.
If this was useful, reply to this email with what you're building. I read every response.
— Mike
✦ Mike Means Business · @mikemeansbusiness_ai