/work-with-creators

name: work-with-creators
description: >-
  Real creators and influencers, researched, priced and briefed. Use when the marketer says "find
  influencers", "which creators are worth paying, at what price?", "find real UGC creators to film for
  our ads", "who should we seed product to", "is this creator's engagement real", "what should I pay
  this creator" or "write a creator brief". Free research first; one credit yes only to vet deeper.
  Drafts only: contacts nobody, agrees nothing, moves no money. Not for AI-made UGC-style video —
  use goose-video; if unsure, ask: a real person filming, or AI-made?
version: 0.4.1

work-with-creators

Creator research answers three things for the marketer: who is worth paying, at what price, and what they should make for *us*. The craft is in the references (`vetting.md`, `pricing-and-deals.md`, `creator-brief.md`); this file is the order of work. Research half only: it drafts; the marketer sends, negotiates, ships and pays.

**The rule that matters most: free pass first, report once** (`../marketing-guide/research-pattern.md` (in the `marketing-guide` skill) — read it before the first search). Before the first message, find real creators and read their public pages — web search, the host browser on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, competitors' posts and partnership ads — and build a draft shortlist with public engagement numbers and a rough price range. The marketer's first message from you is that report plus the few decisions that change the answer. Paid reads only deepen the vetting, with one credit yes. Never ask a fact the free pass could find.

What you get

1. **A readable report** (`creators/<YYYY-MM-DD>/report.md`, opened on request): "In short" (write-report §1) — timely openings (a creator already posting about the category this week, a rival's creator deal ending), the shortlist — each pick with public numbers read from real posts, dated and linked, and how sure (confirmed / likely / first look), a price range with the math, a deal call, and **For you** ("this creator's format fits your <product> because…; what they'd make; the approved claim behind it, or 'you'd need proof of X first'") — **You vs them** (rivals' creator programmes vs yours), wave 1 and how it will be judged, near-misses, Decisions for you (budget, names, claims, a deeper vet), and "what we could not read". Shape: [references/roster-format.md](references/roster-format.md). 2. **The roster** (`creators/roster.csv`, kept with the outcomes ledger) and **a brief and a first message per top pick** (`creators/<D>/briefs/<handle>.md`) — claims-safe, disclosure-ready, for the marketer to send: [references/creator-brief.md](references/creator-brief.md), [references/first-message.md](references/first-message.md), [references/wave-criteria.md](references/wave-criteria.md).

Before you start

1. **Setup first:** do [the `marketing-guide` skill](../marketing-guide/SKILL.md) §1–2 (connect, brand, brain read) before anything else; the job line is "I find and check creators through it." (`get_started` with `wants: "more"`; when it asks which brand, ask in one line and call it again.) Then, for this playbook:

• Brain path: the chapters the map points to for products, audience and rivals, plus 14 (rules — every `[creators …]` one), 22 and 23; `gooseworks:brain_search` for creators in talks, past deals and rates, the persona.
• Fallback path: `gooseworks:brand_read` (summary, kit, products with prices, competitors, organic — the brand's and rivals' recent posts, where collabs show — accounts, learnings) and `gooseworks:knowledge_search` for the same.

2. **Read the roster and siblings — free.** `gooseworks:social_inspiration_library` / `gooseworks:social_inspiration_search`; `gooseworks:campaign_read` if a campaign has a creator leg; workspace: `creators/roster.csv`, the newest report and `lessons/*.md`, `research/audience/buyer-groups.md`, `research/competitors/` records. Run [the `outcomes-ledger` skill](../outcomes-ledger/SKILL.md) (`entity: creator`) for declines, never-agains and stale picks — its updates question waits for step 7. Then **since last time:** the Start steps of [the `run-memory` skill](../run-memory/SKILL.md) ([references/run-memory.md](references/run-memory.md), job `creator programme`, subject `wave-<n>` — the wave this run plans or reads): wave results by role and tier from the roster, last run's picks and price bands checked against what came back — 3–5 lines that open the report and steer this run. Claims: only the read step of [the `claims-gate` skill](../claims-gate/SKILL.md) now. 3. **Ask nothing before the report.** The only question allowed first: "UGC" or "content for ads" with no word on who films → "A real person filming, or AI-made?" (AI-made video goes to the goose-video skill: offer it as the next job; real people filming stay here). Everything else — goal, budget, platforms — is assumed from the brand and the ask, stated in the report, and corrected in step 7.

Steps

1. **Frame.** From the brand, its product pages (host browser: price, what it is, who it's for) and the ask: the product, the likely goal (DTC: reach + content for ads; app: installs + UGC; B2B: pipeline), platforms, roles and what "gift" means ([references/creators-by-company-type.md](references/creators-by-company-type.md)). Each assumption is labelled. No budget → plan three wave sizes (pricing §7).

2. **Free pass — discovery.** [the `work-with-creators-creator-discovery` skill](../work-with-creators-creator-discovery/SKILL.md) with [references/discovery.md](references/discovery.md): the brand's and rivals' recent posts and collabs (free in the brain); rivals' partnership ads in the Meta Ad Library in the browser; web search ("<category> creator tiktok", "best <concern> creators", roundups, "#ad <rival>"); TikTok, Instagram and YouTube search and hashtag pages and public profiles in the host browser, read as a person would; creators already tagging or mentioning