Most people open Claude and treat it the same way regardless of the job - quick questions, full documents, website builds, all handled from the same chat window. But Claude has four distinct ways of working, and picking the wrong one is usually why the output feels inconsistent. The prompt isn't the problem. The mode is. Chat is for quick answers and thinking out loud: a question, a fast brainstorm, a rewrite in two minutes. Cowork is for finishing whole pieces of work where you care about the final result - documents, decks, multi-step projects. Code is for building things: a landing page, a small internal tool, something clickable. Skills are for tasks you do repeatedly - the same process, week after week, with your templates and instructions already baked in. The short version: need an answer, use Chat. Need a document, use Cowork. Need something built, use Code. Doing it again next week, turn it into a Skill. There's a one-page reference PDF covering all four modes in detail inside AI Video Motion, along with a walkthrough of when each one changes the quality of what you get. If on mobile, swipe right 👉 for the PDF Des Dreckett - AI Video Motion

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and it's really such a lovely time of the year to be thankful - the leaves on the trees are gorgeous shades of yellow, orange, and red, the sun is shining, and the farmers markets are bountiful! It's also the time of year I am so grateful to have a healthy, happy family and the ability to pursue entrepreneurship so that I can be more present for them. Alongside that, I am forever grateful for this amazing community and all of you who make it the warm, welcoming, and collaborative place that it is. The vibe her is one-of-a-kind, and so many people who join comment immediately that it feels like a great space - and that is all because of you! A few days ago, I accidentally allowed in someone who I shouldn't have. This person sent hundreds of spam messages using AI. Two amazing things happened as a results. First, three different people immediately reported the comments to me so that I could take fast action and ban him from the group. But also what occurred to me was that his comments were so easy to spot because they were so different from the usual lovely comments that are authentic and genuine and full of real connection. I appreciate so much how you all show up here every day posting authentically about how you are able to help others and then commenting on each others posts with genuine interest and questions. Running a group of this size is not easy, and I really depend on the vigilance of the group to help me keep it the safe space it is. I also really appreciate how the majority of you take it upon yourselves to make sure that you are following the community guidelines so that we don't have to do as much enforcing. So, on this lovely October Sunday, thank you and I hope you have a lovely day no matter where you are in the world. ❤️Shannon

Sorry not sorry for the title. I'm closing my Skool Monetization Lab community, and the reason is simple. I give away good content for free, and free members don't act on it the way my paying members do. I'm in my 50s, and I don't have time to waste like the younger "whippersnappers" (I have never written that word before 🤣). For me, time is currency, so I looked at this as return on time. In my paid communities, people have put money in, so they turn up and do the work. In SML, free content gets treated like a free sample. People take it and don't act on it 😏 That gives me a simple rule on pricing: 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰: a low-priced subscription is the better model, because paying filters for people who will act. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁: stay free. A price on an empty room only leaves you with an empty room. My own traffic comes from YouTube, and that's what keeps my paid communities full. Two more reasons. There are now a lot of free communities teaching the same thing, so it's hard to look different from the one next door. And the same hours in my other communities earn more. I use one test. If I'm not hearing at least one "KACHING" a week, the time and resources are being wasted. SML started as a test, and it worked at the beginning. Then Skool changed the rules. I'm not going to sit and cry about it. I've never been afraid to kill what isn't working, so I'm closing the doors. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗔 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿. Here's how to check yours this week: Add up the hours you spent on it last month, including posting, replying and prep. Then count the sales, bookings or paid sign-ups that came from it. Divide the hours by the sales and you have your number. If you can't point to at least one sale a week, ask yourself two questions. Do I bring my own traffic? Would the people in here pay for what I give them? If the answer to the first is no, the pivot may be as small as changing who you're bringing in.

What's your go-to meal when you're tired and can't be bothered? I'd love to know.

We had a member, Helen, share her family's Oven Hangi with us this week. Do you know what Hangi is? I'd never heard of it, so @Helen Harris thank you sharing in the Cooking Skool. Hangi is a traditional Māori way of cooking. Dig a pit, heat rocks with fire, wrap the food in wet sacks, cover with soil, leave it for hours to steam. Helen's family does an oven version instead. Custom packs wrapped in cabbage leaves and foil, hot oven for an hour, then low and slow for 2-3 hours to steam. Same spirit, no digging required. This is what I love about Cooking Skool. It's not just recipes and technique. It's members sharing how they actually cook at home, traditions and all. Right now it's $5/year to join. That goes up beginning of next month, so if you've been curious, now's a good time to jump in, esp if you want quick, fast healthy meals made for family in under 30mins. https://www.skool.com/cooking-skool-6111