{"id":"wri-mkt-creator-partnership-decline","audience":"marketing","category":"writing-emails","technique":"tone","title":"Decline a creator's paid pitch and keep the door open","free":false,"task":"A creator pitched a paid partnership you can't fund. Reply in at most 4 sentences. The first sentence declines the paid deal, give the budget timing as the only reason, offer the gifted-product program with its link, and never use 'unfortunately' or 'sorry'. Don't mention their follower count, engagement or the skillet's retail price. Write a prompt that gets that reply.","materialLabel":"The creator's pitch and your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"EMAIL from Jade Moreau (@jadecooksathome):\nHi! I love Kettle & Crumb's cast iron line and I'd love to do a paid partnership: 3 Reels + 2 Stories for $2,400. My audience is 18k home cooks, mostly 25-40. Let me know if you're interested!\n\nMY NOTES (Partnerships)\n- Paid creator budget for this year is fully committed. Next budget opens in April (Q2).\n- Her engagement rate is about 1.1%, lower than the 3% we look for in paid deals. Not sharing that.\n- Her content is genuinely good. Nice lighting, real recipes.\n- Gifted product program: creators get a free skillet and can post if they want, no obligation. Apply here: kettleandcrumb.example/creators\n- We usually revisit paid partners from the gifted program in Q2.\n- Our skillets retail for $89.\n- She tagged us in a post in August (the cornbread one).","rules":[{"type":"maxSentences","max":4}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Not limiting the length","why":"The AI writes a gushing, multi-paragraph decline.","fix":"Be exact: \"At most 4 sentences.\"","checks":["maxSentences"]},{"title":"Praise first, no second","why":"AI opens with \"Thank you so much for reaching out, we love your content!\" and the decline gets lost.","fix":"Say it: \"Sentence 1 declines the paid deal.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"No path forward","why":"The AI says no but forgets the gifted program or the link.","fix":"Add: \"Offer the gifted program with the link kettleandcrumb.example/creators.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Leaking the real reason","why":"The AI may mention her engagement rate or the retail price, and it softens the no with \"Unfortunately\" or \"I'm sorry\".","fix":"Add: \"Budget timing is the only reason. Never say 'unfortunately' or 'sorry'. No prices.\"","checks":["r2"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Limits the sentences","patterns":["\\b(\\d|one|two|three|four|five|six)\\b.{0,12}sentences?","sentences?"]},{"label":"Gives the no first","patterns":["first sentence","lead with","start with","decline"]},{"label":"Offers the gifted program","patterns":["gift","creators","link"]},{"label":"Keeps the reason to budget","patterns":["budget","april","only reason"]},{"label":"Bans 'unfortunately'","patterns":["unfortunately"]}],"hint":"A good decline is clear, gives one honest reason, and offers a next step. Tell the AI the order, the reason to give and the one to keep private.","rubricLabels":["The first sentence (after a greeting like 'Hi Jade,') declines the paid partnership, with no thank-you or praise before the decline","Gives budget timing as the only reason (paid creator budget is committed until April), offers the gifted-product program, and includes the link kettleandcrumb.example/creators","Never uses 'unfortunately' or 'sorry', and does not mention her follower count, engagement rate, the 3% benchmark or the $89 retail price"]}