# 4. Create a download someone can use

**Outcome:** an editable resource that helps a particular reader complete one task, with a real export when your tools support it. Use Lead Magnet Build. You can finish the core exercise with local text files; PDF rebuilding is optional.

Copy [the Margin Press exercise folder](../../examples/service-extensions/lead-magnet/EXERCISE.md) into your practice project. This is a separate fictional business. Start a new context so Fold's location, clothing services and appointment language do not enter the print worksheet.

## Pick a useful job for the resource

Read `BRIEF.md`. A reader is preparing a first print enquiry. Useful completion means they have notes about purpose, format, quantity, colour ideas, artwork readiness and unanswered questions. It does not mean they have print-ready artwork or an accepted quote.

Compare two ideas:

- “Ten reasons our studio is the best” mostly advertises the studio and needs unsupported evidence.
- “Plan your first small print run” helps the reader assemble an enquiry using facts the brief actually supplies.

Choose the second. A good free resource remains useful before someone buys anything or joins a mailing list.

## Produce the files

Invoke `$lead-magnet-build` in Codex or `/lead-magnet-build` in Claude Code, then:

> Read BRIEF.md. Create my-work/worksheet.md: a compact, original preparation worksheet with actionable fields, one clearly fictional worked example and a next step. Also create my-work/download-description.md and my-work/checks.md. Preserve the business's supplied formats and run sizes. Keep unknown production requirements and prices unknown. If you can produce and inspect a printable PDF, include it and record the export/check method. Otherwise finish the editable source and explain the remaining export step honestly. Do not create a mailing list or publish anything.

Open the actual files. A message saying “PDF attached” does not establish that a PDF exists. If it does exist, read every page at normal size: check clipping, awkward page breaks, writing space and the business facts. If export is unavailable, the editable resource still constitutes useful work; the PDF remains outstanding.

## Compare with the worked example

Follow [WALKTHROUGH.md](../../examples/service-extensions/lead-magnet/WALKTHROUGH.md) for the source-to-result decisions and repairs. The supplied `worksheet-source.md` and two-page `first-print-run.pdf` are an original, reviewed answer. The PDF is printable, not a fillable form. The Markdown is editable.

The included `build_pdf.py` is an optional ReportLab implementation of this particular layout. It does not automatically typeset Markdown: changing the Markdown alone will not change the generated PDF. Follow `EXERCISE.md` for the exact rebuild route and preserve your copy before running it. You can also use your own exporter and inspect the resulting pages.

## Check what you are promising

“Run sizes of 25–250” comes from the brief. “Every job is ready in 48 hours” does not. “Which paper would you like to discuss?” leaves a decision open. “Choose from our six paper stocks” invents an inventory. A useful preparation worksheet need not become a technical manual.

The download description should state the task, format and included example. It should not claim increased sales, automatic quotes or expertise that the source does not establish.

Complete [the changed-input exercise](../../examples/service-extensions/lead-magnet/CHANGED-BRIEF.md), then compare with its answer. Use the [delivery checklist](../../templates/free/delivery-checklist.md) on the actual files.

**Complete when:** the source is editable, the resource helps the stated reader, the worked example is labeled, every business promise has a source, and export status matches what actually happened. You can explain which of the new brief's facts replaced the old ones.

Use the [service guide](SERVICE-GUIDE.md) to turn a practiced deliverable into a bounded offer. Finding a buyer, agreeing a price and delivering real client work remain separate steps.