The Creative Residence

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THE CREATIVE RESIDENCE · SIX WEEK ASCENT

BUILD A

SYSTEM THAT

COMPOUNDS.

Most brands have a posting habit, not a content strategy. In six weeks, build the architecture underneath the work — narrative, archetype, clusters, funnel, shows, and the testing engine.

NEXT COHORT BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER · LIMITED TO 25 SEATS

MOST BRANDS HAVE A POSTING HABIT, NOT A CONTENT STRATEGY. SIX WEEKS TO BUILD THE ARCHITECTURE UNDER THE WORK.

APPLY FOR THE ASCENT →

NARRATIVE / ARCHETYPE / CLUSTERS / FUNNEL / SHOWS / ENGINE · LIMITED TO 25 SEATS

WK 01

Narrative

WK 02

Archetype

WK 03

Clusters

WK 04

Funnel

WK 05

Shows & Sets

WK 06

The Engine

THE WORK HAPPENS IN THE FIELD — NOT IN THE CALENDAR.

THE REAL PROBLEM

You don’t have a content problem. You have an architecture problem.

Nobody fails because they didn’t post enough. They fail because there was never anything underneath the posting. Here’s what that actually looks like.

Failure 01

Everything, for no one

You post cross-five topics with no through-line, so the algorithm can’t route you and the audience can’t place you. Volume goes up. Recognition doesn’t.

Failure 02

Every post has to sell

Leadership wants ROI on every piece, so it all reads like an ad. You’re fishing with a rod and reel and wondering why the nets are empty.

Failure 03

Starting over, weekly

No sets, no series, no repeatable format. Every video is a new production from scratch — so quality caps out and the team burns out.

THE CURRICULUM · SIX LAYERS

Built top-down.

Each layer is the raw material for the next. You don’t touch one until the layer above it is locked. That order is the entire strategy — and it’s the thing almost nobody does.

WEEK ONE

The Narrative

The problem: you can’t say, in one sentence, what you want living in someone’s head. So every idea is a coin flip.

Find your through-line at the intersection of POV × mission × values. Turn it into a kill-switch that cuts or reframes every incoming idea. Study the cleanest through-lines in market.

WEEK TWO

The Archetype

The problem: you’re posting in three different voices, and none of them point at anything you’re actually building.

Choose from The Resource, The 1%, and The Becoming — educator, inspire, aspire. Map each archetype to the business it funnels to. Build the association that says it without ever saying it.

WEEK THREE

Clusters & Pillars

The problem: you’re still building for customer segments in a world where the feed only routes on interest.

Map the interest clusters you can actually own. Sharpen every broad topic until it’s specific enough to route. Run the machine: Pillar → Parent topic → Format → Idea.

WEEK FOUR

The Content Funnel

The problem: 90% of brands make almost no top-of-funnel content — then wonder why nothing reaches anyone new.

Commercial net, cast net, rod & reel — the three ways to fish. Build reach through association. Set your volume mix and build one topic top-to-bottom.

WEEK FIVE

Shows & Sets

The problem: you’re making one-off posts when you could be running a show — and letting familiarity do the work.

The nine elements of a social show, narrative through length. The test: Narrative × Association × Scalability. Think in sets: lock the world, rotate one variable, produce at volume.

WEEK SIX

The Engine

The problem: you’re drowning in analytics with no idea which numbers actually predict a hit.

The five metrics — and exact thresholds — that signal a breakout. Execution testing vs. strategy testing. Launch a live 30-day sprint before you leave.

5,000

The same 10% that only got you 1,000 at ten.

THE ONLY THING THAT CHANGED WAS THE SIZE OF THE NET.

FIT

Who this is actually for.

This is for you if…

✓ You’re a founder, creative director, or head of content who owns the strategy — not just the calendar.
✓ You’re already publishing consistently — and it’s plateaued.
✓ You care about craft. Views alone were never the point.
✓ You can put real hours against the work for six weeks.
✓ You want a system you own — not an agency you rent.

This isn’t for you if…

× You want a hack, a hook template, or thirty viral scripts by Friday.
× You need every single post to produce a direct sale.
× You haven’t posted anything yet — start, then come back.
× You want someone else to do it for you. That’s an agency, not a residence.

THE DELIVERABLES

You don’t leave with notes. You leave with a strategy.

Every week ends with something built. By the last session it’s not theory — it’s the operating system for your next two years of content.

Your six-layer strategy

Narrative, archetype, clusters, funnel, shows, engine — filled in, pressure-tested by the cohort, and captured on a single-page canvas you’ll keep on the wall.

The Workbook

A print-and-write build book: guided exercises, worked examples from real brands, and a done-when checklist for every layer so you know when it’s locked.

A show in production

One repeatable show format with elements specified, set locked, variable chosen — that you can run for fifty episodes without reinventing anything.

A live 30-day sprint

The testing sheet, daily benchmarks, and both review cadences on the calendar — so the system keeps compounding long after the six weeks end.

Live sessions & critique

Six weekly sessions with Alex Garcia and the team. Your work gets reviewed in the room — the part no self-paced course can give you.

The Residence after

Keep the templates, swipe library, and access to the cohort. The people in the room are half the reason to be in the room.

REFERENCE WALLS. CAMERA TESTS. REAL WORK IN THE ROOM.

WHO’S TEACHING

Alex Garcia

Founder of Marketing Examined and House of Distribution. He’s spent the last decade building content systems for brands most people can only cite as case studies — and now runs the shows, campaigns, and creative direction that come out of the House. The Residence is the system his own team runs. Not a theory he assembled to sell a course.

20+ — Social shows in production for 8–9 figure brands

200k+ — Founders and operators reading Marketing Examined

10 yrs — Building brand content from CMO seat to creative direction

25 — Seats per cohort. Every piece of work gets reviewed.

FROM THE COHORT

What people say after.

“I came in thinking I needed better hooks. I left realizing I’d never had a narrative at all. Week one reframed the entire business, not just the content.”

Maya R. · Founder, DTC skincare

“Our whole team was making bottom-of-funnel content and calling it a strategy. The fishing metaphor broke the argument I’d been losing with leadership for a year.”

Sana L. · Brand Director, hospitality

“The interest cluster work changed how we pick topics entirely. We stopped writing for our customer segment and started writing for the Explore page.”

Priya C. · Marketing Lead, B2B SaaS

“The set concept alone paid for it. We locked one recurring format and went from four painful shoots a month to banking a month of content in two days.”

Devin K. · Head of Content, apparel

“I’ve bought a lot of courses. This is the first one where I left with an actual artifact — a filled-in strategy and a show we started shooting the following Monday.”

Proof point

WATCH CLIP

ENROLLMENT

Take a seat in the Residence.

Twenty-five seats. Six weeks. One complete system — and the work reviewed in the room.

COHORT 01 · SEPTEMBER

The Creative Residence

$4,500

EVERYTHING INCLUDED
✓ Six live sessions with Alex & the House team
✓ The Content System — full curriculum deck
✓ The Workbook — every exercise, worked examples
✓ The one-page Strategy Canvas
✓ The Show Architecture — nine-element build
✓ The Testing Sheet & benchmark library
✓ Live critique of your work, every week

Bonus: lifetime access to the cohort & all future updates

APPLY FOR A SEAT →

Applications reviewed within 48 hours.

QUESTIONS

Before you apply.

Why is this an application and not just a checkout button?

Because the room is the product. Twenty-five seats means every person’s narrative, cluster map, and show concept gets reviewed live.

I already have a content strategy. Is this redundant?

Not if your strategy still depends on you reinventing what to say every week. This is about building the operating system underneath it.

How much time does it take each week?

Plan on one live session, one review window, and focused build time. The goal is momentum, not homework theater.

Does this work for B2B, personal brands, or small teams?

Yes — if you need a repeatable narrative system and not a stack of random prompts. The examples change; the architecture holds.

Do I need a production team or expensive gear?

No. The system works before the shoot. Better ideas make production easier; gear cannot fix unclear architecture.

What if I can’t make a live session?

You’ll still have the workbook and recordings, but the critique is the point. Come live whenever you can.

Stop posting. Start building.

Twenty-five seats. Six weeks. The last content strategy you’ll ever need to write from scratch.

APPLY FOR THE NEXT COHORT →

The Creative Residence