What it actually does

You type a question or a task in plain English. Claude types back. That's the whole thing.

You can ask it to write, plan, explain, tidy up your words or think a problem through — and you keep the conversation going for as long as you like. No code, no jargon. If you can send a text message, you can use it.

The plans — and why Free is where you start

Here's the honest version, so you don't pay for anything you don't need yet.

Every freebie I hand you is built to work on the free plan, so start there and only upgrade if you actually bump into the limits. Prices change — you can always check the current ones at claude.com/pricing.

Getting in takes a minute

1. Go to claude.ai in your browser.
2. Sign up with your email address.
3. Choose the free plan — no card needed.

That's it — you're in. Now come back to grab your first freebie from me. They're mine — from Kirsty Hamilton Photography Education, not from Claude itself — so you'll download them here on my site, not inside the app.

Finding your way around

It's calmer than it looks. Four things are worth knowing — the rest you'll pick up as you go.

1. The message box. Where you type. Hit send, or press Enter.
2. Claude's reply. Appears just above, usually within seconds.
3. New chat. Starting something unrelated? Open a fresh chat to keep things tidy.
4. Your history. Every conversation is saved down the side, so you can pick any of them back up later.

Have a go

Here's a real example. Press Send and watch what happens.

That's the whole loop — you ask, Claude answers, you carry on. Not quite right? Ask it to make them shorter, warmer or funnier, and it'll try again.

Getting more out of it

One thing before you go

You might have noticed those captions were… fine. Perfectly usable — but they could've been written for anyone. That's the catch with Claude straight out of the box: it doesn't know your business yet. Not your clients, not your numbers, not the way you actually talk.

So here's what I actually do — and it's the whole reason I teach this. I don't chat with Claude; I run my business through it. It drafts my captions, my client emails and my blog posts, and helps me make sense of my numbers — a whole team I could never otherwise afford, built entirely from my own words, stories and figures. I'm still the one holding the pen. It just takes the heavy lifting off my plate, so I get more time behind the camera and at the school gate.

The gap between that generic reply and the kind of work you'd happily put your name to isn't magic, and it isn't a button you press. Closing it — properly, in your voice, around your life — is exactly what these courses are for.

That's honestly all you need to begin

You don't have to understand what's going on under the bonnet — I certainly don't. You just need to be willing to type something and see what comes back.

Everything I teach from here builds on that one small habit, and nothing I'll ever ask you to do needs more than the free plan to try. So — go and make yourself an account, and I'll see you in the first lesson.