Blacksheep Mind Get the book, $12

A Blacksheep Mind web book · Content that grows

You learned the dance. They still asked the same three questions.

Eight steps to give every trend a two-minute test, then put most of your effort into a few posts and pages that answer what customers always ask, kept where people look first. For owners of shops, cafes, studios and service businesses who do their own posting.

Beyond the Trend: Creating Content That Stays Relevant. Make posts that keep working long after the trend is over.

The cover of Beyond the Trend: Creating Content That Stays Relevant.
Read it online, or download the PDF to keep or print. Nothing is posted to you.
Chapters
8
Tools
3
Reading
50 min
Price
$12
Get the book, $12

Read it tonight on your phone or laptop. One price, no upsells. No refunds: you get the whole book straight away.

The moment

Six months down your own page

  • A dance you learned in the stockroom after closing.
  • A sound that now says it’s unavailable.
  • A joke you’d have to explain to anyone who missed that week.
  • And at the counter, the same three questions, every day.

You did most of those because it felt like you had to. Each one took an evening and had a day or two. The trends changed every week. The questions didn’t. Answer the questions once, properly, keep the answers where people look, and give each new trend two minutes instead of an evening.

What’s inside

Eight steps, in the order you’d do them

  1. 01

    Scroll Back Through Your Own Page

    Sort six months of posts into expired, still true and still working. Most owners find a few that already last.

  2. 02

    Give Every Trend the Same Quick Test

    A two-minute test for any trend: is it safe, does it fit what you sell, does it show something true. Join the few that pass and skip the rest without guilt.

  3. 03

    Write Down What Customers Always Ask

    Two weeks of questions, word for word, from the counter, the phone and your messages. Then the 10 you hear most.

  4. 04

    Answer One Question So It Stays Answered

    The question first, a short straight answer, something shown and one next step, with nothing in it that will date it.

  5. 05

    Make Three Cornerstone Pieces

    Three bigger pieces you send people to again and again: how it works, what it costs, and what never changes about your work.

  6. 06

    Put Your Best Pieces Where People Look First

    Pinned to the top of your profile, saved in highlights, on your website, linked from your Google listing and in your saved replies.

  7. 07

    Bring Back Your Old Winners

    Check that a post that worked is still true, fix what’s dated, give it a new first line and put it up again.

  8. 08

    Keep the Library True

    30 minutes once a season to fix, retire or leave each piece, so no pinned post shows last year’s price.

Plus a short introduction, and a closing chapter that lays out your first week, 20 to 30 minutes a day, and a simple monthly rhythm after it. 8 chapters, about 50 minutes to read.

A page from the book

Answer it once, properly. Then send the link.

Step 4 · from the book, word for word

Answer One Question So It Stays Answered

A case

Which yarn for a first blanket

Mirela runs a yarn shop. She once spent a whole evening on a video of yarn tumbling off a shelf to a trending sound. People watched it, and nobody asked about anything in it. Meanwhile, at least once a day, someone stood at the counter and asked which yarn to buy for a first blanket.

Her first reflex was to look for the next sound. Instead, she took that question from her list and filmed a 40-second answer at the counter: three yarns in her hands, the one she’d pick for a beginner and why, and how many balls a baby blanket takes. No music. The question was the first line of the caption, and the last line said to ask for it at the counter. She wrote the same answer as a short page on her website, with prices “from” and the video at the top.

Over the next two months she sent the link about 20 times instead of explaining from scratch. Three customers bought the yarn she’d picked and said the video was why.

What to do
  1. Take the top question from your list in Step 3.
  2. Write the answer in two sentences, the way you’d say it at the counter.
  3. Take out anything that will date it: sounds, dates, “this week”, exact prices. Write prices as “from”.
  4. Show it with one short clip or two photos.
  5. End with one next step: book, come in or message us.
  6. Post it with the question as the first line, and save the link in a note on your phone.
What to say
Instead of

“When the beat drops and the yarn falls”

Try

“Which yarn for your first blanket? This one, and here’s why.”

Try

“Do I need to be home for the window cleaning? No. Here’s how it works.”

Try

“How far ahead should you book? Here’s the honest answer.”

The trend test checklist in the web book, on a phone, with three items ticked.
The trend test, ticked off on your phone
The bring-back plan worksheet in the web book, on a phone, with a made-up example filled in.
The bring-back plan, with a made-up example

The tools

A test, a sheet and a plan you’ll keep coming back to

  • ChecklistThe trend testQuick checks before you film anything: who’s in it, whether the sound is yours to use, whether it fits what you sell, and whether you’d be glad to see it on your page in three months. About two minutes.
  • WorksheetYour library sheetYour top 10 questions, your three cornerstone pieces, and where every lasting answer lives: pinned posts, highlights, your website, your Google listing and your saved replies. Fill it in once, then update it each season.
  • WorksheetYour bring-back planYour old winners, why each one worked, what needs changing, and the month each one comes back.
The library sheet in the web book, part filled in with a made-up flower shop.
The library sheet, with a made-up example filled in

Who it’s for

For owners who post between everything else

For you if

  • You run a shop, cafe, bakery, salon, studio or service business, and you do the posts yourself.
  • You join trends because it feels like you have to, and you’re tired of starting from nothing every week.
  • You answer the same few questions every day, at the counter, on the phone or in messages.
  • Scrolling back through your own page makes you wince a little.

Not for you if

  • You want a promise of more views or followers. Nobody can honestly make one.
  • You want help filming, editing or writing the first line of a post. Other books on this shelf cover those.
  • You want a list of this week’s trends to copy. This book helps you decide about each one, not find them.
Get the book, $12

8 steps · 3 tools · start this week

Your questions

Before you buy

Do I have to stop doing trends?

No. You’ll have a two-minute test for each one, and you’ll join the few that fit. The rest you can skip without guilt.

Will this get me more views or followers?

It can’t promise that, and nothing honest can. It helps you make posts and pages that stay useful for months, and puts them where people who are thinking of buying will find them.

I don’t have time to make big pieces of content.

You make three, once, and most of what goes in them comes from posts you’ve already made. After that, it’s about one new answer and one old post brought back a month.

Isn’t posting the same thing again lazy, or annoying?

Not when it’s still true and people still ask about it. Anyone who followed you since it first went up has never seen it. The book shows you how to refresh it so regulars get something new too.

I only use Facebook, or I only sell online. Does it still work?

Yes. It works on any app and on your website. The Google listing part is for businesses that meet customers in person or go to them, so skim it if that’s not you.

How long does it take?

About 50 minutes to read, with three tools you fill in on the page and keep. The first week takes 20 to 30 minutes a day. After that, a check once a season takes about 30 minutes.

Is it a PDF?

You get both. Read it online on your phone or laptop, where the worksheets save as you type, or download the PDF to keep or print. In the PDF, the worksheets have lines to fill in by pen.

Beyond the Trend: Creating Content That Stays Relevant

You don’t have to keep up. You have to keep answering.

$12one price, no upsells
Get the book, $12

Read it online, or download the PDF to keep or print. Nothing is posted to you. No refunds: you get the whole book straight away.