Blacksheep Mind Get the book, $12

A Blacksheep Mind web book · Content that grows

You had a fun idea for a post. Then you posted the usual.

One small try a week, about 20 minutes each, and a kind way to judge it, so you find out what sounds like you without betting anything on one post. For makers and small studios, and for owners who are funny at the counter and stiff the moment they open the app.

The Internet Is Your Creative Playground. Try one small thing a week and find your voice online.

The cover of The Internet Is Your Creative Playground.
Read it online, or download the PDF to keep or print. Nothing is posted to you.
Chapters
8
Tools
3
Reading
53 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

Funny at the counter. Stiff the moment you open the app.

  • Something funny happened at work, and you thought: that would make a good post.
  • By the time you opened the app, your cousin and the shop across the street were in your head.
  • The caption you wrote, read twice and deleted.
  • The finished piece on a plain background. Again.

Meanwhile someone else’s page looks like they’re having fun, and you’d quietly like a turn. The safe post means nobody laughs. It also means nobody looks. Online is the cheapest place you’ll ever try something: a post takes 20 minutes, and a wrong one costs a scraped knee, not the business.

What’s inside

Eight steps, one small try at a time

  1. 01

    Name Who You’re Scared Of

    Write down the few people you picture seeing your posts. Most of them have never bought from you. Then post for one customer you like.

  2. 02

    Make It Small Enough Not to Matter

    One change, one week, one question, about 20 minutes. Plan it on the try card before you make anything.

  3. 03

    Keep the Subject, Change the Shape

    Post the thing you always post in a new shape, so if it lands, you know the shape did it.

  4. 04

    Try On Three Voices

    Write one caption plain, dry and nerdy, read all three out loud, and post the one you’d say to a regular.

  5. 05

    Post the Idea You Talked Yourself Out Of

    Check the odd idea with three questions: is it kind, is it true, does it come from your work. If yes, make it the same day.

  6. 06

    Borrow a Trend, Bring Your Own Work

    Take the shape everyone is using this week and fill it with your own hands, place and words. No dancing, no costume.

  7. 07

    Give Yourself a Game With Rules

    One rule, a name and 10 rounds, so you stop deciding what to post and start noticing what’s yours.

  8. 08

    Keep Score Kindly

    Judge each try by what it taught you and whether you’d do it again, with one number next to your usual post. Then read them back and find how you sound.

Plus a short introduction and a closing chapter that turns the eight steps into eight weeks. 8 chapters, about 53 minutes to read.

A page from the book

Write it the way you’d say it at the counter

Step 4 · from the book, word for word

Try On Three Voices

A case

Found in the dryer

Ernesto runs a laundromat with a wash-and-fold drop-off service. Regulars tell him he’s the funniest person on the block. Online, every post said the same thing: “Open 7am to 10pm. Wash and fold available.” When a regular told him his page sounded nothing like him, his reflex was: “Nobody wants jokes from a laundromat.”

That week he wrote one post three ways on the back of a receipt. Plain: “Open till 10 tonight, and the big dryers are free.” Dry: “Left in our dryers this week: one sock, a rubber duck, $3.40 and a letter we did not read.” Nerdy: “Towels coming out stiff? It’s often too much detergent. Try half.” He read them out loud behind the counter. The plain one sounded like his sign. The dry one sounded like him.

He posted the dry one with a photo of the lost-and-found basket, the letter face down. It got 11 comments, more than any post that year, and two regulars quoted it back to him at the counter. A month later he posted the nerdy one, and a few people saved it to look at later.

What to say
Instead of

“New stock now available. Shop now.”

Try

“The green mugs are back. I put six aside by the register.”

Try

“The green mugs are back. You know who you are.”

Try

“The green mugs are back. That glaze only comes out right on the top shelf of the kiln, so each firing gives us about six.”

The 40 small tries checklist in the web book, on a phone, with three tries ticked.
40 small tries, ticked off as you go
The kind scorecard in the web book, on a phone, with a made-up example filled in.
The kind scorecard, with a made-up example

The tools

A card, a list and a scorecard you’ll keep

  • WorksheetThis week’s tryThe front before you make anything: what you usually post, the one thing you’ll change, what you want to find out and the worst that could honestly happen. The back two days later. About 10 minutes.
  • Checklist40 small triesWays to change the shape, the voice or the rules of something you already post. Pick one a week and tick it off.
  • WorksheetThe kind scorecardPick the one number you’ll watch, fill in one box a week for eight weeks, then read it back: which tries felt like you, which you enjoyed making, and how you sound in one sentence.
The “This week’s try” worksheet in the web book, part filled in with an example.
This week’s try, with a made-up example filled in

Who it’s for

For people who are good at the work and stiff on their page

For you if

  • You make things, like yarn, pots, cutting boards, jewelry, glass, signs, cakes or flowers, and you post the finished piece on a plain background.
  • You run a shop, a garage, a laundromat or a studio, you’d say you’re not creative, and your regulars would say otherwise.
  • You’ve written something fun, read it twice and deleted it.
  • You’d like to try something new online without betting anything on one post.

Not for you if

  • You want a plan for the whole month. That’s The 30-Day Content Calendar, on the same shelf.
  • You want to learn to film and edit short videos. That’s How to Make Better Shortform Content Without Bigger Budgets.
  • You want more followers, views or sales by a certain date. Nobody can honestly promise that.
Get the book, $12

8 steps · 3 tools · read tonight

Your questions

Before you buy

I’m really not creative. Is this for me?

Yes. Half the people in the book are a locksmith, a laundromat owner, a garage owner and a piano teacher. Here, creative means willing to try one small thing.

Do I have to dance or show my face?

No. Every try works with your hands, your place and your words. Trends are optional, and the book shows the calm version.

Will this get me more followers or sales?

No book can honestly promise that, and this one doesn’t. It gets you one small try a week and something learned from each one.

How much time does it take?

About 35 minutes a week: 10 minutes to plan the try, 20 to make it and 5 to write down what happened. The book itself takes about 53 minutes to read.

Which apps does it cover?

Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, in general terms, because buttons change. One Instagram feature for showing a video to people who don’t follow you yet is explained in plain words.

How is it different from the other books on the shelf?

They plan your month, work out what all your posting is for, write the first line or make the video. This one is the part before: getting loose enough to try something that isn’t the usual post.

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.

The Internet Is Your Creative Playground

Pick one small try this week. Nobody is grading it.

$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.