Blacksheep Mind Get the book, $12

A Blacksheep Mind web book · Brand and design

They looked, and walked on. You never found out why.

Follow your customer, fix where they stop, count what changes. For cafe, shop, salon and small online store owners, and whoever looks after your page.

Design That Actually Makes a Difference. Find the few places customers decide, and fix those first.

The cover of Design That Actually Makes a Difference.
Read it online, or download the PDF to keep or print. Nothing is posted to you.
Chapters
8
Tools
3
Reading
54 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

Everyone says design matters. Nobody says which part.

  • Someone reads your window, and keeps walking.
  • A dozen carts filled online this week, and not one order.
  • “Do you deliver?” for the tenth time today.
  • The quote for a new website, still sitting in your inbox.

Maybe you’re waiting until you can afford a proper redesign. Maybe you think design is just making it pretty. It’s usually one moment where people decide, and the fix is often a photo, a line of words or moving one shelf.

What’s inside

One walk, six stops, one honest count

  1. 01

    Walk the Path Like a Stranger

    Search, look, order and pay the way a stranger would, collect the questions people ask, and pick the one stop to fix first.

  2. 02

    Be the One They Tap

    The first photo and the first line people see on your listing or app, so a stranger can tell what you are, what it costs and that you’re open.

  3. 03

    Say What You Are Before They Walk Past

    Your window, your door or your first screen: what you sell in plain words, one real example of it, and a door that looks open.

  4. 04

    Make It Easy to Choose

    Group the menu or price list, put a price on everything, and point to what most people really get.

  5. 05

    Put the Right Thing in Their Hands

    Where a product sits and what the card beside it says, changed before you ever touch the price.

  6. 06

    Take the Surprises Out of Paying

    Show every cost early, cut one step, and offer one honest extra people can say yes to.

  7. 07

    Send Them Home With the Next Step

    The receipt, bag or message they leave with, and one easy way to come back or pass you on.

  8. 08

    Count It Before You Believe It

    Two weeks before, two weeks after, one change at a time, and how to tell a real difference from an ordinary week.

Plus a short introduction on where design earns its keep, and a closing plan: one stop, one change, two weeks. 8 chapters, about 54 minutes to read.

A page from the book

What a stranger reads in the time it takes to walk past

Stop 2 · from the book, word for word

Say What You Are Before They Walk Past

A case

Just a name over the door

Farid runs an alterations and repairs shop in a narrow space between a phone repair shop and a bakery. His sign says only his name. One morning a woman leaned in the door and asked if he was a barber.

His first reflex was to get a quote for a new lit sign. It came back at $1,800.

Before saying yes, he counted walk-ins for two weeks with a tally on the counter: 41. Then he put a hand-lettered card in the window, “Alterations and repairs. Hems while you wait.”, and hung a pair of pants with a pinned hem behind it. After checking with his landlord and the city about the sidewalk, he propped the door open with a small “Open, come in” board.

In the next two weeks he counted 52 walk-ins. That’s 52 minus 41, or 11 more, a little over five a week. Nobody asked if he cut hair. The sign quote went in the drawer.

What to say
Instead of

“[Your name]” on its own over the door.

Try

“Alterations and repairs. Hems while you wait. Open now, come in.”

Instead of

“Welcome to our world of handmade beauty.”

Try

“Soy candles, poured by hand in [town]. Ships in two days. Shop the best sellers.”

The before-and-after log in the web book, on a phone, with an example filled in.
The before-and-after log, with a made-up example
The check before you pay for any design, in the web book, on a phone, with three items ticked.
The check before you pay for any design

The tools

Three tools, used again at every stop

  • WorksheetWalk the path: where your customers decideWalk it once as a stranger, phone in hand, in about 45 minutes. Whatever makes people stop is your first fix.
  • WorksheetYour before-and-after logOne stop, one change, one count. Two weeks before, two weeks after, and your sums written out so you can see if it was real.
  • ChecklistBefore you pay for any designRun it before every quote: which stop it’s for, what it should change, the cheap version first, and how you’ll count it.
The walk-the-path worksheet in the web book, part filled in with an example.
The walk-the-path sheet, with a made-up example filled in

Who it’s for

For owners who would rather count than guess

For you if

  • You run a cafe, takeaway, bakery, shop, salon, barber, studio or small online store.
  • You, or one helper, change the photos, the words and the page.
  • People look and walk on, or fill a cart and leave, and you don’t know why.
  • A quote for a new logo, sign or website is waiting, and you’re not sure it’s the right thing to pay for.

Not for you if

  • You want a rebrand: a new logo, colors and fonts. That’s our DIY Branding Like a Pro.
  • You want your sign, menu and posts to look tidier. That’s our 5 Simple Design Fixes.
  • You want tricks that push people: fake countdowns, fees that show up at the end, extras ticked for them. This book shows every price up front.
Get the book, $12

6 stops · 3 tools · read tonight

Your questions

Before you buy

Do I need design skills or software?

No. Most first fixes are a photo, a line of words, a card in the window, or moving something to where people look.

Will it tell me to hire a designer or rebuild my website?

No. It shows which part matters first and how to try a cheap version. If a stop matters and your own version has gone as far as it can, it tells you what to hand a designer, so you pay for the right thing.

Will this bring me more customers?

Nobody can honestly promise that. It helps you find where people stop or leave, try one fix, and count, with your own numbers, whether it helped.

I only sell online. Does it work?

Yes. Every stop has an online version: the search result, the first screen, the product page, the checkout, the email after.

I don’t have many customers. Can I still count?

Yes. It shows how to count by hand, how to tell a real difference from an ordinary week’s wobble, and when to count for longer.

How long does it take?

About 54 minutes to read. The walk takes about 45 minutes, each fix is usually an afternoon, and then you count for two weeks.

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.

Design That Actually Makes a Difference

Read it tonight. Walk your path this week.

$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.