Stop Chasing Trends: Build a Brand That Lasts

A weird thing happens the moment a marketing tactic becomes “the trend”: it stops being an advantage.

That’s the paradox Seth Godin captured in a single punchy idea: by the time most people adopt what’s “on trend,” it’s already late. The leading edge is called the leading edge for a reason—most people aren’t on it.

For solopreneurs and small business owners in the SMB Content Marketing United States world, this matters more than it does for big teams. You don’t have a staff to churn out seven experiments a week, or the budget to burn on every new platform feature. If you build your content marketing around trends, you’ll end up tired, inconsistent, and—ironically—less memorable.

The paradox of “on trend” (and why it hits solopreneurs hardest)

Being “on trend” feels safe because it looks like social proof. If everyone is posting carousel threads, filming street-style reels, or running mini-webinars, it’s tempting to assume that’s the requirement for growth.

But here’s the direct truth: a trend is usually most profitable when it still feels slightly uncomfortable and underused. Once it’s comfortable, it’s crowded.

For a one-person business, crowding creates three problems fast:

• Speed mismatch: Trends reward fast iteration. Solopreneurs have limited hours.
• Sameness: Trends compress everyone into similar formats, hooks, and talking points.
• Fragile strategy: When the platform or audience moves on, your pipeline goes quiet.

Chasing trends is how you end up with “random acts of content”—busy weeks followed by long silences.

Trend fatigue is real (and your audience feels it too)

Answer first: Audiences don’t want more trendy content; they want content that helps them make a decision.

Across US small business markets, people are overloaded: emails, ads, “thought leadership,” and a constant drip of recycled takes. When your content looks like everyone else’s, the brain labels it as skippable—even if the advice is solid.

A simple rule I’ve found useful: if you can swap your logo with your competitor’s and nothing feels different, you’re producing trend content, not brand content.

The hidden cost of chasing trends: trust, time, and positioning

Trends aren’t “bad.” The cost comes from building your strategy on them.

Answer first: The hidden cost of being “on trend” is that it steals time from the few things that compound: clear positioning, repeatable content systems, and audience trust.

Cost #1: You trade consistency for novelty

Consistency is the real unfair advantage in content marketing for small businesses.

A trend-based plan usually looks like this:

• Week 1: new format, lots of energy
• Week 2: algorithm changes or the trend cools
• Week 3: you’re behind, so you switch again

Meanwhile, the solopreneur who posts one strong weekly article, one email, and a handful of repurposed social posts keeps showing up. After 6–12 months, they’re the “trusted voice,” even if they never once went viral.

Cost #2: You weaken your differentiation

Answer first: If you sound like the internet, you’ll be priced like the internet.

Small business marketing works best when your audience can quickly repeat what you’re about. Trends blur that.

Example: A bookkeeping solopreneur who shifts weekly between “funny finance memes,” “AI tax hacks,” and “hot takes on entrepreneurship” might get sporadic engagement—but it’s not building a clear, referable identity like:

“I help service businesses clean up messy books in 30 days so they can pay themselves confidently.”

That sentence is boring in the best way. It sells.

Cost #3: You build on rented land (without a safety net)

Platforms change. Formats get throttled. Audience attention migrates.

If your strategy is trend-first, you’re vulnerable. If your strategy is brand-first—anchored by content you own (your site and email list)—platform shifts become annoying, not catastrophic.

A better approach: create “evergreen anchors,” then borrow trends selectively

Answer first: The alternative to trend-chasing isn’t ignoring trends—it’s making them optional.

In this SMB content marketing series, I keep coming back to the same idea: a small business wins by building a simple engine that runs even on weeks when life happens.

Here’s the framework that works for most solopreneurs.

Step 1: Choose 3 brand pillars (and stick to them for 90 days)

Brand pillars are the topics you’re willing to be known for.

Pick three. Not ten.

A US-based solo marketing consultant might choose:

1. Positioning and offers (what you sell and why it’s different)
2. Lead generation systems (content, email, partnerships)
3. Proof and performance (case studies, metrics, lessons)

If a post doesn’t fit a pillar, it’s probably a distraction.

Step 2: Build one “evergreen anchor” per pillar

An evergreen anchor is a substantial piece of content you’d be proud to send a prospect six months from now.

Examples that actually pull leads:

• “How to price a service offer when you’re not sure what to charge”
• “The simplest email funnel for a one-person business (with 5 emails)”
• “A case study: how I booked 12 sales calls in 30 days without paid ads”

These anchors do the heavy lifting for your content marketing strategy.

Step 3: Repurpose into smaller assets (your weekly output)

Answer first: Solopreneurs don’t need more ideas—they need more mileage from the ideas that already work.

From each anchor, pull:

• 5–10 social posts
• 1 email newsletter issue
• 2 short videos (45–90 seconds)
• 3 “objection handlers” (posts answering common concerns)

This is how you stay visible without becoming a content factory.

How to use trends without becoming trend-dependent

Answer first: Treat trends like spices, not the meal.

You’re allowed to borrow a format, a meme structure, or a platform feature. Just don’t let it rewrite your strategy.

The Trend Test (3 questions before you commit)

Before you spend your limited time:

1. Does this trend fit one of my pillars? If not, skip it.
2. Can I execute it to my standard in under 60–90 minutes? If not, it’s too expensive.
3. Will it still make sense if someone sees it 3 months from now? If not, it should be a small experiment, not your main content.

If you answer “no” to two or more, let someone else chase it.

A simple “20% trend” rule

A practical ratio for most one-person businesses:

• 80% evergreen brand content (pillars + anchors + repurposing)
• 20% trend experiments (formats, hooks, timely topics)

This keeps you current without letting “current” control you.

Example: Using a trend the smart way

Let’s say short-form video is pushing a new style: fast cuts, on-screen captions, and “3 tips” pacing.

Trend-chasing version:

• You scramble to record daily videos on whatever’s getting views.

Brand-first version:

• You take your evergreen anchor “5-email funnel for solopreneurs” and record:
  • Video 1: “Email 1: the welcome promise”
  • Video 2: “Email 2: the problem you solve”
  • Video 3: “Email 3: proof that it works”

Same trend format. Totally different outcome: clarity, cohesion, and leads.

People also ask: trend-proof content marketing for small businesses

How do I know if my marketing is too trend-based?

If your content changes topics weekly, you don’t have a repeatable publishing cadence, or your posts don’t naturally lead to your offer, you’re likely trend-based.

A strong signal: your audience says “Great post!” but you rarely hear “I need this—how do we work together?”

What’s the fastest way for a solopreneur to build a consistent brand?

Pick a narrow audience, name a specific outcome, and publish on a predictable schedule.

Consistency beats intensity. One solid weekly article plus one weekly email can outperform daily trend posts over a year.

Do I need to be early on every new platform to grow?

No. Being early helps, but it’s not required.

Your advantage as a solopreneur is distinctiveness and trust. Platforms come and go; a clear point of view and an email list hold value.

Build the thing that trends can’t take away

Seth’s point about fashion applies perfectly to marketing: by the time something is “the move,” the edge is gone. Most companies get this wrong because it feels efficient to copy what’s working.

The reality? Your job isn’t to be “on trend.” Your job is to be remembered. And for small business content marketing in the US, being remembered comes from showing up with the same promise, the same standards, and the same voice—long enough for trust to form.

If you want a practical next step, do this this week: write down your three pillars, choose one evergreen anchor you can publish this month, and decide which trend you’ll ignore for the next 30 days. Your future self (and your audience) will thank you.

What would your marketing look like if you optimized for being chosen instead of being current?