I am making some changes to my social media and I will be giving you the rundown on how it is going.
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But first.
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Your cheat sheet as always so you can scroll.
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1. In My World: my time to share with you something personal in my life.
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2. A Story Audit: I take submissions each week and will audit anything you send from a storytelling and marketing perspective. (SUBMIT!! This is like free coaching. Give me your post, your email, blog post, video….)
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3. Why This Works: a mini case study, a storytelling phenomenon. Here I will show you IRL how these principles apply to real businesses.
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4. Real Resources: what I am reading , listening to, programs I am taking. What or who can help you in your business.

5. Inspire that Founder’s Fire: motivational quotes and anecdotes to make you think differently.
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​In My World:​
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Who here hates, loves a good social media challenge?
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I was part of one at the top of the year and while I dropped out before it ended (I KNOW I KNOW), it DID motivate me to take my social more seriously this year.
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I am great at daily Instagram stories because it’s a creative outlet for me. Put posting to the feed? Where content actually drives new eyeballs. Forget about it.
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This challenge made me ask myself questions like “why do I think creating content is on my “if I get to it” list when it ACTUALLY does drive business for me?”
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But I get it.. It is HARD to keep on top of it AND run your business (and this is coming from someone who LOVES creating content.)
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Especially when you are a solopreneur or have a small team because the majority of the creation falls on YOU.
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I’ve tried outsourcing it and it has never worked…BUT..
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…I’m experimenting this year on different strategies.
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Some have not worked so well. (giving my emails to someone to make carousel posts just didn’t work and I lit money on fire. So did giving no REEL text guidance and giving someone a broll video folder and saying ‘make me some reels and look at my content for inspo.” Also lit money on fire.) ​
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But ONE strategy is showing a lot of promise. (more on that down the road as I play this out a bit more.)
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Back to the challenge….for the first week we are focusing on COURAGE stories.
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This community was born out of people asking me to form it after we would end our intimate time together in Founder’s Fire!

****by the way the FALL cohort is coming soon and there are limited spots for this MAGIC program where we write your WHY story together and put it to video. Get on the waitlist if you think you might be interested.

And the first week we are focusing on COURAGE stories.
We all have them.

Telling courage stories in your marketing is one of the best ways to build real connection.

Why?
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In addition to giving your audience context for who you are as a person, it allows them to imagine themselves in your stories, thus forging a deeper connection -even if unconscious.

To all my storypreneurs I am proud of you! Week is almost done!

More on this further down..
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​A Story Audit​
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Priscillia de Muizon submitted the ABOUT PAGE from her website.
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She has a company called Inkwell Story Studio where she turns your family stories into legacy heritage books.

Let me give you a few screen grabs if you’re not going to click on the page.

And this one here

The Good
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• I’m obsessed with this company because even without fully getting into her ABOUT page I am like “OMG this is so cool. I want one for ME and MY family.” This is a great place to be if you can convey this feeling off the bat which she did for me.
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• The photo of her WITH her dad at the top is also a fantastic marketing and storytelling move. I feel immediately more connected to her, and thus her business with only this one photo.
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• I love how she starts with telling us that she spent her life documenting her own family’s journey. Immigration, pivots, ups, downs…she already has me hooked to keep on reading as she TELLS me she’s going to tell me a story.
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• The attorney writing and “influencing judges” also intrigues me. And since she told us that her parents immigrated and her family going through ups, downs and pivots, I can assume her writing work involves a bit of advocacy in it.
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• Had she not set this up, “influencing judges” being in Napa Valley (an affluent area) could have had a totally different connotation, not necessarily good.
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• Love how she puts the target clients at the END of her About. That is smart because now that I read this I am thinking, “but OK, is this product for ME?” She answered that without me needing to get off the page.
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Could be better:
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• For being in the storytelling business, I expected more visuals. This is quite long and while that first paragraph hooks me in, the narrative loses steam and I found myself wanting to just scan the rest.
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  This could be avoided by breaking up text with visuals, shorter sentences and a better story thread through the entire page.
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• Never assume anyone will go to another page on your ABOUT, especially if you are a product. There is a missed opportunity here as she could have shown a few images of making the book with her dad, her dad reading the book, etc.
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  Allow me to experience the product while learning about you.
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• The text is long but it repeats sentiment about Priscillia being an attorney ( we don’t need to be told twice) and it goes very “corporate speak” all of a sudden.
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• Like this first line sounds impersonal and this is a PERSONAL experience. With a visual of her interviewing or a video clip of this… THEN this line would not seem as sterile.
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• I was craving MORE from Priscillia on why this all matters. She never tells me her manifesto. Like I want an “I” statement here or a story from her (on video would be amazing). About why it’s so important to capture stories in this way and what this means for future generations.
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Why This Works

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Back to my COURAGE Storytelling Theme week.
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Courage stories are really smart to weave into your own business.

WHY?
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Because courage is a universal human emotion.

​And anytime you can tap into a universal emotion in your marketing, you increase the likelihood that it will connect with more people and then you get the attention of your audience. ​
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The actual events in the story don’t even need to be relatable to you…so long as you make sure to thread the universal message or feelings across.
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When I was a TODAY show producer on deadline I would ask myself EVERY SINGLE TIME I wrote a story, “what FEELING or emotion in this story will connect the most people in our audience.”
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You should be asking the same question about your marketing.
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​Take my story of moving my family to another country.
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Unrelatable to many of you.
But this reel is hitting a nerve.
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The key is to make sure you weave the story back to your business and your ideal audience as I am not a travel blogger or a mom influencer.
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But it’s hitting a nerve because I choose to focus on the universal element of what it means to take big life risks.
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​(and by the way if you need help in doing this or how to approach telling stories that resonate with your specific audience,, I HIGHLY recommend you start with my Business Storytelling Starter Kit)

A few questions to ask yourself if you are thinking about being courageous, like my AMAZING VA Shayla who wanted to partake in this storytelling challenge is this:
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1️⃣What’s a time when you faced a fear and took action anyway?
2️⃣Have you ever made a big life change that required you to step out of your comfort zone?
3️⃣What’s a moment when you stood up for something you believed in, even when it was difficult?

Remember, your courage story doesn’t have to be as dramatic as moving to a new country. It could be something as simple as speaking up in a meeting, starting a new hobby, or ending a toxic relationship.
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​Real Resources​
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I am BINGING my friend Shannon’s podcast called, “Good Content.”​

Shannon is a social media manager and has the BEST content.
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Great.
Not good content.
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We connected years ago as we both come from traditional news. She worked at CNN in Atlanta before she decided to take a career risk and I also worked at CNN at one stage in my career.
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Her episodes are never longer than 15 minutes and I literally check daily to make sure I didn’t miss one…..as I listen in the car after I drop off my kids at school.

She is the real deal. Very funny. And is masterful at making social media seem not only NOT scary but FUN.
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​Inspire that Founder’s Fire​
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“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” — Maya Angelou
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OK that’s all folks.
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Thanks for reading this.
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As always, let me know what you think.
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Make sure you get on that Fire Founder’s Waitlist if you want to go really deep with me this fall in your storytelling journey.
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hope you have a magical rest of the week and please reply to this and say hi!! Oh, and if you do decide to post a courage story, please tag me and I will shout you out!