232. Storytelling, Sharing With Clients and Taylor Swift with Christine DeHerrera

Have you been told that you need a brand story? Has somebody said to you, “You know if you don't have a story, your stuff will never sell.?” Given the success of some people, who are now billionaires because they tell stories very well (Taylor Swift), it seems like there's something to the power of storytelling. Christine DeHerrera is a writer and business coach. As a publicist, she told stories for Olympic athletes, Fortune 200 individuals, experts, authors and business owners of every type for more than 20 years. Better storytelling helped them increase their sales, uplevel their collaborations and brand deals, grow their audience and increase their media presence. (She’s helped me with my grocery store story, too!) Christine says storytellers make the culture, but business owners don’t necessary think about it. The more storytelling we can do, the more impact we can have. Part of that power is owning our stories, and then changing the culture by changing the stories. If you’ll let me have a fangirl moment right now, Taylor Swift is a billionaire of her own making because she sits down and writes stories. She can be your best friend, a maternal figure, or inspire and empower you with her lyrics. Whether you like her music or not, she’s tapped into the zeitgeist. “As human beings, our brains are literally wired for story,” says Christine. “It's what differentiates humans from every other lifeform on the planet.” Our brains are constantly scanning for information to keep us safe and information to keep us like moving ahead, because that's how we stay alive as human beings. Christine notes that Taylor Swift, is not only great at meeting her listeners with her stories, but also, she has controlled her own narrative in a way that is pretty much unprecedented for a female artist. That's what we have to do to as business owners is take control of our own narrative. Christine says she sees the whole picture, the whole business, from the lens of story. Christine says when she works with clients, most often they think their stories aren’t interesting. There's the idea that their story isn't big enough or that it's not interesting enough. Spoiler: We all get glued to reality TV and social media; other humans are inherently interesting to other people. “Your own journey is inherently interesting to your clients and to your viewers, your listeners, because they're going through something similar,” says Christine. “It's a little bit like your journey becomes your medicine.” The stories that apply to your customer help them understand and what journey they're on are always relevant, because in business, we're helping them transform in some way. Christine says timing is important – especially now with social media. Sometimes you’ll get a warning about a vulnerable story coming through a post. Take the pressure off with social media. You don't owe them anything. You don’t need to share any of your experiences immediately. What you're looking to do in your business is to have other people telling their story, their excitement around whatever it is you do. Connect with guest Christine DeHerrera: https://www.christinedeherrera.com  Other GoG episodes you might want to check out: Fall Back In Love With Social Media with Katie McKiever https://sarahwalton.com/what-to-post-on-social-media/  How to Make Money Podcasting (Without Burning Out!) with Chelsea Riffe https://sarahwalton.com/make-money-podcasting/  You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton   Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Write a review.” Then we’ll get to inspire even more people! (If you’re not sure how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.) #Storytelling #storytellingForBusiness #StorytellingForEntrepreneurs #AskExpert #EntrepreneurLifestyles #BusinessCoach #Branding #BrandStory