Hey y’all. Today’s post is a little different and a little closer to the heart.

At Writers in the Storm, we talk a lot about story, craft, and the work that shapes us. This week, one of our own is pulling back the curtain and sharing how story shows up beyond the page… and why it matters so deeply.

Here’s Jenny Hansen.

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For years, I’ve kept my two worlds separate.

There’s Jenny, the fiction writer, lover of craft, believer in the power of story. And there’s Jen, the Storyselling Sherpa, who helps businesses articulate their difference so they can build trust and increase revenue.

I’ve never really blended the two.

But in 2023, while spending long hours in a chemo chair, wondering whether I’d get through to the other side, something became very clear: Life is too short to do work you don’t believe in.

I believe deeply that stories matter.

I think all of us feel that way. We’re writers…we know this in our bones.

• Stories shape identity.
• They create connection.
• They make the unspeakable bearable.

Stories turn chaos into meaning.

My Other World

All of you here at Writers in the Storm know how I feel about all things writing. And branding. And digging deep for the stories inside us.

What I haven’t talked about much here at WITS is how my passion for stories shows up in the business world.

In my “day job life,” I work with tons of professionals who are brilliant at what they do: service-based businesses like accountants and coaches, product-based businesses, entrepreneurs, and yes, authorpreneurs.

A colleague recently asked me, “Does your WITS community know what you do? I bet some of them have businesses and I know they’d benefit from your expertise.”

In a true “I’ve NEVER thought about that” moment, I shook my head no. And wondered why it had never occurred to me. Many of us DO have businesses. In fact, for a lot of us, selling our books is part of our business.

So, I called a pow-wow of the WITS team, and we made a decision. One at a time, over the coming Saturdays, we’ll be sharing the rest of what we do. Just in case we can support you in ways we hadn’t considered.

In upcoming posts, you’ll learn more about every single one of us. We hope it’s fun for you to get to know us better!

Jen, the Storyselling Sherpa

The people who come to me all have one thing in common: they struggle to articulate the difference they make.

• They list services or products.
• They explain their process.
• They share credentials.

Since none of the above promotes connection, their value doesn’t quite land. They find themselves over-explaining, or discounting, or suffering through frustrating sales cycles that are longer than they need to be.

They often don’t share their passion for:

• WHY they’re in this business.
• WHY they wrote this book or developed this product.
• WHO their ideal customer is
• WHAT problem they’re solving

Why does this matter?

When your difference isn’t clearly articulated, your value becomes invisible. And invisible value is expensive. It’s expensive in a “Cost of Inaction” kind of way where you lose sales and opportunities because potential customers don’t know why they should care.

You haven’t told them what’s in it for them.

And considering the average attention span these days is about 6 seconds (totally not kidding), none of us really have time to waste when it comes to snagging a prospect’s attention.

What is storyselling?

Storyselling is how you turn invisible value into unmistakable difference. It’s the discipline of uncovering the most meaningful difference inside your work, and expressing it through authentic stories.

Stanford University did a study that showed people are twenty-two times more likely to remember a story than they are a collection of facts.

Stories are the shortest distance to understanding, which leads to trust. Trust and emotional safety are what make people choose to buy anything.

Not hype. Not marketing tricks.

Clarity and trust are what prompt nearly all buying decisions.

Storyselling is rooted in what all of us do here.

Seriously. It’s not that different from what we do as writers.

• We find the thread.
• We name the feelings and thoughts that others find hard to say.
• We give shape to something that’s been felt but not yet articulated.
• We lay the groundwork for people to see themselves in our stories.

All of this makes people bond with us, which goes back to that clarity and trust.

What’s up next?

Two things are coming up on my calendar this week that would be helpful to my authorpreneur pals at Writers in the Storm, as well as to the businesses that surround you.

Fun Thing #1

Monday, March 2nd at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific, I'm doing a FREE 30-minute webinar.

From Invisible to Unmistakable: How to Show Your Value Through Stories

You’ll learn:

• What Storyselling really is
• Why invisible value is so common
• How to identify the difference you may not be articulating
• And how story builds trust in ways facts alone cannot

Note: I won’t be offering this live session again for several months. So, if this sparks even a little curiosity, I’d love to see you there on Monday.

Click here on Monday to join this free session. Or fill out the form at the bottom of this post if you want to opt in to communications about this seminar. (That's probably easier, because you don't have to remember anything!)

Fun Thing #2

On Wednesday, March 4th at 3 PM Eastern / Noon Pacific, I'm presenting my favorite class.

Storyselling Deep Dive into the 5 Key Stories

In these 90 minutes, we'll explore the 5 story types every business needs to attract clients, build trust, and stand out. This is a hands-on experience. By the end of our time together, you'll understand what they are, how to use them, and be well on your way to crafting your own. The Storyselling Deep Dive helps you master business storytelling, shorten the sales cycle, and attract the people who get you.

This 90-minute workshop is currently on sale for $30. Click here to enroll.

Final Thought

Like I said, I’ve never blended my worlds. It feels kind of scary and fun and freeing all at once. But worth it.

Because y’all are my peeps…

Because life is too short to hold back on changing lives…

Because meaningful work deserves meaningful stories.

And sometimes the story that needs telling the most… is your own.

The opt-in form below is for the 30-minute FREE workshop. Please note: you must hit the Subscribe button as your final step. It subscribes you ONLY to this 30-minute webinar and its communications.

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More about Jenny

If you do great work but struggle to explain it clearly, Jen is who you want in the room. As a Storyselling Sherpa, she helps professionals uncover the key stories at the heart of their business, clarify what truly sets them apart, and communicate it with confidence so ideal clients, partners, and teams immediately understand their value.

Find out more at www.storyselling4success.com.