How to Turn Small Stories into Big Results | RR318

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Ray, Hello everyone, and welcome to this

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week's episode of relationships ruled today's guest, Renee Froyo

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is a brand storyteller, strategist and founder of a good

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reputation with a background in journalism and a passion for

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helping purpose driven entrepreneurs. Renee shows

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leaders how their personal story isn't just a nice to have, it's

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a foundational business tool. And in this episode, we'll

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explore how discovering and sharing the right story can

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build meaningful relationships, create loyal communities, and

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shorten the path from first impression to trusted

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connection.

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Renee Lynn Frojo: Welcome to the show. Thank you. Renee and me,

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Janice, you're

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very welcome. I'm always fascinated about

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storytellers, because that isn't something that comes natural to

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me. I love reading stories, stories that have great arc. You

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know when, when I was a teacher, back in the day, I my favorite

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book to read my class was Charlie and the Chocolate

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Factory, if you're probably familiar with it, if you have

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kids by Roald Dahl, every chapter in the book ends with a

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cliffhanger, and you want to get to the next chapter. So that's

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always a fun thing when you're reading to children. Nope, we

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got to go to bed now, and we'll read the next chapter tomorrow,

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and you leave them hanging. Love that. I know it's different a

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little bit with people's stories, but it's about having a

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hook and about having those points of interest. I would say,

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yes,

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Renee Lynn Frojo: yeah, I wouldn't say it's that much

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different. Actually. It's really important to understand the

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foundational elements of storytelling and what a story is

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and what makes a story work, and certainly, having a cliffhanger,

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having having that curiosity loop that we just absolutely

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must resolve we must close, is a critical element to understand

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in your storytelling. For business, yes, whether you're

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writing a LinkedIn post or whether you're giving a

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presentation at a meeting you know, or or an advertisement

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doing an advertisement for your brand. So we can learn a lot

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from that type of storytelling, and we just modify it a little

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bit. And it's funny that you started with, I'm not a natural

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storyteller. Most people say that, okay, and so that I say I

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don't. Most people are not natural storytellers. It is a

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it's a learned skill set that you have to practice,

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yeah, yeah, for just

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like anything else. So that is what, that's why I work on with

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an entrepreneurs. So

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let's start at the beginning. What sparked your

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passion for storytelling in the first place?

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Renee Lynn Frojo: Well, I've always been a storyteller, even

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though I didn't even consider myself a storyteller either, but

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I started my career in journalism, and so I was, yeah,

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interest was there. My interest was there in hearing people's

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stories. I've always been fascinated by humans and their

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stories. Maybe part of it is because it's a curiosity that my

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parents had and developed in me, because I think being a good

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storyteller really starts with being a curious person and being

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a noticer. And I grew up kind of all over. Kind of all over. My

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parents were in Mexico, and then we moved to the States, and then

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I jumped around quite a bit once I landed in the States, and I

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think having that interest in people and their stories and how

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things work helped me survive all that change and thrive with

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all that Change.

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Did you have a strong imagination then, and

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those are the kinds of stories that would work back when you

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were younger.

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Renee Lynn Frojo: Yeah, I did. I did. I guess you could say it

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translated to all sorts of things. I used to put in plays

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and shows for my parents all the time. So Storytelling Across

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Okay, so what do you mean when you say your story

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is your strategy? How does that play out in business?

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Renee Lynn Frojo: I see, I see so many people trying to do

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content marketing and figure out content marketing and what that

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is, and how to play this game, and how to attract and keep

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attention on social media channels and then through

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platforms and blogs and on your website, and gives

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me headache.

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Renee Lynn Frojo: It Well, it is because there's so there's so

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much that can go into that, and it's sort of been, it just like

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anything, it's become more complicated than I think it

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needs to be, right? Okay, SEO entered the conversation and all

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these marketing terms that at its core, really powerful

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content strategy, is just storytelling. It is just

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editorial storytelling. And we're coming back to that now

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right, especially with llms and everybody flooding the market

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with all sorts of content, usually crap. Content. So I like

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to say that story is your strategy, because if you can get

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an understanding of how to use your story, and I'm happy to go

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into just some practical ways to do that, okay, that's all you

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need, in terms of your content, is a good grasp on your story

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and why you're and what part of your story is relevant and

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matters to your audience, to get them interested in you and what

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you're doing

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okay, and so are you, are you actually saying,

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though, that that that would be evident in the different posts

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that you write, or the different pieces that you do, or just

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that's the framework you come from, or the lens you come from?

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Renee Lynn Frojo: Yes, you can say it's the framework I come

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from, but I really think it simplifies content and marketing

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for people in a way that is really effective and impactful.

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Okay, play with me then, okay, so All right,

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well, that's not on the question sheet, but that's,

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Renee Lynn Frojo: yeah, okay, the best. Let me. Let me give

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you one framework that I think is really helpful, and it's

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actually, it's a framework that I borrowed from my good friend

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Erica Schneider, who's also a content marketer turned now solo

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business entrepreneur coach. And I expanded on hers a little bit,

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but I love how simply she put it. So instead of thinking of

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content pillars and themes and all these other ways you can

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structure your content, she says, for solo entrepreneurs,

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for freelancers, for fractional for anyone building a personal

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brand, it's as simple as this. Here are your three pillars, she

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says. She calls it the mp three framework. Okay, market the

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process. Sorry, we start with market the problem. Market the

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problem. What is the problem? What is the pain point? What is

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the problem that your audience faces? Market the process. What

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is my unique approach and process for helping you solve

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that problem or address that pain point and then market the

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proof. Here are all the ways in which I have helped people like

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you solve that problem and pain point through my unique lens,

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signature, process, experience, background, all these things.

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Now I like to add a fourth P to her mp three framework, and it's

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market, the personality, and that is literally why you why

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you're different, why your approach is different, What

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experiences have led you, you know, to to this particular

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approach or problem solving, and I think it's a critical

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component that's missing from a lot of people's content and

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marketing. And I can't tell you how many clients I've gotten

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just because I've shared something personal that

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resonated with them, or they could relate to so they saw that

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I had all this credibility and helping people build their

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brands through content marketing. But then the reason

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that they chose me over the 1000s of other content marketers

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on there is because we share the same taste in music, or because

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we both love hot yoga, or because they just seem like

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someone that they could get a glass of wine with actual quote

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from one of my clients, you know,

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yes, yes. And so the personality piece comes out

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in your style of writing, and when you have conversation with

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people, of course, then then other things come out that you

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are drawn to as well, I'm guessing right? Like I'm looking

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at a couple of your LinkedIn posts that I was actually

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looking at earlier today, and the most recent one made me

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laugh, because it I'm going to read it. It says it's me, and

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LinkedIn, you're having a conversation me. So how do I

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grow on here? LinkedIn, you share lots of value me. Cool,

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cool. So I'm giving a talk at this virtual summit this week,

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but about how to incorporate storytelling into your

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marketing. To get inbound opportunities, I'll share the

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link to join this. Mean I have to wait till it moves. No, not

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like that. You said, Okay, show me how. LinkedIn. Give away

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everything for free on here to keep people on the platform so

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that we can keep growing our business. Me, huh, okay, but how

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do I grow my business? First, not my problem,

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Renee Lynn Frojo: yeah. LinkedIn, not my problem, not my

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problem.

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And then, yeah, and then you did a little plug

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at the end, a call to action about the actual conference that

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you're speaking at. But it was a it was your personality showed

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through there, actually. So I guess what I'm what I wanted to

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to ask when reading that, is, did those four, the MP four,

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come out in the post? Or do you eat do posts that just are the

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problem, just are the you know, and so on. Like, do you do bit

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of both? Like,

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Renee Lynn Frojo: good question. I know you, what you're building

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is a narrative through your content, right? You have lots of

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opportunities to show all these different sides, okay, and all

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these different so I don't think you need to market the process.

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Process, the problem, the proof and the personality all in one.

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No, I think think of those as as different pillars. And

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throughout the week you have a good, you know, a robust mix of

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all of it. So here's me understanding your problem.

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Here's me telling you how you know my unique approach. Here's

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someone who I've helped in their story. And here's just something

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about me and how it applies to my business or my personality.

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Just through, yeah, you can, you can see that I have a sense of

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humor and I don't take myself for the content or marketing too

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seriously. Yeah, fun with it, and that is part of the reason

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people like to work with me.

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Yeah, that's good. That's so good. What are

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some signs that okay, so people feel they don't have an

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interesting story. How do you help them find one? Everybody

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Renee Lynn Frojo: has an interesting story. I think that

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the way that I help people find it is first getting over that,

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getting over the imposter syndrome, that you don't have

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anything interesting to say to anybody else, and the biggest

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reason you should share your story is because everything that

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could be said has been said. So let's get clear on that, right?

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We, none of us, are saying anything original, but it's

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gonna resonate because of the way that you said it to

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somebody, and who you are and who you are. I mean, one of my

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most most engaged posts actually did lead to a client, was about

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my daughter coming in crying one one night because she didn't get

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picked up Pe by any of her friends, right? I Right. It's

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heartbreaking, right? It's heartbreaking as a mother, and

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if you've ever been a parent. And I told that story, and then

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I talked about how I handle it with her, and how I had that

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conversation with her, and ultimately I wrapped it up in a

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bigger meaning and a bigger takeaway for everybody else,

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which was, you know, we all want to be picked. We all don't wait.

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We all are striving to be picked, especially on this

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online pick me and, and we're all suffering from this thing,

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and then how do we handle it? And, and that was one of my most

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resonant stories. It's not a big story. It's not, it's not an

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extraordinary story about my life. I have those, but those

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are the ones I actually rarely tell because any most people can

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resonate either, even if you don't have a kid and are a

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parent, oh, you pulled the string exactly you can. You can

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resonate with not being picked, right? Yeah, not feeling wanted

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and and so that's what, that's what I really teach people to

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do. It's like you find the most resonant, emotionally resonant

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pieces of your story as it relates to your business and and

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find how it matches to your ideal audience and what would

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resonate with them, and the thing that they're struggling

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through, because we're all facing fear, shame, guilt, loss,

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you know, confidence, like we all are at the core that, the

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core of the struggle or the pain point, whatever it is, right?

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But when you say that, when you say that, I sort

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of, I, I stiffen up because I can't often, like when I can

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find a story that I can then attach to a business lesson or a

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life lesson that's bigger than the story about my

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granddaughter. In my case, usually I feel so proud of

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myself because I can't it's hard. I make it hard. Maybe I

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don't know, but it feels difficult for me to do that on a

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regular basis now, is that muscle memory, is that you teach

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the skill in such a way that you know it becomes easier?

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Renee Lynn Frojo: Yeah? Okay, that's a great question. Yeah. I

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think a lot of us, a lot of us fear that I still struggle with

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it even because it's, well, it's a constant. You're, you are.

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You're constantly exposing yourself, right? You're

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constantly putting yourself out there, and that, of course, is

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scary. We're afraid of not being, not being accepted by the

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group, right? It is like it speaks about being primal, yeah,

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our primal, primal fear about belonging, right, and acceptance

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within this greater social structure. So, yeah, I think

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some of it is just like coming to terms with that, recognizing

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that, right? Okay, so now I'm aware and what's the next step?

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Yeah, the next step is really just putting it into practice

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and taking baby steps and just pushing your comfort zone, you

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know, little bit each time, and then seeing how it feels. And

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every time you do that, you you get another piece of

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information, right? And, and, and ultimately, I haven't worked

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with anybody, or seen anybody that's done that and had it

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backfire on them, right? It just after you do it, and you just

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get over it, you kind of start seeing that, that you're just,

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you're just, you're connecting with people on a deeper level.

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And that's never a bad thing,

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right? And part of what's coming to mind for me

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also is the learning which I've this part I have, I think I have

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internalized at this point in my in my life, but not always. And

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that is that I. So you're not going to appeal to everybody,

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and there's enough out there for everybody, and so take that

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chance, because your audience will find you. If you keep

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taking that chance,

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Renee Lynn Frojo: they will Okay,

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okay, so I should have

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Renee Lynn Frojo: been a therapy. Therapist. Sorry, I

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said I should have been a therapist. Yeah.

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Well, you probably are in summary, right?

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Yeah. So, um, so, what are some signs that a story well, you

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probably already answered this. What are some signs that a story

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is the right one to share publicly?

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Renee Lynn Frojo: I think the right story, is there a right or

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wrong story? I think if it meant something to you, then that's

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your sag. No right because it's going to mean something to

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somebody else. And ultimately, I think that's what we really need

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to be focusing on. How do we make meaning of this mess. How

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do we make meaning of this life? How do we make meaning of these

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changes? How do we make meaning of what's happening in business,

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to help you, my audience, or help somebody else understand

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how to move through this, right? I think being the sense makers,

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being the meaning makers, stories, ultimately, or that's

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what they do, right? That that is what it is a story. Like a

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good story is something that, like, takes all these life

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events that could be seemingly unrelated and make meaning out

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of them, right? Give, give purpose, right, to our

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experiences. So

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when you were away, you were just in Mexico, I

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think you were on vacation,

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Renee Lynn Frojo: no leading a business retreat. Okay, did you

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have any aha moments when you were there?

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Renee Lynn Frojo: Yeah, yeah, and I wrote about them. I told,

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I told the story about the retreat as a story, right?

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Wait, yeah, tell the story on in posts that you

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did, or did you tell the story in your newsletter?

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Renee Lynn Frojo: Or both? Yeah, both, and now I'm about to tell

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it on a podcast. So all sorts of applications. Well, I think the

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biggest thing that came out of it for me, so I got all these

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entrepreneurs in a room in a foreign country for three days,

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right? So that takes a lot, by the way, in and of itself, to

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decide that you're going to pay money to book a flight to go

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stay in a house in a room full of people you've never met,

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yeah, and I've done that business, right? Scary? Yeah,

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it's scary, but the scariest things are, usually they have to

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do, I have

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to share. What if I don't like the person I'm

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Renee Lynn Frojo: well, we did. We definitely made sure that,

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you know it, you had the option of sharing a room or not

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sharing, okay? But, but yes, all those things, right? Um, and

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what I realized as that everyone was, this is the second time

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I've done it. The first time I did it, it was great. I learned

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a lot. I was learning a lot because it was my first time

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doing and, you know, learn a lot about logistics and group

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dynamics and everything. And this is the second time I did

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it, so I was a little bit more prepared and more mature. And I

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realized all the businesses that came were also a little bit more

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mature. Um, and I think the evolution happened because of

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the way that I also presented it and marketed it, and the people

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who, who, who I formed relationships with that

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ultimately ended up coming. And what I mean by they were more

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mature. They were just more self aware, and they showed up with

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that full self awareness and openness that just allowed the

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group dynamic and the conversation to be so much more

Janice Porter: 00:18:52

dynamic and impactful and deep, and when and Everybody cried, at

Janice Porter: 00:18:57

one point, someone cried, and I was like, Well, I think this is

Janice Porter: 00:19:00

successful because I made everybody cry, and it's because

Janice Porter: 00:19:04

building a business is so so tied to who we are, right as

Janice Porter: 00:19:09

people, and how we want to live our lives and all these things

Janice Porter: 00:19:12

you really can't, can't separate the two. So these people felt

Janice Porter: 00:19:15

very safe in this room, and they showed up as their full selves,

Janice Porter: 00:19:18

and they shared what they were really struggling with, and in

Janice Porter: 00:19:20

turn, they received so much more support and also vulnerability

Janice Porter: 00:19:25

on the part of the people listening. Because when you open

Janice Porter: 00:19:28

up and share your story, you make it safe space for somebody

Janice Porter: 00:19:31

else to share their story and open up and be vulnerable. So

Janice Porter: 00:19:36

ultimately, what I took away was when we show up as our full

Janice Porter: 00:19:40

selves, the real, the raw, the messy, the vulnerable. We allow

Janice Porter: 00:19:43

other people to do the same, and therefore create spaces for

Janice Porter: 00:19:47

connection that are not possible otherwise. Yeah, right. And

Janice Porter: 00:19:50

create spaces for all sorts of connections, connecting the

Janice Porter: 00:19:53

dots, connecting, you know, between people. My group chat on

Janice Porter: 00:19:57

that retreat is still blowing up. It's still going everyone.

Janice Porter: 00:20:00

Everyone just feels so connected, aligned, wanting to

Janice Porter: 00:20:05

help, you know, and and so we're all it is. It's a beautiful

Janice Porter: 00:20:09

thing. And I think it only happens. It doesn't. It's easier

Janice Porter: 00:20:12

to do when you're in person, right? And you don't have a big

Janice Porter: 00:20:15

audience, yes? So you can take elements of that and also do it,

Janice Porter: 00:20:19

do it in a way that that that fits the platform, right? But it

Janice Porter: 00:20:24

does take being a little less scared and an opening, yeah, a

Janice Porter: 00:20:26

little bit more,

Janice Porter: 00:20:27

yeah, totally. So I noticed, I mean, I'm a

Janice Porter: 00:20:31

LinkedIn consultant and trainer, and I take, I don't do a lot of

Janice Porter: 00:20:35

writing on LinkedIn, I'm trying to get better at it and more

Janice Porter: 00:20:38

consistent at it, because I don't I told you, I'm not the

Janice Porter: 00:20:41

storyteller. But you how often do you share on or write on

Janice Porter: 00:20:48

LinkedIn?

Janice Porter: 00:20:50

Renee Lynn Frojo: About five times a week.

Janice Porter: 00:20:53

Okay, and do you also write on other platforms?

Janice Porter: 00:20:57

Are you like? You know you have no favorite. You go everywhere.

Janice Porter: 00:21:03

Renee Lynn Frojo: I would say the other only platform that I

Janice Porter: 00:21:05

really write for is my newsletter, which is weekly.

Janice Porter: 00:21:08

I've grown audiences, though, on Instagram and Tiktok and

Janice Porter: 00:21:12

previously Twitter. But I when I took to LinkedIn two years two

Janice Porter: 00:21:17

and a half, three years ago, almost now, no two years ago, I

Janice Porter: 00:21:21

I just decided that I was just going to focus on one platform

Janice Porter: 00:21:26

and and, and that has been that has paid off. To being able to

Janice Porter: 00:21:32

focus on one platform and really do it well has led to

Janice Porter: 00:21:37

and so what for you has been has helped it with

Janice Porter: 00:21:41

the success on this platform, with your content. Is it

Janice Porter: 00:21:44

consistency? Is it? What

Janice Porter: 00:21:47

Renee Lynn Frojo: is it? Sorry, storytelling. Storytelling so

Janice Porter: 00:21:51

really true, truly, though, truly, telling my story is what

Janice Porter: 00:21:54

has what led me to have but my it made my profile take off. I

Janice Porter: 00:21:59

started, I started it on LinkedIn, like everybody else. I

Janice Porter: 00:22:02

think I was, like, trying to be the expert. I was trying to tell

Janice Porter: 00:22:05

people about content marketing. I was giving five tips. I was

Janice Porter: 00:22:07

creating offering, value, value, value. And nothing was

Janice Porter: 00:22:10

happening. It was like, it's crickets, and it was really

Janice Porter: 00:22:13

discouraging. And then I just said, F it. I'm going to tell my

Janice Porter: 00:22:16

story. I don't want to do this anymore. And I just started

Janice Porter: 00:22:21

sharing what I was building, how I was building it, who I was

Janice Porter: 00:22:24

helping, how it was going, you know, sometimes, sometimes it

Janice Porter: 00:22:29

was going well, sometimes it wasn't going well, and but this

Janice Porter: 00:22:32

is what I learned, right? Yes, and truthfully, just trying to

Janice Porter: 00:22:36

share a lot more of my personality being more of what I

Janice Porter: 00:22:38

like to call the Explorer, not the expert so much. And all of a

Janice Porter: 00:22:43

sudden, I started growing by 1000 new followers a month, all

Janice Porter: 00:22:49

highly engaged. I always got, you know, over 50 engagements on

Janice Porter: 00:22:53

my post, my comment section. It continues. It's slowed down a

Janice Porter: 00:22:58

little bit because the algorithm has changed, I think partially

Janice Porter: 00:23:02

and forever changing, forever changing. I also haven't been I

Janice Porter: 00:23:08

think I as as consistent. I take a lot of, I say, five posts a

Janice Porter: 00:23:12

week, but when my my ultimate goal, really, with the platform,

Janice Porter: 00:23:16

has been to get people into my newsletter, because then I know

Janice Porter: 00:23:19

that I have a dedicated audience, I can go a little bit

Janice Porter: 00:23:22

deeper. We can, we can be a little bit more nuanced there.

Janice Porter: 00:23:26

You know, because in 500 characters or less on LinkedIn,

Janice Porter: 00:23:29

when I'm trying to get your attention, it's like, how much

Janice Porter: 00:23:32

nuance, what depth can you really get? Um, so it's a i It's

Janice Porter: 00:23:38

a discoverability platform, and I think we should treat it that

Janice Porter: 00:23:41

way. But it's also a relationship building.

Janice Porter: 00:23:42

Relationship Building platform. And I will say, a big part of my

Janice Porter: 00:23:45

success on LinkedIn has been in in the conversations that I've

Janice Porter: 00:23:49

made the DMS. They're people with peers. Yeah, they've,

Janice Porter: 00:23:53

they've sent me referrals. You know, they've, yeah, we've

Janice Porter: 00:23:57

collaborated on projects. So

Janice Porter: 00:24:00

when you're not leading a retreat in Mexico,

Janice Porter: 00:24:03

what are your your offerings to people here on a regular basis?

Janice Porter: 00:24:10

Renee Lynn Frojo: Yeah, I work one on one with people in brand

Janice Porter: 00:24:14

strategy and storytelling sprints. So those are six week

Janice Porter: 00:24:17

sprints, and I do story mining? What I call story mining is

Janice Porter: 00:24:22

basically interview people for about two hours, and I mine

Janice Porter: 00:24:26

their brain for all these experiences and stories that are

Janice Porter: 00:24:29

related to their business and what their audience cares about.

Janice Porter: 00:24:33

And so we create content based on on that, on

Janice Porter: 00:24:37

that section, by doing the content with them or

Janice Porter: 00:24:40

for them,

Janice Porter: 00:24:41

Renee Lynn Frojo: I do it with them, I would say. So I give you

Janice Porter: 00:24:45

basically, like a quarters worth of content ideas that are fully

Janice Porter: 00:24:48

drafted out with, like a hook and a takeaway, and you fill in

Janice Porter: 00:24:51

the writing because they don't do your most writing for people.

Janice Porter: 00:24:54

So you're teaching the strategy. You're

Janice Porter: 00:24:57

giving them enough time to do it with. You. And then they can

Janice Porter: 00:25:02

hopefully make it a habit, and

Janice Porter: 00:25:03

Renee Lynn Frojo: and then they make it a habit, yeah, and if

Janice Porter: 00:25:06

they and if they realize after a few months they don't want to do

Janice Porter: 00:25:09

it, then, you know, we I set them up with one of my ghost

Janice Porter: 00:25:11

writers to help them, okay, but that, and then I just launched

Janice Porter: 00:25:15

cohorts, six week cohorts, so doing this kind of work, but in

Janice Porter: 00:25:20

a group, and I did my first one last month, and it went really

Janice Porter: 00:25:25

well, so I'm taking all the lessons and learnings from that

Janice Porter: 00:25:29

and then making it even better, and I'm going to launch the next

Janice Porter: 00:25:32

one in the fall.

Janice Porter: 00:25:33

And do you do the the marketing through your

Janice Porter: 00:25:38

newsletter, or through your and, or LinkedIn,

Janice Porter: 00:25:43

Renee Lynn Frojo: okay, I actually sold that. Course, is

Janice Porter: 00:25:46

the power of storytelling. I sold my first cohort with one

Janice Porter: 00:25:49

LinkedIn post. I said, Hey, I'm thinking about doing this. Would

Janice Porter: 00:25:54

anybody be interested? And I got on 25 sales calls because of

Janice Porter: 00:25:58

that one post. And I have to sell after that.

Janice Porter: 00:26:00

That's, that's actually a really interesting

Janice Porter: 00:26:03

comment, because sometimes I think, well, you've got a,

Janice Porter: 00:26:10

you've got a good following, obviously an active following,

Janice Porter: 00:26:14

and that's the key, right? You have so in, in order to keep

Janice Porter: 00:26:19

that following active. How many connections do you have? Out of

Janice Porter: 00:26:23

those 11,000 followers, do you know

Janice Porter: 00:26:26

Renee Lynn Frojo: about 3000 I believe. Okay,

Janice Porter: 00:26:29

so I always find it fascinating, because LinkedIn

Janice Porter: 00:26:32

isn't really about following. It's about, in my mind, it's

Janice Porter: 00:26:36

about connecting, but it still works that way in with with a

Janice Porter: 00:26:41

lot of people. So what was I going to say? Oh, that when I

Janice Porter: 00:26:46

think I should be marketing to my list, my list isn't that

Janice Porter: 00:26:52

strong, but my LinkedIn following is bigger, and I think

Janice Porter: 00:26:57

stronger so, and I think it's broader too. So I haven't

Janice Porter: 00:27:03

thought about that, doing it through content the same way. So

Janice Porter: 00:27:07

that's that's an eye opener for me.

Janice Porter: 00:27:10

Renee Lynn Frojo: Well, how else can I help you?

Janice Porter: 00:27:13

I love it. I love it. Well, you know, you learn

Janice Porter: 00:27:15

from you learn from people all the time. I love to learn from

Janice Porter: 00:27:18

the people that come on my my podcast. Why not,

Janice Porter: 00:27:22

Renee Lynn Frojo: right? Yeah. I mean, I learned from the hosts

Janice Porter: 00:27:24

all the time too, yeah. I mean, we do these things, yeah, it's

Janice Porter: 00:27:28

just information sharing.

Janice Porter: 00:27:30

Yeah, exactly. Well, I liked you the first time

Janice Porter: 00:27:32

I met you, and I thought that that you actually would make a

Janice Porter: 00:27:36

really good podcast guest, just because you are so passionate

Janice Porter: 00:27:43

about what you do, but in a very relaxed way. No, you are. You

Janice Porter: 00:27:49

are so okay as a writer, because I see you as a writer,

Janice Porter: 00:27:53

obviously, what inspires you these days? Who? What do you do?

Janice Porter: 00:27:58

You read a lot, or do you listen a lot, or do you watch videos a

Janice Porter: 00:28:02

lot? What do you do? Have two kids, I think that you have to

Janice Porter: 00:28:05

keep up with too. So I

Janice Porter: 00:28:06

Renee Lynn Frojo: do. They inspire me too. They're a great

Janice Porter: 00:28:08

source of inspiration for stories that are really back to

Janice Porter: 00:28:11

my business. I do a lot of reading on the internet, and I

Janice Porter: 00:28:17

do a lot of reading and books at bedtime, I listen to a lot of

Janice Porter: 00:28:23

podcasts too. I learn a lot through podcasts and these

Janice Porter: 00:28:26

conversations because of the you know, what I know I pay

Janice Porter: 00:28:30

attention to what, what sparks an insight in somebody else,

Janice Porter: 00:28:35

right? So when listening to these podcasts, I'm like, oh,

Janice Porter: 00:28:38

that that really resonated. You know, if that resonated with

Janice Porter: 00:28:41

this person, then it's probably going to resonate with a larger

Janice Porter: 00:28:43

audience. So I'm not only listening to learn something

Janice Porter: 00:28:46

new. I pay attention right to the conversations and what's

Janice Porter: 00:28:50

what really captures the interest of the host so they ask

Janice Porter: 00:28:52

more questions, or what really captures the interest of the

Janice Porter: 00:28:56

interviewee, you know? And I think all of it is a source for

Janice Porter: 00:29:00

inspiration, yeah, yeah. And that's how

Janice Porter: 00:29:03

you think, that's how your mind works. I don't

Janice Porter: 00:29:05

know if mine works the same way.

Janice Porter: 00:29:07

Renee Lynn Frojo: Hmm, how would you say? How would you

Janice Porter: 00:29:09

say, Yeah, I think that I initially when I

Janice Porter: 00:29:16

meet someone who, like, we had a conversation before we we had

Janice Porter: 00:29:19

this one. I'm always looking for points of building rapport,

Janice Porter: 00:29:23

points of common interest. I'm curious and trying to find

Janice Porter: 00:29:30

something that will make me feel comfortable wanting to interview

Janice Porter: 00:29:35

that person and know more. And it was funny because I had a

Janice Porter: 00:29:38

conversation yesterday with a gentleman hadn't met him before.

Janice Porter: 00:29:42

He was pitched to me by a, I'm not sure if it was the same

Janice Porter: 00:29:46

company or a different company than the one you're with. You're

Janice Porter: 00:29:50

with the company, right? Yeah. And because I only do a few of

Janice Porter: 00:29:55

them, and I get mixed up, but I think it was the same, it might

Janice Porter: 00:29:57

have been the same one. Anyway, I. Yeah, I noticed some stuff in

Janice Porter: 00:30:02

his background from looking at his LinkedIn profile, and that's

Janice Porter: 00:30:07

where I had this intro conversation with him about

Janice Porter: 00:30:10

theater and about being a director in England and in

Janice Porter: 00:30:15

Hollywood. And then we just got into this whole thing that was

Janice Porter: 00:30:19

so not related, but subtly related, to what he is doing now

Janice Porter: 00:30:23

for business. But it kind of clicked us right away. And so

Janice Porter: 00:30:27

for me, that's where I always look at the places of common

Janice Porter: 00:30:31

interest from a people perspective, but not a writing

Janice Porter: 00:30:35

perspective, not a lesson learned. I don't know that must

Janice Porter: 00:30:38

be a

Janice Porter: 00:30:40

Renee Lynn Frojo: well. I mean, it's, it's that's interesting,

Janice Porter: 00:30:43

because I think it is both. I mean, there is a, there is a

Janice Porter: 00:30:46

with storytelling, if you can make meaning of this for me and

Janice Porter: 00:30:49

help me either have a mindset shift or learn something new,

Janice Porter: 00:30:53

and that is a powerful that's just a powerful piece of

Janice Porter: 00:30:57

connection to you, right? I'm going to thank you for that

Janice Porter: 00:31:00

gift. But I think what you're looking for in terms of that

Janice Porter: 00:31:04

point of connection is what everybody is looking for also.

Janice Porter: 00:31:07

So how can you build in both into your content or your

Janice Porter: 00:31:11

marketing, right? What is that relatable piece you're looking

Janice Porter: 00:31:13

for? That relatability? So is everybody else in your audience,

Janice Porter: 00:31:16

right?

Janice Porter: 00:31:17

So maybe, so maybe the fact that I'm

Janice Porter: 00:31:21

conscious of it, curious about it, and can do it, usually

Janice Porter: 00:31:25

pretty easily. There's the lesson for maybe inspiring other

Janice Porter: 00:31:30

people to be able to

Janice Porter: 00:31:33

Renee Lynn Frojo: kind of, yeah, yeah. It can be that could be

Janice Porter: 00:31:36

fun, yeah, absolutely. And it could

Janice Porter: 00:31:38

be a little bit of the story of the conversation

Janice Porter: 00:31:41

or the or the actual thing that

Janice Porter: 00:31:45

Renee Lynn Frojo: connected your interest in the first place?

Janice Porter: 00:31:47

Yeah, absolutely.

Janice Porter: 00:31:49

So much fun. Okay, so what would you say?

Janice Porter: 00:31:56

Just to wrap up this piece for someone listening today, where's

Janice Porter: 00:32:00

the best place to start if they want to build stronger

Janice Porter: 00:32:03

relationships through story?

Janice Porter: 00:32:07

Renee Lynn Frojo: Okay, where to start? Here are the three places

Janice Porter: 00:32:09

to start. One, start noticing. Start noticing. What captures

Janice Porter: 00:32:13

your attention, your interest, what moves you, what inspires

Janice Porter: 00:32:17

you, what's you know, it's changed your mind. So notice

Janice Porter: 00:32:20

those things. Write them down, right? Keep a you need to have a

Janice Porter: 00:32:23

system for writing it down. Mine is very simple. I keep it in my

Janice Porter: 00:32:27

apple notes, and then eventually, when I'm ready to

Janice Porter: 00:32:29

sit down and write something and create a piece of content, I go

Janice Porter: 00:32:32

there for to pull one of those ideas, one of those pieces of

Janice Porter: 00:32:35

things. I notice this needs to be a daily practice, yeah. Okay.

Janice Porter: 00:32:38

Two is getting very clear on you, your why, your values, your

Janice Porter: 00:32:44

core motivators. What I heard about this recently in my

Janice Porter: 00:32:47

newsletter, well, that like, what's really the conviction

Janice Porter: 00:32:50

that you have in your work and what you're doing, and why would

Janice Porter: 00:32:53

anybody want to follow along? Right? Why does this matter to

Janice Porter: 00:32:56

anybody else? And then the third piece is, like, getting very

Janice Porter: 00:32:59

clear on your audience and and what moves them, what drives

Janice Porter: 00:33:03

them, what matters to them, their whys and then finding the

Janice Porter: 00:33:06

intersection between the two, right here's where my why meets

Janice Porter: 00:33:12

your why and, and that's where you sort of will start to get

Janice Porter: 00:33:18

You know powerful resonance stories. To put it very simply,

Janice Porter: 00:33:23

that's kind of the that's kind of the process.

Janice Porter: 00:33:25

Love it. That's fantastic. So where can people

Janice Porter: 00:33:28

find you?

Janice Porter: 00:33:30

Renee Lynn Frojo: They can find me on LinkedIn, Renee, Lynn

Janice Porter: 00:33:32

Froyo, spelled with a J and or at my newsletter. A good

Janice Porter: 00:33:39

reputation. It's a good reputation. Dot online, and

Janice Porter: 00:33:44

those are sort of the two ways I kind of filter everything

Janice Porter: 00:33:48

through this.

Janice Porter: 00:33:49

Okay, I'll make sure those are in the show

Janice Porter: 00:33:50

notes. And basically so many business owners look outward for

Janice Porter: 00:33:56

tactics. But you reminded us that the most powerful connector

Janice Porter: 00:34:01

we have is our own authentic story. When we lead with who we

Janice Porter: 00:34:05

are and what we stand for, we invite the right people in. I

Janice Porter: 00:34:08

love that, clients, collaborators and community

Janice Porter: 00:34:11

alike. So thanks again, Renee for helping us see that when it

Janice Porter: 00:34:16

comes to relationships in business, story isn't fluff.

Janice Porter: 00:34:18

It's a strategy. Yeah, it really is. So thank you again for being

Janice Porter: 00:34:23

here, and thank you to my audience. Please, if you like

Janice Porter: 00:34:26

what you heard today from Renee, go and seek her out and start

Janice Porter: 00:34:31

looking at her content. It's very interesting. It's enjoyable

Janice Porter: 00:34:35

to read. It has a great sense of humor, and she, I think, does it

Janice Porter: 00:34:39

well. So thank you, Renee,

Janice Porter: 00:34:41

Renee Lynn Frojo: thank you so much. Janice, you're very

Janice Porter: 00:34:43

welcome. You.