They tell you to blog. And to say things that will help your customer.

Help them actually, but also help them so that they “know like and trust you.”

If you’ve ever done any bit of marketing, you’ll know that I’m talking about customers and selling. And that is what the blogging world tends to be focused on.

How to engage your audience so that that they “know like and trust” you so that when the time comes for you to sell something, they want to buy it.

This isn’t sleazy. Or a tactic. It’s been around as long as selling has been around.

And when I starting my website, I was thinking a lot about this. I asked myself, “what can I tell people that will help them, surprise them, or make them smile?”

My first blog posts were all over the place and silly. A blend of the types of posts from bloggers I was currently following. And about two months into it, I wrote the blog post that changed everything.

I wasn’t writing for a specific purpose other than to share a snapshot of my real life. That human moment that you rarely share with anyone because it is too embarrassing to admit. And not only was I about to admit it, I was about to admit it to an indefinite number of strangers. Strangers that were potential clients.

In my mind, somehow, this was easier than admitting it to the people closest to my heart. So I hit the “publish” button and almost threw up.

But I didn’t throw up. And what happened was the opposite of what I expected. People didn’t think I was some hack of a life coach because I was crying on the bathroom floor over some guy, but they could relate.

They’ve been on the bathroom floor themselves. They’ve cried alone themselves. They’ve wondered if they were lovable enough or worthy enough. They had a similar human experience. And they wrote to tell me so.

I didn’t realize it at the time (and I actually had forgotten about it entirely until now), but connecting with people in this way, is what I believe I was born to do. It’s my most favorite thing. But at the time, I didn’t look at it like that. I just saw it as sharing stories on my website.

And from that moment on, I never “blogged” again. I just told stories. Stories about what a pair of too-small cowboy boots had to do with your dreams. 

Or how sometimes you have to say goodbye to things you don’t want to.

Or sometimes you have to stand up for your own values even if someone else doesn’t like it.

I made videos. I took you for the ride with me when I moved to Costa Rica or got in an RV to travel accross the country. Or moved to Montana.

And then…somewhere along the line, I stopped doing it. It might have been that my business grew so I got more strategic (like they tell you to do when you start growing), I had more things to “sell” so my posts focused on telling you about that (which I think is totally cool to do), and then some things happened in my life I wasn’t ready to share or didn’t feel like I could.

And then it snowballed. I stopped writing to you, and thus, stopped writing. And thus, my creativity waned. And thus, the lightness in my spirit waned. And thus, I started feeling dull. And then dull begat dull. And you get the picture.

So I did what any person would do who is desperate….I started reading. The latest book I started is called “Bird by Bird” and is all about being a writer. By the time the first chapter was started I already decided that I needed to start writing again.

For fun. For the sake of the story. For the sake of connecting. For the sake of the words on the page that somehow come out a hundred times more clear than when I try to say them out loud. To help us all feel like we’re not so alone. To help us all giggle. Or relate. To learn together.

So this is to say that I’m making a commitment to you, to share something with you every week (and don’t worry…there will ALWAYS be something helpful or to make you giggle each week)..

This, being something that I used to do so effortlessly and easily, is now something I have to retrain myself to do. Just like at the gym…my (metaphorical and emotional) muscles are not used to the work anymore.

And like when you’re not used to going to the gym, you might need a trainer. And so…I guess I’m asking you to be mine.

Here’s what I need from you from this first training session together…

• If you’re stoked to hear more stories and shares, just comment below with “CAN I GET A HELL YES!?” That will help me feel encouraged to keep going and also let me know you’re reading so I stay accountable to you.
• If you have any particular things you’re dying to read about (numerology, self-love, zoo animals, puns) let me know
• What blogs are you frequenting right now and what books are you loving?

Just hit reply to comment on this post, and if you want to make sure to get the inside scoop on new stories, put your name in the little box below.

Ok lovely. Shall we say it’s on like donkey kong??

Your story-telling sister,

Sally