🌱 Matt Allyn's Newsletter

Become a masterful storyteller and build deep connections with yourself and your audience.

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Here’s a walk through my content creation process and at the end I’ll give you your next best content idea that I am positive will 2x your engagement. If it doesn’t, send it to me and I’ll workshop it with you.

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First, none of this will make sense without understanding the foundations so we have to break that down.

This will be a basic overview of The Brand Framework (otherwise this email will be a novel).

The Brand Framework is exactly how I (1) create content I love, (2) create content people love, share and engage with, and (3) become the obvious solution for my ideal clients problem.

I am teaching The Brand Framework in a 6 week live group program. Today is the last day to join. We start Monday. Click here to sign up.

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Why emotion and storytelling matters

Social media has changed for personal brands (you).

The general feelings of the consumer (your audience… and you for that matter) is that they are tired of being sold to. The coaching industry on social media feels like a used car lot. It’s time to focus on building true connection with your audience and creating content people love engaging with.

I want you to associate with me as the guy who can help you solve your problem WITHOUT shoving my offer down your throat all the time (there is a time and place for talking about your offer. Read: The Content Value Ladder).

The online world is also saturated with coaches and businesses just like yours. If anyone could take your mission statement and slap it on their business, you don’t offer anything unique and will have a hard time standing out.

I am not super worried about your mission statement. I think your content does that work for you.

“I help online creators tell better stories” isn’t unique.

“I help highly self aware, athletic online coaches tell better stories” is much more specific. That’s what you get form my content.

My content gives you a chance to relate to me and to think, “this guy is like me” and once you think that, I have begun to build trust with you on a deeper emotional level.

It’s the same way you build a relationship with your friends. You bond on similarities and values which garners trust and love.

A brand is a persons gut feeling about a product, service or organization.

My content exists to strengthen that gut feeling.

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The Brand Framework

1️⃣ People buy products because they solve a problem

2️⃣ People buy your product because of an emotional connection to you (the gut feeling)

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1️⃣

The problem I solve: Your content is draining and not helping you grow

The product(aka the solution. aka the vehicle. aka your zone of genius): Storytelling

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2️⃣

The simplified version of this is to build an emotional connection by fully expressing yourself. I do this by identifying my 3 core identities and letting these shine through in each piece of content.

• Storyteller
• Athlete
• Highly Self Aware

One of these identities should be your “Money Maker” and should show up 70% of the time in your content because you want to get known for the thing you sell.

The beautiful thing about telling stories is you can get known for your thing without shoving it down people’s throats (don’t be the used car salesman).

I then have the freedom to use the other 30% of my content to just be about those other identities or I can share something out of left field once in a while just because it’s fun (I like to give myself space and freedom to go a little wild if the urge is there).

Your content then may look like this:

Don’t Drown Yourself Out

Drowning myself out would look like making more than 30% of my content like:

• How to strike out 15 batters in 7 innings in your mens league baseball game
• Here’s why mantras are so important when running ultras
• The 3 best personal growth tools I’ve used to stop overthinking so much

Again, this can be 30% of your content MAX. That means 3 out of 10 posts can look like this and it can be really fun and energizing to make this kind of content. But you can’t overdo it.

I like to have you start at 70:30 so you don’t feel so constricted at first (probably like you do right now with your content). A little room to play is relaxing and fun and still doesn’t drown you out.

The real goal though, with practice and when you get really good at this, you can turn any experience you have into a story around your zone of genius. Then the 70% starts to look like 90%+

When you build mastery in this, you can hit the sweet spot right in the middle of the Venn Diagram and that content is always my most engaging content.

Here’s how I do it.

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How to master this to create your next BEST piece of content

The ultimate goal is to make content that can fall right in the enter of the Venn Diagram

The “trick” here is not to try to teach storytelling all the time.

It is to EMBODY who I am. I am a highly self aware-athletic-storyteller.

So I tell stories and those are the stories I tell.

Instead of making the 30% content I shared above, I would actually tell those stories through the lens of the highly self aware-athletic-storyteller. It becomes easy to do this because it’s just who I am!

Like this:

❌ How to strike out 15 batters in 7 innings in your mens league baseball game

👇 would actually become

✅ Why do I feel the need post on my stories that I struck out 15 batters in my mens league baseball game?

Then I would probably break down how I saw my brother get so much attention for athletics when we were kids and now I’m craving that attention as an adult 🫣

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❌ Here’s why mantras are so important when running ultras

👇 would actually become

✅ The mantras I used to complete my 40 mile ultra marathon are the same ones I use when I create content

Then I would share how my mantra of “I can’t wait to feel better any second now” during my ultra is the same when I’m creating content. If I feel like shit when running, you can literally get a burst of energy in the next moment. You never know. Same is true with content.

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❌ The 3 best personal growth tools I’ve used to stop overthinking so much

👇 would actually become

✅ Here’s what I do to post my truth even when I’m afraid my content is going to upset people

Alright, this one isn’t in the triple over lap with all three identities. The point isn’t to be perfect or force ideas.

Alright, this might get confusing because I’m telling stories embodying my storyteller identity. So let me quickly give you another example.

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Embody Your Identities

Let’s take a guy who lost 100 pounds and ran his first marathon. He’s also a CEO and Father and Husband. He wants to help other people lose weight and run their first marathon.

His identities are:

• Runner (money maker)
• CEO
• Family Man

The goal of his content isn’t to be constantly shoving running tips down your throat. The goal is to embody being a runner!

So he will tell those stories because his audience (ideal client) was him (100 pounds over weight) AND his audience is him today too. A running CEO family man.

So lets say one day he is on a run to clear his head after an argument with his wife. On mile 3 this realization hits him like a ton of bricks.

He is really good at supporting his sales manager when he has problems. All he does it get really curious and helps guide his sales manager to his own solution. But with his wife, all he ever does is throw out ideas and solutions at her. He never listens or get curious to understand what’s really going on and isn’t patient in supporting her to come up with her own resolution.

HUGE breakthrough moment!

Then he goes home and expresses this to her. He vows to be more curious and patient with her instead of always trying to fix the problems. Immediately after telling her this, they are more connected and after weeks of implementing this date nights are fun and light again too.

This is the story he tells!

He is a running, CEO family man.

He embodies this identity.

He doesn’t have to convince running is great and you should do it and you should buy his program because not only did he lose weight, but—LOOK!—it helps him be a better husband!!

Nope. He just tells you the story.

How does this work?

1. Humans are smart
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   ​We will make the connection because we naturally make inferences. We think in cause and effect because we are meaning making machines. “I see this guy run, have an ah-ha moment, improve his marriage. Maybe I should run?”
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2. Your content is an ecosystem
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   ​It’s not this one post that gets someone to buy a running program from this guy. It’s 20 posts one after the other that build a brand. The gut feeling. Just like the 20 meetings with your friend is the reason you becamse best friends. Not one meeting.

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Your Turn

Content like this is easy. Ideas are EVERYWHERE because you just go through life as you and shit happens. Those are the stories you tell.

→ I go play tennis because I’m an athlete → I notice I hit really well against the ball machine → Then people stop to watch me hit and I starting hitting terrible → I notice I change when people watch → I analyze why this happens because I’m highly self aware → When I come to a conclusion I share the story because I’m a storyteller.

What has happened to you recently? Can you tell the story from the lens of your core identities?

That’s it. That’s your content.

Remember, a great story goes form disempower to empowered (further reading: How to any moment into a powerful story for your business)

If this feels too vulnerable or you still struggle making this content, join The Brand Framework and I’ll personally help you with all of this via live coaching over 6 weeks.

Enrollment closes tonight.

Thanks for being here,

Matt

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Connect with me on Instagram @matthew.allyn and let me know what you liked about this email so I can do more of it!

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