Ep 09: Step #7 Your Sweet Spot - Where your stories align and magic happens

00:53 You're listening to The Business of Stories with Susan Payton, showing you how to share stories that do the selling in your business so you don't have too. I worked with a brand photographer who wanted to use stories in her content and emails but she couldn't see how her personal stories were relevant for her audience or the work that she did As a photographer, she didn't have the I was in your shoes type story that so many coaches have. So she didn't think her stories would connect and she'd held back from sharing them but as we worked together she started to tell me a fascinating story of how she met her husband many years ago when she was in art college He was from Kuwait and they fell in love

01:46 As the relationship blossomed, they decided to get married and she left the home she knew and moved to Kuwait to settle down and start a family. It was a huge move for her as she started a brand new life in a country she'd never been before. She had to embrace and quickly adapt to a different language culture and customs She had to communicate as best she could, try and fit in with her new family and with the community knowing that people would inevitably be watching and judging her. She had to work out who she was now as she stepped into this new role in this new chapter of her life And she said at times she felt quite lost and vulnerable

02:33 This was completely unknown territory for her, a very different environment and she had to navigate it as best she could taking each day as it came. She had lots of stories and they were all fascinating! And then we moved on to her customer story And she told me her idol clients were people leaving their corporate career behind to set up their own business and that she helps them create a look and images that fit with who they are, and how they want to show up. I saw the connection immediately! Her clients were leaving the world they knew – their corporate career – to start something completely new in a world they didn't know – entrepreneurship

03:21 They were walking into a new chapter of their life where, for the first time they'd have to sell themselves and their services. They were having to navigate this unknown territory and work out who they are now and how to communicate with a new audience in a very different way knowing that people would inevitably be watching and judging them They might be feeling a bit lost and vulnerable, as they had to become more visible and think about how they wanted to come across. How they wanted to show up? And if they were looking for a brand photographer to work with do you think they would connect with someone who totally got that? Someone who clearly knew exactly how they were feeling

04:10 Someone who talked about things like navigating unknown territory and working out who you are now as you step into this new chapter of your life. Of course they would! Her personal stories could be the exact reason that her idol clients chose her So, we are at Step 7 of my process The final step This is where everything comes together. It's where you know exactly who you're talking to and the personal stories you can share that will connect with your idle client. It's where you've joined the dots in your own journey, and feel deeply connected to why you do what you do. It's where you know your customer story so well you could stand in their shoes, feel what they're feeling, and know what they want

05:04 It's where you know what parts of your journey they're going to relate to, what stories they're going to connect with. It's where you stand in your value – show up with clarity and confidence, speak to your people and show them what you can make happen for them. It's where everything feels aligned and connected and you can tell the right story to the right person in the right way at the right time in their journey It's the sweet spot and it is where the magic really starts to happen. And it gives me goosebumps! It's my favourite thing in the world when I see this happen for business owners who've spent a long time, sometimes years trying to get clarity that they now have Before we dive into talking about the sweet spot, I'd love you take a moment to reflect on the journey we've been on so far and what has come up for you

06:02 I always get my clients to stop here at this point in the process, take a breath and notice where they're at and how they're feeling. Maybe you've got a deeper understanding of why you do what you do and the impact you have when you do the work you love? Maybe you've got a new level of clarity about who you do it for? Maybe you've joined Dots & made connections you'd never made before Maybe you've cut away the clutter and got to the heart of what matters to you and your clients. And maybe all that has helped change your mindset about showing up, putting yourself out there, showing people who YOU are – YOUR uniqueness & value!

06:49 The goal of going through my process is to get to the point where you know your ideal client. You know what message and stories are going to connect with them, you know how to position yourself as the person they need in their story and it all feels very natural and easy and authentic and never salesy! So if you have been working through my process as I've taken you through it episode by episode, I'd love to hear how you got on Drop me an email at susanathebusinessofstories.com I read them all and always reply! Right, let's talk about your sweet spot – how the impact of connecting and aligning your stories with the work you do can be a complete game changer Because when business owners are confused about which parts of their story they should tell it is often because they don't know their sweet spot

07:48 And it's hard to position yourself as the guide for your customer, the person that truly understands them and what they want and who can help them slay their dragons and get where they wanna go if you don't have a deep understanding of how YOU fit into THEIR story. Both stories are important, right? One doesn't work without the other. Because if you're busy telling your own story with little regard for what's going on for your customer and how your story fits into theirs, you won't create a connection But at the same time if you're only telling your customer story which a lot of business owners do

08:30 You're not giving them a chance to understand who you are, and so they won't have a compelling reason to choose YOU over someone else. So your sweet spot is where everything is connected and aligned around what YOU help THEM do! And when I wrote the first version of my book back in 2021 this was the only step of the process that didn't have any exercises to do And that was because I thought, well you'll just know when you're there right at the sweet spot. You'll feel it! It's intuitive everything will just fall into place and it'll feel...right When I work with clients I know when we're there because I get goosebumps but you can't really put goosebumps into a process

09:21 And when I sent the advanced copies of my book to my beta readers, they came back and said where's the exercises for The Sweet Spot? There aren't any. So how do we know when we're there? Although I felt a lot resistance to making it too formulaic because it is an individual thing and depends so much on where your story meets theirs I did put some exercises in around finding the common themes and the golden threads that connect you and what you do with your idol client, and what you help them to. And if you want to check out the exercises in my book, you can download a free copy from my website TheBusinessOfStories.com. And the link is in the show notes

10:09 But, I actually find the best way to explain what The Sweet Spot looks like and feels like is to give you a real-life example. A story of course about one of my clients! So let me tell you about Dr Anna. Dr Anna had four ideal clients She'd been a clinical psychologist for many many years and worked with all sorts of clients in all sorts of industries She was also the in-house psychotherapist on a number of TV shows and productions, and she was a regular guest expert on one of the morning TV channels so she had a huge breadth of knowledge and experience. But now she was very very clear who she wanted to work with going forwards – and she had four very specific ideal clients! And they were very different… One was Barristers

11:02 Two were lead actors playing lead roles in West End shows. Three was top sports professionals and idol client number four, was CEOs So while she was very clear who her idol clients were she had no idea how to share stories that would speak to all of them And when she came to work with me back in 2021, she said I think I need four different websites because the messaging is so different for each of them and different parts of my story are going to connect with each of them differently.

11:39 It's something she'd been struggling with for a long time and it was stopping her from not only creating a website but also putting out content because she never knew who she should be talking to or how to create content that wouldn't confuse people about what she did and who she worked with. She was really stuck, but the problem was a simple one to solve. She didn't need four different websites – she just needed to find her sweet spot She just needed to find the core story and message that connected them all, and connected them to her. So we worked through the exact process I've been taking you through step by step We looked at her personal stories... ...we looked at her business stories.... ...and we looked at her customer stories All four of them! And we looked for what was the same What did they all have in common?

12:39 What was the golden thread that ran through all of their stories? And we found it. Her clients are all people at the top of their game, these are people who have to show up and give 100% every time they perform! You can't be the lead role in Les Mis and think I'm not really feeling it today... you have to go out there and give it everything you've got no matter how you're feeling or what's going on You can't be a top sports professional and do a half-assed job, right? To stay top of your game you have to perform at your best every time. You can't be a barrister in the middle of an important court case and not give it your undivided attention – not give it 100%. You have to show up and do your best to win! And so inevitably as these people have to perform day after day no matter what's going on for them

13:41 The pressure is immense, the stakes are high and it's critical that nothing derails them. That they can show up and be the best they can be whether that's on stage in a sports arena in court or in a boardroom no matter what else is going on in their life They've got to show up and give it their all They've gotta lead They've gotta be in control They've gotta perform And because of that, these people are all susceptible to stress and anxiety and burnout. And Dr Anna understood that! In fact she said I work at my best when the stakes are high – when it really matters – when it gets to crisis point. So that was her sweet spot where her story met their stories It wasn't four different messages or four different stories…it was one

14:37 That mastering your mind helps you stay top of your game. And once we knew that, we could go back through her story and pull out the bits that were really relevant because like everyone does she had a very unique blend that she brought to her work She had a lifetime of skills and experience and insights and ideas and learnings and a perspective that gave this quite unique sweet spot She'd grown up in a legal family, a family of barristers and she was married to a barrister. So she understood the profession, she understood them very well and she understood the stress they were under. She trained as an actress years before so she had experience being on stage and she was used to being on live TV. There were lots of elements of her story that showed her idol clients she really did understand them deeply

15:38 And it tied everything she did together. So now we had this golden thread running through all her messaging and stories, and not only were we able to put one website together... We were actually able to keep it very simple and focused on what really matters to her idol clients AND position HER as the person that could help them show up & perform at their best no matter what else was going on in their life Now she knew what content to create and she could make sure that it was all aligned around one central core message that spoke to all of them. She knew her people, and her value! And she could talk about who she works with and what she helps them do – and what makes possible for them. How? By having the tools & strategies that she could give them… To manage their emotions, handle stress and master their mind

16:37 Understanding your sweet spot helps you understand what makes you the perfect guide for the people that you love working with and what parts of your story are really going to connect and resonate with them. So when you get to your sweet spot, you'll have that connection – that golden thread Of this is me and this is them, and this what we do together. And this the transformation they get Then everything you say and do comes from that Your content your website your offers Everything can tie back to your sweet spot And that actually ties really nicely with this week's question from a listener Hi Susan I'm Penny Hopkinson author of Manual Magic Create The Operations Manual Your Franchisees Need To Succeed

17:34 Here's my question. Where were you when you realised that The Business of Stories and storytelling would be your next great career move? What drew you to that conclusion, and how long did it take you to discover your USP? Oh I love that question Penny! Thank you. It took me a while to land on my sweet spot I saw the power of stories in 2015 when i shared mine and kept telling people to share theirs. And would talk to these amazing business women whose stories were so interesting, and their stories would tell me about them but they weren't sharing them anywhere! And I kept saying, share those stories let people get to know the real you – The funny quirky spiritual passionate YOU

18:29 But it took me a while to appreciate that people didn't actually know how to share their stories or get across who they really are. It was something that had come easily to me, so I didn't think it was something that others would need help with but I had an aha moment! It was one night in May 2016 when I heard a comment that completely changed the trajectory of my business. I was at a business mentoring session at my local university And someone was saying they'd been invited to do a talk and they weren't sure what to talk about. I started sharing what had happened to me when i told my story, you might remember it from episode one! Although storytelling wasn't officially my thing at that point... ...I had been helping business owners in my group share their stories in their marketing and talks and conversations. It was something that I talked about a lot

19:27 And then Gareth, the business startup manager who ran these mentoring sessions said I agree. I'd love to introduce a storytelling module to this program That sounds great! I said. I'd love to come to that Well yes, said Gareth. I was hoping you would be up front delivering it To say a lightbulb went off in my head is an understatement It was more like fireworks Something huge had just landed for me How had I not seen this before? It was so obvious. I'd always loved storytelling, I read books about it and talked about it all the time! I was helping people with it and when I looked back over my career I realised that it had actually been a theme my whole life as I worked in media and events which is all storytelling but it was only at that moment that it dawned on me

20:25 That I could turn that love of storytelling into a business. That it could be my thing, that it was my sweet spot and just to prove it was exactly what I was meant to be doing the universe stepped in and made everything fall into place so quickly it was crazy! In the following eight days, I managed to create a website, a process and offer and a talk which I very, very nervously delivered to 40 entrepreneurs in London just one week later. From that first talk, I got six paying clients and The Business of Stories was born!

21:08 So, in answer to your question it took me a bit of time for the penny to drop but once it did it felt such a perfect fit that I just knew it was what I would be doing for the rest of my working life. I knew I'd found my thing! I knew I'd found my mission and I knew that MY unique blend everything I'd bring to my work to help business owners weave storytelling into every aspect of their business was what would make me stand out Same as you. You mentioned USP, Penny It's everything you bring to your work plus who you are plus who you love working with it's your sweet spot and it's your USP And your sweet spot is the last step of my seven-step process which means we've completed it We've gone through every step and I hope you found it helpful

22:02 Having said that, in the next episode I'm going to talk to you about something so important that without it none of the steps work very well. It really is the piece that allows you to bring everything we've talked about to life! It's a chapter in my book, it's a module in my program and it had to be an episode of my podcast It's something I'm absolutely passionate about and something I see holds so many people back. It is the most important story of all, it is the one you're telling yourself – it's the story in your head! So as always before we go let me give a quick action step that you can go away and do… Here's your action step for today

22:53 Share the moment your business was born. It doesn't have to be dramatic, mine wasn't! But there will have been a moment that you thought... That's it! That's the business I'm going to start. Do you remember what was going on? Where were you? What were you thinking? How did that penny drop for you? Do you remember the date? Do you celebrate the anniversary? Do people know that story? So that's your action step for today. Share a story about the moment your business was born and I'll see you next time, for more stories that do the selling for you so you don't have to! Thank you so much for being here. I love that we get to do this together Would you do me a huge favour and please rate review and follow this podcast in Apple Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts? And i'll see you next time

23:51 More honest conversations, meaningful connections and of course stories.