The Secret Weapon for Creators, Founders, and Freelancers: Storytelling That Sticks

This week, I kept coming back to one idea: storytelling is the most important skill you can build.

Whether I was sifting through pitches for articles, helping a founder craft their investor deck, or reflecting on a fascinating conversation I heard on The Nathan Barry Show, one truth became crystal clear: attention is your most valuable currency — and storytelling is how you earn it.

📚 This week's lesson: Attention is your most valuable currency.

As a journalist, I’ve interviewed hundreds of experts, pitched countless editors, and written for some of the biggest names in business media. No matter the audience, one lesson always applies: the best stories win.

This week, I reviewed dozens of pitches for a project, and most of them made me cringe and went straight to the ignore pile.

They were overly polished, generic, or clearly churned out by AI.

But a few stood out. Here’s why:

• One source reached out via LinkedIn with a note that referenced my previous work and explained how their expertise tied into my current project. It was thoughtful, relevant, and specific.

• Others shared short, personalized blurbs describing how they’d experienced the challenges my articles explored (like building a B2B customer funnel or perfecting an investor pitch deck). These pitches felt authentic, not recycled from ChatGPT.

• A standout example was an expert who shared a personal story about pitching their first SaaS product to investors — and failing. That vulnerability grabbed my attention and made me curious to know more.

Why is this all relevant to you? What I’m realizing is that we are all trying to pitch ourselves every single day.

Maybe it’s for a brand partnership, or a podcast speaking opportunity, or a new client. The list is endless.

But given the fact that we are all trying to gain the attention of someone at the other end of our efforts, just following a few of these steps to stand out and build a real connection make a world of difference.

Key application:  The next time you pitch — whether it’s for a client, an audience, or an investor — lead with something only you can tell. A specific story, a unique perspective, or a moment of vulnerability will always win over polished perfection.

🛠️ Tool spotlight: beehiiv

There’s been a lot of discourse this week about owning your audience following the TikTok drama. I couldn’t agree more that every creator, founder, and business should be finding some way to funnel their audience into an email list.

Because the truth of the matter is that if you’re relying on social media platforms, you’ll always be at the whims of algorithm changes, government policies, and tech billionaires. (I wrote more about this here.)

Building a 1:1 relationship with your audience is the best way to protect yourself from these changes — and it’s also the best way to build a profitable business.

Now this doesn’t mean you need to run the next The Hustle and churn out content every day — nor do you even need a weekly newsletter.

I just recommend finding somewhere to start connecting with your audience, experimenting, and going from there.

A great piece of advice I heard this week is to choose a frequency where you can offer the highest quality and commit to it. So, if you can only churn out a great piece monthly, quarterly, or yearly, start there.

Now for my recommendation 👇

What it does: beehiiv is a powerful newsletter platform designed for creators and entrepreneurs who want to grow their audience and monetize their content.

(P.S. I’ve just started working with beehiiv on a freelance basis and pumped to share more of the case studies I’m working on! If you’re not convinced yet if you should start a newsletter or not, these might make you reconsider.)

Why it's valuable: It’s intuitive, scalable, and packed with features like referral programs and robust analytics — perfect for solopreneurs building their email lists. It’s also free to get started and start monetizing from day 1.

Try it here.

🎧 Read/listen of the week

“The NEW Way to Become a Full-Time Creator in 12 Months” – The Nathan Barry Show

Why it matters: Jed Eglington breaks down why in-house creators are becoming one of the most important roles on any team. His insight? You don’t need a massive following to succeed — you just need storytelling skills.

Top insight: Jed argues that in-house creators have an unmatched ability to capture attention because they understand the brand, product, and audience better than anyone else.

That's all for this week!

Taylor

P.S. What other questions do you have about building an online business, starting a newsletter, or monetizing your audience? Reply here and I’ll try to answer in a future issue.

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