Every Entrepreneur's Secret Weapon: Your Story Advantage with Bill Blankschaen

0:01John Lee Dumas:Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down every entrepreneur's secret weapon, your story advantage. To drop these value bombs, I brought Bill Blankschaen into EO Fire Studios. Bill is the founder of Story Builders and a New York Times bestselling author who helps leaders turn ideas into impactful book stories and experiences that grow influence, income, and legacy. And today we'll talk about how every story matters, going from story to livelihood, about picking yourself, are books really dead, and oh, so much more.

0:37John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Bill and our sponsors. Fire Nation, stop putting off launching your website or business. Hostinger makes it incredibly simple and affordable to get online with everything you need to succeed all in one place. Visit hostinger.com slash onfire. Use code onfire for 20 % off. Your next chapter starts today. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High Level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award-winning 24-7 support.

1:13John Lee Dumas:Get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com. Highlevelfire.com. Bill, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Well, I think one, well, first of all, hello. I'm so glad to be here, John Lee, Fire Nation. You know, one of the things I think people believe about being successful is that they don't really have any value in themselves to give to the world. We tend to think, we tend to deify other people and diminish ourselves. And especially as entrepreneurs, I think there's a value of to focus so much on doing, I got to do more to be successful.

1:58I got to do that. Instead of thinking, wait a second, what is my story? What is my, how does that give me a unique advantage and how does it help power my brand going forward? Because when we tap into that, I just think some incredible breakthroughs begin.

2:11John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, today we're talking about every entrepreneur's secret weapon. We're talking your story advantage. And I want to talk about how every story does matter, Bill. I mean, this is kind of building upon what you just shared, because you believe that every story has value. How did this conviction become so central to your work? And how did it ultimately lead to the creation of story builders? There's a point in my life, John Lee, when I was doing good work, I'd help start a private school, I was leading it, I was getting hugs from kindergartners every day and helping teenagers navigate life choices and doing good work.

2:45But I felt like there was something deeper, you know, the sense of calling that was deeper in my soul to be a writer, to be a storyteller. I'd always thought of myself that way, but I realized I wasn't actually doing that on a day to day basis. And so I finally made the point. I didn't want to look back and regret not sharing my message with the world. And so I made the reach the point of stepping away from the school and stepping out in this direction to put my skills as a storyteller and writer to the world at large. And it wasn't easy, as every entrepreneur knows, you know, that we went a year with six kids and no income.

3:21well i dove into that and figured it out and became a student of storytelling and publishing and books and all these various facets of it never worked harder in my life frankly during that time and there were there were plenty of times quite candidly when i felt like i was sitting at the bottom of a steep hill in the middle of a road and there's this semi-trailer coming down barreling down toward me and all i can do is sit in the road and write and do what i felt like i'm called to do this. And I did, I kept doing it, kept moving forward. And out of that, I actually wrote my first book, got picked up by a publisher, realized I'm actually really good at this.

3:58Other people began asking for help. I began helping them. And before too long, this idea of story builders came out of it. You know, and since then we've been helping everybody from John Maxwell to Lewis Howes to Dean Graziosi, all kinds of folks and everybody in between leverage their story to make the world a better place. Cause again, I believe breakthrough begins when you have the courage to start with your story?

4:19John Lee Dumas:Well, I want to talk about going from story to livelihood. To me, that's kind of the next transition because a lot of people, they feel called to share a message, but they don't know how that translates into a real business. How does someone begin turning their story or let's just even call it a lived experience into something they can actually generate revenue from? Yeah. Well, and this is why I wrote the book, Your Story Advantage in the first place to help give people a roadmap for this. And one of the things I talk about in there is you got to get clear on your meaningful message. In other words, you got to become a student of who you are and your story.

4:54When I talk about story, I don't just mean what's happened to you. I mean, your body of expertise or wisdom or lessons learned and successes and failures, you have to come to terms with all that and then get clear on what is that meaningful message. And then how do I want to be known going forward, whether my personal brand or my business brand, often for entrepreneurs, Those are intermingled in unique ways. But how do I put that together? I think it begins with getting clear on that meaningful message and then thinking, right, what are the needs in the world that that solves? So what am I passionate about solving?

5:27What are my skill sets? How does all that come together in a way that that message meets the need of the hour? in order to cause that story then to actually give you a distinct advantage because it does set you apart for people who are looking for those solutions when you're able to present your story in that powerful way.

5:47John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, this is a powerful thing to think about. A lot of times people do have that thought in their mind of like, who am I to share this, that imposter syndrome? And I actually turn it on people. I just say, listen, you are obligated to share your story. You are obligated to share your solutions to your problems that you, you fought hard to get because that could literally save somebody's life. That could change somebody's complete trajectory on what they're doing in their business, in their world. And that's just such a powerful thing. So let's talk about the common phrase that you hear, which is, you know, my story is just not special, John.

6:29John Lee Dumas:Bill, like my story is just not that unique. So, so many people believe their story's not dramatic or viral or, you know, even like quote unquote tabloid worthy. So what would you say to someone who delts the value or uniqueness of their own story? Sure. Well, first person I would point to is Walt Disney, as an example of someone who didn't find, didn't tell stories that were out there and tabloid worthy and just amazing. No one ever had heard of this before. He went with stories that had a familiar aspect and then gave them a fresh spin, right? So it was this combination of fresh and familiar.

7:07I call it the connection continuum. When you think about where my story lands on this, everybody tends to think it's got to be super fresh, super crazy, bizarre. Nobody's ever heard this before. It's amazing. Something crazy happened to me. But on the one hand, that's, that gets people's attention, but people have a hard time connecting with that because it, it, it doesn't align with what they've experienced. You have to have a strong dose of familiar. So if you're thinking, oh, my story is too familiar, that's actually not a bad thing. That's a good thing. That's a point where people can connect.

7:38The challenge then becomes simply figuring out how do I present who I am, the fresh and the familiar, in a way that has that just right mix. Because if it's too fresh, people will feel like, oh, that's just, I'm just disconnected from it. I don't really connect. If it's too familiar, that's duplicative. Everybody has that story. but telling it in the right way. And the key to all of that, I think, is figuring out who your audience is for your story because that is what will really drive what elements of the story you're gonna share and when you share them.

8:09John Lee Dumas:There's so much that I love there. I mean, the connection continuum. I mean, Fire Nation, really think about that. Like there's power in that connection continuum. And when you were talking about Walt Disney, I was just thinking, Bill, like there's this great little video clip. It wasn't even a whole documentary. It was kind of like just a short clip on YouTube about Walt Disney walking through the Orange Grove in Florida way before even the first brick was laid of Walt Disney World. And just him talking about it and sharing the vision and the idea. And people thought it was crazy. People thought it was a pipe dream.

8:43John Lee Dumas:And guess what? It's all come true and more. So it's crazy what can happen when you just have an idea, you just lay down one brick, and then you build upon that. And of course, you have the people like Bill who went through the struggle, learned the hard way so that now he has processes and systems that we can learn from when we're going through it. Now, we're going to talk about picking yourself. Are books really dead and a lot more when we get back from thanking our sponsors? Fire Nation, I know you've been sitting on an amazing idea. Well, it's time to move from one day I'll launch this project to taking action.

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11:07John Lee Dumas:that's revenued with a d.com slash fire apply today and be ready for whatever comes next fire nation if you are building a real business you need real infrastructure that is why high level is entrepreneur on fire's featured partner high level gives you a website builder and hosting funnels and landing pages email marketing appointment scheduling payment processing course and membership hosting and so much more everything you need to succeed all under one roof No duct tape, no juggling five platforms, just one clean system for your business. And their award-winning 24-7 support has your back when you need it most.

11:43John Lee Dumas:When you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a 30-day free trial, a private 15-minute call with me, JLD, access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50 Days to Something execution roadmap, and more. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. Bill, we're back. And I want to talk about picking yourself because you often talk about the concept of picking yourself. And what would you say is the deeper message that you want readers to carry with them as they begin their own story building journey?

12:24Well, what drives me, my meaningful message is that every story matters. and I believe that at the bottom of my heart and whether it's someone who's building a business or whether they're writing a book or not or wanting to build something with their story regardless of who where they are in life every story matters and so when I talk about picking yourself I mean believing in that meaningful message believing in the power of your story this this phrase came to me Seth Godin actually is the one I got it from I was at an event with him back in, I think, 2012, maybe. It's been a few years. And he had inspired by a blog post that he had written called Pick Yourself.

13:02And he was challenging everybody, don't wait for someone else to pick you. And here's the good news, John Lee, in the publishing space and the book space now, it's never been easier to pick yourself. Thanks to technology and hybrid publishing and all these kind of tools that we have, it's never been easier to find the people to work with, to write a really compelling book and get it out to the world and get your story out there in a way that does what you need it to do. But you first have to believe you've got to believe your story matters. You have to believe that what you have to share with the world has value.

13:32And once you see yourself in that way, everything changes. And for entrepreneurs, especially, I mean, if you're not, if you're not hitting the believe button every morning, you're going to be struggling, right? So you have to teach yourself to do that in order to see that growth accelerate.

13:48John Lee Dumas:And that's one reason I'm such a believer, number one, in mentorship. Like a mentor will keep you grounded. They will keep guiding you. They will keep you motivated, inspired. They'll keep you locked in on what your actual goal is, like why you're doing this. And of course, that's why I'm also such a huge fan of being part of a mastermind. Like people that you know, like, and trust, that you respect, that you admire, that you don't want to let down. They're going to hold you actually accountable for what you can and should be doing, what you're capable of doing, what you're worthy of. You have to have those things in place by your nation.

14:19John Lee Dumas:Now, are books really dead? Because Bill, some people argue that books no longer matter. I don't know who those people are. I read a book every day. Like I try to read a book a week myself. Sure, sure. But they claim that no one reads anymore. So as someone who believes deeply in books as a vehicle for impact, how do you respond to that? I think books are evolving. I don't think books are never going to go away unless we get rid of words, in which case we stop communicating, right? But they're never going to go away. They are evolving. The latest research from Pew Research Center says 75 % of Americans read at least one book a year.

14:52But of those 75%, the average is 12 books a year. That's an average of once a month. Most people are reading at least once a month. But it's evolving because we're seeing more audio books. We're seeing, I think it's like 23, 25, 26 % of book consumption now is in the audio book space. E-books have risen. So we have different ways of consuming books now. But they still remain a tremendous vehicle for capturing your core content and really developing a message in a way that it's allowed to breathe. It has some space to work with. It's not a soundbite. It's not a quick hit on YouTube. It's not, you know, it's not condensed down and tightened down.

15:30And I fact, I would argue, even as a culture, what the world needs is more thoughtful exposition of things, more ideas unpacked and considered rather than the whole soundbite. Let's go back and forth and hurl soundbites at one another or something like that. I think books are really a point where people can gather around and find unity in developing that message at those deep levels.

15:53John Lee Dumas:I mean, I'll tell you, the amount of money that I spend on audiobooks, specifically Audible, is high. Because I'm a big walker. Like I do three miles every single morning with my dog Gus. He's 65 pounds. He's a golden doodle. He needs exercise. I need to exercise. It's part of my 10 ,000 steps. I do another three miles every single evening. So I'm either listening to podcasts or audio books because I love just consuming content during that time that I enjoy, just makes my walk. I look forward to that. I'm like, I can't wait to get outside. Fresh air, sun, and I'm walking and I'm listening to something great.

16:26John Lee Dumas:Like I love that combination. So let's talk about going from me to them because you often say your story is about you, but it's not for you. So how do you help people shift from telling a self-focused story to crafting one that truly serves and of course resonates with an audience? Well, this is perhaps the number one mistake entrepreneurs make. I'm literally meeting with some entrepreneurs tomorrow to walk them through this very process because we tend to think that we know our story, we know our expertise, we know our business. And so our first thought is, let me tell everyone about me and what I do and what the message is in my heart or my soul.

17:06Let me, let me do that. But we actually have to stop and turn that around completely to put the audience or the customer or the reader in that seat of what matters to them. And then it's about editing your own story and what you're sharing only what matters to them. It's that's what it's about. And so to do that, we've developed our whole, the storytelling structure that we use. It's a five-step process we use for any compelling content to make any message matter. Quite honestly, we have a bunch of free tools I can make available to your audience that I think would be super helpful. Because that's what you need to do is walk through a proven dynamic of it forces you to think through who am I speaking to?

17:48What is it that they want? How am I getting their attention? How am I meeting their needs? And only then can you come back around to now let me talk about me and my message. But in our storytelling structure, that's the fourth out of five steps, right? So you've got, you've got to lay the groundwork before you can earn the right to be heard on something. And I think a lot of times we just, we don't earn the right to be heard because we don't show that we care about the reader, about the audience, about the customer, that we, that we empathize with them, that we know what they're going through, that we have a good sense of that because we're just talking about our story.

18:21But again, our story is about us, but it's not for us. And if we're going to be good stewards of it, we have to think about how is this serving the other people that I'm reaching?

18:30John Lee Dumas:I mean, Fire Nation, I've done over 5 ,000 episodes. So I have a little data to pull from. And I'll tell you what, when I interview somebody, Bill, did I say to you, hey, Bill, what's up, buddy? Tell me about yourself. No, because frankly, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But a They don't need to hear about Bill at the very beginning. What they need to hear is immediate value, which is why I say share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. We start with value. We want to give value right away. And then when you give value, you build know, you build like, you build trust, and then you can go from there.

19:06John Lee Dumas:So, so powerful to think about Fire Nation, so key. And let's end with a bang. I mean, for the person that's listening right now and they feel pulled to share their story, but something's still holding them back. What's the one truth they need to hear before they give themselves permission to begin? You know, I think it is, you don't have to do this alone. I think we entrepreneurs, we tend to think, all right, I've got this. I'll put it on my back. I'll run with it. I'll figure it out. I'll make it happen. And to come to that conclusion, I've seen it so many times of, if you want to elevate, you must collaborate.

19:42You have to think in terms of who can I connect with in order to do this better? Now, in many ways, I think entrepreneurs, we know that we know there are people with expertise. We have expertise in our particular area and we expect other people to expect that from us, but then we don't apply that same principle in what we're doing. And so I think one of the biggest things I devote a whole chapter to this in the book about who are the people you need to connect with to develop your story? Who are the people you need to collaborate with? The kind of people you need, you know, very little different depending on each person and what they bring to the table.

20:16But don't think that you have to do it alone. I can't tell you how many times I've worked with entrepreneurs who've been working for years on a book or something, and it's still over in the drawer somewhere because I've never got around to personally figuring every component out, personally figuring out their brand story for their company or what, or for the book or whatever the case may be. And they have felt like I had to do it all myself. And because of that, it just sits there in the book graveyard, right? Where books go to die or messages go to die instead of doing it. So I would say the first thing is that they have to do is give yourself permission to collaborate with other people who know what they're doing, whether it's people like us at Story Builders or others, find the people that have the proven track record to help you accelerate that growth going forward.

21:02John Lee Dumas:And Bill, if Fire Nation wants to connect with you, wants to learn more about what you have going on, what is your call to action for our listeners today? So let's think about this, John Lee, we prepared something special for your audience. So if they go to mystorybuilders.com forward slash fire, F-A-R-E, so mystorybuilders.com forward slash fire, we're gonna have several of the free resources I just talked about. We're gonna give them our book starter tool that walks through, hey, I think I might wanna write a book with walks through the whole component of that. We're gonna give them the storytelling structure.

21:35It's a one pager that they can use to make any message matter and several other things. And then if they want to talk to us, if you go to that, my story builders dot com for us fire and just schedule a call because we love to hear about stories. If you just schedule a call, we're going to give you totally free access to your story advantage academy. So this is a self-guided tour where I walk you through. how do you build out your whole storytelling structure and your meaningful message and your book and how can you do all that? I'm just going to share that with you for free, no obligation other than just schedule a call and talk to us and we'll get you that set up for free just because we believe in the power of story and the advantage that that gives everyone, but especially entrepreneurs.