Storytelling is a waste of time 🤬

Unless you use this 3-part system

Author

Stephen Stanberry
September 25th, 2025

In partnership with

Picture this, friend!

You’re posting content you think is “storytelling.”
Long captions about your journey.
Random memories that sound deep in your head but land flat online.
And what do you hear?

Silence.

No replies.
No leads.
Not even a pity like from your best friend.

And you wonder:
“Doesn’t storytelling drive sales? Isn’t this what every guru says to do?”

Here’s the part nobody tells you, friend.

Most storytelling online is a complete waste of time.

Because people confuse “talking about themselves” with “telling a story.”

That’s not how this works.

The creators who turn story into business growth don’t post random diary entries.
They use structure.
They use intent.
They use a system.

The System

The framework I use every single day is what I call the Three-Part Content Engine:

WHO — Audience connection
Who is this for? Mirror their struggle so they lean in and say, “That’s me.”

FLIP — Belief shift
What’s the turning point? Show the moment that changes how they see things.

THREAD — Brand alignment
Where does it lead? Tie the story back to your offer, your perspective, or your system.

That’s it. Three moves.

Proof

When I first shared my firing story, I didn’t write it as a confession.
I ran it through WHO–FLIP–THREAD.
The result? Real engagement, conversations in the DMs, and client work.

And it’s the same with my clients:

  • One landed his first $1,000 deal from a story post.

  • Another closed her first five-figure client because her story built trust before the pitch.

They weren’t the most polished.
They didn’t have the biggest audiences.
They simply used structure.

The Lesson

Storytelling without structure is noise.
Storytelling with WHO–FLIP–THREAD is strategy.

That’s the difference between wasting time online and building a business with your content.

Talk soon,
Stephen

PS: If you want 47 prompts to apply WHO–FLIP–THREAD immediately, reply YES and I’ll send you The Story Bank.

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