The missing piece in every creator’s toolkit

Author

Stephen Stanberry
September 24th, 2025

In partnership with

friend!

It was another late night at my desk.

Half-empty tea cup on one side. Tabs full of tutorials on the other.

Copywriting lessons.
Design hacks.
Video editing tips.
Marketing tactics.

I convinced myself the only way to “make it” was to learn everything.

And for a while, I thought I was making progress.
My designs improved.
My editing looked sharper.
My copy was a little less cringeworthy.

But here’s the truth, none of it changed much.

The work looked better, but it didn’t land.
People weren’t responding.
Nothing stuck.

The Turning Point

That changed the first time I shared a story.

Not a tip.
Not a tutorial.
Not a new tool.

A story about getting fired.

And to my surprise, it connected.
People wrote back.
Some said they’d been through the same thing.
Others asked how I was moving forward.
A few became clients.

That’s when it clicked for me:

Storytelling is the skill that makes everything else work.

The Real Enemy

Most creators think the problem is lack of skill.

So they stack more:
New apps.
New tactics.
New frameworks.

But the real problem is avoiding story.

Because people don’t buy design.
They don’t remember hacks.
They don’t connect to tactics.

They connect to stories.

Proof

When I started weaving stories into everything, the results shifted.

Content finally got attention.
Emails started pulling replies.
Offers stopped feeling forced.

And I’ve seen the same with clients:

  • One landed his first $3,000 deal after sharing his founder story.

  • Another grew to $11K/month without a funnel, just story-driven posts.

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

They weren’t the “best” at design, copy, or video.
But they showed up with stories.

That’s the difference.

The Lesson

You don’t need to master every skill.
You don’t need to be the most talented.

You need to tell your story with consistency.

That’s the one skill every creator needs.

Talk soon,
Stephen

PS: If you want 47 prompts to help you turn your stories into content people care about, reply YES and I’ll send you The Story Bank.

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