Your story is worthless until it drives a call booked or sale.

Inbox: 0. Clients: 0. My ego: wrecked, friend.

I’d given a talk. Thought I crushed it. People laughed, nodded, clapped loud. One person hugged me after.

And then… silence. No emails. No calls. No sales.

Here’s the lie I believed: if you tell a moving story, people will move toward you.

They won’t.

Applause feels good. Applause pays nothing.

The truth is simple. Stories without a next step vanish. They sound nice in the room, then disappear.

What changed for me:

I stopped telling stories for the sake of “inspiration”

I started asking, what is this pointing to?

I began ending with a door. Book a call. Reply. Join the list. Buy.

Once I did that, things shifted. Slowly, but they did. Stories turned into replies. Replies turned into work.

Now I don’t care about applause. I care about the door at the end.

So let me ask you. Where is your story pointing this week?

Hit reply and tell me.

Cheers,
Stephen

Get Featured by Publishers Driving Holiday Amazon Sales

This holiday season, top publishers are hand-selecting Amazon brands for gift guides, newsletters, reviews, and more — sending high-intent shoppers directly to storefronts.

Levanta is partnering with these publishers to connect them with a select group of 7–9 figure brands ready to scale.

Check if your brand qualifies

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