Good Day Brewers - Pang here! ☕

Hope you brewers have been doing great!

Just two weeks ago, my followers on Twitter soared past the 1,000 followers mark.

And more importantly, I made my FIRST dollar.

Your FIRST moments make for great stories, so be sure to keep them in your STORYBANK!

Read on to find out how it all happened!

But before that, I would also love to hear about YOUR WINS in February!

Estimated reading time: 1,795 words - 7 mins 33 secs

When most people write stories, they tend to keep them too short.

How many times have you heard this:

“Keep your stories short! CUT! CUT! CUT! Simplify it!”

Sounds as if you’re acting in a film and the director goes “CUT! let’s retake the scene!”

But here’s when it all comes TUMBLING down (Like the nursery rhyme - London bridge is falling down)

9 in 10 people DON’T KNOW which parts to cut!

So what’s the problem then?

Cutting the MOST IMPORTANT details of your story will KILL IT.

Your story becomes forgettable and “THE END”.

Worst-case scenario?

People have NO IDEA how you got to the lesson.

With those important gaps left EMPTY, you leave your audience feeling CONFUSED.

And trust me, it only gets worse.

“Why did Pang waste my time? What’s the point of his story?”

You’re gonna come right at me for this if I babble on about my favorite food (which btw I have too many to name them).

I LOSE CREDIBILITY!

But before we get into the juicy bits..

It takes skills to add details to your story.

Why not let’s start with a BAD EXAMPLE?

Here’s how NOT to add details:

In October, I was fired by my boss.

I still remembered how it happened like it was yesterday.

It was a beautiful morning and the sun shone into my room, illuminating every corner. I got out of bed and checked my phone. It was 9 am. “Time to get up!” I thought to myself. I dragged my foot to the bathroom and picked up my toothbrush. As I was brushing my teeth, my thoughts started running as I ran through the task I had to complete for the day..

Just reading through this part of the story, you could feel that the story hasn’t gone anywhere even after you’ve read through a WHOLE PARAGRAPH!

It’d have BORE your audience to SLEEP before they even get to the exciting or most important moments of your story!

There’s an exception to writing like that - If you’re writing a fictional storybook and you want to paint out the vivid details of every part of the story so that the readers can put themselves in the protagonist's shoes.

But this part of the story obviously ISN’T RELEVANT to what I wanted to share.

To avoid the above situation, you’ve got to define your MESSAGE and PURPOSE of sharing the story.

Be specific, so you’ll be able to point out the MOST IMPORTANT part of your story.

Purpose: To show and inspire you to be consistent on this journey of becoming an entrepreneur or solopreneur. Results will show themselves eventually. Clarity will come.

Now, let’s go into details, starting with the specific moment when it happened.

Main Story

“998.. 999.. 1,000 FOLLOWERS!” Before I knew it, I was already at 1,012 followers and the numbers continued to grow.

But I knew this was just the start, and I needed something MORE.

I needed PROOF that I could make my FIRST dollar online - that whatever I’m doing, it’s working.

My heart was thumping fast. I took a quick peek at my Inbox. And there it was.

I had to confirm it was a sale. So I clicked to open it.

I couldn’t contain myself any longer. “YESSS! I DID IT!”

Jumping with joy, I broke this news to my girlfriend who was just beside me. And here’s what she said: “Congrats! I never once doubted you.”

But more importantly, I could finally share this screenshot with my parents in our family WhatsApp chat group! My mum was highly doubtful about this less-traveled path I had chosen. So it was a BIG W for me when this happened:

Explanation

Now, did you notice the DETAILS I’ve added to the story?

• The dialogues I’ve used - “998.. 999.. 1,000 FOLLOWERS!”

• Descriptive words like “thumping fast” and “quick peek”.

• Explaining WHY this means so much to me - Mum was highly doubtful about this path I’ve chosen.

• Show, don’t tell - with real screenshots of my sale and my mum’s WhatsApp response.

They made this story authentic and relatable. These details matter in painting a vivid imagination in your mind when this happened!

After expanding on the moment, there are still MISSING details in this story.

So let’s continue with the story by expanding on what happened “BEFORE” this moment.

Before Story

Last October, I was fired. I knew my time at the job was coming close to an end. Cultural differences. This job just isn’t for me. But it happened in a blink of an eye. Before I knew it, I was jobless. “You’re FIRED!” Those words hit me like a brick. How many of you can say you’ve gotten fired from your first job? It’s like wearing a medal of disgrace.

On the same day I got fired, I was feeling down and frustrated. I simply couldn’t shake off this feeling of DEFEAT. I talked to my girlfriend and we immediately worked together to spruce up my resume. Added a whole bunch of things I’ve done. In the next 3 days, I’ve already applied for 37 jobs. I even secured an interview. But man, did I felt like I was running around like a headless chicken, feeling lost and confused.

And then I stumbled upon Twitter. Again. A platform that I’ve been using to write about my day-to-day life. But I haven’t thought about positioning it to grow my personal brand. So why not give it a try? I’ve rebranded myself a total of four times since then and now I’m focused on Storytelling!

What inspired me?

Reading books! In particular - “Stories that Stick” by Kindra Hall. It was late December when this happened. And coincidentally, the AI craze hit! ChatGPT blew up! That made me realize that the best way to differentiate ourselves was to be authentic and share our personal stories - with lessons for our audience. So that’s what I did.

I’ve started with 301 followers (No, I didn’t start from ZERO).

Since December, I’ve tweeted consistently for 93 days.

• Averaging 3 tweets per day, 279+ tweets.

• Averaging 15-20 comments per day, 1,800+ comments.

• Average 1-2 threads per week, with thread sprint in December - 14 threads in 14 days, which means I wrote at least 30 threads.

• Did one ORIGINAL GIVEAWAY which blew up!

Today I have over 1,200 followers!!

No HOT SAUCE or SECRET RECIPE.

But here’s what I discovered:

Most contents on Twitter helped me to learn what didn’t work for me. A WHOLE LOT DIDN’T WORK!

As I tweeted and learned along the way, I analyzed and realized that my audience loves AUTHENTIC content and stories about me. So I shared them CONSISTENTLY throughout the week.

I came up with BREW BOMBS to share my unique perspectives and to inspire and encourage you to be yourself and follow your heart on this journey. Take less advice from others, but more from yourself as you continue to write and gain clarity.

Explanation

If you had paid attention to the story, you’d have noticed I added details in these areas:

• Be specific - Applied for 37 jobs, and secured one interview. Tweeted for 93 days, wrote 1,800+ comments, etc.

• Using metaphors - “Wearing a medal of disgrace” and “running around like a headless chicken”

• Sharing my thoughts - “So why not give it a try?”

• My motivation - Feeling defeated, I didn’t want to stay down.

I’m sure you could spot more details in the story.

But what about “AFTER” the main story?

It’s time to add a little direction and forecast to where I’m heading next!

After Story

Feeling a little more confident after my recent WINS, I’m currently OPENING UP my COACHING offer!

YES, YOU HEAR THAT RIGHT!

And I’m only taking on TWO DOPE BREWERS! ☕

I’d love to inspire and help you to share your OWN STORIES.

YOU HAVE STORIES. AND YOUR AUDIENCE ARE DYING TO LISTEN TO THEM!

If you:

• Are feeling LOST - just not sure what you want to achieve at this point in life? I was like you not too long ago, and I can help you with getting out of this SH*T hole!

• Are interested in using storytelling to grow your personal brand!

• JUST WANT TO EXPLORE ALL THE FUN AND COOL STUFF you can do with storytelling!

• EXCITED TO BOUNCE OFF IDEAS WITH ME!

Here’s what I can help you with:

• Sharing your founder’s story - your motivation behind all of what you’re doing today

• Explaining a process or concept through a personal story or analogy

• Highlighting a challenge or obstacle you overcame

• Sharing your wins to become an authoritative figure

• Building a connection with your audience through authenticity

• Much more..

My offer would be specifically tailored to you, I promise. Tell me more about yourself, and I’d listen. If you suck at goals, or you have no idea what you wanna do, just hit me up! I’ll help you gain clarity on your purpose! (:

You don't want to waste your money and I don't want to waste my time.

If we match, BREW ME UP!

Besides that, I’m ready to BUILD my ULTIMATE STORYBREW COURSE.

And I’ll be doing a GIVEAWAY only for you READERS of this newsletter!

So keep a lookout for the next few issues! 👀

Explanation

Go into details and share more about the direction you’re heading next!

Now.. before you go..

I know what you must be thinking (Notice how I counter objections in your head).

WHAT IF you don’t know the message of your story?

The answer is simple!

Just WRITE out your story first!

Remember this: As you write, you GAIN CLARITY!

After you’ve finished writing your story, come back to figure out what’s the purpose of sharing it!

You can always trim the irrelevant parts later.

That’s all for this STRONG BREW. ☕

Hope you savored it well!

Your Barista,Pang

Enjoying the warm stories so far? Share this link with friends.

Struggling with telling stories? Reach out to me here.