Tell more stories in 2024

Here's to starting the new year with a story.

When I was 17, I thought I was destined to be a music producer.

I would study production tutorials every day. Read every music production magazine at Borders. Spend the night producing away in my studio. I lived and breathed as a music producer.

Then one day, a fire broke out in my studio. A welding job for the door had gone wrong, causing the acoustic foam to catch on fire – turning the room into one big oven.

I lost everything in that fire, including my identity. After I recovered, I went into marketing. I've marketed my studio and music, and I thought I could do it for others. But I was always held back by my identity. "A music producer offering marketing work??"

Luckily I kept pushing.

Until eventually, I learned a truth:

The creation of our own identity is simply a self-perception. The truth is clients don't care about your identity at all. They only care what you can do for them.

Today I call myself a marketer without a second thought. It's not about me. It's about what I can do for others.

The Pixar Storytelling Framework

I used the Pixar storytelling arc in the story above. (I told the same story on LinkedIn to test it out.)

• Once upon a time...
• Every day...
• One day...
• Because of that...
• Because of that...
• Until finally...

Here's a 90-second video that explains the story arc – including an example to use it.

Give the Pixar story arc a go. Share a story today on your favorite social media platform, following the same story arc.

Tag us at @daily.cmo for us to see it.

And of course, it was a real story. Ahh, now you're curious. Let me feed your curiosity. Here's a video I made, including some lessons learned from years ago.

Let's meet at I Hate Networking 2024 - Tiffin at the Yard, KL.

Whether you hate networking or not – everything you want, is in the hands of someone you've not met yet.

We're pleased to announce that we've partnered with Mole & Antler for "I Hate Networking" Conference 2024. Get your early bird tickets at RM60 (N.P. RM100) with our promo code: DAILYCMO20

For event details, go to: https://www.bit.ly/ihatenetworking2024

Early bird ticket sale ends on Jan 5th 2024.