i'm lying to you

HI THERE IT’S SUNDAY AGAIN and I gotta write you an email you know?

So you continue loving my stuff, I stay top of mind for you and whatnot…

Totally selflessly speaking.

(hehe)

Nah look.

I actually drummed up 3 lessons AND 10 story prompts for you, so you better ghost the chores you weren’t gonna do anyway and stay reading…..

Cz here’s the deal:

After my last word of the day you

1. Won’t trust the media landscape ever again

2. …………Got zero excuses to not tell your story

3. Get consistent with your newsletter again (← none of my business but u don’t wanna break yours)

Yay hey let’s go.

Know how I’m constantly nagging you to tell your story online?

Well guess I’m a hypocrite cz I keep forgetting to type mine…

Here’s what happened this week:

A few days ago, your friendly neighbourhoodfluencer LUke posted one of his rants about cheaters, scammers, rule breakers and media biases.

And boy do I have first-hand proof of that!!

You see…

Before typing words for the Internet, I spent 7 years of my life editing news pieces for German television.

I’ve worked for different TV stations, but the process was always the same:

1. Important people sit through 1 important morning meeting to pick important topics & storylines for the program

2. Freshly briefed journalists grab themselves the least grumpy camera team and swarm out to hunt for their story

3. Stressed, hungry & tired journalists return with their footage to the editing room where we eat food and piece together the narrative

So far so good.

Here’s the thing though…. and this is where media gets biased:

At every step of the process, we decide over truth.

(it’s inevitable…. and you’ll see why)

There’s news planners deciding what’s news worthy.

There’s network bosses & editorial staff deciding the perspective.

There’s journalists framing the questions… and writing the actual words.

There’s camera people controlling the scene, focus & lighting.

There’s editors setting the tone, picking the scenes, angles & answers that make it into the 2:30 min news piece…

From up to 2 hours of footage.

Scared yet?

The most disturbing lesson I learned in my 7 years as an editor…

Is that all truth that is subjective (and not in that cringe leftist way).

Truth is what we focus on.
Truth is the angle we choose.
Truth is the mood we set, the context we give & the details we handpick to share with the world.

You really can tell ANY story you want….

When you own production.

(that’s what I loved about my work: you get total control over the narrative DOES THAT MAKE ME EVIL???)

Look.

There’s no such thing as “objective” journalism (though sometimes they try).

Even if you do your due diligence and contrast your sources….

You’re still biased by your own beliefs.

(and so are the networks)

That’s why I threw out my TV 5 years ago.

I never watch the news.

I focus exclusively on what helps me… and what I can control.

And that’s using all that framing and angling and storytelling for stuff that’s openly subjective:

……………………….

……………………………..

……………………………………..

Email marketing. (hehe)

There’s no absolute truth so you better tell yours!!!

See, I’ve never talked about my TV background because…

I thought it was boring.

It was just my day to day.

Old news to me.

(ha)

BUT I was wrong…

And so are you.

So, tell me:

Which story are you hiding?

Don’t look at me like that I know you’re procrastinating on your newsletter cz you think you don’t have any stories to tell.

Or anything interesting to say.

Well I got news for you:

YOU HAVE.

Here’s 10 prompt ideas so you’ll NEVER RUN OUT OF STUFF TO TALK ABOUT EVER AGAIN:

1. That time Starbucks stole my coffee

2. How road rage changed the way I email

3. What my cat taught me about your business

4. My neighbour called me stupid for doing this...

5. I'm writing this from my bathroom floor (click for tmi)

6. That time my client proved me wrong (click for broken egos)

7. The real reason I missed your call (it’s exactly what you think)

8. The day I stopped following experts (and bought a cow instead)

9. I’m working from my car today (you totally won’t believe my luck)

10. The 1 advice I wish I never took (bad decisions make the best stories)

(Yes you’re free to steal them all)

Want proof this works?

This is my friend Markus 2 months ago when growing on LinkedIn.

The change he made to his content?

He started telling stories….

The truth nobody’s telling you?

You don’t need a wild life to be interesting:

Your best content is random.

Your ‘boring’ everyday moments hit different…

When you know how to frame them.

(like that time you set your kitchen on fire making toast... and what it taught you about business)

So here’s the deal.

After 7 years of telling stories that made millions of Germans feel (while sneakily pushing agendas)...

I know how to turn your random daily stuff into emails your subs are excited to open.

Want me to write yours?

Reply with “my story”…

xxx Lessa

P.S. This ain’t about typing prettier words, it’s highlighting the right pieces. Kinda like on the news, except the agenda we’re pushing is yours……….