I went to a free class at my coworking office (Sustainable Valley) a few weeks back about storytelling in business. Now, you might be thinking, wtf does storytelling have to do with business?

Yea, I thought the same, but being able to properly articulate what you do and why you do it is actually a huge thing that a lot of business owners struggle with, myself included. 

The dreaded question ‘So what do you do?’

Talking has always been my strong point, anyone that knows me well can tell you that. But being able to condense something in a story of just facts without a bunch of little tangents in between has always been an issue for me. Getting asked to summarise something is my worst nightmare. I can talk and talk and talk for ages and explain things from a thousand different angles, but ask me to get a story into a few sentences and my brain basically explodes.

So, naturally, when someone asks what it is that I do for a living, or what services Traveller By Trade offers I tend to freeze for a second. “A lot” is usually my answer. Through all of the podcasts I’ve done, BIO’s for events that I’ve been asked to write up, guest blog posts I’ve written and conversations I’ve had with new people I come across I’ve still not mastered the art of storytelling, at least in a precise and condensed fashion. But, I keep trying anyway. 

Anxiety of the idea aside, the storytelling class offered a challenge to all of us..

You know my struggle, so let me start by saying how hard and (happily) uncomfortable this task is: get your story written out, but also be on a time limit to write it. SO I’ve given myself 20 minutes.

This isn’t to try and bust it out quickly, it’s mainly to get your brain thinking on its feet and pulling out the most necessary and important information with the goal of cutting out the ramble and side tangents.

Damn, wish me luck. 

Challenge accepted, so here’s my story

Traveller By Trade is a business that I created and built from an Instagram handle. I was once a carefree backpacker floating around the world with a keen eye for photography but nothing but a crappy iPhone to shoot with.

I don’t know how I thought of it, but one day the name Traveller By Trade came to me and I fell in love with it. I also fell in love with the idea of being a digital nomad and dreamed of carefree travel and work from my laptop kinda life.

So I chased it. 

I went back and assessed my passions, thought about what I loved doing and what services I could offer to potential clients. 

Well, I had built a great following on my personal Instagram so why not do it for other people? I had also stumbled on a strong love for website design – defiantly something I could offer. And then there was my love for photography, which had been sitting with me since my teenage years. And there you have it… 3 major players all in the realm of building an online presence. 

And Traveller By Trade was born

Okay, well it wasn’t really that easy. Starting a business never is.

BUT I knew what my business would offer: the chance for digital nomads, location independent business owners and online entrepreneurs within the service-based industry to build an online presence.

Website design and development, Instagram strategy and management and content or brand photography to use on said website and Instagram (or other social) accounts. These are my passions, these are the things I love doing, and these are all things that other business owners either

1. Don’t know how to do or

2. Don’t want to do. 

I offer services that my clients don’t have the knowledge, skills, or time to do themselves

There are a ton of people out there with the idea of an amazing business but without the knowledge to build out a responsive website, passion to take brand-aligned or enticing imagery of their product or (to be blunt) give a damn about the impact of a properly planned out social media strategy.

These are the things I love and these are the things that I get to do for my clients. I solve their issues, cure their pain points and take over tasks they would rather pay someone to do for them. 

They stay within their zone of genius, and I stay within mine.

And that is just about the most important aspect of any business – offering something that you friggen LOVE and others don’t want to, or can’t be bothered to do themselves.

So there we have it.

From a simple Instagram handle and some lucky stumbles, I created Traveller By Trade.

I’m in the business of helping businesses and entrepreneurs all over the world create a kickass online presence and reach a global market, because we all have our own little bit of magic & I want to help you share that with the world. 

By Chelsea Lynn AKA, Traveller By Trade

You can check out my website at https://travellerbytrade.com/ or follow my journey on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/travellerbytrade/

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