Not all trends are yours to follow.

A few weeks ago, I accompanied my sister for her first time driving without instructor.

Her task was simple.

Drive from the grocery store back home for around six miles.

But it was the busiest hour of the day.

When she was learning how to drive, her instructor gave her an advice:

“Notice everything before driving.”

Check the mirrors. Watch the lights. Be aware of other cars.

It sounds like a decent advice.

Until it went wrong.

~

At first, she did well.

She checked the rear mirror. Turned carefully. Stopped at the red light. Everything felt under control.

Until we entered the busy road.

Cars started honking behind us. Bikes slipped through tiny spaces. People jaywalking rushed home after work.

And suddenly, noticing everything became… too much.

She checked the rear mirror again. Then again. Then the side mirror. Then the front car. Then the traffic light. Then the sound behind us.

Every signal felt urgent to her. Every motion felt important.

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.

And then, in the middle of the road, she froze.

But the road didn’t stop with her.

Cars kept moving. People kept honking.

She panicked, looked at me for help, and started crying.

Well, we eventually arrived home. Safely.

And the first thing she said to me was,

“I’m sorry, I failed.”

But I noticed something she didn’t realize.

She had already drive around five miles. Only one mile away from home.

She didn’t fail. She almost finished.

But the noise of the road convinced her otherwise.

~

Later that night, I kept thinking about it.

It felt very similar to modern marketing.

In Storytale, we always believe marketing is actually a simple task.

🅐 Deliver the work we believe in

🅑 to the people who need it.

Point A to point B. That’s it.

But just like my sister, we’re driving in the busiest road possible.

Every day there’s a new trend.

One day it’s banner-style posts. The next day messy reels.

One turn told us to learn AI prompts. Another turn said ditch it completely.

Advice honks from every direction.

You check one expert. Promising a short-cut.

5 figures to 7 figures. 6 miles to 1 miles.

You look at competitors. Algorithms. Metrics. Formats. Growth hacks.

Just like my sister who felt like she had to check every mirror, every sign, every sound.

And slowly, the simple task became complicated. Overwhelming.

My sister’s task is to drive for 6 miles. But for her, maybe it’s like a car chase scene in a Fast and Furious movie.

And our task in marketing is to share what we believe in, and help the people who resonate with it. Yet the marketing advice and trends we meet on the road keep telling us to make it complicated.

And when the noise becomes too loud, we start questioning ourselves.

Maybe I’m late to join the trend. Maybe I’m doing this wrong. Maybe I lost the momentum.

So, we stop.

We leave ideas in drafts. We delay posting. We reshape our voice just to match what seems to work today.

Not because it feels right. But because the road keeps telling us we are behind.

Maybe it’s time for us to reflect and see.

That not every honk is yours to notice. Not every trends are yours to follow.

Marketing was never meant to be a race to respond to everything and everyone.

It was meant to be a journey towards someone specific.

Someone waiting at the end of your six miles.

~

So, yes, you should join some promising trends - if they feel aligned with how you communicate.

And yes, you should follow a sales strategy - as long as it doesn’t make you feel pushy, icky, and uncomfortable.

And I guess that’s why we built the Storytelling Marketing Course.

So that you can be guided to find the kind of marketing that allows you to tune in to the way of selling that truly feels like you, and walk away from the rest.

And when you finally arrive at the end of your 6 miles journey, when your offer reaches the right people…

What greets you won’t be exhaustion.

But the memory of a beautiful road.

A business you enjoyed building.

A journey you can tell your clients, your family, and yourself with joy.

Not because you followed every trend.

But because you followed your way home.

— With love,
Amanda & Rico | Storytale