Jay Acunzo’s Post [Video]

Very excited to share that SparkToro is now the official presenting sponsor for my upcoming show, How Stories Happen (trailer in March; ep1 in April). On the show, world-class storytellers + experts, entrepreneurs, and creators like you dissect 1 signature story or draft, piece by piece. They and I will talk about the making of it, what's working about it, how it might improve, and how they're using it to grow their careers, companies, and communities. SparkToro is a natural partner for this launch -- and for an entire "run of platform" across all I do for a time. First, there's the long history of business storytelling of Rand Fishkin and Amanda Natividad. They're incredible, inspiring, and uplifting voices who care deeply about craft. Then, there's this fall: the next installment of one of my personal favorite events ever (I'm a former speaker and happy attendee), SparkTogether. This is a storytelling event over 1 day event with 2 social evenings, where speakers divulge very personal stories about their failures, experiments, and hardest-won lessons. The reason it works and feels more like an intimate dinner than a conference? Talks are NOT recorded, and spots are limited. Third, there's the way Rand, Amanda, and Casey Henry are building their company. They call it Chill Work (highly suggest Rand's recent manifesto on the subject on the company blog). HubSpot and LinkedIn even teamed up to do a documentary story about this approach at SparkToro. I firmly believe in HOW they are building and the ways they respect each other and the customer, honoring both of those things rather than growth-at-all-costs. And finally, there's the product. SparkToro is an audience research tool, and it helps you understand how to best use your limited time and best direct your unbounded creativity and expertise to teach and become a trusted participant in your community. They're rolling out v2 soon, which is a huge milestone for this customer-funded startup. You'll see me using the tool to research and book guests and figure out where on the internet I should be showing up, who I should collaborate with, and how I can evangelize the ideas driving How Stories Happen. Thanks to Rand, Amanda, and Casey for what I know will be an amazing partnership!