---
title: "Trading up the chain"
description: "Moves a story from a tiny blog to national coverage, so each level becomes the source for the next."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/trust-me-im-lying/trading-up-the-chain/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Trading up the chain

> Moves a story from a tiny blog to national coverage, so each level becomes the source for the next.

Ryan Holiday's framework, from Trust Me, I'm Lying, pp. 18 to 125.

Framework 1 of 5 from [Trust Me, I'm Lying](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/trust-me-im-lying/index.md) by Ryan Holiday. Category: Storytelling.

## The steps

1. **Level 1: The Entry Point.** Place the story on a small, understaffed, traffic-hungry blog or hyperlocal site, ideally one whose posts larger sites already pick up.
2. **Level 2: The Legacy Media.** Use the first coverage to get a mention on the blog of a newspaper or local TV station, whose output looks as weighty as the print outlet.
3. **Level 3: National.** Let the lower-level coverage do the pushing, with a soft sell through fake tips and the sites national reporters already read.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Book One: Feeding The Monster: How Blogs Work, pp. 18–125

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/trust-me-im-lying/trading-up-the-chain.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/trust-me-im-lying/trading-up-the-chain-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/trust-me-im-lying/trading-up-the-chain.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/trust-me-im-lying/trading-up-the-chain-dark.png