How To Help Your Brand Cut Through The Noise

29/10/21, 14:50 How to Help Your Brand Cut Through the Noise — “Building a Story Brand” by Donald Miller
Donald Miller | by Sarah Cy | Medium
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How to Help Your Brand Cut Through the Noise

— “Building a Story Brand” by Donald Miller
[Detailed Book Notes]
https://sarahcy.medium.com/how-to-help-your-brand-cut-through-the-noise-building-a-story-brand-by-donald-miller-7a7d4fe8466f 1/31
29/10/21, 14:50 How to Help Your Brand Cut Through the Noise — “Building a Story Brand” by Donald Miller | by Sarah Cy | Medium
Sarah Cy Jun 3, 2019 · 25 min read

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About Building a Story Brand

Donald Miller’s Story Brand uses a 6-part story formula to help companies and leaders
learn what it really means to earn clients’ trust. This 6-part formula is useful not only in
business but in writing and other areas of life as well, and though simple, has the
potential to revolutionize how you do life and business.
SECTION 1: WHY MOST MARKETING IS A MONEY PIT
Chapter 1 The Key to Being Seen, Heard, and Understood
Pretty websites don’t sell things. Words sell things. And if we haven’t clarified our message,
our customers won’t listen.
SB7: The StoryBrand 7-Part Framework
Most marketing is too complicated for people’s brains. The brain is focused on helping
the person get ahead in life.
Why brands fail:
1. They fail to focus on parts of their offer that help people survive/thrive (all stories
are about some form of survival: physical, emotional, relational, spiritual)
2. They make their clients work too hard to understand what they offer.
Stories help organize info so people understand faster.
If you confuse, you lose.

Stop blasting your clients with noise. Connect with them. Clarify your message with a
formula.
Chapter 2 The Secret Weapon That Will Grow Your Business

Story is to info dumps as music is to noise.
Apple took advantage of clarity and the story lens in their billboard ad: “Think
Different.” They stopped featuring computers in their ads, but tapped into customers’
stories by
1. ID-ing what people wanted (to be seen/heard)

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2. Defining people’s challenges (don’t recognize their own hidden genius)
3. Offer them a tool to express themselves (computers, smartphones)
People don’t buy products, they buy the products

they can understand the fastest.
Every story has these parts, in a nutshell:
1. MAIN CHARACTER wants something and meets a
2. PROBLEM but as they’re despairing, a
3. GUIDE steps in and gives them a
4. PLAN and also
5. CALLS THEM TO ACTION to help them avoid
6. FAILURE so that they will achieve
7. SUCCESS
So to map out your company’s story, ask 3 critical questions:
1. What does the MC want?
2. Who/what is blocking the MC from his desire?
3. What will MC’s life look like if he does or doesn’t get what he wants?
Now run your marketing through the grunt test: Can your client answer the following
questions within 5 seconds of seeing your marketing material?
1. What do you offer?
2. How does it make my life better?
3. What do I need to do to buy it?
Chapter 3 The Simple SB7 Framework

A Character
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Paradigm shift: The client is the hero, not you/your brand
ID what the client wants to make him feel invited into the story you tell
Has a Problem
A problem has disrupted, in a big or small way, your client’s life
Don’t sell a solution to an external problem (like everyone else)
People buy solutions to INTERNAL problems (and if you offer them this, they’ll be
passionate evangelists for you)
And meets a Guide

Clients don’t want another hero, they want a guide.
Guides show up in almost every movie — Obi-Wan, Yoda, Haymitch, etc.
They don’t have time to read YOUR story, they want a guide for their OWN story
Who gives them a Plan

Clients trust guides who have a plan — info on how to get the job done
And calls them to Action

People don’t take action unless told to. They must be challenged. There must be a
reason, an outside force.
In real life: people take action when their story challenges them to.
That helps them avoid Failure

Everybody wants to avoid a tragic ending.
Question: what’s at stake? If nothing is gained/lost, it doesn’t matter.
Ex: Wendy’s ad was “where’s the beef?” implying that their competitors don’t use
enough meat.
And ends in Success

Never assume folks understand how your business can change their lives — tell
them.
“Everybody wants to be taken somewhere. If we

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don’t tell people where we’re taking them, they’ll

engage another brand.”
SideHustleNation
We must tell our customers how great their life can

look if they buy our products and services.
See mystorybrand.com for a BrandScript template. As you continue reading, do this:
1. Go through the next few sections without skipping!
2. Brainstorm potential messages for your BrandScript
3. Look at your brainstorm and decide which specific message to use in each section
of the BrandScript
You will BrandScript your overall brand, then each division of your company, then each
product within each division, or even each segment of your customer base. There are
endless uses for StoryBrand BrandScripts.

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Be careful not to have just an overview of the process without learning the actual rules.
Each module of the SB7 frameweork has set-in-stone rules you can’t break.
Thousands of companies shut their doors every year,

not because they don’t have a great product, but
because potential customers can’t figure out how
that product will make their lives better.
Don’t think you’re too late. Lots of people know things they don’t do. If you commit to
executing the process, you’ll win. Human nature tends toward complacency, so as long
as you finish the process, you can beat the competition.
SECTION 2: BUILDING YOUR STORYBRAND

When you’re confused, create a StoryBrand BrandScript.
Chapter 4 A Character
StoryBrand Principle One: The customer is the hero, not your brand
A story starts with a hero who wants something. the question is, do they get it?
The audience must be interested in the character’s fate.
As a brand, you define what your customer wants, which makes them think “can this
brand really help me get what I want?”
Ex: StoryBrand helped a hotel discover that their clients really want “luxury and rest,”
which became their mantra. Another university defined the client desire as “a hassle-
free MBA you can complete after work.”
Other ideas
Restaurant: a meal everyone will remember
Real estate agent: the home you dreamed about
Bookstore: a story to get lost in
Breakfast bar: healthy start to your day

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Open a Story Gap
Identifying a desire opens a story gap: a gap between the character and what they
want.
Stories are all about gaps that close only for another to open. Classical music
(exposition, development, recapitulation) and poetry (end rhymes) works like this too.
Pare Down the Customer’s Ambition to a Single Focus

Don’t add too many conflicting story gaps until you’ve defined a specific desire and
become known for helping people achieve it.
Focus on the simple desire, then later you can identify everything else — the subplots.
Choose a Desire Relevant to Their Survival

Don’t be vague. Don’t make readers work to figure out what benefit you provide.
Ex: “inhale knowledge, exhale success” is vague. “Helping you become everyone’s
favorite leader.” is clearer.
People will always choose a story that helps them

survive and thrive.
What Does Survival Mean?
Survival refers to primitive desires: safety, health, happiness, strength. It means having
the economic/social resources to eat, drink, reproduce, fend off enemies.
Some desires that fit into this include:
Conserving financial resources
Conserving time
Building social networks
Gaining status
Accumulating resources
Being generous
Having meaning
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What’s the Story Question for Your Customer?
If you don’t communicate clearly, you shrink. Customers want to know where you can
take them. They want to know where you’re going.
To do:
Brainstorm your customers’ potential desires
Make a decision and fill in the “character” module of the BrandScript
Chapter 5 Has a Problem

StoryBrand Principle Two: Companies tend to sell solutions to external problems,
but customers buy solutions to internal problems
Identify clients’ problems to deepen their interest in your story.
“Readers want to fret.” — James Scott Bell

That’s true for branding too.
The more we talk about the problems our customers

experience, the more interest they will have in our
brand.
How to Talk About Your Customer’s Problems
Every Story Needs a Villain: Villains give conflict a clear point of focus. The more
dastardly the villain, the more sympathetic the hero, the more audience engagement.
To make clients’ ears perk up, position your products/services as weapons to

defeat a dastardly villain.
The villain doesn’t have to be a person, but must have personified characteristics.
Ex: time management software sellers may vilify DISTRACTIONS which are ruining
clients’ potential, wrecking families, stealing sanity, costing them time and
money.
4 characteristics that make a good villain

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1. A root source: Frustration is not the villain, it is what the villain makes us feel.
Taxes would be the root villain.
2. Relatable: people must immediately recognize it as disdainful.
3. Singular: one villain is enough. Too many = story falls apart, lacks clarity.
4. Real: Don’t be a fear monger. Use a real villain.
The Three Levels of Conflict

Villains cause heroes serious problems:
1. External problems
2. Internal problems
3. Philosophical problems
Villains initiate external problems that create internal frustration that is

philosophically wrong.
External Problems
Something creates a barrier between the hero and their desire for stability. Usually a
physical, tangible problem like a bomb, the need to win ball games, a rogue piece of
software, etc.
Most of us are in the business of solving external problems: selling plumbing,

insurance, clothes, etc.
Internal Problems
People don’t come to you to solve mere external problems.
Companies…sell solutions to external problems, but

people buy solutions to internal problems.
The purpose of external problems is to manifest an internal problem. Stories about
disarming bombs are boring. Heroes need a frustration-filled backstory to make the
action interesting.
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In most stories, heroes struggle with the question: “Do I have what it takes?”
Stories teach us: people’s internal desire to resolve frustration is a greater motivator
than desire to solve an external problem.
Brands make mistakes by assuming customers just want to solve external problems.
Steve Jobs saved Apple when he realized that people felt intimidated (internal
problem) by computers and wanted a simpler interface. Apple ads then showed simple,
hip characters who did NOT talk about inner workings of OSs.
The only reason our customers buy from us is

because the external problem we solve is frustrating
them in some way.
So what frustrations does your product resolve?
Carmax resolves the frustration of dealing with used car salesmen
Starbucks delivers a sense of sophistication, comfort, belonging
Philosophical problems
A story about something larger than the story itself. It’s about the overall epic of
humanity.
These problems often use the words “ought/shouldn’t.” As in “bad people shouldn’t be
allowed to win.”
People want to be involved in a story that is larger

than themselves.
Brands that give clients a voice in a larger narrative adds value by creating a deeper
sense of meaning.
So what deeper story does your brand contribute to?
The Perfect Brand Promise

To satisfy clients, offer to resolve an external, internal, and philosophical problem

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whenever people engage with your business.
Climactic scenes are ones that do this. All other scenes build up to that. (Ex: when Luke
Skywalker blows up the Death Star, when Woody and Buzz are reunited with Andy,
etc)
Sample:
Tesla cars:
Villain: gas guzzling, inferior tech
Exterior: need a car
Internal: want to be early adopter of new tech.
Philosophical: save the environment
What Challenges Are You Helping Your Customer Overcome?

Brainstorm and ID a villain that causes an internal, external, and philosophical
problem.
Does your brand stand against a single villain? What external problem is the villain
causing? How does that external problem make your customer feel? Why is it unjust for
people to suffer at this villain’s hands?
To do:
Brainstorm all the literal and metaphorical villains your brand stands against.
Brainstorm the external problems your brand resolves. Which one represents the
widest swath of products?
Brainstorm the internal problem/frustration/doubt your clients feel. Is there a

universal experience that stands out?
Is your brand part of a larger, more important story? Does your brand stand against
a philosophical wrong?
Chapter 6 And Meets a Guide
StoryBrand Principle Three: Customers aren’t looking for another hero; they’re
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looking for a guide.
A person’s life is made up of many acts/chapters. No two lives are the same but we
share common chapters. Every life is a transformational journey.
Events that define our chapters are instigated/interpreted by guides.
Every Hero is Looking for a Guide

Guides can be: parents, coaches, authors, world leaders, therapists, and even brands.
When heroes solve their own problems in stories, audiences tune out. Because if s/he
could solve the problem, s/he wouldn’t have been in trouble in the first place.
In stories, famous guides include Gandalf, Haymitch, Yoda, Hamlet’s father’s ghost,
etc.
The Fatal Mistake

The fatal mistake brands make: positioning themselves as the hero instead of the
guide.
Jay Z’s music streaming service Tidal failed because it positioned musicians as the
heroes rather than customers. Artists don’t buy from each other.
Every customer wants to know “how ar eyou helping me win the day?”
The Story is Not About Us

In stories, the hero is not the strongest character. They’re often ill-equipped, full of self-
doubt, reluctant, etc.
But the guide has “been there, done that.” The guide has authority.
The story must be focused on the hero.
Those who realize the epic story of life is not about

them but actually about the people around them
somehow win in the end.
The Two Characteristics of a Guide
Brands must communicate 2 things to position themselves as a guide:

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1. Empathy
2. Authority
Express Empathy
Guides understand the hero’s pain and frustration. Empathy creates a bond of trust.
This is how Oprah succeeded — knowing that people want to be seen, heard, and
understood.
Empathic statements start with:
We understand how it feels to…
Nobody should have to experience…
Like you, we’re frustrated by…
We care about you/your…
TELL customers you care. They won’t know unless you tell them.
Empathy is more than sentimental slogans. You must let clients know we see them as
we see ourselves. Ex: Discover Card TV campaign which showed people calling
customer service and talking to an exact replica of themselves.
Demonstrate Authority
No one likes know-it-alls who preach. Don’t lord your expertise over the masses. But
people still want competence.
Guides don’t have to be perfect, but must have experience helping other heroes win.
How to add authority:
1. Testimonials: let others talk for you. Don’t stack too many testimonials or you risk
positioning yourself as the hero. 3 is good.
2. Statistics: How many satisfied clients have you helped? Percentages, dollar signs,
numbers?
3. Awards: Include small logos of awards.
4. Logos: Include logos of other businesses you’ve helped.

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Have you demonstrated your competency in your marketing material?
How to Make a Great First Impression

People subconsciously ask 2 questions when meeting new people (Amy Cuddy,
Harvard prof, author of PResence)
1. Can I trust this pereson? (empathy)
2. Can I respect this person? (competence)
To do:
Brainstorm empathetic statements to tell your clients you care about their internal
problem.
Brainstorm how to demonstrate competence and authority through testimonials,

stats, awards, logos.
Chapter 7 Who Gives Them a Plan

StoryBrand Principle Four: Customers trust a guide who has a plan.
Making a purchasee isn’t a characteristic of a casual

relationship; it’s a characteristic of a commitment.
Commitments are risky because of the potential of loss. To ease client concerns, you
need to give them a plan.
The Plan Creates Clarity

Plans can do 1 of 2 things:
1. Clarify how somebody can do business with you
2. Remove the sense of risk someone has when considering investing in your
product/service
If you confuse, you lose.

Lack of plans = confusion.
When clients listen to your speech, visit your site, read your email blast, their question
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is: “what do you want me to do now?”
You need to guide them and resolve the confusion. If you sell a storage system for
people to install in their garage, they might wonder how hard it will be to install.
So spell out how easy the process is, and give them the easy steps to do so. Steps that
may seem obvious to you may not be to clients.
There are two kinds of plans to encourage people to do business with you:
1. The process plan
2. The agreement plan
The Process Plan

Describes the steps a client needs to take to buy a product or use it after buying it, or
both.
The post-purchase process plan: when clients have difficulty imagining how to use the
product after buying it.
Processs plans can be pre or post purchase. Ideally 3–6 steps. Bombarding people with
info reducese buying likelihood. Simplify their journey.
The Agreement Plan

A list of agreements you make with a client to overcome their fear of doing business
with you. Carmax has a 4-point plan.
Agreement plans also clarify shared values. Ex: Whole Food’s list of values.
Agreement plans work in the background.
To make an agrerement plan:
List all the things a client might be concerned about regarding your product/service,
the counter the list with agreements to alleviate fears.
What’s the Plan Called?

Eg: Easy Installation Plan, World’s Best Night’s Sleep Plan
This frames it in the client’s mind, increasing perceived value.

To do:
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Brainstorm the steps a customer must take to do busineses with you
What fears does a customer have related to your industry?
What can you do to alleviate those fears?
Do you share unique values with your clients?
Write the steps and name of your process plan
Chapter 8 And Calls Them to Action

StoryBrand Principle Five: Customers do not take action unless they are
challenged to take action.
Story characters don’t take action on their own. They must be challenged. Clients at
rest tend to stay at rest.
The Power of the “Buy Now” Button

Companiees need to challenge clients to place orders. Clients can’t read your mind.
There should be an uncluttered “buy now” button in the top right of your website.
Clarity is powerful.
Do You Believe in Your Product?

Selling passively communicates a lack of belief in the product. Not asking clearly for a
sale makes the client sense weakness. It feels like you’re asking for charity, not helping
them change their lives.
Clients want brands that affirm and give solutions to problems, not ones filled with
doubt.
Two Kinds of Calls to Action

The 2 kinds of calls to action are:
1. Direct calls to action
2. Transitional calls to action
Direct calls to action include requests like “buy now.” They lead to a sale.
Transitional calls to action have less risk and offer a client something for free.
Those Who Ask Again and Again Shall Finally Receive

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There should be an obvious button (it must stand out) to press on your website — the
direct call to action.
Direct calls to action can be included at the end of every email blast.
Transitional Calls to Action

StoryBrand grew into a multimillion business by releasing a free PDF on “5 things your
website should include” and thousands of people downloaded it. The back of the PDF
had an ad for the StoryBrand Marketing Workshop, and they doubled revenue without
spending a dollar.
Good transitional calls do 3 things:
1. Stake a claim to your territory before the competition beats you to it.
2. Create reciprocity: don’t worry about giving away free stuff. The more you give, the
more reciprocity you create.
3. Position yourself as the guide. When you help people solve a problem, you position
yourself as the guidie.
Transitional calls can be:
Free info: white paper, PDF that educates people, videos, podcasts, webinars, live
events
Testimonials from happy clients
Samples of your product: pages of your book, test drive a car, etc
Free trial: risk-removal policy to on-ramp customers
What are the Stakes?

Define what’s at stake in the clcient’s story if they don’t do business with you. That
makes y ourr story interesting.
To do:
Decide on your direct calll to action
Brainstorm any transitional calls to action
Chapter 9 That Helps Them Avoid Failure

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StoryBrand Principle Six: Every human being is trying to avoid a tragic ending.
Stoeis live and die on whether or not the hero succeeds.
Each scene in a movie must answerr the question “what’s at stake for the hero?”
Brands that don’t warn their customeers about what

could happen if they don’t buy their products fail to
answer the “so what” question every customer is
secretly asking.
Where’s the Mayhem?
In 2015, Allstate warned people about the dangers of sharing their whereabouts on
social media by tricking a real couple into leaving their home, then taking pictures of
their belongings, making replicas, and auctioning them off on TV.
The benefits of featuring pitfalls of not doing business with you is easy. Use potential
failure to give clieents a sense of urgency.
What’s There to Lose?

What will the client lose if they don’t buy?
People are motivated by loss aversion (Daniel Kahnemann, Prospect Theory, 1979
Nobel Prize), which is a greater buying motivator than potential gains.
See book: Building Communication Theory by Infante, Rancer, Womack
Fear appeal is a 4 step process:
1. Make reader know they’re vulnerable to a threat
2. Let readers know they need to reduce their vulnerability
3. Tell them a SPECIFIC call to action to protect them from the risk
4. Challlenge people to take the specific action
Fear is like salt, just a pinch will do. Too much fear won’t lead to behavior.
What are You Helping Your Customer Avoid?

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Examples:
Used car co: getting ripped off, being stuck with a lemon, feeling taken advantage
of
Audio/video for home: living in a boring home, no one wants to watch the game at
your house, need a PhD to turn on the TV
Include these ideas in marketing material. You only need a few dastardly things to
warn clients about. Too little, and they won’t know why your product matters. Too
much, and they will resist you.
Clarify Your Message so Customers Listen

To do:
Brainstorm negative consequences you’re helping clients avoid
Write down at least 3 of those
Chapter 10 And Ends in a Success

StoryBrand Principle Seven: Never assume people understand how your brand
can change their lives. Tell them.
Always remember, people want to be taken

somewhere.
Clear, aspirational visions help. Foreshadowing a potential successful ending helps
captivate audience imagination.
Successful brands make it clear what life will look like if someone engages in their
product/service.
The Ending Should be Specific and Clear

Many companies paint a too-fuzzy future for their clients’ future. Stories aren’t vague.
They’re about specific things happening to specific people.
Good stories have clearly defined resolutions so audiences know what to hope for.
Kennedy didn’t just advocate a “competitive space program,” he talked about “putting a
man on the moon.”

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Ask yourself: Before your brand,
What does your client have?
What is s/he feeling?
What’s an average day like?
What’s their status?
And aftere your brand, re-answer those questions. (Ryan Deiss of Digital Marketer)
Whatever the vision is, say it clearly. Talk about the end vision you have for your
clients’ lives in all your emails, websites, etc.
Images are important for casting a vision. Show clients happily engaging with the
product.
How to End a Story for Your Customer

Brainstorm what your client’s life will look like if their problem is resolved, how that
resolution will make them feel, why the resolution makes the world a fairer place to
live in.
3 dominant ways storytellers end stories:
1. Win power or position
2. Be unified with someone/thing that makes them whole
3. Experience self-realization that makes them whole
These are the 3 dominant psychological desires of humans.
1. Winning Power and Position (the Need for Status)

Everyone wants status. That’s why coming-of-age stories are popular. How can brands
offer status?
Offer access: eg Starbucks membership points
Create scarcity: offer limited numbers of some item
Offer a premium: Most companies earn 70+% income from their

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preferred/diamond club members. Give people a special name.
Offer identity association: Premium brands sell status and luxury.
2. Union That Makes the Hero Whole (the Need for Something External to
Create Completeness)
Ways to offer external help to help clients feel whhole:
Reduce anxiety: reduce frustration, offer satisfaction for a job well done
Reduced workload: tools that can give them what they’re missing
More time: For many, time is the enemy. Expanding time products solve external
problems that create internal frustration.
3. Ultimate Self-Realization or Acceptance (The Need to Reach Our

Potential)
How brands offer self-realization/acceptance:
Inspiration: association with athletic and intellectual accomplishment.
Acceptance: helping people accept themselves as they are.
Transcendence: invite people to participate in a larger movement, offer a more

impactful life.
Closing the Story Loops

People are looking for resolutions to external, internal, and philosophical problems
through status, self realization, self-acceptance, transcenence.
Keep it Simple
Closing story loops isn’t hard. Even pics of smiley people work.
Product: closing loop
Ice cream: rich taste of heaven
Camping gear: adventure to remember
Stick to basic answers because they work.
To do:
Brainstorm the successful resolution you’re helping customers achieve

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What will their lives look like after using your product?
Remember, the biggest motivator for clients to buy = desire to become someone
different.
Chapter 11 People Want Your Brand to Participate in Their

Transformation
The single greatest human motivator is to transform. Your brand is to help people
become better versions of themselves.
Heroes are Designed to Transform

Every popular story involves people who are transformed because self-doubt is
universal, as is the desire to be competent and courageous.
Smart Brands Define an Aspirational Identity

Don’t just sell an item — sell an identity. Define the identity and help people step into
it, and that’s worth money.
How Does Your Customer Want to be Described by Others

The best way to ID an attractive aspirational identity is to consider how your clients
wants their friends to talk about them.
Guides offer more than a product and plan. They change lives.
Ex: Dave Ramsey’s motto includes the elements of story “Welcome back to the Dave
Ramsey Show where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has
taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice.”
Great Brands Obsess About the Transformation of Their Customers

After the climactic scene, the guides come back to affirm the hero’s transformation
(Ghost of Obi Wan stands next to Luke as he gets his reward.)
When you frame your client’s journey as a narrative and participate in their
transformation sets you apart. Brands that change people attract passionate fans.
Examples of Identity Transformation

Aspirational identity examples:
Every dog’s hero (pet food brand)

Competent, smart (Financial advisor)

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Carefree, radiant (Shampoo brand)
Think about who you want your customer to become. Participating in their
transformation can give your business life.
To do:
Brainstorm your client’s aspirational identity. Who do they want to be? Who do
they want to be perceived as?
SECTION 3: IMPLEMENTING YOUR STORYBRAND BRANDSCRIPT
Chapter 12 Building a Better Website

You need to implement your Story Brand material in your marketing and messaging —
websites, email campaigns, sales scripts, elevator pitches.
The degree that you implement your StoryBrand

BrandScript is the degree to which people will
understand why they need your products.
Start With Your Website
Your website is your elevator pitch. Keep it simple. Not noisy. Tips:
Include an offer above the fold
(Ex: “We will make you a pro in the kitchen!” “We help you make beautiful
websites.”) Customers need to know what’s in it for them right away.
Make sure the images/texts promise an aspirational identity, promise to solve a

problem, state exactly what you do.
Include an obvious call to action. 1) at the top right of the website 2) at the center
of the screen, above the fold. People’s eyes move in a Z pattern across the site.
Obvious calls to action
Buy now buttons should be a different color than any other button on the site.
Make that button show up like a recurring theme.
Your transitional call to action (“can we go out again?”) should also be obvious, but
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don’t distract from the direct call (“will you marry me?”). You can make a less-
bright button next to the main action.
Images of Success
Pics of smiling happy people should be featured. Even more so than showing your
product.
Smiling peoeple convey health, well-being, satisfaction with the brand
Bite-sized breakdown of Your Revenue Streams
Find the overall umbrella message that unifies your various streams. Ex: “The key
to success is a customized plan” sells 1) life planning for iindividuals 2) strategic
ops planning for exec leaders 3) facilitator certification
Then break down the divisions clearly.
Very Few Words
People don’t read websites — they scan them.
Don’t use paragraphs above the fold.
Write in “morse code” — brief, punchy, relevant to clients. Think caveman.
As readers scroll down you can use a few more words. But some of the best sites
use only 10 sentences.
Experiment with cutting half the words from your site. Replace text with images.
Use bullet points/soundbite summaries.
The fewer words y ou use, the more likely it is that

people will read them.
Getting these 5 things write composes the majority of what you need to know about
your website.
Every single word, image, idea on your site should come from your StoryBrand
BrandScript, or else readers only hear noise.
Chapter 13 Using StoryBrand to Transform Company Culture

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You can use the BrandScript to transform employee engagement. Customers aren’t the
only ones who get confused when the message is unclear.
The Curse of the Narrative Void

The Narrative Void: vacant space when no story keeps everyone aligned.
Employees are more committed, productive, and efficient if they have a story.
Information explosion has led to disengagement. People are bombarded with 3K+
marketing messages every day, not including non-marketing messages.
Just Because You Know the Story Doesn’t Mean Your Team Does
Employees want to workr for companies that transform them.
Mission statements aren’t enough. They’re like movie taglines, rather than the real
movie.
Is Your Thoughtmosphere on Script?

Thoughtmosphere: invisible mix of beliefs and ideas that drives
behavior/performance.
The number one job of an executive is to remind the

stakeholders what the mission is, over and over.
But if an exec can’t explain the story, team members won’t know where they fit or why.
Ready to Get Your Company on Mission?

True missions aren’t a statement, it’s a way to live and be. It starts with your
BrandScript.
To do:
Create a BrandScript
Audit the existing Thoughtmosphere
Create a custom StoryBrand culture implementation plan
Optimize internal communications to support the plan
Install self-sustained team to enhance the culture.

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StoryBrand cultures honor the employees’ value and history.
Where there’s no story, there’s no engagement.

The StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap
Five (almost free) things you can do to implement the StoryBrand Framework
and grow your business
Create your StoryBrand BrandScript, then revise your website. Then there are 5
marketing and messaging efforts to get the best results:
1. Create a one-liner: a single statement that will grow your business. Memorize it
and use it whenever people ask what you do.
2. Create a lead generator and collect e-mail addresses: You can use a PDF, e-
course, video series, webinar, live event, anything to collect addresses.
3. Create an automated e-maili drip campaign: Like a sales team that works when
you sleep.
4. Collect and tell stories of transformation: Tell stories of how you helped your
clients.
5. Create a system that generates referrals: Invite happy clients to become

evangelists for your brand using a system of invites and incentivizes.
Your Step-By-Step Plan

This may take you a few months to a year, but you’ll see results with each step.
One: Create a One-Liner

Answer the question “what do you do?”
It’s not a slogan or tagline, but a statement that helps people realize why they need
your service
In Hollywood, this is a logline: a one-sentence description of a movie which is used

from selling the movie idea to the emovie’s opening weekend.
(Ex: An incompetent, immature, and dimwitted heir to an auto-parts factory must save
the business to keep it out of the hands of his new con-artist relatives and big business
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— Tommy Boy)
Loglines are effective due to imagination and intrigue. Readers can visualize the story
and want to see the film.
Use the 4 components to craft a powerful one liner:
1. Character
2. Problem
3. Plan
4. Success
It doesn’t have to be one sentence or four.
Ex: “We provide BUSY MOMS with a SHORT MEANINGFUL WORKOUT they can use
to STAY HEALTHY AND HAVE RENEWED ENERGY.”
StoryBrand’s example: “Most business leaders don’t know how to talk about their
company, so we created a framework that helps them simplify their message, create
great marketing material, connect with customers, and grow their business.”
Edit your one-liner until it works. Run it by other people. When they start asking for
your contact info, you’ve got it.
Use your one-liner in conversations, on your website, in every piece of marketing

possible — until it feels borderline excessive (business cards, social media, email
signature, packaging)
Great musicians play crowd-pleasers over and over. That’s the discipline success takes.
That’s how you should treat your one-liner.
Two: Create a Lead-Generator and Collect E-mail Addresses

Your smartphone is your most sacred, private possession.
No one wants to sign up for your newsletter and stay in the loop. That doesn’t promise
any value. You need to offer a valuable lead generator instead. This is the transitional
call to action.
Create an irresistible lead generator by:

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1. Providing enormous value for the client
2. Establish you as an authority in your field
StoryBrand’s first lead generator was the “5 things your website should include” PDF,
downloaded by 40K people. Then they created the fiveminutemarketingmakeover.com
to upgrade their lead generator.
Five types of lead generators:
1. Downloadable guide: be specific!
2. Online course/webinar: offer free training to position yourself as an expert and

earn trust
3. Software demos or free trials
4. Free samples: like Blue Apron’s free sample meals
5. Live events
Some examples people have used: “5 mistakes people make with their first million
dollars” (financial adviser) “Building your dream home: 10 things to get right before
you build” (custom architect) “Cocktail club: learn to make one new cocktail each
month” (garden store wanted to create community) “Becoming a professional speaker”
(speaking coach)
How much value to give away for free: be as generous as possible.
Feature your lead generator liberally on your site: use a popup feature.
Three: Create an Automated Email Drip Campaign

Automated emails remind clients that you exist. Clients may not need your service
today, or tomorrow, but when they do need it, you need to be forefront in th eir minds.
Send clients regular emails. Don’t worry about open rates. 20% is an industry
standard. Even if they don’t read it, you’re branding yourself into their universe.
Start with a nurturing campaign: simple regular email that offers valuable info
related to your products/service. Do 3 of these, then a sales email. You can repeat this
pattern monthly.
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Create a few months’ worth of material and let it ride.
Offer something of great value and occasionally ask for an order, reminding people you
have products to make their lives better.
The Nurturing Email
This formula offers simple, helpful advice:
1. Talk about a problem
2. Explain a plan to solve the problem
3. Describe how life looks for the reader once the problem is solved
4. Add a P.S.
Every 3rd or 4th email should offer a product or service. Be direct, not passive. Don’t
show weakness:
1. Talk about a problem
2. Describe a product you offer that solves the problem
3. Describe what life can look like for the reader when the problem is solved
4. Call the clieint to a direct action
Four: Collect and Tell Stories of Transformation

People love stories about characters who transform.
Great testimonials give clients the gift of going second.
You need a testimonial that showcases your value, the results you get for clients, the
experience people have working with you. Most people who you ask for testimonials
are too busy or unskilled to write well.
Instead, ask leading questions to create a form clients can fill out. You can use these to
create video testimonials as well:
1. What was the problem you were having before you discovered our product?
2. What did the frustration feel like as you tried to solve that problem?
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3. What was different about our product?
4. Take us to the moment when you realized our product was actually working to
solve your problem.
5. Tell us what lifie looks like now your problem is solved/being solved.
Then feature this testimonial in emails, promo videos, keynote speeches, live
interviews, events. StoryBrand incorporated a testimonial at the end of each podcast.
Five: Create a System That Generates Referrals

Referrals and peer recommendations are 2.5x more effective than other marketing.
1. Identify your existing ideal customer (Domino’s Pizza has a pizza profile for
clients)
2. Give your clients a reeason to spread the word (Ex: create PDF/video content they
can share)
3. Offer a reward (start an affiliate program)
Sample referral systems:
100% refund for 3 new referrals within a semester: Test prep academy got parents
to bring in friends.
Invite a friend coupons: Golf range eoffered new students a free bucket of golf for a
friend.
Open house party: Contractors who finished large projects gave a discount for
homeowners who threw a party to show off their work.
Free follow-up photos: Wedding photographers offer a 1-year anniversay session

for 3 referrals.
What’s your marketing plan?
Chess players have “openings” — planned first five moves. The StoryBrand Framework
is your opening.
Business is one of the most powerful forces in the

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world for good.

Get your own copy of StoryBrand HERE (affiliate link)
Want More?
To get notice about other fantastic book recommendations like this, sign up for the
Brilliant Writer Reading List HERE!
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29/10/21, 14:50 How to Help Your Brand Cut Through the Noise — “Building a Story Brand” by Donald Miller

Donald Miller | by Sarah Cy | Medium

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Photo by Jordan Whitfield on Unsplash

Sarah Cy Jun 3, 2019 · 25 min read

About Building a Story Brand

SECTION 1: WHY MOST MARKETING IS A MONEY PIT

Chapter 1 The Key to Being Seen, Heard, and Understood

SB7: The StoryBrand 7-Part Framework

Why brands fail:

Stories help organize info so people understand faster.

If you confuse, you lose.

Chapter 2 The Secret Weapon That Will Grow Your Business

1. ID-ing what people wanted (to be seen/heard)

3. Offer them a tool to express themselves (computers, smartphones)

People don’t buy products, they buy the products

1. MAIN CHARACTER wants something and meets a

2. PROBLEM but as they’re despairing, a

3. GUIDE steps in and gives them a

4. PLAN and also

5. CALLS THEM TO ACTION to help them avoid

6. FAILURE so that they will achieve

So to map out your company’s story, ask 3 critical questions:

1. What does the MC want?

2. Who/what is blocking the MC from his desire?

1. What do you offer?

2. How does it make my life better?

3. What do I need to do to buy it?

Chapter 3 The Simple SB7 Framework

Don’t sell a solution to an external problem (like everyone else)

And meets a Guide

Guides show up in almost every movie — Obi-Wan, Yoda, Haymitch, etc.

Who gives them a Plan

And calls them to Action

That helps them avoid Failure

Question: what’s at stake? If nothing is gained/lost, it doesn’t matter.

And ends in Success

“Everybody wants to be taken somewhere. If we

don’t tell people where we’re taking them, they’ll

We must tell our customers how great their life can

1. Go through the next few sections without skipping!

2. Brainstorm potential messages for your BrandScript

endless uses for StoryBrand BrandScripts.

Thousands of companies shut their doors every year,

SECTION 2: BUILDING YOUR STORYBRAND

The audience must be interested in the character’s fate.

Restaurant: a meal everyone will remember

Real estate agent: the home you dreamed about

Bookstore: a story to get lost in

Breakfast bar: healthy start to your day

Pare Down the Customer’s Ambition to a Single Focus

Choose a Desire Relevant to Their Survival

People will always choose a story that helps them

Some desires that fit into this include:

Conserving financial resources

Building social networks

Brainstorm your customers’ potential desires

Make a decision and fill in the “character” module of the BrandScript

Chapter 5 Has a Problem

Identify clients’ problems to deepen their interest in your story.

“Readers want to fret.” — James Scott Bell