As an independent entrepreneur, I take responsibility for my own ongoing learning, growth, and development. This includes finding at least one beneficial resource to consume each month. This resource could be a physical book, Kindle book, webinar, course, etc.
Out of all the different online marketing books I’ve consumed, Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen is one of my favorites. Miller teaches a specific framework that can improve anyone’s messaging.
What I Like
Miller does an excellent job taking the art of storytelling and showing how it can apply to marketing your business. Here’s a visual summary from the BookVideoClub that gives an overview of Miller’s framework:
This is the StoryBrand framework in a nutshell. It’s all about inviting your customers into a story, positioning yourself as the guide, giving the customer a plan (in the form of your product/service), painting a picture of what life will be like if the customer doesn’t take action (what’s at stake), and also showing what success will look like after they follow your plan.
Following this framework has really helped me improve the web copy of my own personal and client websites. In fact, whenever I am working on a personal or client landing page (whether it’s a home page, sales page, or any other page that will involve calling the visitor to action), by default I use Miller’s StoryBrand framework. This has also helped me improve my social media profiles and other marketing materials.
Since my target audience consists mostly of service based solopreneurs, it’s easy to show them how this framework can really help them.
What I Dislike
The only thing I don’t like that much about Miller’s StoryBrand framework is that it can be difficult to apply this to an ecommerce store. With some creativity, however, it can be done.
Also, some readers might feel like this book spends too much time upselling his conferences and other offers. If you join Miller’s email list, you can expect intermittent pitches for his courses, conferences, and other offers.
How Else Donald Miller Has Helped Me
I have also consumed two other books by Miller:
- Marketing Made Simple
- Business Made Simple
Marketing Made Simple spends more time on how to apply the StoryBrand framework to your website and email marketing strategy. In fact, when you view my home page, you can see this framework in action.
Business Made Simple teaches you how to effectively run every aspect of your business along with what most MBA programs don’t teach you. This includes lessons in character, management, sales, marketing, execution, etc.
Conclusion
Overall I can honestly say that Miller has given me tools and tactics to help me improve my own messaging and overall online business. My website copy, email marketing campaigns, social media profiles, and other marketing materials are in much better shape thanks to Miller and his content.
No matter how good the graphics, animations, etc., are on your website – if your messaging is confusing or unclear, then you will turn away visitors. If you have a high bounce rate (i.e., lots of people visiting and then immediately leaving or “bouncing off”), then you might need to work on your messaging.
Miller also talks about the importance of collecting emails and keeping in touch with your subscribers. I encourage you to get my Quick Start Guide to Email Marketing below in case you need some guidance on this.
