Reading Time: 5 minutes
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Deepak Shukla’s Notes On Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller – Notes:
Hey guys,
I finished reading this book on the 10th January 2021.
Here’s a synopsis of the book I grabbed from Amazon:
“New York Times best-selling author Donald Miller uses the seven universal elements of powerful stories to teach listeners how to dramatically improve how they connect with customers and grow their businesses. ”
And here are my actual notes I took whilst I was listening to this on Audible:
- Building
- How to create a log line
- The character
- The problem
- The plan
- The success
- Hollywood one liner for your business is critical (Log line)
- Create a system that generates referrals
- Collect stories of transformation from your customers
- Created a drip campaign for each site
- Create a lead generator and collect email addresses
- Create a one-liner
- Steps company should go through
- Create brand script with leadership team
- Audit existing thoughtmosphere
- Create custom story brand cultureimplementation plan
- Optimize internal communications to support the plan
- Install a self sustained team to enhance the culture
- Mission is story you care about and that you can get your people passionate about
- Need a CEO keynote presentation (Deepak does this)
- Onboarding more about company’s customer’s than it is about the company itself
- Curriculum taking new start through story of the customer and how the company positions themselves as guide in the story
- The onboarding Experience is more like getting adopted then being hired
- Kill the narrative void
- 5 things a Website must include
- An offer above the fold
- Obvious calls to action
- image’s of success (people smiling)
- Bite-sized breakdown of your products
- Fewer words you use more likely client understand what you do
- Smart brands define an aspirational identity
- Everyone wants to become some different or someone better
- Chapter 11 – People want your brand to participate in their transformation
- What problems are you really solving in your customers life? Start basic because these are real problems than evolve
- Fubu – for us by us
- American Eagle – used real images with no touching up
- Acceptance – helping people accept themselves as they are
- Associate your company with intellectual or athletic accomplishment
- Transcendence – 1 for 1 buy some shoes (Tom shoes) and give another pair to people in need
- Can you associate your brand with inspiration?
- Product gives you more time
- And also reduced workload
- Your product as reducing anxiety (and feeling of completeness)
- Give customers more self esteem status etc is powerful
- Everybody wants status
- Showing people happily engaging with your product and having a before and after
- Every customer wants to know where we will take them
- Remember. People always want to be taken somewhere
- What are the consequences of your customer not doing business with you
- Stop burning money on outbound ad and sales campaigns. Inbound is the future. SEO is what you need. Call us now
- Fear is salt in the recipe just need a pinch of it
- Fear appeal
- Make reader or listener know they are vulnerable to a threat
- Since they are vulnerable – should take action to reduce their vulnerability
- Know about specific CTA that protects them from the risk
- We should challenge people to take this action today
- We should challenge people to take this action today
- Use messages from the failure category in marketing
- Transitional calls to action
- 2 CTA on all pages across PL sites
- Heroes need to be called upon by outside forces
- Ask them to place an order
- Part 5: And Calls Them to Action
- Do you share unique values with your customers?
- What fears do customers have about your Industry?
- Process plan = steps customer needs to take to do business with you
- Process or agreement plan
- Plans create clarity and derisks working with you
- In every movie you can think of the guide gives the hero a plan he can follow
- Part 4: Who Gives Them A Plan
- Hero trusts somebody who knows what they’re doing
- Commonality should be huge part of your pitch
- Are you like me?
- Guide must have empathy and authority
- This is true in life as well as stories
- Always position customer as the hero and the brand as the guide
- Customers aren’t looking for another hero. They are looking for a guide
- Steps to create a brand script
- Go to mystorybrand.com and create a brand script
- Brainstorm all literal and metaphorical villains into a list
- Brainstorm external problems your product solves – is there one that represents a wide swathe of products?
- Brainstorm the internal problem, frustration or doubt customers have as it relates to your brand – is there one that stands out?
- Your brand part of a larger internal story is there a philosophical stance your brand stands against
- Brainstorm all the literal or metaphorical/philosophical villains your brand stands against
- Villains that your customer face
- Brands that do this: Tesla
- Villain = gas guzzling technology
- External = I need a car
- Internal = I want to be early adopter of new technology
- Philosophical = my choice of car ought to help save the environment
- Frame the buy now button as the action the customer must take in the story
- Resolution of internal, external and philosophical problems often most poignant and climatic moment in movies at the end.
- The brand promise
- Finally. Get the attention you deserve
- Helping the little guys get the attention they deserve
- Finally, have your prospects come to you
- Brands that give customers a voice in a larger narrative add value to their products by giving their customers a deeper sense of meaning
- Eg Romeo and Juliet ask if family squabbles and tribal unrest are more important than romantic love
- Philosophical problems should be talked about with words such as ought and should
- Eg why is it important that Bridget Jones finds love?
- Eg Why is it important that Hamlet avenge his father’s death?
- Philosophical problems. Solving the problem of why?
- Framing our product as a solution to both internal and external problems raises our perceived and actual value
- What frustrations do your services resolve
- Organic rankings you can brag about
- Rank above your competitors and Google it everyday
- Be proud of where you are on Google
- In every story hero has the same question – Do I have what it takes?
- These are all problems customers will initially come to you with
- Moneyball = need to win baseball games
- Internal problem was that coach failed in his career as a baseball player so wanted to see if he could redeem himself as a manager
- Eg in Starwars Luc Skywalker was told he was too young to join the resistance so he doubted his ability till the end
- Eg bomb that will go off in speed if Keanu Reeves doesn’t keep speed of bus above 50mph
- External problem is often physical tangible problem hero has to solve to make problem go away
- Villains job is to wreak havoc on the hero
- 3 levels of conflict
- What is the chief source of conflict that your service defeat
- Your customer should be the hero of your story
- Businesses that bring your customer into a heroic story grow
- Need to get a copywriter in for Pearl Lemon
- Focus on aspects of your offer that will help your customer survive and thrive
- Communication must be simple
- Story formulas are critical
- Our message must be clear always
- Stories can hold a person’s attention for hours
- Story makes music out of noise
- Simple messages we can repeat over and over until it’s instilled into our consciousness
- Apple went from 9 page advert to 1 and with two words ‘Think Different’
- Be like Q in the Bond Movies
- Apple doesn’t make the best laptops. They make the most memorable ones