- Published on
Building a Storybrand
- Authors
- Name
- Josh Haines
- @joshhaines
I grabbed this book on a whim, and it ended up being one of the best books I've ever read on marketing. On the one hand, the concept is simple: Use stories to communicate your message. But it had one concept that I had never heard before:
Weave a story where your customer is the hero, and you are the guide.
In this book, Donald Miller lays out a simple and easy framework to clarify your message. He uses the story of the hero's journey to explain how to communicate your message in a way that resonates with your customers. None of this is groundbreaking, but I had never heard the distinction that your customer should be the hero rather than your product being the hero. This felt like a game changer.
The SB7 Framework
The author lays out a series of chapters which help you work out the details of your story. The chapters are as follows:
- A character
- Has a problem
- And meets a guide
- Who gives them a plan
- And calls them to action
- That ends in success
- That helps them avoid failure
He also has a live tool which lets you build your brandscript as you read the book. I found this super useful.
Deeper Level
At a deeper level, the book itself is organized in a way that puts you through the same process they're recommending. I felt each chapter was a step, and I was being pulled to action to sign up for his website, buy his courses, purchase workshops, etc. On the one hand, it felt a bit manipulative, but on the other hand, it was a great example of the principles he was teaching. On their website and in their auto-emails, I saw they were practicing what they preached and I noted key items they described in real-time as I was being marketed to.
I do wonder, however, if someone with a proper marketing background would see this as silly. I don't have a marketing background, so I found it very useful. It does seem that I rarely see a company or product that is marketing with the level of clarity that he is recommending... so perhaps this would be useful to more professional people as well?
I really liked the book, and I feel like I'll continue to look for ways to rebrand my efforts using this style.
![good vs. bad marketing](/_next/image?url=%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fmarketing.jpg&w=1200&q=75)