How to Sell the Transformation by Storytelling

The Branded Podcast with Steph Weber and Kris Jones

Speaker 1 (00:00):

Hey there, I'm Steph Weber and I'm obsessed with teaching entrepreneurs

how to achieve the freedom they're actually craving from their brand and

business while wearing many other hats in life. I'm a Midwest raised adventure

seeking mama who took my years of marketing and branding experience

and turned it into a nearly seven figure business, the Weber Co. Now we

help entrepreneurs like you build brand authority and create a marketing

system that leads to your best clients. This is our version of happy

Hour where we chat openly about branding, marketing, business growth and

challenges, and balancing the mini hats we wear as CEOs in life and business. Pull up a chair. This is branded.

Speaker 2 (00:40):

Chris, I am so excited to welcome you to the branded podcast today. I'm going to hand

things over to you right away to allow you to tell us a little bit about who you are,

tell us a little bit about your story, and then we're going to dive into

all things story, especially when it comes to

websites. So handing it off to you.

Speaker 3 (00:57):

Thank you so much for having me. I'm just thrilled to be

here. And my name is Chris Jones. I have a boutique firm called Red Door

Designs, and my passion is really helping solopreneurs get their story dialed

in a way that it does the selling for them on their website. And I have found

that storytelling and figuring out the right words to put on your website is

one of the hardest things to do when you're self-employed. And so I've been in

this industry over 20 years. I am an entrepreneur through and through. I

started my first business and had my own business cards made at the age of

eight. And I'm not exaggerating. So thankfully, thanks mom for letting me print

my own business cards at that age, but I'm so passionate about the freedom that

comes with being self-employed, and I want that for any woman who wants that

for themselves. And what I found through my background in design and

copywriting is that although I feel like design and branding is so important,

after many years in the industry I've realized that if your copy isn't working

for you, it's really hard to connect and sell your services if your copy is not

totally dialed in. So that's really my focus on how I help people the most.

Speaker 2 (02:35):

Okay. I want to ask you a question before we dive too much

further in. Why Chris, do you feel like so many entrepreneurs struggle with the

ability to be able to write and tell their stories effectively? I'm just

curious what your thoughts are.

Speaker 3 (02:49):

Yeah, I love the question because I've thought a lot about

it. And the beautiful thing is people come to me and I'm talking about 100% of

the clients that come to me get on the phone and they say, why is this so damn

hard? I've been trying to write my own copy now for a year or longer. I mean

many people have been working at this and trying to DIY it for years. And so

first I just want to say that it's normal and everyone struggles with it. And

there are really good reasons as to why it's so hard. The first is that we're

just so close to our own business. We are literally like if you can create this

visual in your head. So as business owners, we are so close to ourselves, we are

so close to our own business that we're really inside of a bottle trying to

read the label on the outside of the bottle.

(03:56):

So we just literally don't have the perspective that we

need to speak really clearly and really simply, and this is also a challenge

because what happens is people get so fed up and they hire somebody, but when

you're your own business, you can't outsource your own voice. So what happens

is people come to me and they're like, I just spent 10,000, $20,000 on a sales

page copy and it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like me. It feels that

just off. And they can't really figure out why. It's because you can't

outsource your voice. You just can't. So it's like in the past there's just

been business owners are in a real pickle, right? Because they can't do it

themselves. And when they muster up the courage and the money to hire somebody,

it just is off the mark. And so that is why I've created my program and my

process and it's collaborative because what you really need is an expert that

can hold your hand and do it with you and provide that perspective that you

need to be able to read the bottle from the outside.

(05:13):

And really, you've got all that right information, you've

got the right words in you, you've got the story inside of you. But we really

just as humans, we need help. We need someone to help us pull out that right

information and organize it in a way that really tells a story. And if that's

not enough, there's yet another reason why this is so hard, it's because we're

experts at what we do, right? By the time you own your own business, you are an

expert at your work. And so what happens is something called the curse of

knowledge. And what it means is that the knowledge that you have about you do

is so deep that you forget what it's like to not know what. And so what happens

a lot is on websites or even social media and emails, we kind of talk over our

clients' heads and we forget to meet them where they're at. We forget that they

don't know all the things that we know. And so when we do that, we accidentally

just don't engage with them and meet them where they're at. So those are all

the reasons why it's hard. So I hope you guys are giving yourself a pat on the

back and saying, okay, I'm doing good. This is something everyone struggles

with.

Speaker 2 (06:38):

It totally is. I love that you brought up the cursive

knowledge as well because that is something, it's something that even I

struggle with and I'm like, I can write and do the strategy and all the things

for our other clients all day long. I need a me. For me, it's often what I say,

I'll say, I need a me. For me, I just need to have somebody else take what's in

my brain and put it down and let me co-work with them in order to make it

happen. So I love that you brought that to light. It's so important, so important

to kind of keep in mind, I want to shift Chris into, obviously I know that you

are StoryBrand certified and I would love for you to explain what that means

and what that framework looks like and then maybe even share a little bit of

insight on how you incorporate that into your process.

Speaker 3 (07:20):

Yeah, absolutely. So in 2017, a brilliant writer named

Donald Miller wrote a book called Building a StoryBrand, and I actually

connected with Donald prior to him even writing the book. He is actually from

Portland and I'm from Portland. And so I was just really resonating with his,

what he is putting out there. He had a podcast at the time, but he didn't have

the book. And so once I heard the book was coming out, I ended up kind of

learning about his framework and did a workshop of his and then went through

more of a formal training with him down in Nashville. And essentially Donald

Miller is a memoirist, and so he knows how to tell a really good story. And

then in the last 10 years or so, he shifted gears and he became a business

owner and he kind of cracked the code on how to tell a good story, but in a

marketing environment.

(08:26):

And so he has simplified the components of story and the

book, building a StoryBrand really walks you through his seven step framework

on what every story contains and how to create a compelling story. So I do

recommend that book to all my clients, but what's challenging is that lots of

people read the book, but they're not quite sure how to take that leap from,

okay, I've absorbed the knowledge, I'm on board with storytelling, but now how

do I actually implement it in my own business? Because storytelling, we've

grown up with stories like Once Upon a Time there's the Princess. And so it's

confusing. It's like, oh, you want me to tell my story about me and my

background and my company? And it's like, no, we really have to flip that

upside down literally and say, okay, your story actually, and this is a relief

to a lot of business owners, your story is not actually about you, it's about

your customer, it's about your clients, it's about connecting with them and

making them feel seen, making them feel heard, letting them know that you

understand the struggles that they're going through. And not only that, but

create a vision and show them what's possible for them after they engage with

you, what's their life going to look like after they've engaged with you? So

lots of really cool things that can happen when you embody the role of the

guide and not the hero.

(10:10):

Yeah, and we can get in to the nuances. I have a really

simplified way that I communicate the recipes of story. I'm happy to share that

with

Speaker 1 (10:20):

You. Yeah, we would love to hear. Let's go for it. Let's

dive in Real talk. You're here because you're trying to connect the dots and

you're online marketing or brand strategy to increase your impact and your

bottom line. We're here for the bold moves you're making and we know you're

ready to step into the next level. This podcast is brought to you by our master

coaching program brands, the Captivate Academy. This is a six month high touch

container for service-based businesses ready to leverage their brand authority

with a marketing system that generates leads consistently and an offer suite

that's rave worthy. Our action taking clients on the other side achieve

milestones like five figure months messaging that attracts hell. Yes, clients

flow and ease with articulating their value leading to pay in full contracts.

And these are just a few of the success stories. Go to the weber co.com/apply

and I'm going to send you a private behind the scenes training about how brands

that Captivate Academy actually works. This is where all the magic happens and

visions start to become realities.

Speaker 3 (11:13):

So every movie you've ever seen, every book you've ever

read has the components of story in it, and it all begins with a hero who has a

problem. Think about Luke Skywalker and Yoda or Karate Kid and Mr. Miyagi.

There's the hero at the beginning of every story and they have something that

they want to accomplish or achieve, but they don't know if they have what it

takes to do that. And about 20 minutes into a movie, there enters the character

and that is the guide. The guide is somebody who has been there, done that

accomplished what the hero wants to accomplish and can show them how to get

there. And so what that guide does is comes in and he gives that hero a plan.

Every hero gets a plan, and it's a very simple, here's what you need to do to

accomplish this goal, and then if you do this, then here's what's going to

happen for you.

(12:16):

I mean, it's really that simple. So again, a hero has the

problem, meets a guide who has a solution and a plan for them to solve their

problem. And then that hero shows them what success looks like for them. And

the way that translates into a website is you start your website with the

problem, you bullet out bullet point out three or five problems that they're

struggling with. So many things happen when you do that. A lot of people think,

ah, that's so negative. It's Debbie Downer or whatever. You don't want to be

negative on your website. But the reality is it's not about negativity. It's

about really empathy and letting them know that they're not alone in their

struggle, letting them know that you understand deeply that they're stuck and

they're not sure how to overcome this struggle that they're dealing with and

that you really get it so you make them feel seen and heard.

(13:24):

But the other thing that does, it opens up a story loop in

our brains. So this is why when you watch a movie, you stay through the movie

for 90 minutes at least because the hero has a problem and we can't disengage.

Our brains literally can't disengage until we know that problem's been solved.

And so when you open up your story loop with a problem on your website, people

are going to keep engaging with your website and your page until they know that

that story has been resolved. And so we follow up that problem section with

showing them what success looks like. So we say, these are the problems that

you're struggling with, and then we have another section after that that says,

here's possible for you once you solve this problem. And then after that we

say, here I am. I'm your guide, and here is the three steps that you need to

take to engage with me in order to experience the success that I can help you

achieve.

Speaker 2 (14:34):

So what you're saying, Chris, is that this is actually

much simpler than so many of us make it. I feel like sometimes we make this

idea of storytelling so complex, and maybe it's just that we're standing in our

own way. But I'd love for you to actually dive a little bit further into the

nuances as it pertains to the website because I feel like so many entrepreneurs

get stuck there when they're writing pages for a masterclass or sales pages for

whatever program they may be offering. So I would love for you to share a

little bit more about that and walk us through that flow maybe one more time so

everyone can really absorb it and we can have a better understanding so that we

can simplify the process instead of overcomplicating.

Speaker 3 (15:15):

Totally. I mean, if you do just those three things, you're

90%. There are other components of storytelling, and I'm simplifying it just in

an effort to show you the shortest path to get to your story. But the reality

is if you introduce your hero with a problem, so essentially you bullet point

out the problems that they're struggling with, and when you articulate it that

way, they immediately think you are the best one to solve it. It's like this

funny psychology thing that happens. Literally, even if a friend really

articulated a problem that they had or a problem that they used to have, you'd

say, oh, you're the one that can solve it when you can articulate it really

well. So that's really what we want to start with. And then we want to show

them what's possible. And this can be as simple as three icons.

(16:15):

Three is really the magic number on your website. So you

want to do three icons of what success looks like for them. So it might be get

your time back depending on what you do. If you're a coach or you're a

chiropractor or whatever, get your time back, spend quality time with your

family. Again, reach your income goals or whatever. Paint that picture of what

success looks like for them. Notice that we're not talking about features,

we're talking about painting that picture after the fact. This is not about you,

it's about them. What's their life going to look like? And then you want to

follow that up with a very clear plan. You say, hi, quick introduction again,

it's not a lot about you. Hi, I am and I'm passionate about helping this

audience achieve this goal. Here's how I'm different, and here's how I do it.

(17:21):

Step one, and I'm going to show you an example of a plan

or talk you through an example of a plan. But the idea is the plan is so

important. And again, this sounds so simple, but there's so many layers of

things psychologically that are going on right here. So just even with the

plan, we're showing them in three simple steps that they're going to be able to

reach success, even though technically it might be 18 steps when you really get

into the nuance of it. But we want to show them, imagine they're on one side, a

river, and you're on the other side of the river, and you know how to get them

to your side of overcoming this struggle that they have. And what you're doing

by giving them a plan is they're on the other side of the river wanting to get

to you, but they don't know how.

(18:19):

And what you're doing is you're placing three giant

boulders across the river so they have a clear path to get to success. So the

first step of the plan is typically for service providers, it's schedule a call

with me or by the program, by the course, something like that. You want them to

engage there. And then step two is typically what's going to happen through the

process. So step two, you're going to get a detailed plan or you're going to be

connected with a community of people that you'll be going through this with.

And then step three is always what's the happy end result that they're going to

experience? So step three is really, let's just say achieve the financial

freedom that you're dreaming about. So it's a very, very simple plan, but every

guide gives their hero of plan. Other components of things that establish us as

a hero are empathy. So we do that again through talking about their problem and

just reminding them, this is hard. We get it, we get it. This can be

overwhelming, but don't worry, I can guide you through the process and

authority. So things like, definitely don't forget to put testimonials on your

website, but make sure that testimonials speak to the struggle and overcoming

that struggle rather than how great you are, how funny you are, how smart you

are. You really want everything to be focused on your audience.

Speaker 2 (20:05):

Oh wow. Chris. I mean you guys, for all of you who are

listening, Chris really just walked you through that framework of building out

an incredible, well-rounded and also highly converting sales page. This is

amazing. So definitely be sure to save this episode of Book Market. Chris, is

there anything that we haven't covered today that you want to be sure people

understand and that you can kind of touch on before we round out today?

Speaker 3 (20:29):

Yeah, I think it depends on what your page is, but I think

one really important thing to include in your story is what's at stake, right?

So we are humans. We make decisions through contrast, and we want to really

remind toward the bottom of the page what's at stake for them. If they do

nothing, what's at stake for them if they don't take action? And this is just

kind of like I liken it to we were baking a big pot of positive stew and then

we sprinkle in a little spice and we remind them on the page this says, you

know what? Life is too short to stay disconnected from your loved one. Or life

is too short to work in a job that isn't fulfilling for you. What's at stake

for them if they don't engage with you? And again, it's not really about

negativity, it's just really a great way to remind people that it's important

to take action if you really want change in your life.

Speaker 2 (21:34):

Wow, that is the truest of true statements. I love that.

Chris, thank you so much for sharing. Can you tell us where we can find you and

connect with you so that everyone can go and do so?

Speaker 3 (21:45):

Absolutely. So if you are a DIY and you just want to dip

your toe into storytelling, then you can go to Clarity with Chris and Chris is

with a K Clarity with chris.com, my freebies on there. You can watch a five.

You can learn how to write compelling copy in five minutes or less. And then if

you're someone who has just been struggling with writing your own copy and

you're just like, screw this, I need help. I need an expert to hold my hand

through this. You can work with me one-on-one by going to grow.red door

designs.com, that's grow.red door designs.com. And I have a program that is a

StoryBrand website copy that sells for you in 2.5 hours flat. And I've created

this program, it's collaborative with me, but I've done it in such a short time

because I've been able to streamline the process and I know as much as any of

us, I know how busy we all are as business owners. So it's really important

that it not take up a bunch of your time. So the whole process takes two and a

half hours and we're done. And then you have copy for your website that sells

for you, does that heavy lifting, and you can check it off your list.

Speaker 2 (23:13):

I love that. Oh, Chris, that is a powerful offer,

definitely one that you all should check out for sure. Chris, thank you so much

for joining me here today on Branded. This was such an incredible conversation

in and around story and really how to leverage that on your website. So thank

you so much for being here today.

Speaker 1 (23:29):

I'm over here clinking glasses with you because you just

finished another episode of Branded. For today's show notes, head on over to

the weber co.com where you can also inquire to work with us through our agency

or coaching programs. If you enjoyed today's episode, leave us a review to let

us know your biggest takeaway. Until next time, I'm encouraging you to take

action because your impact matters. Cheers.