Y'all, I'm gonna tell you something you probably have never heard before. Being a business owner is exhausting! Haha - no, really - I know you've heard that before! We work NON-STOP, right? I am getting so much better though about carving out time for my family, friends and myself. I laugh when people talk about wanting "balance". I laugh because the word balance in and of itself means perfect. Think about it - if something is balanced - it's perfect. I do not believe that I will ever be 'perfect' at that balancing act. I just try to savor every single moment possible and make each one count.
That brings me to telling you about my week last week. Owning a marketing agency means that our clients expect us to be up to date, know what are the most current trends in marketing and apply those to our work for them. So, we do! In fact, "expansion" is one of our core values. Always expanding our minds, our knowledge base, and our work.
I was first introduced to Donald Miller via Leadercast last year. He was one of the speakers but because I was so absorbed in handling the promotion of the event I didn't pay super close attention to the speakers we were promoting. And, on the day of the event, when he actually spoke I was busy running around or doing something and didn't get to pay super close attention to his talk. #SoDumb #DidIReallyIgnoreDonMiller
Y'all, fast forward MONTHS and Brian brings up Miller's StoryBrand method and the book Building a StoryBrand to me. In case you didn't know, I do not profess to be a reader. I know. I know. Calm down, I'm working on it! Thanks to Michael Hyatt's 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever I have a goal this year of reading a book each month. We put our money where our mouth is. Brian flew to Nashville for the "live" StoryBrand training. When he came home he MADE me read the book. Thankfully I listened because this is a game-changer. We bought the book for every one of our staff members because we knew immediately this was a missing link for many of our customers and something we could bring to our own business, our clients and our community.
To further our commitment, we decided to both become StoryBrand Certified Guides which meant another trip to Nashville for Brian and a first for me. We both took the 2-day live training and followed it up with another 2-day intensive, hands-on training with the StoryBrand team. We, now, are Certified StoryBrand Guides.
This training was incredible. Don't get me started on Nashville! We didn't get to spend any time really exploring except for our walk to and from the hotel to the training center and then to lunch but we saw enough to know we have to go back!
So back to the topic - StoryBrand Guide Training. I've been through a lot of trainings in my life but most pale in comparison to the level of excitement and passion I had when I left this training. (And exhaustion - because when they say their breaks are short and that you'll feel like you've been training with the power of a fire hose - they're not joking!) We networked with some amazing professionals around the WORLD. People flew in literally from as far as Australia to attend this game-changing training. Let me get to the point of the story - here are my top takeaways I want you to know about from our StoryBrand training:
- Our brains are wired to relate to stories.
- Talk about things that make your customers survive and thrive.
- People don't buy the "best" they buy the one they understand the fastest.
- You are not the hero of your story! Your customer is the hero of your story.
- Never stop talking about your customer's problem.
- Insecure weak people talk about themselves. Strong, confident people talk about others.
- Ask for the sale.
I could really go on and on but the bottom line is that you really need your own takeaways. Give me a call if you'd like to know more - as you can see, I'm excited to talk about StoryBrand. I can give you some guidance about how and where to learn more. So many business owners want to do great marketing but they rarely have the resources (time or knowledge) to do it themselves. At 5 Stones, we get to know you and your business, develop and execute a marketing plan so your business can thrive.
For me, I personally love working with dedicated business owners who are ready to take their business to the next level. They're frustrated with how things are and want to see their business grow. Imagine what your business can do with a clearly defined message and a marketing plan that actually gets done.
I encourage you to take a peek at our WORKSHOPS to see when I'll be teaching my next StoryBrand Class. It is one you do not want to miss! I've got some coming up and I'm constantly planning more!