Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business

Before you create your sales funnel, come up with three or four things you want your customers to know about your brand.

The brain is only willing to go so far before it decides it would rather live in a happy world, even if that world is a fictional construct.

Stating the Problem Is a Way to Be Remembered in Your Customer’s Mind Always start your one-liner by stating the problem. What’s the obvious response when your coworker tells you he has a headache? • Coworker: “I have a headache.” • You: “Do you want an Advil?”

I know this all sounds harshly utilitarian, but it’s quite normal and healthy. Each of us are trying to live a meaningful story, and not everybody or everything is useful to whatever story we’ve decided to live.

Regardless, the point is this: to pique somebody’s curiosity, you must associate your products with something that will help them survive.

When you ask the first person what they do, they tell you they are a private chef. You curiously inquire how they got started, who they have cooked for, and the conversation quickly turns to the chef’s favorite restaurants in the area. It never occurs to you that you might need their services.

Remember, customers do not move into confusion.

But don’t be tricked into telling a boring story. The stakes matter, and if you don’t let people know

the purpose of negative stakes in a story is to contrast with the happy ending we all want to experience.

After piquing your customers’ curiosity on a website, in an email, or in some form of advertising or sales presentation, the next question they will likely ask is “but how?”