Book Recommendation: Building a StoryBrand

This was my first business read of 2024 and I am so excited to recommend it to you. In this book, Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller, Donald Miller teaches his proven solution to the struggle that business owners face when talking about what they do: not having a clear and distinct message. Without a clear and distinct message, your customers will not understand or care what your business can do for them.

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I spent so much time on my messaging last year as I was starting my design studio and really thought I was in a good place...until I read this book. I came out of this book with so many notes and changes to make and I basically restructured my entire website so that the content would make more sense to my ideal clients. It took me way less time to do it using the Storybrand structure and I'm more confident about my messaging than I ever have been.

Who should read this book?

Any and every small business owner can apply the framework to their own business, extra bonus for strategic brand designers and marketers who can also use the knowledge to better serve their clients.

Why you should read this book:

If you do the exercises in the book, you can clarify your messaging using a proven and easy to understand framework. Clear messaging is the most basic thing you need to give your potential clients and customers! You will learn why customers make purchases and how to apply that knowledge to make more sales. This book completely changed how I market my services and communicate with my customers and it can do the same for you.

When to read this book:

This book will inspire you to rewrite all of your marketing and website copy (daunting but so worth it though). So if you have a rebrand or website refresh in mind, read this before you do that so you can implement all the goodies. Otherwise, read this whenever. You will learn something no matter what stage you’re at in your business.

Where to get this book:

This book is widely available so you shouldn’t have trouble finding it where you normally buy books. Check your local bookstores or local library! And for convenience, here's a link to the book at Barnes & Noble.

Closing thoughts for you...

My biggest takeaway from the book: Storytelling is a powerful tool but we have a tendency, especially as small business owners, to make ourselves the hero in the story when the hero has to be our customer. That's easier said than done.

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When you read this, work as you go! You will get the most out of this if you stop after each chapter and do the work before moving on to the next one. It might take you some time to get through it but that's okay. Each section builds on the previous so you want to make sure you're putting thought and intention into each section.

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After reading this book I’m seeing the teachings from it everywhere. Successful brands are doing this and the power to recognize what makes great brands successful is half the battle of getting our own brands to that point.

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I'm a huge advocate for reading. Nowadays, small business owners are constantly being advertised online courses that claim to help them transform their business. I'm not saying that those courses don't work or that this book will transform your business, but with books you're generally getting a lot of value for not a lot of money, especially when you can get most books at your public library for free! Save some money and read this before you spend hundreds of dollars on another marketing course.

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Happy reading!

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