Donald Miller – The StoryBrand Online Marketing Workshop

NOTE: An updated version of the StoryBrand Online Course was released on November 1, 2018. I have updated this review to reflect the new content of the course.

The case studies and testimonials of companies that have implemented the StoryBrand Marketing Framework are incredible. Imagine growing your business by 2x or 4x or even 10x simply because you created a clear marketing message…!

But people still wonder: “Will the online course produce those same results for my business? Or do I have to go to the Live Workshop instead?”

The answer, of course, is rather cliché.

You’ll get out of the online course whatever you put into it. In other words, if you’re willing and able to invest the time and energy into watching the videos, doing the homework, and being unsatisfied with anything less than perfection, then the StoryBrand Online Course will definitely get you results!

The main difference between any online learning compared to in-person learning is… by the very nature of being in a room full of like-minded people, the in-person workshop has accountability and motivation built in whereas an online course requires the learner to produce those elements on their own.

That being said, let’s turn out attention to the online course content.

What you’ll learn:

The course content of the StoryBrand Online Course (9 modules in total), is designed to help you learn three main things:

1. How story works AND why it’s vital to the future success of your business
2. How to use “story” to create a clear marketing message for your business, and
3. How to execute that “clear message” across your marketing collateral

Of course, in order to get the most out of the material, I strongly advise you to watch and re-watch each video before you begin building your own BrandScript. It’s vitally important that you have a deep understanding of the StoryBrand framework first in order to get the most “success” you can out of the content.

1) CORE CONCEPTS

The powerful, (almost) revolutionary idea that StoryBrand introduces is to use the time-tested elements of “story” to communicate more clearly with your customers (or potential customers). The principles of effective storytelling are based on thousands of years of “best practices” (so to speak), so when you learn how to utilize those elements of story in how you talk about your business, you’ll find it easier to connect with customers.

With that in mind, the StoryBrand Online Course begins by teaching you:

• the importance of a clear story
• determining the clarity (or lack thereof) in your current marketing
• how story works
• how to help customers solve their problems
• examples of story in major movies
• how major brands use story
• the ins and outs of creating your own BrandScript

2) BUILDING YOUR BRANDSCRIPT

After you’ve learned the core concepts of story, each module will take you through a thorough and practical explanation of the seven elements of story to use in your marketing:

• Character – what does your customer WANT?
• Problem – what obstacle is preventing your customer from getting what they want?
• Guide – how do you position your company as the guide… NOT the hero?
• The Plan – what are the 3 or 4 steps you give your customer to buy (or use) your product?
• Call to Action – how do you stir your customer to take action?
• Success – how can you cast a vision of what life will look like after using your product?
• Failure – how do you show your customers the negative consequence of not buying your product?

Each of the Modules includes a video of Donald Miller (CEO & Founder of StoryBrand) teaching the concepts to a live audience. There is also a follow-up video specifically for the online course learners where Don unpacks the material AND goes over real-life “StoryBrand-ed” examples from companies using these principles on their websites or other marketing materials.

Finally, you’ll be tasked with the hard work of brainstorming BrandScript ideas for your own business AND THEN picking which one to include in your marketing message.

In other words, the online course walks you, step-by-step, through the process of building a clear message for your business!

3) EXECUTION

Of course, all this learning is for naught if you never find out how to put it into action, so the last section of the online course is all about execution!

You’ll learn how to fill out a BrandScript, how to create an automated email campaign, and how to implement your “clear message” in your business. In addition, you’ll have access to the “StoryBrand Experts Academy” – an online resource with further videos on how to use StoryBrand to grow your business.

What you’ll get:

• StoryBrand Online Course – instant access to all modules, videos, and examples of “real life” marketing using the StoryBrand principles
• StoryBrand Workbook – an 71-page PDF to walk you through the process, step-by-step
• StoryBrand Experts Academy – resources and tools to help you write sales letters, clarify your corporate narrative, creating brand evangelists, and more
• Access to the StoryBrand Alumni community – a private Slack channel for people who have gone through the StoryBrand course (including a #peer-feedback area)
• Premium account on MyStoryBrand.com – so you can build and share an unlimited # of BrandScripts online

Is it worth the investment?

I’ll be the first to admit… I was skeptical before I purchased the StoryBrand Online Course. Back in 2015/16, I wasn’t in a financial position to waste money or spend frivolously. So the $1500 price tag made me quite nervous.

(Remember, as a side-hustle business at the time, my “work” budget and my “family” budget were still VERY MUCH intertwined.)

But as soon as I got started, I devoured all of the content.

I finished the course in 8 days and began taking action right away. I made a BrandScript for my side-hustle business. Then I made one for my church. And BOTH saw results… very fast!

When I implemented the StoryBrand framework, I saw real-life results that helped me grow from a side-hustle to a full-time personal brand business.

So, it the investment work it? Absolutely!

Think of it this way…

You could spend money on Facebook™ ads or a beautiful new website, but if the message you’re communicating isn’t clear, you’ll just be wasting that money!

By investing in the StoryBrand Online Course, you’ll get your MESSAGE clear FIRST. It’s the foundational step to having any type of marketing success in the future. Without a BrandScript, you’re just relying on “hope marketing” (you just HOPE that it works)!