Building a StoryBrand with Donald Miller | Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

#62: Chris Guillebeau—How to Launch a Side Hustle That Will Make You a Profit in a Month

Sep 18 • 40 min

Ever thought about quitting your job to start a business of your own? Not everyone is ready to risk a secure job to launch a new enterprise. Some people really like their day job. And for many, a regular paycheck is a blessing. That’s why I’m…

#61: Blake Mycoskie—The 3 Most Important Hires You Need to Make to Grow Your Business

Sep 11 • 42 min

If you had a chance to sit down with a world-renowned businessman, what would you ask? As an entrepreneur, you’d likely want him to go back to the point where you are and find out what crucial decisions he made to help his business go big. Blake…

#60: Chase Reeves—4 Steps That Will Make You a Successful Entrepreneur

Sep 4 • 53 min

Do you feel like your job isn’t what you should be doing? Perhaps you have a side hustle that you wish could be your main hustle? Or you have an entrepreneurial itch that just won’t go away? If so, you’d probably like some help in making your…

#59: Robert Sutton—How To Deal With People Who Treat You Like Dirt

Aug 28 • 52 min

Many of our favorite movies and TV shows portray jerks at work. From droning Lumbergh in Office Space, clueless Michael in The Office, to sleazy Mr. Hart in 9 to 5, we find these characters so funny because they’re true. It isn’t funny, however,…

#58: Craig Ross—Teams That Do Big Things Take These 7 Steps

Aug 21 • 38 min

Do you and your team members suffer from DSD — Distracted, Stressed, and Disconnected? Sure, you believe in what your team is doing. And you believe in the people on your team. But it feels like no matter how hard you all work, the results…

#57: Anthony Iannarino—Energize Your Sales Abilities With These 7 Expert Tips

Aug 14 • 34 min

Are you in a sales slump? What if I told you the reason for your lagging sales isn’t the fluctuating market. Neither is it your product or company. It’s not even the competition. Top sellers across various industries and companies prove…

#56: David Covey and Stephan Mardyks—7 Traps That Can Tank Your Success (And How to Avoid Them)

Aug 7 • 49 min

Running a company can sometimes feel like a treacherous journey. A bad financial decision will cost you a ton of money. If you don’t give enough attention to your relationships, you might lose your family. And a lack of focus sucks away precious…

#55: Seth Godin—5 Huge Paradigm Shifts that Will Change the Way You Do Marketing

Jul 31 • 45 min

This week, we’re honored to welcome Seth Godin to the Building a StoryBrand podcast. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last fifteen years, you recognize Seth Godin as a preeminent influencer in the marketing world. And in an…

#54: The Best of 2017 (So Far), Part 2

Jul 24 • 44 min

If you want to grow your business, of course you’ve got to get the everyday stuff right: product quality, customer satisfaction, marketing, personnel, logistics, etc. But there’s more to success than those elements. To see the right kind of growth…

#53: The Best of 2017 (So Far), Part 1

Jul 17 • 41 min

For these next two episodes, we’ve selected several excellent clips for you to revisit or catch up on what you may have missed. Summer is a time for recreation, rest and reflection. Because we’ve covered so much great content, we wanted to take…

#52: David Horsager—The 8 Pillars of Trust that Will Make or Break Your Business

Jul 10 • 43 min

Why does trust matter so much in business? In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, we’re going to show you how to build trust in your company. Donald Miller interviews David Horsager, leadership speaker and author of The Trust Edge….

#51: Molly Fletcher—6 Strategies that Will Help You Run Your Business Fearlessly

Jul 3 • 46 min

What do elite athletes have that business leaders need? A fearless mindset. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, Donald Miller sits down with Molly Fletcher, a former sports agent who has taken what she’s learned from leaders in the…

#50: Ken Blanchard and Claire Diaz-Ortiz—How to Create a Mutually Beneficial Mentoring Relationship

Jun 26 • 49 min

How did you get to where you are now in your business? I’m sure you could list a lot of factors. But every successful business leader will always point to specific people in their lives who mentored them along the way. Books and classes are…

#49: Francis Jones—Are You Making These 8 Beginner Email Marketing Mistakes?

Jun 19 • 41 min

If you haven’t gotten serious about email marketing, it’s time. In this episode of the Building a StoryBrand podcast, we’re going to take away the confusion behind getting started with email marketing. Donald Miller sits down with Francis Jones…

#48: Caitlin Crosby—3 Powerful Lessons for Aspiring Social Entrepreneurs

Jun 12 • 41 min

Imagine you see a homeless couple on the side of the road holding a sign that says “Ugly, Broke, and Hungry.” You stop to hear their story and take them out to dinner. And before the last course is served, you’ve invited them to be your business…

#47: Chris Anderson—6 Ways To Make Your Next Speech Absolutely Unforgettable

Jun 5 • 33 min

Go on, admit it. If you’re a business leader, you’ve stayed up late binge-watching — no, not Game of Thrones — but TED talks. And it’s totally understandable. TED talks take complex topics and present them in a way that everybody understands….

#46: Luke Laird—An Inspiring Look at a Hit Songwriter’s Creative Process

May 29 • 47 min

Can you be both a disciplined, focused business leader and a deeply creative person? For us here at StoryBrand, the answer is a resounding yes. In fact, the worlds of creatives and business leaders overlap more than we might assume. If you’re…

#45: Auntie Anne Beiler—4 Ingredients You Need to Grow a Successful, Purpose-Filled Business

May 22 • 41 min

If you’ve ever smelled that warm and buttery smell in the mall, and minutes later, had an Auntie Anne’s pretzel in your hand, you’re not alone. Auntie Anne’s has 2,000 locations in 26 countries. They’ve made 1.8 billion pretzels — enough to…

#44: Ernie Johnson—3 Life Lessons That Will Inspire You to Slow Down and Live Differently

May 15 • 42 min

Is it possible to live a life of service and sacrifice even while pursuing a career that matters deeply? When you look at the life of sportscasting legend Ernie Johnson, Jr., you can’t help but say yes. On this episode of the Building a StoryBrand…

#43: David McKeown—How to Predict Whether or Not Your Business Will Succeed

May 8 • 53 min

What if there were a roadmap that showed you all the major milestones your business was going to hit as it grows? Wouldn’t it be great to know what’s coming next and how to navigate well? That framework exists, and we’re going to explore it in…

#42: Ian Cron—Can the Enneagram Make You a More Effective Leader?

May 1 • 50 min

The better we understand people, the better leaders we’ll be. And one of the best tools for understanding yourself and those around you is the Enneagram. If you haven’t encountered it before, the Enneagram is simply an ancient personality…

#41: Allan Heinberg—3 Powerful Takeaways Marketers Can Learn from a Master Storyteller

Apr 24 • 60 min

What’s the most powerful tool in the world for captivating the human brain? It’s storytelling. As business leaders, sometimes we struggle to keep our audience’s attention for a few seconds. But storytellers have figured out how to keep an…

#40: Juliet Funt—The Brutal Cost of Overload and How to Reclaim the Rest You Need

Apr 17 • 46 min

Most of us business leaders are glued to our phones. Work can feel all-consuming. We end each day fatigued and overloaded, and everything suffers as a result. But life isn’t supposed to look like this. We need what Juliet Funt calls “white space”…

#39: Chris Zook—How to Turbocharge Your Company’s Growth with “The Founder’s Mentality”

Apr 10 • 41 min

Why do some companies stay young, agile, and competitive, while others get bogged down and decline? That’s the big question that this week’s guest, Chris Zook, set out to answer. After years of research, he and his team at Bain Insights found…

#38: Lee Cockerell—5 Lessons from a Disney Exec to Help You Develop Amazing People Skills

Apr 3 • 48 min

Why do leaders fail? It’s not because they don’t know what they’re doing. It’s usually because they’ve failed to listen to and develop their staff. They’ve failed to respect and communicate well with them. Basically, they’ve failed at…

#37: Mel Robbins—Hack Your Motivation and Accomplish More With This Surprisingly Simple Strategy

Mar 27 • 36 min

Motivation is overrated. If you want to accomplish the things that will grow your life and your business, you can’t rely on it. And today’s guest on the Building a Story Brand podcast, Mel Robbins, is with me on this notion that motivation isn’t…

#36: Daniel Tardy—Nine Strategies That Will Make Your Meetings More Productive

Mar 20 • 37 min

Why are most meetings so awful? A lot of us leave every meeting feeling like we’ve wasted our time and gotten nowhere on a problem — only to get back to our desks farther behind on our “real jobs.” But with a little intention, we can make…

#35: Elon Musk’s Biographer, Ashlee Vance—What Can Everyday Entrepreneurs Learn from the Life of Elon Musk?

Mar 13 • 42 min

There’s nobody like Elon Musk. As the founder and CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla (among other ventures), he is arguably the world’s most visionary entrepreneur. And on the podcast this week, Donald Miller interviews Ashlee Vance, the man who wrote…

#34: Stephen Mansfield—10 Warning Signs of a Leadership Crash (and How to Fix Them)

Mar 6 • 51 min

Why do leaders crash and burn, taking their companies and families down with them? Is it the inevitable result of pressure or a character flaw? Or can it all be prevented? In this episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald Miller sits down…

#33: Carrie Green—6 Steps That Will Make You a Better Entrepreneur

Feb 27 • 40 min

If you’re trying to start and grow a business, you know it’s not an easy road. Rewarding, yes. Eventful, yes. But easy? Not at all. But like any journey, you’re better off if you’ve equipped yourself properly for it. And that’s why I am so…

#32: Greg McKeown—How to Live and Work with Radical Clarity

Feb 20 • 50 min

According to Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism, most of us have been living under the assumption that we can have it all — we just have to cram it all into our lives. As a result, we end up busy (not necessarily productive) and stretched too…

#31: Mike Pacchione—8 Expert Tips That Will Make Your Next Speech Unforgettable

Feb 13 • 34 min

For business leaders, public speaking skills are critical. Whether you’re delivering a major keynote or simply leading a staff meeting, you’ve got to be able to engage your audience and communicate powerfully. That’s why public speaking expert…

#30: Lee LeFever—Why You’re Confusing Your Customers and How to Fix It

Feb 6 • 29 min

As business leaders, we often get so focused on the details of our company that we forget to step back and understand things from our customers’ perspective. As a result, we talk over our potential customers’ heads in our communication and…

#29: Chalene Johnson—How to Effectively Scale Your Business Without Losing Your Mind

Jan 30 • 43 min

We’re passionate about growing our businesses, aren’t we? But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, the path of scaling a company is lined with landmines and pitfalls, both personal and professional. This week on the Building a Story Brand…

#28: Rachel Cruze—7 Smart Habits That Will Transform Your Personal Finances

Jan 23 • 37 min

As a business leader, you’d never start a year without a working budget or a sense of your profit margin, would you? But most of us don’t have the same kind of awareness and discipline when it comes to our personal finances. That’s why we’ve…

#27: Don Schneider—How to Create a Big Brand (Even On a Small Budget)

Jan 16 • 52 min

If you’re good at marketing, you know how to make people understand what you offer. But if you’re good at branding, you know how to make people feel a certain way about it. When you master this, you can create exponential value for your business….

#26: John Lowry—5 Strategies That Will Make You a Strong Negotiator

Jan 9 • 62 min

A lot of us believe that killer negotiators are born, not made. But that’s not true. When you know a few key strategies, you can become a great negotiator and land great outcomes for your business. Best of all, you can do it while treating others…

#25: StoryBrand Productivity Schedule

Jan 2 • 37 min

Welcome to 2017! If you’re wondering how to make this year more productive and meaningful, try the 30-day process we walk you through in this week’s episode. This system won’t take you more than a few minutes each day, but it will unlock new…

#24: The Best of 2016

Dec 26, 2016 • 70 min

Get our best wisdom from 2016, compressed into a single episode! As we close out the year, we’ve selected clips from 10 conversations we’ve had on the podcast and highlighted our biggest takeaways from them. If you’re traveling over the…

#23: David Kinnaman—10 Expert Tips to Strengthen Your Business with Surveys

Dec 19, 2016 • 49 min

As good as your gut may be about your customers, there are some aspects of your business that are too important to guess at. That’s why I’m thrilled to have David Kinnaman joining us on this episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast. He’s…

#22: Nigel Green—3 Reasons Why You Should Fire Yourself This Week (Really)

Dec 12, 2016 • 23 min

2017 is right around the corner. How can you set yourself up for a great year in your job? What if I said you should fire yourself? It sounds crazy, but it’s exactly what our CEO, Nigel Green, does every year. It gives him the perspective and energy…

#21: Amy Porterfield—4 Foolproof Ways to Improve Your Digital Marketing

Dec 5, 2016 • 46 min

If you’re trying to run and grow a business, you know you’re going to need smart marketing tactics to get you to the next level of success. The trouble is, there is SO MUCH information out there. And not all of it can be trusted to actually work…

#20: Miles Adcox—6 Characteristics that Will Make You an Emotionally Strong Leader

Nov 28, 2016 • 61 min

Can we be real with each other? Leading a business packs a big emotional punch. The stress of the day-to-day. The immense pressure to succeed. The isolation at the top. The strangeness of managing an image. It’s a heavy burden to carry around — and…

#19: Nicole Walters—4 Surprising Ways Entrepreneurs Can Get Better at Selling

Nov 21, 2016 • 47 min

Entrepreneurs, listen up. If you want to bust through that revenue plateau, you’ve got to get good at selling — even if you don’t think of yourself as a salesperson. We’re pleased to have Nicole Walters of The Monetized Life joining us on this…

#18: Jon Gordon—4 Inspiring Principles to Develop More Grit

Nov 14, 2016 • 38 min

As business leaders, we throw the word “grit” around a lot. It’s hard work, resilience, and toughness all rolled into one. But where does grit come from? And how can we tap into it to improve our companies and our lives? In this episode of the…

#17: Ryan Deiss—4 Simple Ways to Make Your Marketing More Persuasive

Nov 7, 2016 • 48 min

What do you offer your customers? Sure, you’ve got a product or service. But really, you offer your customers some kind of transformation. And when you fully understand this “before” and “after” journey of your customers, you can reach them…

#16: Rory Vaden—5 Revolutionary Strategies That Will Maximize Your Time

Oct 31, 2016 • 47 min

Did you wake up this morning and ask, “What am I going to get done today?” Or did you say, “How can I use my time today in a way that makes tomorrow better?” If we really want to accomplish our big goals while keeping our priorities straight, we…

#15: Christy Wright—5 Ways Entrepreneurial Women Can Thrive and Win Big

Oct 24, 2016 • 37 min

Starting a business comes with plenty of challenges. And women face a unique set of them as they become entrepreneurs. To help, Donald Miller sat down with Christy Wright, founder of Business Boutique. And we’re kicking off the third season of the…

How to Use Processes that Scale Your Business Big Time

Oct 17, 2016 • 12 min

Are key tasks falling through the cracks as your business grows? It’s a common problem for entrepreneurs as they scale up their business. And it’s very fixable with the help of today’s mini-episode of the StoryBrand podcast. We’re talking about…

7 Reasons Your Website Isn’t Working

Oct 10, 2016 • 17 min

Is your website like Teflon or Velcro? In other words, when someone visits your site, do they get confused and slide right off? Or do they find plenty of hooks and stick around? In today’s mini-episode of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald…

The Problem with Multiple Revenue Streams (And How to Fix It)

Oct 3, 2016 • 13 min

If you’ve been in business awhile, you’ve probably got a variety of revenue streams from multiple products or services. How can you connect the dots so existing customers who bought one thing from you understand all the other ways you can help…

30 Proven Ways to Make Any Product More Valuable

Sep 26, 2016 • 22 min

A $10 Timex and a $10,000 Rolex do the same thing — tell time. But there’s a vast difference in their perceived values. That’s what Donald Miller and his team are talking about in today’s minisode of the Building a Story Brand podcast. When you…

What Strong Leaders Do When Emotions Run High

Sep 19, 2016 • 13 min

Most of us don’t like to admit it or show it, but the workplace is an emotional place. We’re mixing people, performance, and money together — what could go wrong?! In this “minisode” of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald Miller sits…

3 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Hiring a Sales Rep

Sep 12, 2016 • 11 min

If you’re an entrepreneur and you haven’t hired a salesperson yet, this “minisode” of the Building a Story Brand podcast is for you. Donald Miller and Nigel Green are going to help you avoid the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make in the…

How to Tell People What You Do in 3 Easy Steps

Sep 6, 2016 • 17 min

When someone asks you what you do, do you have a clear, concise “one-liner” to explain it? Or do you talk in circles and confuse the heck out of whatever poor soul asked you? In this “minisode” of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald Miller,…

#14: Jeff Walker—Secrets of a Successful Product Launch

Aug 22, 2016 • 48 min

You can launch a product online with hope. Or you can launch it with a plan. In the Season 2 finale of the Building a Story Brand podcast, Donald Miller talks with Jeff Walker, digital marketing pioneer and creator of the wildly successful Product…

#13: Brian Clark—How to Win Big With Content Marketing

Aug 15, 2016 • 46 min

Would you propose on a first date? Of course not, but that’s how many businesses approach marketing. You get a lead and immediately start asking for the sale. In this episode of Building a Story Brand, Donald Miller talks with Brian…

#12: Ben Crane—5 Habits of People Who Win Big (Even Under Pressure)

Aug 8, 2016 • 46 min

If we approached our jobs the way professional golfers approach theirs, we’d all be millionaires. Meet Ben Crane, a PGA Tour golf pro consistently ranked among the world’s best. Behind every stroke, he’s packed countless hours of discipline,…

#11: Ken Blanchard—How to Cast a Vision So People Listen

Aug 1, 2016 • 40 min

We have mantra at StoryBrand: if you confuse, you’ll lose. We say it in reference to customers, but it’s also true for your team. Businesses don’t just falter because they lack a vision. They falter because the employees don’t truly…

#10: Toi Sweeney—Is Your Professional Wardrobe Hurting Your Business?

Jul 25, 2016 • 42 min

Like it or not, we all judge each other by our appearances. What you wear makes an instant impression on your customers. It’s up to you to define what that impression is. In this episode of Building a Story Brand, Donald Miller sits down with…

#9: David Salyers—3 Ways to Deliver Value and Delight Your Customers

Jul 18, 2016 • 37 min

Ever struggled to keep your customers coming back? Donald Miller talks with Chick-fil-A’s VP of Brand Activation, David Salyers, to discuss how the beloved fast-food chain has built a multi-billion-dollar business by dazzling its customers. In…

#8: Canlis—Secrets of Insanely Good Customer Service

Jul 11, 2016 • 35 min

Customer service matters more than ever in our super-connected world. One customer experience for your business — good or bad — may end up influencing thousands of people. In the Season 2 opener of Building a Story Brand, Donald Miller sits…

#7: Scott Hamilton—How to Show Up, Hit Your Goals, and Win Big

Apr 24, 2016 • 44 min

What really drives true success — whether it’s on the ice or in the office? In this episode, Donald Miller talks with Scott Hamilton, Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater and humanitarian. They dig into what it takes to accomplish your…

#6: Ray Edwards—Why Your Sales Copy Stinks (and How to Fix It)

Apr 18, 2016 • 33 min

Feel like your sales copy falls flat? Join Donald Miller for a conversation with world-renowned copywriting and marketing pro Ray Edwards. You’ll discover Ray’s six-part formula for writing persuasive sales copy, including one critical element…

#5: Jonathan Davis—How to Make Your Call to Action Irresistible

Apr 11, 2016 • 27 min

As anyone who’s ever bought a set of kitchen knives at 2 a.m. will tell you, infomercials are selling machines. And in this podcast, you’ll discover exactly how and why they work so well. Donald Miller talks with infomercial producer Jonathan Davis to…

#4: Claire Diaz-Ortiz—6 Steps to Accomplish More in Less Time

Apr 4, 2016 • 33 min

Feel overwhelmed and overworked? Don’t miss this game-changing conversation with Donald Miller and Twitter pioneer Claire Diaz-Ortiz. In this episode, you’ll discover six steps you can take to achieve more by doing less — starting today….

#3: Dave Ramsey—How to Be the Guide and Attract More Customers

Mar 28, 2016 • 34 min

Donald Miller talks with personal finance legend Dave Ramsey about how to position your business as a guide and focus on your customers’ successes. Dave intuitively understands this marketing strategy, and it’s a huge reason why his products…

#2: Mike McHargue—Why People Buy: The Powerful Science of Selling

Mar 18, 2016 • 29 min

Donald Miller sits down with Mike McHargue, aka “Science Mike,” to discuss what’s really going on in your customers’ brains when they come to your website. It’s a fun and accessible look at the neuroscience of sales and marketing. When you understand…

#1: Michael Hyatt—How to Know What Your Customers Are Thinking

Mar 11, 2016 • 32 min

Donald Miller talks with special guest Michael Hyatt, the seven-figure leadership blogger and New York Times best-selling author. Hyatt shares his process for understanding his readers at a high level and serving them well. In this conversation,…