Marketing With Holly Fisher

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it. Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs, brought to you by Action Coach Growth Partners. I'm your host, Bill Gilliland, and in this podcast, you'll find three things.

0:46You're going to hear real stories from real entrepreneurs that will help you along your entrepreneurial journey. You're also going to get business tips to help you scale up faster, and you're going to get actual coaching to help you get better real world results to be the best entrepreneur you can be. Hey, and if you like the podcast, remember to subscribe. And now, enjoy the show. Hi there. I hope you're having a great week. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. And I have the first repeat guest on Epic Entrepreneurs. It's Holly Fisher. and she is going to enlighten us today with some pretty cool marketing tips.

1:30And so that's what we're looking for. So welcome again, Holly. Yeah, thanks. I feel special being the first repeat guest. Yeah, no, it's awesome. Well, just for those who may not have caught the first episode, tell us just a quick overview of who you are and what you do. Sure, absolutely. So I own Fisher Creative Marketing and I'm a StoryBrand certified guy. So I work with folks helping them to clarify their overall marketing message and then build out the rest of their marketing sales funnel. So their website, their email campaigns, lead generation tools, and other forms of marketing strategy and content.

2:09Yeah. So we really like the StoryBrand framework and I think it's worth spending a little bit of time on and maybe have you explain the framework and really why it all works. Sure. Yeah, I'd be happy to. I got certified as a story brand guide back in early 2018. So the book Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller was still pretty new at that point. So a lot of people did not know about story brands. I was spending a lot of time educating and informing people. And now almost, you know, seven years later, a lot of people have read the book, a lot of people are familiar with it. But I still run into people that don't know anything about it.

2:52So it's great to give folks a little bit of a refresh and a little bit of education on what the story brand marketing framework is. And it's essentially a tool that we can use to help clarify our marketing message. And it is based on classic storytelling principles, right? So the same sort of rules, if you will, that folks would follow if they were writing a blockbuster film, a novel, a really great TV show. These are the same kinds of principles that we can use for marketing purposes. So the really great thing about it is that it does help you get your mind wrapped around how can I talk about my business in a way that invites people into a story and really wants them to engage with me.

3:40So the seven parts of it are starting with your character or your client or customer and figuring out what that person wants, right? So what's the thing that they're looking for? I often tell people that could be as simple as what somebody might type into Google, right? So what are they looking for, right? In my case, they might be looking for a marketing professional, right? Somebody to help me build my website, right? Those kinds of things can be really simple. What are they looking for? And then we also have to think about what is the problem that that person is facing, right? So what's, you know, if they want a really great website, what's keeping them from that, right?

4:21If they want to grow their business and better use their marketing, what's getting in the way, right? Let's stop just a second here, because I think this is a big deal, like defining what their actual problem is. Can you talk a little bit more about how you go about helping people do that? Yeah. And one of the challenges is when I work with clients, most people go, well, we solve lots of problems for people, right? We can help them with this and that and this other thing, and they can rattle off, you know, sometimes a half a dozen or more different problems that they might actually help people with.

4:58And so the challenge is figuring out, all right, which one of those do we want to land on? And I try to encourage folks to think about what is the big problem that maybe 80 to 90 % of the people that you want to work with are facing, right? Because as businesses, we need to be known for solving a particular problem. And if you're out in the marketplace talking about 20 different problems that you solve for people, it's going to be very hard for your potential customers and clients to associate you with solving a problem. If you're talking about a whole bunch of different things. Right. Yeah. You have to kind of land on one.

5:40Yeah. If you confuse people, then they don't do anything. Absolutely. Yes. Confused people take no action. So we often give the really simplistic example of, you know, Bill, if you said I have a headache, I would give you a Tylenol. I wouldn't give you a Tums, right? Because we know that a Tylenol solves a headache and a Tums is what you take if you have heartburn, right? Right. So it's kind of a simplistic example, but we know we associate that solution of a Tylenol with a very specific problem of a headache. And so we have to do the same thing with our business. We have to think about what's that one big problem.

6:22It doesn't mean you can never talk about some of the other problems that you solve for people, but we want to land on one big problem that we can really talk about in our marketing. And so people start to go, oh, yeah, that business does fill in the blank. Right. Yeah. All right. So a character has a problem. A character has a problem. That's right. And then we get to step in as the business into the guide role. Right. We're all about making our customers and our clients the heroes in this story. And so we want to be the guide. We want to lead them to a successful, transformative outcome, right?

7:02So, you know, you're the Yoda in this situation, in this story that we're telling, right? So we step into this guide role in a couple of different ways. We express some empathy, right? We understand what our clients and our customers are going through. We get it. Either maybe we've been there ourselves and overcome that problem, or we simply have worked with a lot of people and we really understand what they're dealing with. So we're able to express some empathy and then we're able to express our authority, right? How are we competent in solving this problem? What is the solution that we have to offer, right?

7:42So simply me just talking about being a story brand guide is part of my authority and that I can help you solve your problem of having a muddy marketing message, right, by having this framework that I use with folks. So very simply expressing that empathy, expressing that authority and going, hey, I understand your problem. I have a solution to guide you to the successful outcome. Got it. So a character has a problem who finds a guide. They find the guide and then we actually have to give them a plan to move forward, right? Right. I mean, if you think about that in any movie that you watch. Right.

8:24The guide is usually giving the hero of the story some sort of, you know, plan that they have to follow. Right. If to, you know, go on this quest. Right. Yeah. Right. And so we give people a really simple plan to move forward. It's typically three steps that we like to give folks. and it also helps them overcome any concerns that they might have about doing business with you, right? So especially if you happen to have a product or a service that might feel a little complicated to people, might be a little expensive, right? And so immediately people are sort of opting out, right? It was like, oh, I was really excited about this thing and now I'm going, I don't know, should I, maybe not.

9:14So if we give people a three-step plan, it makes it really easy for them to see how they can do business with us, right? And it doesn't have to be all the steps to doing business with us, right? It can be as simple as, you know, booking a call, choosing your package of services, and then watching your business grow, right? It could be that simple. But it really helps people take that first step toward doing business with you. Yeah, no, right. So now we've got a character who has a problem, who finds a guy that gives them a plan. And it's a three-step plan. That's right. Three steps. Sometimes I'll let you get away with four, but no more than four steps.

9:53No more than four. Because people like things in threes. We can remember threes. Well, I think we have to keep it simple in a marketing message. I mean, you know, that's, it just doesn't, it doesn't work otherwise. Yeah. So this applies to all your marketing and just making this easy. Absolutely. If I gave you a 10 step plan, you're going to be like, whoa, too much. I'm out. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's good. All right. So we've got a plan. Yep. So now we actually have to call our hero to action, right? This is the moment, right? This is the time when you've got to like, you know, do I cut the red wire or the green wire to disarm the bomb?

10:30right? We're calling them to action. And this is actually a really simple thing that a lot of businesses just totally miss. They're simply not asking people to do business with them, right? So if I go to somebody's website, I should see, I'm going to say the buy now button, right? All over their website, schedule a consultation, book a demo, buy, whatever that main call to action is that you want people to take should be front and center everywhere. Make it easy for me to give you money. Yeah, I have a story on that. I worked with a roofing company and their website was really good and they, but they didn't have, you know, book an estimate now, but on one page and they, you know, they had eight or 10 pages in their website and they put, they just put it on all the other pages and their inquiries went up by 20 % by just putting in the same button on every page.

11:29I'm not surprised to hear that. That's actually one of the simplest things that a business can do. You don't even need to hire me, right? You can just make that change yourself. No, if you don't have, if you don't, we were working on one for the summit the other day. And I mean, I was like, look, this thing needs to have buy tickets and here's how you get your tickets all over it. I mean, every page needs to have that on it somewhere in big letters. So yeah, I think that's good. All right, so we're calling to be action. So now we've got a character who has a problem, who finds a guide, who gives them a plan, and then calls them to some sort of action.

12:04How'd you like to learn from the best? How'd you like to network with the best? How'd you like to be the best? Well, the key to being the best is to hang around with the best and to learn from the best. And we're going to make that possible for you this August in Asheville at the Asheville Business Summit. I want you to stay tuned. We're bringing in speakers from outside. We've got a lot of good events planned. It's going to be amazing. We got more information coming, but if you'd like more info on how you can be involved, how you can attend, or how you can be a sponsor for this event, it's going to be over 350 entrepreneurs in one place right here in Western North Carolina in Asheville.

12:48For more InfoMo or to be a sponsor, I want you to reach out directly to Beth Limmel. That's L-E-M-M-E-L at actioncoach.com. That's Beth Limmel at actioncoach.com. We look forward to seeing you there. It's going to be amazing. Yeah. And then we also have to show people the success or the failure of working with us, right? So we really want to highlight the success. We really want to play up how their life is going to be better. their business is going to be better, their health, their family, whatever it is, right? What are the success elements after working with your business? And then on the flip side of that, we also have to showcase what's at stake if people don't work with us, right?

13:33What's the failure that they are going to experience? And you don't have to, you know, you don't have to use this a lot in your marketing, you just kind of have to sprinkle it in in a few key places to help people understand, yeah, if I don't hire that business, I'm still going to be dealing with X, Y, and Z, or something is going to be worse in my life or my business. I'm not going to be able to achieve the goals that I have, that sort of thing. So we have to drip in that failure a little bit. Yeah. It's sort of the away from and the towards, right? Yeah. I mean, you know, what is it? I mean, there's a reason that they came to you in the first place.

14:09That's right. And it's usually some sort of, but they have to be reminded of what that is. Exactly. In the marketing, like what are the, sort of the consequences. Yeah, absolutely. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Because again, remember, people will kind of start to opt to themselves out of things, right? We start to have second thoughts, right? And so as a business, we need to remind people, hey, you came to me because you have this problem. If you don't hire me, here's what's going to happen, right? Here's what's at stake if you don't. And then, you know, the last piece of all this is really helping people kind of transform, right?

14:46So we can also think about how we want, you know, what's that transformation that we want people to go through. We want our clients to go from A to B, you know, what is that transformation? And that can be a really powerful, helping someone see how they can be better, how something can be different, how they can go from someone who was, you know, maybe struggling in their business to being really confident, you know, in the business and the work that they do. Yeah, I like it. So, I mean, this makes complete sense to me. I've, I've, and I've been through this quite a bit, but you know, why does this work?

15:23Yeah, great question. So a couple of reasons. One is that I think for the consumer, it really helps you understand what a business is all about, right? So we are wired as human beings to survive and thrive, right? We're looking at every potential opportunity going, how is this going to help me in my survival? And how is this going to help me really thrive, right? I mean, fortunately, most of us don't have to worry too much about our actual survival, but we are looking for things that are going to make our life better, right? And so anything that doesn't really help us with that, anything that is just sort of noise and clutter, we're going to sort of filter out.

16:08And so as businesses, we always want to be thinking about that. How can I tell people how I'm going to solve a problem for them, I'm going to help them survive and thrive, right? Whether that's in the business world, in their family, their finances, their health, right, whatever it is that you do. And so it's a really powerful way for just your potential customers and clients to go, oh, I get it. I see exactly what you do. Right. And that's so important because we are bombarded with a zillion different messages every day. And you have to be really clear to stand out and get people's attention.

16:47Yeah, I think it, I think becoming part of the story, really, you know, drawing people into a story. I mean, we all like a story, let's face it. I mean, you know, the, you know, we can think of movies or books or whatever it is. They all, they all have this similar, the ones that are blockbusters all have this similar plot line if they go back, if they go back and figure it out. And, you know, that's how they came up with this. And so I think we're just wired as humans to, to, to, to, to really love this thing. So a hundred percent. Yeah. So what, so I, where do you see the biggest mistakes? Like who, what, which one the most people, you know, which one of these areas do they mess up the most?

17:30Yeah. Well, definitely that call to action, like we were talking about, that's a big one for sure that people are just missing out on. The other part is stepping into that guide role, right? A lot of businesses want to make themselves the hero, right? We want to talk a lot about, look how awesome my business is, look how great we are, look at all the things we've done. And you can still talk about those things, right? There's still a place to kind of work those in. But the main message needs to be our customer is actually the hero. And we're here to guide them to the successful outcome. So, you know, if I go to somebody's website and like, they're just, you know, it's all like, let me start with my company history.

18:15And like, let me tell you how long we've been in business. And my grandfather started the company. And here's a big picture of our building and like all this stuff. I'm like, I don't really care. I just, I want to know if you can solve a problem for me. Right. That's the big question, right. That we all have as consumers. Can you help me solve a problem? And if you lead with your story, then you're just kind of losing people. Yeah. They don't care. I mean, they're, you're right. I mean, if they, if they click on it and they want to buy a swimming pool, they're trying to figure out where to buy a swimming pool they're not trying they're not trying to figure out i mean the history may be helpful at some point but no one they don't really care like how do i how do i buy a pool or how do i that's right it's not the first thing right it's not what we lead with right there's you can have some of that you can have some of that information but we need to lead with let me help you make your life better let me solve a problem for you Yeah, yeah, that's super.

19:17Other thoughts or other things that I haven't asked you here about this sort of framework. It's so powerful. I really, I mean, I would really encourage you to go out today, take a look at your marketing and see where it's missing because I guarantee you, I don't care who you are, it's missing. You know, even, I mean, I've looked at some, you know, everybody's has got room for something, some kind of improvement. I know for sure we do. And, you know, it's one of those things that you may not get. So, I mean, to me, that's your home fun is go out and review some of your marketing and figure out, hey, is it, you know, what's the problem this thing's solving?

19:58What's the message we're actually sending? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, yeah. And like you say, I mean, for us, I do feel like it's for us, you know, at Action Coach, I feel like we do solve a lot of problems. And so picking one is an interesting thing. But it's easy to do on one marketing piece. But when you're thinking about your whole business, it's like, all right, well, hang on. What's the actual thing that we solve? So yeah, it's an interesting exercise that can get you down there. So other thoughts? Well, I think one of the big things too, Bill, is just is starting with this message, because I see a lot of businesses that, you know, maybe they're working on, say they're working on redoing their website, and they've kind of jumped into like working on the website.

20:45Oh, I found a template, I'm working with a designer. And yet, we don't really know what we're saying at this point, right? Or they want to get into doing more email marketing or more social media, but they don't have the message nailed down. So if you can start with the messaging and get that really solid and build that foundation, it's going to make all the rest of your marketing one easier for you and also more effective, right? Because you have that consistent message that you're sharing with people over and over again. And as a business owner or a marketing person for your business, you're not having to stop every time and go, I wonder what I should say.

21:28How should I talk about the business? It's like, we've already figured that out. Just keep saying it. Keep saying it. Keep saying it. Yeah, I find sometimes people get bored with their own message. So if it's working, keep at it. Don't be stupid. Just keep, if you've worked out your message, keep going. But all right, if they need help, if you need help with your message, what should they do? They should contact you. So how should they do that? They can contact me. Yeah, best thing is honestly just to go to my website. which is fisher-creative.com. You'll see a nice big schedule a call button all over the website, right?

22:07So that's your action. You can schedule a call or you can certainly find me on social media at Fisher Creative Marketing. Yeah, this has been awesome. This is a great, just remember you have to invite your customers into their story. It's their story, not necessarily yours. You're just part of the story. So that's the big takeaway way that I took away from today. That's great. Yeah, that's perfect. Thanks, Holly. Thanks for being here. It's been a lot of fun. All right. Thanks, Bill. And until next time, all the best. Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do.

22:44Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly. Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com.

23:21That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best. Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach.

24:09It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly. Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com. That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.