2418 - Helping Businesses Clarify Their Message and Boost Engagement with StoryBrand's Holly Fisher

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0:46Visit podverify.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it. With us right now, it is Holly Fisher. Holly, you are the founder and CEO of Fisher Creative. You are found on the web at fisher-creative.com. Holly, it's great to have you. Yeah, thanks for having me. Excited to be here. You know, before we get going, talking about your superpowers, I always love hearing what leaders do for fun when they're not at work. What say you? So I usually spend a lot of my free time engaged in CrossFit or some sort of fitness pursuit. So I've kind of started doing a lot of 5Ks, 10Ks here in Asheville, North Carolina, where I live, training for a second High Rocks competition and go to CrossFit every day.

1:41So that's sort of my fun stuff when I'm not working. Lest someone think that this is, that CrossFit is something you just picked up New Year's this year. This ain't your first rodeo. You've been in the CrossFit scene for a little while. In fact, you owned with your husband, right? You owned CrossFit Charleston a while back. We did. Yeah, when we used to live in Charleston. I started, yeah, I started CrossFit almost 16 years ago. Oh my gosh. So I've just finally found the fitness thing I really loved. And so I just have stuck with it and really enjoy it. And it's just a lot of friends and great community and have just enjoyed it all these years.

2:21I am no longer in my 20s and I don't want to get injured. And so sometimes I worry about, you know, going to CrossFit and like, oh, they're going to have me do something and I'm going to hurt something. What's your advice to folks that might want to check out CrossFit? and, you know, they might be in their fifties like I am and they're like, okay, can I do CrossFit at my age and have a great time? I'm sure you have a great answer for this. Well, I think that's the biggest misperception, right? Is that, you know, people get hurt doing CrossFit and you can get hurt doing anything, right? I mean, any kind of activity, right?

3:02Like you can get hurt doing that. So, so, you know, the one thing that I loved about CrossFit when I got started and I still love is that you can scale everything to your ability, right? So you can, you know, scale the amount of weight that you're doing or the kind of movement you're doing. So if you can't do a, if you can't do a pull up, there's a scaled version of that that you can do, right? Or, you know, somebody else is doing 100 pounds of something and you're doing 50 because you just everything for your age, ability, whatever you need to do. And then you can always, you know, work up as you go.

3:44Yeah. Well, Holly, I'm so excited to have you on because I know one thing that you specialize in, you're a story brand guide. And so story is just a huge part of what you do. Can you start by giving us an overview? And then I got questions. Yeah, sure. So I've been a story brand guy for a number of years, and that is a framework based on the book Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller, which probably a lot of folks are familiar with or maybe have read that book. And so I got certified in that framework back in early 2018. And it's just a wonderful way to use storytelling principles to clarify your marketing message and really draw your customers and clients into the story that you're telling.

4:32Right. It's really their story. Right. It's less about us as the business and really more about how we are helping guide our clients and customers to a successful outcome. Yeah. Well, I think, listen, I think there's never been a better time for what you talk about because we're in a, you know, we're in a phase right now where AI is ubiquitous. And so anyone who wants to can spit out, and I'm using air quotes right now for those who can't see me, marketing copy. And on its face, you know, someone that is new or inexperienced might look at it and go, wow, that was great. This is instant. I got instant marketing copy.

5:20Holly, then there are, you know, I'd say folks that have been around for a little bit of time are sophisticated buyers or, you know, like we can tell, right? There's, you know, it's getting, you know, obviously, you know, AI produced copy is getting better and better and better, but we're kind of missing the big picture. And I'm thinking that you know exactly what that big picture is. Yes. I mean, part of it is really getting to the essence of how you talk about your business, right? And so if you just type something generic, some generic prompt or request into AI, you're going to get a generic result, right?

6:01And so we have to take the time to really go, okay, let's think about the problem that we solve for our customers and clients, who those customers are, what it is that they want, how we can help, and really take some time to dig into that. And that's where having somebody who is a marketing professional or someone who is a story brand guide can really come in and help ask those questions, really dig deep into your business and help you determine what is the best way to talk about the business and how you help people. And so why is the, tell me about the story brand process and how does that help someone get to a position where they can communicate so much more effectively with their audience and truly speak in a way that just connects human to human.

6:59And by the way, I'm totally editorializing in that question. As you can tell by my emphasis. I'm a fan, Holly, if you hadn't guessed. Yes. Well, I think, you know, so the StoryBrand framework is seven parts, right? And you kind of take some time to figure out each of those. And I think a couple of key things in those different elements, one is figuring out what is that problem that you're solving for folks, right? Because that's the biggest, we all buy things to solve a problem of some sort, right? It might be a really big problem. It could just be, I want a new pair of shoes, right? Like it could be any level of problem, but we are buying things because we want a solution to a problem that we have.

7:41And so as businesses, we have to figure that out. What is that one singular problem that people are coming to us to solve? And then the other big thing that I think is so impactful for people when we're going through the StoryBrand framework is this idea that, you know, the customer is the hero and you are the guide. And so as you know, a lot of businesses really want they, they want to step into that hero role, right? Let me save you, let me make your life better. And really, what we want to do is be that guide, right, who comes along and says, I understand the problem that you that you have, let me help you solve it.

8:19So that in the end, you're winning, you're the hero. And so that's a really key element. And I think the thing that probably sticks out the most to people when we're working through this process is kind of understanding that we need to flip the script a bit there and turn the customer into the hero of the story. What happens if you don't do that? Well, then it becomes all about, then you're just talking all about you. Then I'm spending all my time talking about me, how great I am, how wonderful my business is. Here's my background. Here's how I got started. Here's my whole life story. And most of us, when we're seeking out a business to hire, when we're looking for our product or service, honestly, we don't really care that much about that.

9:06We don't care that much about the whole company history and all the things. We just want to know, can you solve my problem? Do you understand the problem that I have? can you solve it and will it make my life better and how can I buy it right and just so I and just so I'm clear how does that what you just said right there how does that connect to story yeah so it's essentially telling this story that again is making this customer kind of the hero of the story right so we're telling the story of our customers and clients right hey I understand that you have this problem. That sounds really tough.

9:49I actually have a way to fix that problem. And if you work with me, your life is going to be better. Right. So that's kind of the story versus the story. That's like, let me tell you about how awesome I am. I started this business 15 years ago and I have these, you know, different awards or I've done all these different things, right? The stuff that we normally businesses will start to talk about. And at that point, the story is all about me and our customers and clients are like I want it to be all about me right and so by creating a story that's really about them that's how can they win how can their life or business or whatever be better that's the story that really makes people stop and notice and go, hey, this business gets me.

10:37I want to work with them. Yeah. I really, I, that I so appreciate that. And everyone does, right. And do you think it's true? Like, so obviously in sales, right. But the, you know, kind of like the old saying was, you know, WIIFM, right. What's, what's in it for me. And, and it's such an important filter and lens. Like, as we're looking at our website, You know, are we telling our customer story or are we telling, not even telling our story? Are we just kind of listing up facts and figures about us? You know, which I think that's so easy to be the default that we immediately go to. But obviously, very critical.

11:18And Holly, I'll just kind of expand that. What is it like working with you? So using that framework is kind of step one, right? I love spending some time with clients, figuring out, learning about their business, number one, kind of what they do, making sure that we really understand their customers and their clients. Because sometimes we're not even super clear about that. Sometimes businesses are thinking they want to go after this audience, and then they're like, oh, actually, we don't. And so we need to take a step back and really make sure we understand the business, the clients, the offers, what are you selling?

11:56So kind of do that deep dive into the business, a little bit of the marketing strategy, and then start to go, okay, now how can we create a really clear message that reaches people and compels them to do business with you? And then at that point, once we have that messaging, we can move into other pieces of their marketing, right? Do they need an update to their website? Do they need email campaigns, videos, social media? what are the other pieces that make sense for that particular business? And your website is, it's found on the web. It's Fisher dash creative. I know you've got resources, by the way, I want to point out Holly, you're a great follow on LinkedIn.

12:39You're really good on LinkedIn, but I suspect that you've got, you've got a book club. You've got some cool stuff here with someone who's listening to our conversation right now. What would you recommend they do? Like, where do they go from here? Yeah, I'd love to have folks visit my website and connect with me online. Like you said, LinkedIn is great. I also post a lot on Instagram. And I have a YouTube channel, which has a lot of different videos about the StoryBrand framework and email marketing and website best practices. So you can glean a lot of really great information there. And I send out an email once a week that has a really great marketing tip or piece of information for businesses and possibly a picture of my dog sometimes.

13:28So I'm a brand new puppy owner. You've got a 10 month old. What's your, what's your doggie's name? Her name is Sunny. She's a yellow lab. Oh boy. That's what a perfect name. And she, it fits her perfectly. She is very happy and joyful and a big cuddler all the time. So we love her. This is our third lab. She's super week. So, Oh my gosh, gorgeous. Holly, your website, fisher-creative.com. You are a story brand. What would be the, the, the title or the certification? What's it called? Story brand certified. Yep. Yep. Yep. Cause again, I'm the guy, not the hero, right? So story brand guide and also an unreasonable hospitality coach as well.

14:19I love it. Love it. Fisher dash creative Holly Fisher. Thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

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