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- [00:00]
A
Now, we're going to be talking about your revenue in this episode. But before we jump in, I wanted to ask you, do you feel confident, I mean, really confident that you know how you'll hit your revenue goal this month? How about next month? How about later in October? The hardest thing about running a six figure business is that revenue comes in from a lot of different channels. Ads, affiliate, social media, live launches, all. All of which have hot months and all of which have slow months. And it's pretty impossible to know when and why these happen, which makes your monthly intake impossible to predict too. So what if you had one system in your business that you could depend on every month to give you a consistent number? That's what I'm teaching in my free live training called the Revenue Consistency Formula. I'll help you take the channels that already exist in your business and tweak them so that they feed each other, creating consistency and growth that you can anticipate instead of random high and low weeks. If you're eager for revenue that feels more steady and a whole lot less confusing, then save your seat@amiporterfield.com forward slash training. All right, now let's get to today's conversation.
- [01:18]
B
What's often missing is just that curiosity soundbite that says, hey, wait, I'm curious. We saw a company go from $100 million to a 99% increase in a test market. The only thing that piques curiosity is a zero cognitive load message that convinces me you are a survival asset. But they can't get me to sit down and listen to them for an hour. We're protecting your ability to make money.
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A
That right there is gold.
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B
I would say 25% of them have seen a 100% increase just in piquing people's curiosity. The number one way to know is your sales skyrocket. If you confuse, you'll lose.
- [01:54]
A
My guest today is a dear friend of mine.
- [01:56]
B
One of them goes. That one over there, she's big money. And it was my guest today.
- [02:00]
A
Her name is Amy Porter. Amy Porterville, the ever amazing best selling author of two weeks notice. Ms. Amy Porterville. What if I told you that you're only one sentence away from your business finally seeing the results you're after just one sentence that turns attention into action and interest into sales. That sentence is your sound bite. So the short repeatable phrase that makes the right person stop scrolling and and say that is exactly what I need. Without it, it doesn't matter how good your offer is, how consistent you are, or how hard you're working right now. Your most ideal customer, the one who you know your offer is perfect for, is moving on before you even get a chance to invite them into your world. My guest today, Don Miller, has spent more than two decades finding that sentence for experts, authors, celebrities, and more. He's the CEO of Story Brand, the author of the million copy bestseller Building a Story Brand. And he's helped over 100,000 businesses find the words that finally make their marketing work. And he is my dear friend. Today, he's sitting down with us to teach you what a sound bite actually is, why you probably don't have one yet, and exactly how to find yours. If you're watching on YouTube, hit subscribe. If you're listening on your favorite podcast, Apple, follow the show. Let's get into it. Well, hello there, Don. Thanks for coming back on the show.
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B
Yeah, good to be back.
- [03:34]
A
First thing I said is, what a snappy dresser. Like, do you do this or does your wife do this?
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B
I do this. It's my only hobby is I go. I literally go on ebay and look for clothes and buy them, like, used. Okay.
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A
I thought I heard you say that on the video. I thought you were joking. Wait, we're just going to start there. What do you mean you go on ebay?
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B
It started because I for years, have fished with a guy named Spencer Burch. And I knew that Spencer worked with Ralph Lauren. I didn't know that Spencer started a brand called RRL 30 years ago. And so I got to know his stuff, and he makes these sweaters, and he'll make like 500 of them, and you can't get them. And the only place to get them is on ebay. And so I was like, oh, I started looking for them. And then, of course, one person said, that's an amazing sweater. And I went right back to ebay and started buying more of them. And how many do you know as? I literally think I have 50.
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A
No way. And are they super expensive?
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B
They're expensive, but you can literally go to a double RL store and buy a sweater and sell it for $400 more on eBay that day.
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A
Okay.
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B
This is not very many stores. And they know they're going to run out.
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A
Okay.
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B
So you can just. But I don't do that.
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A
No, you just have.
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B
The point is, my daughter will be able to sell them when I die.
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A
I love that. Such an entrepreneur. Well, okay, now I know why I love your style so much. Because I love Ralph Lauren. And that's. That's what you got Going, yeah, I
- [04:59]
B
think that's about it.
- [05:00]
A
It's a good look. Well, maybe we should talk about why you're really here. But yes, okay, we're talking sound bites today. I, of course, devour everything you do. And on social media, you've been talking a lot about sound bites, and you actually did a whole training on it. And I thought, okay, this is something we've never talked about on the show. And I just want to start at the beginning. What is a sound bite? And why isn't it the same as your tagline or something you put in your bio or whatever? Like what is?
- [05:28]
B
Well, it can be a tagline and it can be something, and it should be something you put in your bio and your tagline should be a sound bite. But a sound bite is just a short statement that in the context of a messaging campaign, which is really what. What I spend a lot of time doing, a sound bite would be a short statement that makes you curious and want to know more.
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A
Okay.
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B
And so that's why I believe in sound bites. And I do believe that most businesses, most entrepreneurs, most leaders, most politicians, for sure, that's the part of the messaging campaign they're missing. In other words, they can sit down for an hour and explain what they're offering or what they're about or their story, all of that, but they can't get me to sit down and listen to them for an hour. And so what's often missing is just that curiosity. Sound bite that says, hey, wait, I curious. Tell me more about that. And when we help them come up with those sound bites, the conversation changes dramatically. Let me give you an example. I'm on the board of an oil and gas company out of Houston. I've been on the board for about a year. And so it's taken me a year to understand the oil and gas industry, how it works. And this is an interesting firm. They're about a $300 million organization, and they shut down refineries, clean them, and. And then get them back online.
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A
Okay.
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B
Every hour that a refinery is down could cost $20 million. So they've got to get this thing shut down, clean back up, meet government compliances, and then got to get the throughput back up.
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A
Okay?
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B
But they also, in that process, over the last 20 years, have created chemicals where they can clean fin fans, they can do all sorts of stuff without shutting down a refinery. And some of those chemicals work to clean airplane engines and. And some of those chemicals work to clean data center cooling systems. So all of a sudden, they can't explain what they do.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Does that make sense?
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A
Yes.
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B
And so over the course of just recently, just a couple of weeks ago, we sat down with their executive team and I asked some questions. How much of your money comes from refineries? 95%. Okay. Well, I'm not worried about data cooling centers. How much room do you have to grow? Hundreds of millions of dollars. Okay. And at the end of the day, we came up with three words. Protect refinery throughput. And so their new tagline is going to be Protecting refinery throughput. Now, to your audience, that may not mean much, but the word protecting triggers curiosity because the human brain is designed to survive and it's designed to over index on potential threats. So when I say the word protect, you become alert. For example, if I said, if we were at a cocktail party and I kind of slid up to you and said, amy, I'm just going to stand between you and this guy because I want to protect you from him, you are extremely alert at that point. You're wondering, who's the guy? So we know that that word, along with a lot of other words, it's not the only word, it's not a magic word, but that word, we can use it, it's going to get their attention. Refinery says who they are. So as soon as they hear protect refinery, they hear, protect me and they listen. And then throughput means how many barrels of crude you can get through that refinery per hour, which is the equivalent of revenue. Okay, so really what we're saying is we're protecting your ability to make money.
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A
Interesting.
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B
And what they saw in the two weeks since we came up with that, they saw a dramatic increase in interest among their existing clients because their existing clients couldn't really figure out what they did. And so of course, we're going to put protecting refinery throughput on the T shirts on the barrels, everywhere. Every time you go into a. A refinery and RTI is on the scene, you would see their equipment and you would know why they are here. And without that, those three words, without that sound bite, it would take a long time and a lot of interactions for a client to figure out what all they do, why they should be here, why I should spend time with them. For example, if I were to say to a refinery manager who's very, very busy, they're really only called when there's a crisis. If I were to say, hey, we've got a team coming in, they're rti, they've got a lot of chemical patents on this kind of stuff, they can clean fin fans. They can also help us shut down. The guy's going, hey, like, send me a briefing on it. I'm not going to meet with them. But if they say these guys are specialists in protecting refinery throughput, the refinery manager has one job, and that is to increase and keep and sustain refinery throughput. That's his job.
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A
Yes.
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B
He's taking that meeting. So that's where I talk about the power of sound bites. We saw a company go from $100 million to a 99% increase in a test market. So if they distribute it, it would be another $100 million with three words. Kids love aquariums.
- [10:16]
A
Wait, that just seems so simple.
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B
That's exactly it. But why do you think that work? What do you think they sell?
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A
Kids love aquariums. So aquariums.
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B
They sell aquariums. Why do you think they're going to sell more of them?
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A
Because they said kids? I don't know.
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B
Because parents are looking for something their kids love.
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A
Okay.
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B
It's just that. It's that simple. But what we found is. That's what's missing. And I. And the stakes are dramatic. I remember going in years ago to talk to Jeb Bush's team when he was running for president and he had written a book on immigration. And they told me, hey, this is not a tagline guy. It's not a soundbite guy. He's not going to reduce things. He's a nuanced thinker. He's a scholar. He's obviously written books. He knows what he's doing. And I said, that is fantastic. He's a great guy who will never be president. And he got beat by a bumper sticker. So his foreign policy was in a book, and Donald Trump's was build a wall. You could put it on a bumper sticker. And the bumper sticker won.
- [11:12]
A
Yes.
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B
So the reality is. I'm saying that's a good thing. I don't think it's a good thing. But the reality is, most people who are listening to this podcast think that somebody's going to sit down, pour a glass of scotch and consider your offer and try to figure out and want to hear your story.
- [11:30]
A
They're not okay here.
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B
Not. They have to hear a sound bite that makes them go, okay, well, hold on. Let me. Let me listen to more. Let me read this person's book or whatever. And in almost every messaging campaign, almost every company, almost every government institution, what's missing are those short soundbites.
- [11:48]
A
Is a sound bite different than, you know, what I learned from you through StoryBrand a long time ago is just say what you do, make it simple.
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B
Yes.
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A
And so on our website, we have a new website coming out and we say something along the lines of, we help female founders make more money.
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B
Yes.
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A
That's what we do. But that's not a sound bite, right? Oh, yeah, that would be our sound bite.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Okay.
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B
That's a good sound bite.
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A
Okay.
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B
It's, you know, a good sound bite is short, memorable. You've done two things right in that sound bite. You identified an audience. You said somebody's name. Female founders, I realize that's not their name, but it's as close, it's pretty
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A
close to they know who they are
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B
and then make more money is a survival asset.
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A
Okay.
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B
So the only thing that gets people's attention, period, is survival. The only thing anybody has ever purchased, they purchase to increase their chances of survival. You know, even like we're talking about the clothes we're wearing, there's a little bit of status there, there's a little bit of comfort, a little bit of self esteem. All that is connected to survival in a first world economy. If we were in a third world economy, we'd be talking about food and shelter. But human beings are drawn to survival. So unless you have a sound bite that helps me understand how you can help me survive, I am probably going to ignore you.
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A
Okay. That's big because. Is that what you mean by. I saw you once talk about the problem. It needs to be problem focused.
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B
The quickest way to trigger a survival instinct to somebody is to say, here's this problem which is a threat to your survival, and I've made a product that helps you mitigate that threat.
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A
Okay.
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B
Or conquer that threat.
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A
Yes.
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B
And so if you can put, you know, protecting refinery. Well, think about the word protect.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Word protect means something's coming after your throughput.
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A
Yes, yes.
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B
So it's triggering a. And also, if I'm protecting you, I am your guard, you are the hero, I'm the guide. Helping you in the day so much in just three little words. Yes, but. But. Yeah. So that's, I think what's missing from, from most people's messaging strategy and what we see is the. Just getting that right, which does take a little bit of time, but just getting that right can dramatically increase those. I'm just leaving my mastermind today. We met this morning and I would say there's about 40 people in the mastermind, at least 10 of them, since coming up with their survival sound bites, have doubled their business.
- [14:03]
A
That's Insane.
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B
Nobody in the Mastermind has not grown their business. Nobody. Everybody has grown. But I would say 25% of them have seen a 100% increase just in piquing people's curiosity because it's just so hard to get attention.
- [14:17]
A
So hard. Okay. So I know you can't lay it all out in one episode, but someone's asking, how do I come up with it, Don? Like, how do I figure out my survival sound bite?
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B
Yeah, well, the mo. There's. There's. I want to talk about five.
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A
Okay.
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B
The first one is the problem soundbite, and it's by far the most important.
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A
Okay.
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B
I would say it's 50% of your messaging campaign is just getting the problem sound bite. Right.
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A
Okay.
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B
And then there's the empathy sound bite, answer, change, and end result. So let me go through them really quick. The problem sound bite is you articulating what problem you help people solve. And so I'm a messaging guy. So if I say something to the effect of. A lot of people have trouble describing what they do in such a way, people are interested or describing their offer in such a way people want to buy it, or communicating their idea in such a way, people want to engage. When they can't figure out what to say, they call me. So that's a problem. They can't figure out what to say. And I've just positioned myself as the solution to the problem.
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A
Yes.
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B
Now, when I say that to somebody, when I say I'm a messaging guy, when people can't figure out how to talk about what they do in such way, people listen. I'm the guy they call. I've never had anybody not sort of turn down the radio and say, tell me about this, or will you look at my website? Because we assume that people, products, ideas that are solutions to problems are worth more.
- [15:47]
A
Yes.
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B
In other words, the value, literally the reason people value your podcast is because it's solving problems for them every time they listen.
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A
Okay. That makes perfect sense.
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B
Yeah. Makes perfect sense for women. You know, women feel like, well, you know, we're different. It's a different world for us. All of that, by the way, completely true. I need a perspective that I trust somebody who's done it before me, somebody who can curate wisdom that would give me a strategic advantage as I try to build my company. You hear what I'm saying? Survive, Survive, survive, survive, survive.
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A
Yes, I'm hearing it. Okay.
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B
And so I. You know, that's the first thing you want to do, is you want to get that problem sound bite. Right.
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A
Okay.
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B
And that often takes a minute.
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A
Yeah.
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B
You know, it takes a minute to figure it out. In fact, when I talk to my group at rti, say, hey, what's the differentiator with rti? Why do people keep doing business with you? What's the controlling idea that make refineries want to do business with you? And they came back with, it's our people. And they wanted, you know, a tagline, it's our people, and our people are great. And I said, you sound like a staffing firm.
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A
Yes.
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B
That is not a clear articulation of what you actually do. What you actually do is make refineries more money. So how can we articulate that in such a way? That. And that's how we came up with protecting refinery throughput.
- [16:58]
A
How do you know if you've got that right?
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B
The. The number one way to know is your sales skyrocket.
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A
Okay.
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B
I mean, that's really it.
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A
Okay.
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B
At the end of the day, you don't really know.
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A
Okay.
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B
Now I can tell you because I've done this long enough, I can go. That's not going to work.
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A
Okay.
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B
But you do have to test it a little bit. And, you know, it takes them back and forth and you dial it in. The nice thing is once you dial it in, you're done.
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A
You're done.
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B
Yeah.
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A
It'll work.
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B
It'll work forever.
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A
Okay. So that's the problem. 1. But you mentioned others.
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B
Yeah. So the next one is empathy.
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A
Okay.
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B
And so effectively what you're doing, these five sound bites, is you're inviting the customer into a story.
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A
Oh, you have multiple sound bites.
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B
There's five.
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A
Okay, gotcha.
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B
It's a problem, empathy, answer, change, and end result.
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A
And you want all of them.
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B
P, E, A, C, E. Okay.
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A
And you want all five of them.
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B
You want all five of them. If you use one, you will see an increase in engagement.
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A
Dang.
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B
This is powerful. All five are great.
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A
Okay, I want all five. So the next one. Empathy.
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B
The next one is empathy. And so what I would say is, you know, let's say we're talking about your brand. You're talking about a brand that specifically helps women grow their businesses and make more money. Your problem sound bite might be something like, the way a woman runs a business is very different than the way a man might run a business. Or the challenges to women growing a business are very different than unique than a man trying to grow a business in the world that we're living in. You would say, Amy, you would say, I understand and empathize with. And as soon as you say, I understand and empathize with your journey, I feel your pain. Remember Bill Clinton? Are you old enough to go, I feel your pain.
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A
I am old enough.
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B
Empathy creates a bond, does two things, creates a bond between you and the customer, but it also immediately makes you the authority. Oh, so now you're the person helping them overcome the problem. Okay, now also, what happens, the third thing, when you express empathy, you become a survival asset for them. So if you're dealing with something, let's say, let's just make something up, you have like a locust infestation on your property, and you live here long enough, you will, you know. And so I call and I say, amy, I heard there's like a billion locusts. We dealt with this two years ago. I really feel for you. Am I now a survival asset for you? Absolutely. So that it's the same thing.
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A
Yes. Okay.
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B
Or you meet somebody and they're in their 50s and they're in great shape and they're like, oh, yeah, I actually discovered this thing. I feel for you. You're tired at 2:00'. Clock. Yeah, we can deal with that. There's something of that when you understand and think about it like this. The problem soundbite identifies a hole that your customer is in. Okay, Every story is about a hero who has fallen into a hole and needs help getting out. That's every movie you've ever seen. Yes, the hole is metaphorical, but it's a hole. If I am a female entrepreneur trying to grow a business and I've never done this before and I don't really trust anybody to help me, that's a hole. Now, you come to the edge of the hole and you shout into the hole, hey, I feel for you.
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A
I've been there.
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B
I used to be there. In fact, I've known thousands of women who have fallen into this hole. That's the empathy sound bite. And then what you want to do to get them out of the hole is you throw a rope into the hole that they can climb up out of the hole. And that's the answer. SOUNDBITE and the answer SOUND BITE is, I have an on demand course, or I have a live workshop, or I have a book, or I have a subscription program, or I have a podcast. Whatever that is has to be the way that they get out of the hole.
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A
Okay?
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B
And so now you see how the
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A
story's unfolding and loving this. Yes.
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B
So, and then there's the change sound bite. Now, change sound bite is optional. You don't have to have it. I've even thought about taking it out, but I kind of like that it spells peace. So I want to keep it for that reason. But the change sound bite is icing on the cake. And it's basically, once you get out of this hole, you are going to be a better version of yourself. So, Amy, you could say to your people, you could say, the point of this podcast is to transform you into a competent, capable female business owner.
- [21:11]
A
I was gonna say my women wanna feel more confident.
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B
Yes.
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A
Yes. So that would be the change.
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B
The idea of a confident business owner might be your change salary. It is the aspirational identity. Okay, so, for example, I've taken on the challenge of a messaging campaign running for president of Mexico. He hasn't announced yet.
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A
Okay, this is a big deal.
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B
It's a very big deal. He's an oligarch. He's worth 13 billion. He can probably win it. There's a lot going on there, but he can probably win it. The change soundbite that the entire presidential campaign will revolve around is the coalition of the fearless. So the problem is going to choose is fear. Fear. And he's going to say, the Mexican people are trapped by fear. And we are afraid of three things. To get sick because our healthcare won't take care of us. We are afraid we're going to run out of money because our economic system is in shambles. And we're afraid we're going to get mugged because crime is so bad.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And then he's going to say, I am going to go after everything that you're afraid of and I'm going to take it down. We cannot be dominated by fear anymore. We will be the coalition of the fearless. If you want to join the coalition of the fearless, vote for me. So he's given them an aspirational identity. But you can see every business can do this. Whether it's, I'm going to transform you into a great dad. If I were a dog trainer, the aspirational identity would be going to transform you into the master of your house. Because right now, that dog is the master of your house for sure.
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A
For sure.
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B
So that's that change. Sound bite. And then the end result. Sound bite is the happy ever after. So that the Mexican economy can grow from 17th largest GDP in the world to the top 10. So that you don't, you can walk the streets at night and not be afraid. So that you can, you know, you can. You're not afraid to get sick because you know Our healthcare program is going to take care of you. That's the sort of the new world that you are creating for people. So just those five sound bites, Problem, empathy, answer, change, end result, serve as the foundation for an entire messaging campaign and the more disciplined you are. And he's not allowed to give a speech without talking about one of those five soundbites. No social media post can go out. The name of his book needs to be a country unafraid. A new vision for Mexico. It all has to be. It all has to revolve around the controlling idea, which is we will no longer be dominated by fear.
- [23:42]
A
Okay, I have to interrupt just for a second. You know that free training that I mentioned earlier? Well, if you're a female founder making 150k or more, and any of the following sound familiar, I created this training for you. Like exactly for you. Okay, so first, if you have a great month but then can't figure out how to repeat it, this training's for you. Or you feel incredibly capable of earning and operating at a higher level, but your business feels stuck at this intermediate level, get on the training. And third, as much as you work, you're still the bottleneck because in order for the business to grow as it exists today, it requires you to show up more, which is physically impossible. If any of these apply to you, then the revenue consistency formula is designed to fix it. I'm going to help you pinpoint what's really driving your results so you can recalibrate your business to start driving those results on its own instead of requiring you for every dollar, every lead, and every decision. So go to amyporterfield.com training right now and save your seat. Deal. Okay, let's get back to the show. Okay, talk to me about the controlling idea. That's a big part of this. We haven't talked about that yet. Okay, so what is the controlling idea?
- [25:00]
B
The controlling idea is what the messaging campaign is about. And it comes from the screenwriting industry of like, what is this movie about? Okay, well, this movie is about a couple who. Or a man who falls in love with a woman, but the woman is in love with his con artist brother. You know, that tells you the whole movie. That's what it is. Now, if I say. But there's also kind of a weight loss theme to the movie. And then it's also about a dog who gets lost in the wood and finds a way way home, we've lost the plot of the movie. The movie can be about one thing.
- [25:33]
A
Okay.
- [25:33]
B
Or you'll lose the audience. And I would say your business, if you're listening to me, can only be about one thing.
- [25:39]
A
Okay.
- [25:40]
B
If you have a second thing, start a second business.
- [25:42]
A
This is really big what you just said, because many of the people listening right now, they're going to say, well, wait, but I have two different audiences. I have this person and that person. And I'm always saying, let's just choose one. And, and do you agree with that, like we have? Well, maybe you don't. One audience that your business says one thing.
- [26:01]
B
Well, it's contextual.
- [26:02]
A
Okay, talk to me about that.
- [26:04]
B
So let's go back to the rti, the oil and gas board. Protecting refinery throughput.
- [26:11]
A
Yes.
- [26:12]
B
Is the one thing the business is about.
- [26:14]
A
Okay.
- [26:15]
B
Now, conveniently, the three enemies of refinery throughput are akin to the three products they sell.
- [26:25]
A
Oh, well, that works.
- [26:25]
B
So for instance, and it just happens to be true because they create products that increase refinery throughput. But the three enemies are downtime. So the longer that refinery is down, the worse your throughput is because your throughput is zero. Well, they do a turnaround service that costs millions of dollars. And that is what we do to keep you, to defend you against downtime.
- [26:46]
A
Okay.
- [26:47]
B
Also constraints. So the amount of crude and petroleum that you can get through the refinery if the refinery is not in optimal condition lessens. And there's a constant war on that. So their cleaning chemicals that clean fin fans and all sorts of things decrease constraints. And then the third is complacency. That is not really wanting to figure out what new technologies are out there or what processes we can use. And their consulting arm tackles complacency. Okay, so it's about one thing in three ways.
- [27:21]
A
Okay.
- [27:22]
B
Does that make sense?
- [27:22]
A
It does.
- [27:23]
B
So it doesn't mean that you can't have multiple revenue streams.
- [27:27]
A
Okay.
- [27:28]
B
However, they also clean airplane engines. And we would say that doesn't fit the narrative that needs to be spun off into a different business.
- [27:36]
A
Okay, so this is.
- [27:37]
B
And that business is about one thing. Cleaning airplane engines.
- [27:40]
A
Okay, so let's take, I don't know, an example. Let's take an example. Kind of in my world, maybe a woman building a health business. So she helps women with optimal health.
- [27:52]
B
Right.
- [27:53]
A
Okay, so what would it look like? She has multiple streams of income, but she does one thing.
- [27:58]
B
Yeah.
- [27:59]
A
So does she need to say, I help women in menopause and that is what she does.
- [28:03]
B
She would say something like, I help women live longer and look better.
- [28:07]
A
Okay. But that feels very general. Live longer.
- [28:10]
B
It feels general. It feels general and probably Too general.
- [28:14]
A
Okay.
- [28:15]
B
There's a term that we use called high cognitive load.
- [28:18]
A
Yes.
- [28:18]
B
And when I can't figure out what you do, it's high cognitive load makes
- [28:22]
A
you think really hard.
- [28:23]
B
Yeah. If you have to think hard, you have a high cognitive load message. So. And you're always kind of, kind of weighing out, do I go low cognitive load but incomplete or high cognitive load and address all the nuance in this situation. So again, hate political examples because they trigger so much, but build a Wall is zero cognitive load and extremely incomplete about immigration reform. However, wise choice. Because what that bumper sticker did was made people think they understood the issue and understand a simple solution. And when you come in and go, well, that's not the whole solution. There's this, this and that. I say people have just stopped listening to you, so now later they'll listen to you, but you have to make them curious and then they can read your white paper later. So when I say look better, live longer, that's kind of a nice tagline. But if we were to say something more specific, like get a custom peptide protocol to live longer. Okay, now we're were really close to the product at that point. And. And that honestly would probably do pretty well too. Okay, but if I said live longer, look better, and then I would introduce three things that helped your skin look good and you're, you know, reverse aging or whatever, those things, we would put those under that, that main messaging umbrella.
- [29:55]
A
Okay, that makes sense because, you know, you talked about the five different sound bites. One thing you said is no speech or social media, post or email or whatever has to cover at least one of them.
- [30:06]
B
Yes, because my question is stay on message.
- [30:08]
A
Stay on message. So my question was going to be, you don't have to hit all five of those in one email, Right? Okay, good. At least one of them.
- [30:16]
B
At least one of them. And preferably all five.
- [30:18]
A
I mean, really?
- [30:19]
B
Yeah, I mean, yeah, if you can,
- [30:21]
A
that would make sense. Like, you have this problem. I understand it. This is what I offer. Okay.
- [30:26]
B
So I could see that's exactly. He's running for president. And hopefully he will. He hasn't announced yet, but hopefully he will. And somebody says, why are you running for president? He might say, I'm running for president because I live in a country I don't recognize anymore. We are gripped by fear. We're afraid. We're afraid to leave our homes. We're afraid to get sick. We're afraid to do these things. Now it's the empathy. You know, I was once afraid, but I conquered my fear. I decided not to live under fear, and now I'm worth $13 billion. Amazing things happen when you conquer fear. And I want to help Mexico conquer fear. I don't want to see my country succumb to fear. You see what I'm saying?
- [31:04]
A
Yes.
- [31:05]
B
These are sound bites that he can dance around. And then that's the empathy. And the answer is, if you elect me president, we will go after everything that you were afraid of, and we will take it down. So that's the answer, Sound bite. If you elect me, I will solve the problem with you. And then there's the change. Sound bite. We're calling ourselves the Coalition of the Fearless. And if you are fearless, you are with us. So now there's an aspirational identity.
- [31:30]
A
Yes.
- [31:31]
B
Then the end result is this country will go from 17th in the world in GDP to top 10. If you elect me, you will not be afraid to go for a walk. You will not be afraid to get sick. You will not be afraid about your children's future. We just wrote a speech with five sound bites.
- [31:47]
A
Absolutely.
- [31:48]
B
And we've effectively identified a hole that his constituents are in. Threw a rope, empathize with him, said, I specifically care about people in this hole. I used to be in this hole myself, but I got out. Let me help you get out. Throws the rope into the hole, which is him.
- [32:01]
A
Yeah.
- [32:02]
B
And then identified the new identity that they have since they got out of the hole and painted a picture of a happy ever after. And the mind has no choice but to pay attention to that message.
- [32:14]
A
Yes.
- [32:15]
B
Because it's a narrative message, and human beings are just attracted to stories. And so that's why those five sound bites are so effective. And they become the core of your. Once you have them and take some time to get them, you memorize them, and then you just get used to bringing them up over and over and over inside of every conversation that you can have.
- [32:34]
A
Yeah. I could see how you get better and better at it. You just keep practicing it. For sure. I mentioned earlier about what we're putting on our website, and I want to come back to that because I saw you on Instagram talk about three. I think they're called silent questions. Is that what they were called?
- [32:49]
B
Probably subconscious questions.
- [32:50]
A
Subconscious questions that people will ask when they come to your website.
- [32:54]
B
Yes.
- [32:54]
A
What are the three?
- [32:55]
B
The three are what do you offer? So a lot of people even mess this up. I will go to their website. I've gone to websites before and spent seven, eight minutes, and I still don't know what you sell.
- [33:08]
A
Really?
- [33:09]
B
I know how long you've been in business. I know how long the struggles that you've had. You're trying to increase your great places to work metric. You were featured in USA Today, but you're not telling me what you sell. And so you've got to actually make it really, really clear. For example, I have a client in my mastermind who helps the parents of children struggling with anxiety.
- [33:33]
A
Okay.
- [33:34]
B
So if your kids are struggling with anxiety, he gives you some parenting coaching and some things like that. But you go to his website and you would know that he's somehow dancing around the world of mental health for kids. But I can't figure out what I would pay him to do.
- [33:49]
A
Okay, so when you say it does. But when you say what you sell, do you mean, like, do you have a course or a membership?
- [33:56]
B
Yes.
- [33:57]
A
Okay.
- [33:57]
B
Or you can buy hours from me as a counselor.
- [34:00]
A
Okay.
- [34:00]
B
Or something like that.
- [34:02]
A
So you need to make it very clear not just what you do, but what you sell, like what they can buy.
- [34:08]
B
Yes.
- [34:09]
A
Okay.
- [34:09]
B
That's exactly.
- [34:10]
A
Okay.
- [34:10]
B
It's a jar of peanut butter. You know, but it's amazing how many people don't do it.
- [34:15]
A
I see that.
- [34:16]
B
Yeah, yeah. So that's. That's the easy one.
- [34:18]
A
Okay. That's the first one.
- [34:18]
B
So what do you offer now? Here's. This one is extremely important. How will it make my life better? So your jar of peanut butter will not raise my cholesterol.
- [34:29]
A
Yes.
- [34:29]
B
Or your jar of peanut butter will not include the preservatives or whatever that. That could make me sick.
- [34:34]
A
So that thing you sell, how will that make my life better?
- [34:37]
B
How will make my life better? The best tasting peanut butter you've ever had. You know that. Okay, well, that makes my life better because I happen to like peanut butter.
- [34:44]
A
I love peanut butter.
- [34:45]
B
Yeah. So, you know, but they'll fail to put that on there. And then finally, what do I need to do to buy it? And I literally mean add to cart or buy now or go to the store and, you know, make sure to put this in your cart. Those three things I have to be able to. If I looked at your website for five seconds, Amy, like you just opened it up, silently, counted to five, and then shut it on me. I have to answer those three questions.
- [35:14]
A
Whoa, that feels.
- [35:16]
B
Or you're very difficult or you're losing a massive amount of sales.
- [35:18]
A
Okay, we need to talk about this. So a lot of people listening, they do live launches, so their offer isn't available at all times. Or they do masterminds or group coaching that's not available all the time. What do they do if what they sell is card open, cart close, I
- [35:37]
B
think you open it up. It's the same thing. If you are struggling with X, the best possible solution for you is to join my mastermind. Okay, so that's the problem.
- [35:48]
A
That's the problem.
- [35:49]
B
Like that's what you offer. I've also talked about the mastermind being the product. Okay, so I've got two of them right there. You have about three days left to join us, or we're capping it at a hundred or whatever that is.
- [36:01]
A
What about. It's capped, it's not open. Now you come to my website and.
- [36:05]
B
Oh, just join the wait list.
- [36:06]
A
Okay, so it's that simple. Yes, join the waitlist. Okay, gotcha. Yeah, so that's okay, you're not totally against something that's not available all the time.
- [36:14]
B
No, because, I mean we know that scarcity increases demand.
- [36:18]
A
Yes.
- [36:18]
B
And so that's not a problem.
- [36:20]
A
A problem. If you come to my website, you said I have five seconds or five minutes.
- [36:24]
B
Five seconds.
- [36:24]
A
I really need five minutes.
- [36:25]
B
No, you don't have five minutes.
- [36:27]
A
Okay, so five.
- [36:28]
B
Well, listen, you have five seconds and if you don't answer those three questions, I'm probably going to bounce. But if you answer those three questions, you have triggered my curiosity because you, I think you have something that can help me survive and I want to know more. So it's not that I'm going to buy from you, I'm just going to spend. You've earned the right to get more of my time.
- [36:44]
A
Okay, fair. So is it just all in the headline of your website, like, how do you say all of that in five seconds?
- [36:52]
B
Well, there is, we're getting into the advanced stages now, but there are three phases of a good messaging campaign. Curiosity, enlightenment, commitment.
- [37:02]
A
Okay?
- [37:02]
B
So the job of the header of your website is to pique curiosity. That's it. Now the only thing that piques curiosity is a zero cognitive load message that convinces me you, you are a survival asset.
- [37:14]
A
Okay, say that one more time.
- [37:15]
B
That's it. The only thing that will pique my curiosity is a zero cognitive load message that convinces me you are a survival asset. That's it.
- [37:24]
A
That's good.
- [37:25]
B
That's it. And so if you do that, then I move into the enlightenment phase. And really what I'm doing in the enlightenment phase is saying, okay, I suspect that this person is a survival asset. Let me do some due diligence here. And so I'm Going to watch some YouTube videos. I'm going to read the rest of your Now I'm getting more time book, whatever it is. I am getting time with you. And I'm becoming enlightened about whether or not. And then the commitment is the third phase. And that's where I give you money.
- [37:53]
A
Okay?
- [37:54]
B
So most brands listening to me, they do a really good job at Enlightenment, they do a horrible job at Curiosity, and they do a horrible job at commitment. And that's why your sales are bad. That's why people aren't interested in your brand. They literally cannot figure out why they should give you money.
- [38:14]
A
Yeah, that's a problem.
- [38:16]
B
Yeah. Because they can't figure out what problem you're actually solving. Okay, let me give you an example of how you have to do that. Let me give you an example of how simple this is, okay?
- [38:24]
A
Because it doesn't feel simple.
- [38:25]
B
It does not feel simple. Oura rings are these. It's a Fitbit for your finger. I used to wear one, but this is not an Oura ring. Oura rings do a lot. I wore one for like a year. They measure your heart rate, they measure your steps, they measure your hrv, they measure your sleep. They were doing fine. They did a bunch of focus groups and realized that if they focused only on sleep, that that would be a differentiator from Fitbit and these other things.
- [38:57]
A
Okay.
- [38:58]
B
So they released a big, giant, multimillion dollar campaign that positioned the Oura ring as a sleep lab on your finger.
- [39:07]
A
That's what I actually thought it was. So they must have got that message in front of me.
- [39:10]
B
Yes.
- [39:11]
A
Okay.
- [39:11]
B
But before that, that's not what it was.
- [39:13]
A
Oh, I didn't know that.
- [39:14]
B
No. It's like 12 things.
- [39:16]
A
Okay.
- [39:16]
B
But they realized we're going to sell a lot more of these if we pretend that this thing that does 12 things only does one thing.
- [39:22]
A
And what do you. Did it work?
- [39:24]
B
Yes.
- [39:24]
A
Okay.
- [39:24]
B
Good. Sales skyrocketed.
- [39:25]
A
Okay, I could see that. Okay, that's a great example.
- [39:29]
B
The human mind is not attracted to nuance. It's attracted to simplicity. So when they said, it's a sleep lab for your finger, it's going to give you a lot of sleep. And then people bought it to get better sleep and realized it also counts
- [39:42]
A
steps, they sold more.
- [39:44]
B
Where if they would have said, look, it's a sleep lab for your finger, it's also count steps, they would have tuned out. That's too much information for me to process. So the people like you and me who own companies, we're Always in this tension of, I want to explain everything that I do, but the more you explain, the less the person listens in the initial conversation.
- [40:11]
A
That right there is gold. If they walk away with nothing today,
- [40:15]
B
phase enlightenment does not work. And you will turn this person off, and they will go to the. To your competitor who's just saying, build a wall.
- [40:24]
A
Okay, Absolutely. So you just gave people permission to say, you don't have to tell me everything. You do.
- [40:30]
B
You. You better not.
- [40:31]
A
Don't. Okay. That was actually one of the last questions I was going to ask you, is there's so many women listening right now that say so much, and they do so much. They want to tell you everything, and you're saying that is the death of your message.
- [40:46]
B
I would say that it's very hard to get people to the enlightenment phase when you don't pique their curiosity first.
- [40:56]
A
Okay, Right.
- [40:57]
B
Think about this curiosity, enlightenment, commitment triangle. It comes from relationships. It's the triangle that psychologists have identified how people enter into relationships. You meet somebody and, Amy, let's say you and I went to the same college or you have a marketing degree. Believe it or not, I want to get to know you more because I sense you are a survival asset. So that means we have something in common. You're trying to build the same kind of business as me.
- [41:28]
A
Okay.
- [41:29]
B
I have a podcast that you can be on. You have a podcast that I can be on? As much as we like each other, it's kind of a trick, because we really were drawn to the fact that this girl knows what she's doing.
- [41:39]
A
Completely.
- [41:39]
B
You know what I mean? Yes. And nothing against that, but I find that women can sometimes be offended when you're. When you're like, look, I like you conditionally because you're. But men are, like, attracted to it. The only reason I want to hang out. These are your survival assets. I'm like, are you flirting? It's the exact opposite.
- [41:56]
A
Yes. We're very. Men and women are very, very different
- [41:59]
B
in that sense, but we really are drawn to people who are survival assets. And the. The more clearly they can articulate how they are a survival asset, the more we are drawn to them. Because, look, it's a hostile planet. There's a lot of threats. We are all worried about our survival. And so almost every move that we make is a decision to increase our chances of survival, including the relationships that we're in and the products that we buy. So you've got to have that sound bite that you repeat over and over and over again on your Website, on your business card, all that kind of stuff. That sound bite that makes me want to know more. And then I'll go to YouTube and learn more. I'll read a white paper or I'll go hear you speak, I'll read your book or whatever. But often what's missing is the survival sound bite.
- [42:48]
A
The Oura ring example is so good, because I think that gives a lot of people permission to say, I don't have to tell you everything the minute you hit my website. And are you saying that if you can find your differentiator to really double down, if it really is the thing that's going to separate you?
- [43:03]
B
Yes.
- [43:04]
A
Okay. That's goal.
- [43:05]
B
Yeah. You want to be disciplined and stay on message. Let me. Let me give you another example of how simple this is and yet how hard it is to pull off too much information. But my bathroom sink started clogging up because I shave over the sink, Right. And it got bad. It got to where it's like, hey, this is actually taking about 10 minutes to drain here. I need to do something about this. So I'm down at the local grocery store, grab my oatmeal, grab my peanut butter, whatever, and I come to the aisle with the Liquid Plumber and similar products. 30 of them.
- [43:34]
A
Yes.
- [43:35]
B
There. And I'm just going, you gotta be kidding me. Like, I don't know. I look down, and one of them, a brand that Liquid Plumber sells on the big letters on the bottle, it says, dissolves hair.
- [43:47]
A
And that's exactly.
- [43:48]
B
And that's what I bought.
- [43:49]
A
Yep.
- [43:49]
B
I grabbed it, put it in the cart, and walked away. Let me ask you this along with all your listeners.
- [43:54]
A
Just.
- [43:54]
B
Just guess. And I actually don't know the answer, so I shouldn't ask. Do you think over or under that that those two words make them more than 10 million extra dollars a year?
- [44:04]
A
Absolutely.
- [44:04]
B
Yeah. I would say probably 50.
- [44:06]
A
Yeah.
- [44:06]
B
Just a guess why. A zero cognitive load message about how you can solve my problem. Yes, that's exactly. That's exactly why that is working.
- [44:16]
A
And it's stupid simple. It's not complicated at all. There's no layers to it. That's the thing. I think, especially women, we do this a lot. We want to get a little fancier. We want to over explain. We want to tell you a lot. And you're saying, don't hold back. You could do that later in your books and in your podcast and all of that. But the first initial, I come to your website, it's those three things.
- [44:40]
B
Yep.
- [44:40]
A
Yes.
- [44:41]
B
Yeah. If I Were selling in the bakery section of my local grocery store. Cupcakes.
- [44:46]
A
Yes.
- [44:47]
B
I would put on the packaging of that cupcake. Perfect for a girl's birthday party. Why? Because they don't have to think about it.
- [44:57]
A
Yes.
- [44:57]
B
Especially dads. They walk in and go, okay, this is perfect.
- [45:00]
A
So true. Done.
- [45:02]
B
Some of your sound bites need to think for your customer. Think for them, think for them, think for them. Put the thought in their head. Don't think. Don't get fancy, don't get clever. Clarity is always going to win the day.
- [45:17]
A
Clarity always wins. You always say confusion kills conversions.
- [45:21]
B
Yes. If you confuse, you'll lose is the way we say it.
- [45:24]
A
Yes. If you confuse, you lose. Don, thank you so very much.
- [45:28]
B
So fun.
- [45:29]
A
I know. I love it. I just wanted to talk about one thing with you, which is the sound bites, and we did exactly that. So thank you for this. Where can people go to learn more about everything that you do?
- [45:39]
B
Yeah. If you're struggling to figure out your message or your messaging campaign, you can go to. You can go to storybrand.com and@storybrand.com we've got some free resources, but we also just launched something called a messaging intervention. Oh. Where we will literally come into your building and look at all your material and tell you where your high cognitive load messages are. Then we will rewrite them for you. So we'll rewire, frame your website. We'll give you a new pitch deck. We'll give you an elevator pitch. And it takes about a month.
- [46:07]
A
Yeah.
- [46:07]
B
To get it all done. But we will literally give you the words that you need to grow your brand.
- [46:11]
A
Where do they go to learn about storybrand.com? oh, good.
- [46:13]
B
And just look for the messaging intervention product.
- [46:15]
A
Perfect. Thank you.
- [46:16]
B
And I review every one of those. We only do 20amonth, so I do them really big.
- [46:20]
A
Okay. I can give you the best testimonial for that. One day we were at your place, we were doing some story brand training, but you weren't supposed to be a part of it.
- [46:28]
B
Right.
- [46:28]
A
And it was at Don's house, where. Which was really special up in. What do you call that?
- [46:32]
B
Carriage house.
- [46:33]
A
Carriage House. So you just kind of floated in just to say hello. We had our website up. You just looked at it. You reviewed what we thought. We had our biggest launch for that.
- [46:43]
B
Is that right?
- [46:44]
A
Yes, for that sales page. So what you do is incredibly powerful. So thank you so very much.
- [46:49]
B
My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
- [46:52]
A
The thing I want you to sit with from this conversation is simple. You have an offer that works. You have results that prove. Prove it. And the right words will make the right people finally see it. That's what a sound bite does. It's the short, repeatable phrase that makes someone stop and say, this is exactly what I need. And when you have it, everything you're already creating starts working the way it was always supposed to. So go find your controlling idea this week. One problem. One sentence. Put it at the top of your homepage. Put it in the first, first line of your next email, in the opening of your next piece of content. Say it until the right people start saying it back to you. That's when you'll know you have it. If you got something out of this episode, share it with a business owner in your life who's been rewriting the same homepage paragraph for months. And if you're not yet following the show on your favorite podcast app or subscribed on YouTube, do that now so you never miss a conversation like this one. I can't wait to talk to you again soon.