Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Building a StoryBrandClarify Your Message So Customers Will ListenBy Donald MillerHarperCollins PublishersCopyright 2017 Donald MillerAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-0-7180-3332-3ContentsIntroduction, ix, SECTION 1: WHY MOST MARKETING IS A MONEY PIT, 1. The Key to Being Seen, Heard, and Understood, 3, 2. The Secret Weapon That Will Grow Your Business, 15, 3. The Simple SB7 Framework, 29, SECTION 2: BUILDING YOUR STORYBRAND, 4. A Character, 45, 5. Has a Problem, 57, 6. And Meets a Guide, 73, 7. Who Gives Them a Plan, 85, 8. And Calls Them to Action, 95, 9. That Helps Them Avoid Failure, 107, 10. And Ends in a Success, 117, 11. People Want Your Brand to Participate in Their Transformation, 131, SECTION 3: IMPLEMENTING YOUR STORYBRAND BRANDSCRIPT, 12. Building a Better Website, 145, 13. Using StoryBrand to Transform Company Culture, 157, The StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap, 171, Afterword, 209, Acknowledgments, 211, Praise for the StoryBrand Framework, 213, StoryBrand Resources, 219, Notes, 225, CHAPTER 1THE KEY TO BEING SEEN, HEARD, AND UNDERSTOODMost companies waste enormous amounts of money on marketing. We all know how mind-numbing it is to spend precious dollars on a new marketing effort that gets no results. When we see the reports, we wonder what went wrong, or worse, whether our product is really as good as we thought it was.But what if the problem wasn't the product? What if the problem was the way we talked about the product?The problem is simple. The graphic artists and designers we're hiring to build our websites and brochures have degrees in design and know everything about Photoshop, but how many of them have read a single book about writing good sales copy? How many of them know how to clarify your message so customers listen? And worse, these companies are glad to take your money, regardless of whether you see results or not.The fact is, pretty websites don't sell things. Words sell things. And if we haven't clarified our message, our customers won't listen.If we pay a lot of money to a design agency without first clarifying our message, we might as well be holding a bullhorn up to a monkey. The only thing a potential customer will hear is noise.Still, clarifying our message isn't easy. I had one client say that when he tried to do so, he felt like he was inside the bottle trying to read the label. I understand. Before I started StoryBrand I was a writer and spent thousands of hours staring at a blank computer screen, wondering what to say. That soul-wrenching frustration led me to create a "communication framework" based on the proven power of story, and I swear it was like discovering a secret formula. The writing got easier and I sold millions of books. After using the framework to create clear messages in my books, I used it to filter the marketing collateral in my own small company. Once we got clear, we doubled in revenue for four consecutive years. I now teach that framework to more than three thousand businesses each year.Once they get their message straight, our clients create quality websites, incredible keynotes, e-mails that get opened, and sales letters people respond to. Why? Because nobody will listen to you if your message isn't clear, no matter how expensive your marketing material may be.At StoryBrand we've had clients double, triple, and even quadruple their revenue after they got one thing straight their message.The StoryBrand Framework has been just as effective for billion-dollar brands as it has for mom-and-pop businesses, and just as powerful for American corporations as it has for those in Japan and Africa. Why? Because the human brain, no matter what region of the world it comes from, is drawn toward clarity and away from confusion.The reality is we aren't just in a race to get our products to market; we're also in a race to communicate why our customers need those products in their lives. Even if we have the best product in the