Marketing Made Simple #4: What Specific Problem Do You Solve For Customers?
Release Date: 07/14/2021
#50: You Don't Have to Be the Hero to Change the World
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at Every brand has a story, but not every brand knows how to tell it well. We often skip over the hard parts, thinking they make us look weak. But those moments are what make us human and help people connect. The truth is, your most powerful message isn’t the perfect version of your story. It’s the honest one. When you reframe your story to show what you’ve been through and how it changed you, you build trust. You help people see themselves in your journey. So how do you tell your story in a way that actually connects and makes an...
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#49: Why Your Team Isn’t Rallying Around Your Message
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at A confused team can’t sell a clear product. Period. If your executive team can’t clearly articulate your mission, you’re already losing ground. You think you’ve cast a vision, but no one’s catching it. Instead, you’re running a business with a fractured identity where every department is chasing a different goal, and your customers are left scratching their heads. Misalignment is more than just a leadership issue. It’s a revenue problem. So before you fix your marketing, fix your mission. But how do you align your people...
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#48: How to Grow a Consulting Business in Uncertain Times
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com Running a marketing consulting business is never simple. In uncertain times, it’s even harder. Clients are cautious, timelines stretch, and budgets shrink. You know your services create real results, but closing new business feels tougher than ever. If you're not clear and confident in your message, potential clients will hesitate or move on. And the longer you stay vague or unfocused, the more you're stuck in survival mode instead of scaling. So how do you position yourself as the obvious choice, especially...
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#47: Why Narcissists Rise to Power and What Self-Aware Leaders Do Differently
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com Leadership success often hinges on a trait many people misunderstand: self-awareness. In today's fast-paced world, leaders are surrounded by noise: social media flattery, AI-generated validation, and constant feedback loops that create more confusion than clarity. And while confidence is essential, when it crosses into narcissism, the fallout can be devastating. Think Enron, Lehman Brothers, or any organization led by someone blind to their own flaws. Narcissistic leaders may get results, but the cost is often burnout,...
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#46: Amy Porterfield — How to Pivot Your Business Without Losing Your Audience
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com Most entrepreneurs eventually feel the pull to pivot, but that shift can come with real risk. You’ve worked hard to build trust, grow your audience, and establish your expertise in one lane. So when it’s time to evolve, how do you shift your messaging without confusing your audience or breaking what’s already working? This is the tension: stay in your lane too long and you stagnate. Jump too fast and you lose everything. So how do you navigate that transition with clarity and confidence? In this week's...
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#45: The 5 Soundbites that Will Grow Your Business
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com Most businesses struggle to explain what they do in a way that actually gets people interested. You tweak your website copy, add more content, and keep pitching your product, but the reaction is lukewarm at best. Why? Because you’re missing the most critical part of a messaging strategy, what Donald Miller calls the “5 front steps.” Think of your brand as a house. Without these front steps, you're essentially asking customers to leap onto your front porch with no ladder in sight. It's a recipe for lost sales. So...
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#44: Could Niching Down Be the Fastest Way to Scale?
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com If you’re offering your services to everyone, chances are nobody’s listening. Most businesses, especially coaches and consultants, waste valuable resources trying to speak to a crowd instead of their community. The result is confused messaging, unqualified leads, and no growth. If your marketing feels scattered or your offer is getting lost in the noise, it might be time to stop casting a wide net and start speaking directly to the people who truly need what you provide. What would happen if you focused your...
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#43: The Simple Tagline Formula That Sells More Every Time
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com Most taglines don’t work. They sound clever, but when customers see them, nothing happens. No interest, no sales, just crickets. That’s because most taglines are vague, confusing, or forgettable. And when people have to burn mental calories trying to figure out what your business actually does, they’ll just move on to the next option. If your tagline isn’t clearly offering something your customer wants, it’s not helping you. It’s costing you. So how do you make sure your tagline actually drives results?...
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#42: How to Create Facebook Ads That Beat the Competition Without a Big Budget
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com Businesses are burning cash on Facebook ads that just don’t work, and it’s not because of the algorithm. The real problem? Most companies are leading with clever headlines and flashy visuals instead of clear, curiosity-driven messaging. When your potential customer sees your ad, they’re not thinking about your brand, they’re thinking about their own survival. If your ad doesn’t speak to that in the first two seconds, you’ve already lost them. With ad costs going up and results going down, the stakes...
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#41: Codie Sanchez—The Messaging Playbook Behind Building a Thought Leader Brand
The StoryBrand Podcast
Get free marketing videos from Don every week at WeeklySoundbite.com So many entrepreneurs struggle to stand out because they sound like everyone else. They bury their message in jargon, chase every shiny object, or spread themselves too thin across platforms. The result? People tune out, engagement stalls, and the business that should be thriving ends up stuck. Attention is the currency of today’s economy. And without a sharp, repeatable message, you won’t earn it. So how do you cut through the noise and become the go-to voice your audience can’t ignore? In today's...
info_outlineCan you name the specific problem your business solves for your customers? Identifying your customers' problem deepens their interest in the story you invite them in and shows you truly understand them. It’s the “hook” of your story, but without it, your customers have no reason to engage with your brand causing your story to fall flat.
This week, J.J. and April guide you through the Problem section of the StoryBrand framework and how you can:
-Clearly identify the problem you solve
-Breakdown that problem into Three Levels of Conflict your customers are facing
-Implement problem-language into your marketing and messaging
J.J. also talks with Aleya Harris, one of our amazing StoryBrand Certified Marketing Guides, who shares how she worked to specify the problem for a client who was stuck in the weeds trying to figure out exactly what they solved for their customers. Contact StoryBrand Certified Guide Aleya Harris at ClarifyYourMessage.com/Aleya-Harris.
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Clarify your messaging in only 48 hours by registering for the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream happening July 19th and 20th. Businesses that clarify their message and build a sales funnel are the ones that thrive in the marketplace. At the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream, you'll get both done in 48 hours AND get real time coaching in an online breakout room to make sure that you’re getting it right. Register now at StoryBrand.com.
Every week on Marketing Made Simple, marketing experts Dr. J.J. Peterson and April Sunshine Hawkins give you practical marketing tips rooted in the StoryBrand framework and show you how to invite customers into a beautiful story where they become the hero and you become their guide. And when you help your customers win, you win. Subscribe to weekly episodes, dropping every Wednesday in the Marketing Made Simple feed! Just search "Marketing Made Simple" on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you enjoy podcasts.
Begin applying the StoryBrand Framework to your marketing by creating your own BrandScript for FREE at MyStoryBrand.com.