Many business owners struggle to explain how they solve their customer’s problems. The StoryBrand one-liner helps them to better explain how their product (or service) will change their client’s life, so that they attract more of the right clients, close more deals and get their business growing again.
A StoryBrand one-liner is very much an elevator pitch. But a very different take on the usual elevator pitch.
Most importantly, the one-liner should be very clear on what the end result is for your client. What do they really get from working with you?
The 3 Main Elements
- Identify your customer’s problem
- Explain your plan to help them
- Describe a successful ending to their story
Keeping with the Karate Kid analogy, here is an example of a one-liner for Mr Miyagi:
Many teenage boys suffer from poor self-confidence because of bullying. At Mr Miyagi’s Karate Dojo, we train them in karate so that they get fitter, stronger and mentally tougher so that they are confident in facing any challenges that life throws at them.
Or another possible version (this time aimed at the parent instead of the teenager):
Many parents are concerned about their kids being bullied. At Mr Miyagi’s Karate Dojo, we use karate to teach these children independence, self-discipline and determination so that they can stand up to bullies and enjoy going to school again.
In this second example, you can see how Mr Miyagi’s customer is actually the parent. And their problem is the concern they have for their child who is being bullied. The successful ending is their child being excited about going to school again.
I would say that this second one-liner also hits the philosophical belief we learn about through StoryBrand. In this example, the philosophical belief would be “no one deserves to be bullied.”, or “all kids should enjoy and look forward to go to school”. Or perhaps “no child should be afraid of going to school”.
More example One-liners
Our first example is for a company who does used car sales. They do a bit differently though. They identified as “haggling with a salesman” as the massive painpoint, and they found a way to remove this completely from how they operate.
This is reflected in their one-liner, and I think you would agree that avoiding haggling with a car salesman, sounds ALOT more enjoyable than the alternative!
In the example below, we see what a financial advisor uses when talking about his business. I like how he hits the philosophical belief in this one (everyone deserves to have peace of mind about their finances).
The next one-liner is for a pet store that specializes in nutritional and natural dog food.
Below is the one-liner that StoryBrand themselves have used in the past. Who better to learn from than the people who invented the framework, right?
The StoryBrand One-liner video
Below is a great video by Donald Miller where he explains the one-liner concept, and where he gives a number of different businesses advice about their one-liners.
P.S. now that you have made it this far, go back to the top of this post, and check if you can see what formula was used to write the opening paragraph 🙂
