Episode Description

It’s been a wonderful year here on the Building a StoryBrand podcast. I want to say thank you to everyone for listening.

I know you’ve been busy this year growing your business. So we figured you may have missed some of our most popular guests or you could use a little review to really bring all this great wisdom home. Since it’s Christmas, we decided to wrap up all the practical advice from 2017 and give it to you in a single episode.

Tune in to Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe-Giver and founder of TOMS, for the first three hires you should make as you scale up your business. Charles Duhigg, author of Smarter Faster Better reveals how to build mental models to help you avoid wasting time on unimportant tasks. Professional storyteller, Tricia Rose Burt, gives you the story structure that will help you resonate with your audience. And Robert Sutton, author of The A-hole Survival Guide, will tell you how to avoid jerks at the office. We’ll finish with advice on how to close deals from Molly Fletcher, author of A Winner’s Guide to Negotiating.

We hope you’ve learned as much as we have from our guests this year. And we wish you a happy, healthy business that will bless you and your loved ones as it grows.

[LISTEN NOW]

#1: Scale up your business by hiring the right people.

Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe Giver and founder, TOMS

Since it’s not everyday you get to interview a world-renowned businessman, I took the opportunity to find out the key hires Blake made in the beginning to take his business to the bigtime. Then, we moved into Blake’s unusual take on employee titles (he thinks they’re ridiculous) and how to manage a growing team by giving up a little control. I loved Blake’s approach to running his business and I’m sure you will too.

[LISTEN TO EPISODE #61 ON iTUNES]

#2: Create mental models to become effective throughout your day.

Charles Duhigg, author of Smarter Faster Better

The human brain developed in a dangerous world. It learned how to deal with a variety of stimuli by focusing intently on the most obvious one. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Ferocious predator coming. Don’t worry about anything else but surviving. The problem is, we don’t live in that world anymore. Instead, we’re bombarded by stimuli, none of which are life-threatening. As a result, we descend into “cognitive tunneling” where the obvious distracts us from the important goals that will move our business forward. Charles explains more about cognitive tunneling and shows us how to put ourselves back in charge by creating mental models. This is a difficult concept to understand, but after you get it, you’ll have one of those “aha” experiences that will change the way you go about your day.

[LISTEN TO EPISODE #68 ON iTUNES]

#3: Use the structure of story to help your customers transform.

Tricia Rose Burt, professional storyteller

Your customers won’t be motivated to do business with you because of a long list of your product’s features. If you want to connect with your customers, you’ll need to connect with their emotions. And that’s where story comes in. Storytelling is the most effective method of bringing about change. So, if you’re trying to help your customers transform when they interact with your brand, you’re going to need some storytelling techniques to make that happen. Tricia reveals the key ingredients you need to tell a great story. She also helps you to connect with your audience by getting specific so the problems you talk about become universal. Tap into more storytelling insights from Tricia here.

[LISTEN TO EPISODE #67 ON iTUNES]

#4: Develop strategies for the toxic people you work with.

Robert Sutton, author of The A-Hole Survival Guide

Nobody wants to lose life hours to a bully. But different types of jerks require distinct strategies. In this episode, you’ll learn about the kinds of a-holes you might face in the workplace and some strategies to help you move forward no matter who they are. If you’re feeling pushed around by a jerk at work, tune in to learn how to stop getting pushed around.

[LISTEN TO EPISODE #59 ON iTUNES]

#5: Negotiate with people by connecting with them.

Molly Fletcher, author of A Winner’s Guide to Negotiating

As someone who has years of experience as a sports agent for professional athletes, Molly has a slew of knowledge about negotiating. Here you’ll learn how to set yourself up for success before you even come to the table. Molly also busts some myths about negotiating and helps to take the mystery out of it. Soon, you’ll be negotiating with ease and style and walking away with the deals you desire. Learn how here.

This is a clip from our episode featuring Chris Guillebeau.

[LISTEN TO EPISODE #62 ON iTUNES]

I’m really excited about the upcoming year. We’re busy lining up guests for 2018 to help you grow as a leader and take your business to a whole new level.

From the entire StoryBrand team,have a happy holiday today. Rest up and enjoy your family and friends. Can’t wait to help your business grow in 201

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