Summary
The main takeaway is a wake-up call 📣: if people, including your own family, can't easily explain what your business does, it's a clear sign you need to improve both your message (the words you use) and your marketing plan (the engine that carries those words).
Wednesday – August 20, 2025
This blog post was written by Vicky Franzsen, an ars team member specializing in StoryBrand and Duct Tape marketing.
Let’s start with a simple test.
Ask the next three people you meet to briefly look at the first part of your home page (give them a few seconds) and then try to explain your business.
If you get three different answers (or just three long pauses and a nervous laugh) that’s a messaging problem. And it’s more common than you think.
Most business owners can’t explain what they do without launching into a six-paragraph origin story. Their websites are worse. Beautiful, sure. But clear? Usually not.
And that’s where things start to unravel.
I’m Vicky Franzsen, StoryBrand Certified Guide, Duct Tape Marketing Strategist, and someone who’s worked with hundreds of businesses that do great work but struggle to talk about it. If that’s you, you’re not the only one.
“Never assume people understand how your brand can change their lives. Tell them.” – Donald Miller
Here’s The Truth: Clarity Beats Cleverness:
The best marketing doesn’t win awards. It wins customers.
That’s why I use two frameworks that cut through the nonsense and actually move the needle: StoryBrand and Duct Tape Marketing.
If you’ve heard of them but never really understood what they are or why they work together, I’m here to clear things up.
Let’s dive in.
First, What Is StoryBrand?
StoryBrand is a messaging framework created by Donald Miller. The basic idea? Your business is not the hero. Your customer is.
You’re the guide.
Think Yoda, not Luke.
Using the seven-part StoryBrand Framework, you learn how to clearly articulate what your customer wants, what’s getting in their way, how you help, and what life looks like after they work with you.
In plain English: it helps you stop rambling about features and start saying things people understand and care about.
StoryBrand Helps You:
- Clarify your website copy
- Create a one-liner that doesn’t cause blank stares
- Write emails people might actually open
- Build trust with customers by showing you get their problems
If you’ve ever heard someone say, “We help busy professionals leverage scalable solutions to maximize transformation,” then StoryBrand is the thing that prevents you from sounding like that.
And What About Duct Tape Marketing?
Created by John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing is a small business marketing system built around strategy first.
Where StoryBrand helps you say the right things, Duct Tape Marketing helps you do the right things in the right order. It’s not another marketing trend or magic funnel.
It’s a step-by-step process for building a practical, sustainable system that brings in leads and nurtures them without burning out your team or your wallet.
“Do you really have a business without being able to reach and motivate a customer?” – John Jantsch
Duct Tape Marketing Helps You:
- Define your ideal customer
- Nail your core difference
- Build a marketing hourglass (like a funnel, but smarter)
- Prioritize tactics that make sense for your goals
Together, StoryBrand and Duct Tape Marketing give you a message and a map. Without either, you end up with content that sounds nice but leads nowhere or a bunch of tactics duct-taped together with no clear message.
So, Why Do You Need This?
Because what most small businesses do is this: they try a little of everything and hope something sticks.
- A few Facebook Ads here
- A blog or two when someone remembers
- A website that someone’s cousin built in 2017
- An email list that hasn’t heard from you since before the pandemic
The result? No system. No clarity. Just noise.
But when you combine StoryBrand’s clear messaging with Duct Tape’s practical structure, you end up with something rare in marketing: a plan that actually works.
You can finally:
- Speak directly to your ideal customer
- Know where each piece of marketing fits
- Stop guessing and start measuring
- Build momentum without burnout
And you’ll look wildly competent in meetings, which is a nice bonus.
Can’t I DIY This?
In theory, sure. You could read Building a StoryBrand and The Ultimate Marketing Engine, download a few templates, and give it a shot. And that’s a solid start.
But here’s the thing: you’re inside your business. That means you’re too close to explain it clearly.
You know too much.
You see the nuances, the options, the exceptions. You’ve got five types of clients and seven offers and twelve things you want to say on the homepage. You’re not wrong—but your customer is overwhelmed. They need clarity, not detail.
This is why even great businesses often fail to explain what they do.
And if your message isn’t clear, nothing else will work. Not your ads. Not your emails. Not your sales.
So yes, you can try to piece this together yourself.
But if you want to save time, avoid marketing debt, and get actual results? You need someone who’s done this before. Someone who’s trained in both frameworks—and knows how to apply them to a business like yours.
Why Work With Us?
Because you’re not just hiring a freelancer who’s dabbled in StoryBrand or skimmed a few blog posts on strategy.
You’re getting the real thing delivered through a partnership between A Rejected Stone and me, a certified StoryBrand Guide and Duct Tape Marketing Strategist. We use these frameworks every day in real businesses, not just in theory, and not just for enterprise tech companies with 15-person marketing teams. We work with real people. Overwhelmed business owners. The ones wearing 12 hats and just trying to make the phone ring.
We’ve helped:
- A security firm increase leads through a clearer homepage copy
- A virtual assistant business go from scattered messaging to a clear lead generation funnel
- A consultancy boost conversions by simplifying their services page
And we didn’t do it by reinventing the wheel. We just helped them use the wheel properly.
Why Not Just Hire a Cheaper Provider?
Fair question. You probably could.
There are plenty of people who say they use StoryBrand. Some even think they are. But sprinkling in words like “clarity” or “guide” doesn’t mean you’re applying the framework correctly, let alone building a system around it.
That’s the difference.
We don’t just write clearer copy. We build the entire marketing engine that supports it.
We’re not guessing what to do next. We have a plan, a proven system, and years of experience adapting it to small businesses that don’t have time (or budget) to waste.
What Happens When You Work With Us?
You stop second-guessing everything.
No more wasting money on tactics that don’t work. No more staring at your website wondering why it’s not converting. And no more awkward silences when someone asks what you do.
Instead, you start getting leads that actually fit. You feel confident in your message. And you know exactly what to prioritize next.
We guide you through clarifying your message using the StoryBrand framework, then help you build a simple, strategic marketing system using Duct Tape Marketing. Along the way, we create the assets and execution plan you need to finally make it all work together.
No hype. No nonsense. Just a clear message and a solid system.
Conclusion
You’ve got the gist: StoryBrand helps you talk about what you do in a way that actually makes sense to your audience. Duct Tape Marketing helps you put that message into a system that actually works.
But knowing the frameworks is one thing. Applying them is another.
In the next post, I’ll show you what this actually looks like in the real world. I’ll walk you through a few success stories, what we did (and didn’t) do, and what it takes to get started without overwhelming your team or your bank account.
Or if you’re too eager to wait, schedule a call today.
Because if three strangers (and your mom) still can’t explain what you do, it’s past time to fix the words and the engine that carries them.
Together, We Can Do This!
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