Skill.md
name: storybrand-messaging-framework
description: Use StoryBrand for "clarify my message", "rewrite my homepage", "create a BrandScript", "what is my one-liner", or "fix my CTA".
license: "Skill distillation for personal/educational use. Do not reproduce source passages verbatim."
StoryBrand Messaging Framework
Overview
Use this skill to apply Donald Miller's StoryBrand SB7 framework to brand messaging, website copy, fundraising appeals, product positioning, sales pages, and marketing assets. The skill turns a confusing offer into a clear customer-centered story: the customer is the hero, the brand is the guide, the offer solves a real problem, and the next action is obvious.
When to Use This Skill
Invoke this skill when the user asks: "Help me create a BrandScript", "Clarify my message", "Rewrite my homepage using StoryBrand", "Does this pass the grunt test?", "What is my one-liner?", or "Am I positioning myself as the hero or the guide?"
Core Principle
Clear messaging beats clever messaging. The user must leave with copy that quickly answers what is being offered, how it improves the customer's life, and what the customer should do next.
The SB7 Framework
Architecture decision: This remains a single-file skill. BrandScripts, homepage reviews, one-liners, CTA design, and asset rewrites all use the same tightly coupled seven-step SB7 sequence, so subskills would add routing cost without improving output quality.
1. A Character
The customer is the hero, not the brand. Name the customer's concrete want before writing any brand copy. If the user provides many audiences or goals, ask them to pick the primary buyer for this pass.
2. Has a Problem
Customers buy relief from internal frustration, not only solutions to external problems. Diagnose external, internal, and philosophical problem levels and choose the one most likely to move the customer.
3. Meets a Guide
The brand must be the guide, not a competing hero. Write one empathy line and one authority line. If proof is missing, mark it as a gap and suggest what evidence to collect.
4. Gives Them a Plan
A confused buyer does not move. Produce a simple process plan and, when trust is low, an agreement plan that names guarantees, standards, or commitments.
5. Calls Them to Action
Customers do not act unless challenged to act. Always output both direct and transitional CTAs unless the channel only permits one.
6. Helps Them Avoid Failure
Stakes make action meaningful, but fearmongering breaks trust. Add one concise stakes statement, then quickly move to the success outcome.
7. Ends in Success
The brand must paint the customer's successful future. End major copy outputs with a before/after transformation and an aspirational identity statement.
Query Response Framework
For a complete messaging request, identify the product, customer, desired outcome, and buying action; fill the seven SB7 elements; flag missing proof, vague customer definition, weak stakes, or unclear CTA; then extract reusable messaging assets.
For website review, apply the grunt test: what is offered, how it improves life, and what to do next. Audit the hero headline, subheadline, CTA, problem section, guide proof, plan, stakes, and success language. Rewrite the highest-impact sections first.
For one-liners, use:
We help [customer] who struggle with [problem] get [solution] so they can [success].
Output Format
## StoryBrand Diagnosis
- Customer:
- Primary desire:
- Main problem:
- Current clarity issue:
## BrandScript
1. Character:
2. Problem:
- External:
- Internal:
- Philosophical:
- Villain:
3. Guide:
- Empathy:
- Authority:
4. Plan:
5. Calls to action:
- Direct:
- Transitional:
6. Failure avoided:
7. Success:
## Copy Assets
- One-liner:
- Tagline options:
- Website hero:
- CTA set:
## Priority Fixes
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
CITATION RULES
When making substantive StoryBrand-method claims, cite the quote files if the user asks for sources or if the answer is a formal audit.
quotes/main-framework-quotes.md: SB7 rules, clarity, guide positioning, plan, CTA, stakes, transformation.quotes/storybrand-principles-quotes.md: broader StoryBrand principles and implementation reminders.
Anchor mapping is complete in SKILL.md, including #think-different-lesson and #tidal-fatal-mistake from storybrand-principles-quotes.md.
Use only exact quote text from the quote files. If no exact quote fits, cite the closest anchor and state that the analysis is a paraphrased application.
Critical Reminders
- Customer first, company second.
- Clarity beats cleverness.
- Internal problems often matter more than external ones.
- Every serious page needs a direct CTA.
- Use stakes honestly and briefly.
- End with a concrete vision of success.