What a StoryBrand Website Actually Looks Like in Real Life

[00:00:00] Welcome to From Click to Client, where we transform a confusing message into a clear, compelling story that sells. I'm your host, Kris Jones, story brand marketing expert. I'm here to help you attract more dream clients with the power of story.

Kris: If you have a website and you're not getting clients from it, this episode is for you. Today I'm gonna take you inside a real client transformation, meaning you're gonna be able to see the before site, the during site, and the after site, and I'm gonna walk you through exactly what my client had before and what we changed to make it actually work for her.

So today I'm featuring my client Heidi Allsop of Heidi Allsop Coaching, and she has been such a, a joyful client to work with, and she has been generous enough to allow me to share her story today on the episode. So I'm very excited for you to all learn about her, and [00:01:00] also learn about the transformation that she went through so then you can apply those same learnings to your own website.

By the end of the episode, you're gonna understand what was broken with her first website, what we fixed, and then again, you can take this and apply it to your own website today. So let me show you what we're, we're originally working with. If you are on YouTube, great, you can watch along with me here. If you're listening to this, don't worry, you do not need to watch it.

I'm going to literally talk you through every detail, just kick back and you'll get to hear the transformation unfold. So let me show you what I'm working with here. So on the left is Heidi's original website. So this is what she had when she came to me, and some of the things that she was struggling with was really just fundamentally getting the amount of clients that she wanted. She wanted to work with people one-on-one. She wanted to grow her coaching practice to a point where she [00:02:00] could do group coaching.

She wanted to be able to charge more. She wanted to make more money. She really wanted to help and reach more people. So on her website, you'll see here on the left is a beautiful photo of Heidi, and, One of the things that Heidi did really well was that she got professional photos taken of herself.

And if you want to appear like a legitimate business, you really need to get photos taken of yourself. and in this day and age, you know, you can use ChatGPT to, to generate photos for you, but really nothing compares to a real photo of youtaken by a photographer who can really capture you and your essence.

So I wanna congratulate Heidi on taking the time and investing in getting photos done.

I also wanna congratulate Heidi on getting this website built and live. She did it herself. She, started her coaching business. She [00:03:00] bootstrapped her website, and I by no means wanna come off as critical of this website because really there's no shortcut through the phase of bootstrapping your business at the very beginning.

There's so much learning that happens when you build your own website, when you get your business off the ground, as far as just, like, learning the tech that you need to learn, but also figuring out the right words, figuring out what resonates. we all know in that first year or two of, of business when you DIY your own website, you know, you don't have to DIY your own website, but I find that the clients that I work with that have DIY'd their own website, they just have a deeper understanding of what works and what doesn't, and they feel more empowered to go back into the website once they have the right words and make those updates.

So kudos to Heidi for getting this website designed and built, for taking the time to get professional photos taken, and for following [00:04:00] her heart with the work that she is doing. What's incredible about Heidi is that she is a mom to five boys. Are you kidding me? Five boys, and her youngest boy is, about to graduate from high school in June, and so he's gonna be out of the nest here shortly.

So she's done such an incredible job with these boys that her mission in life is to help other moms of boys navigate those teenage years with more connection, and more peace. So anyway, that's, like, a little bit of o- an overview about Heidi, but what I wanna talk through on her website, so on the left we've got her before website, her old website.

The first thing I read when I land on her page is, "Free guide: The Boy Mom's Blueprint. Get my eight simple tips for moms to connect and engage with their sons." So couple things are going on here. number one, when somebody lands on your website, [00:05:00] you want to answer these three questions: What do you do?

How's it gonna make my life better? And what do you want me to do next? So those three questions that have to be answered right when somebody lands on your website are not being answered on Heidi's old website. She, is featuring her freebie. I'm a big believer in freebies, but there is a time and a place for a freebie to appear.

So asking somebody to Sign up for your freebie right when they land on your page is a little bit premature. It's kind of like, walking up to somebody and asking them to give you their phone number before you've actually introduced yourself, talked to them, established a relationship, established some trust.

so really what we wanna do is take a moment to connect with the visitor, educate them on what Heidi does, show them why it's worthwhile to engage with her, [00:06:00] to learn from her, and then a little bit farther down the page, it would be more appropriate to, present the free guide, The Boy Mom's Blueprint.

and I'm gonna, I'm gonna show you how we did that in her after website in a minute. So, that's happening number one. So again, what do you do, how's it gonna make my life better, and what do you want me to do next? in her main call to action here on her before website, it says, "Get the guide." And so, really want, what Heidi wants people to do is book a call with them.

So let's not hide that call to action, and let's make it front and center. So on the after website, what we did for Heidi is change the words to, I help frustrated moms of teenage boys stop arguing and start connecting. Create the peaceful, joyful relationship you both deserve.

Book your reconnection strategy call." Notice how I integrated a [00:07:00] benefit into the call so the visitor knows they're gonna actually get value. They're gonna get a strategy for how to reconnect with their teenage boy. The other thing that's coming through here in the after website is we're really articulating that she's helping moms of teenage boys.

In the before website, there was, nowhere on the page that really clarified teenage boys, and we all know our boys at, if you, if you're a boy mom, your boy at two, your boy at eight, your boy at, at 11 is very different than an actual teenage boy. I can only imagine. I have an eight-year-old boy, so I'm, I'm, projecting here.

so in the after website, in five seconds we're communicating what she does, how it's gonna make my life better, and what we want them to do next. This is really, really clear now. You can see the comparison of the before and after.now what I wanna do is move down the page a little bit of the [00:08:00] before.

Again, Heidi's photos are beautiful. They're very connected. She's looking right into the camera, which creates, a lot of... it just builds trust and creates connection, so we, we want that. then we've got Heidi introducing herself. "Hi, I'm Heidi. I'm a wife, mom to five sons, social worker, and certified life coach."

so she's kind of introducing herself, which of course, like, this happens on almost all the websites out there, especially for coaches and consultants. we introduce ourselves because that's what feels natural and normal. But what we really wanna do before we even introduce Heidi is show the visitor what's in it for them.

Like, what... Really, why does this matter to them? And before we even do that, We want them to understand that we get it. We understand their problem. So what's happening in the before website is she is asking somebody to sign up for her [00:09:00] free guide before I know exactly what she does.

Then she's introducing herself, which as she would tell you now, that she says, "I was making myself the hero of my own story." And again, I don't fault her for this, because this is how we figure out the right way to do it, and also, this is how most of the templates are set up. If you're, whether you're using Wix or WordPress or Squarespace or something else, typically the templates are set up to position you as the hero instead of your client as the hero. So really, when I go through this website, we've got her free guide, and then she's introducing herself, and then we've got the free guide again, and then we've got some testimonials. And what's happening with the testimonials is, number one, they haven't been edited down to really be streamlined and be really clearso number one, if you have [00:10:00] testimonials, edit out the fluff and keep the meat.

number two, if you have testimonials, do not put them on auto-rotate. It can be really frustrating. Like right now I'm looking at her testimonials, and they're rotating, when I get to about the fourth word of the testimonial, it rotates to the next testimonial. It's on a carousel. And what that ends up doing is making me feel frustrated, and I know working with Heidi is an enjoyable, wonderful experience, but when the experience of your website is frustrating for people, it reflects on what it would feel like to work with you.

So if I'm overwhelmed by trying to read these testimonials and feeling frustrated 'cause I can't read them fast enough before they change, that feeling of frustration ends up reflecting poorly on Heidi's brand. And so when people land on our website, we really want them to feel held.

We want our websites to [00:11:00] really feel like a hug. Welcome, I, you're finally here. I'm so glad you're here. Let me make it easy for you to understand what I do and how I can help you, and that you're not alone in this struggle in raising a teenage boy. I mean, it's gotta be really freaking hard to raise five boys.

Hard to even imagine. Okay, so what I, what I wanna really get across here is that Heidi has a handful of sections on the page, but really there is no story being told. There's no story being told on this page. and when I compare it to the new one, I'm gonna walk you through the difference.

So the big mistakes made here are asking for the freebie too early, too prematurely, not communicating what she does, how it can make my life better, and what y- what she wants me to do next within the first five seconds of landing on the page. when she [00:12:00] introduces herself, she does it in a way that actually positions her as the hero instead of the guide.

That's another mistake that's happening here. And then she hasn't- Taken the time to really edit down the testimonials to just the meat, just the, the gold nuggets of her testimonials, really what was her client struggling with, and how did working with her resolve that problem. Everything else in the testimonial is total fluff, so you can edit that out, keep the meat, and then take it off of auto-rotate, because people read at different rates, and

we don't wanna create the feeling of frustration when someone's landing on our website. So on the right-hand side, if you're on YouTube, great. Again, I'm gonna walk you through it if you're listening to this. We've got that hero section very clearly communicating what she does.

Then what we're gonna do next is really allow our hero to [00:13:00] feel seen, feel heard, feel not alone in their struggle, and we do that by articulating what their problem is. when I talk about this, I want you to think back on when you talk to a potential client on a call. What are they complaining about in their words?

We wanna start with the overarching problem. For Heidi, it's many moms of teenage boys try to fix their son's behavior, then blame themselves when nothing changes. Are you struggling with arguments that leave you both retreating to separate corners of the house, lying awake wondering if you're ruining him because you don't understand boys, walking on eggshells rather, rather than enjoying these fleeting teenage years, wondering if what is happening with your son is normal?

Quote, unquote, "normal." So what we're doing here is really connecting with the visitor, just like if you were to have a five-minute coffee date with somebody. You would sit [00:14:00] down. You would not launch into what you do and how you can help. You would sit down with somebody, and you'd look at them in the eye and go, "What's going on for you?

tell me, what are you struggling with? What are you hoping to achieve?" these moments of connection really, really matter, and we want your website to do that job as if we want it to feel like you're sitting down and connecting with them over coffee. Of course, we're not, because we're on a website, but we want it to feel that way.

Then you'll notice in the next section we have not talked about Heidi at all yet. We're just articulating their problem, because if they don't have a problem... To solve, there is no reason for them to hire Heidi. So the other thing that's happening here when we articulate the problem is that we're, we're kind of aggravating the problem.

We're reminding them that this is a problem. Oftentimes as humans, we get used to our problems, and we forget that they're even problems. So we wanna, articulate the problem in a way that reminds them that this is a [00:15:00] problem, and reminds them that it doesn't have to be this way. So next what we're gonna do is really show them what's possible.

At this point on the website, their brains are asking three questions: What, what's in it for me? What's in it for me? And what's in it for me? So we wanna spoon feed that information to them right away so they don't have to put forth any effort to gather this information. And on Heidi's initial website, this part was nowhere to be found.

So we're gonna move in ... First we have the problem section, now we're gonna move into the, happy end result. These are not features of what you do. This is what their life will look like after they've worked with you. So we begin this section with a philosophical statement, "You deserve to truly enjoy your relationship with your son, not just endure it.

Transform communication. Turn arguments into meaningful conversation. Restore connection. Build the relationship you [00:16:00] both want. Build confidence. Replace doubt with a clear parenting plan that gives peace of mind and impacts generations." So wow, oh my gosh, if I am a teenage boy mom, which I will be in about five years,

She would really be speaking to my heart at this point, and I would say, "Okay, I am in. I am invested. I'll have what she's having. I want what she's offering." so that's the power of this. Notice we're not talking about Heidi yet at all. We're only talking about her hero. We're only talking about her client.

We're showing them that they matter to us more than anything else. So now that we've positioned her client as the hero of our story And we've done that just by talking about them, and talking about the things that they care about, and showing them that we understand.

Now is the very first time on the page that they're like, "Okay, I'm interested. Who's behind all this?" they're finally reached a point where they actually care who [00:17:00] Heidi is and what she's all about. So I really like to introduce Heidi here in video, and

I wrote her a video script, and she recorded it, and we have it here on the page. If the visitor is not in a place that they can watch video, we wanna do the same thing. We wanna introduce her as the guide, and really lead with empathy. So instead of, you'll notice on the left, instead of, "Hi, I'm Heidi," we have, "I get it.

It's painful when you and your son don't see eye to eye." Oh my gosh, how much more powerful is that from, Hi, I'm Heidi," to, "I get it. It's painful when you and your son don't see eye to eye." Oh my gosh, empathy is the simplest and most powerful way for you to show up for your potential clients as a strong guide.

And then we go deeper into that here. [00:18:00] It's really about Heidi, but it's about Heidi as it relates to her clients. So Technically, it's an About section, but we're really talking about Heidi, but we're talking about it in a way that, that her hero, the, in the way that they care about.

So we've got, "I know you want to be a calm, confident, and capable mom who enjoys her son. In order to do that, you need to reconnect with your boy. The problem is many moms of teenage boys try to fix their son's behavior, then blame themselves when nothing changes. This can leave you feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and even more disconnected.

You deserve to enjoy a deep, meaningful connection with your son that will last a lifetime. That's why, as a certified coach and mother of five sons, I've made it my mission to help moms just like you. Together, we'll transform daily battles into meaningful conversations, and create the joyful relationship you've always wanted."

So that is Heidi stepping into this story as the guide. Now- When I talk about kind of story brand and how to integrate story [00:19:00] brand into your website, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Every story begins with a hero that has a problem they don't know how to solve. They are looking for a guide who can come in, give them a plan that calls them to action, and that ultimately leads them to success and helps them avoid failure.

So all of those components of story brand are all present and working together on the page to help Heidi's website do the work of getting her clients and growing her business. So anyway, she is doing a really great job, and, I would love for you to check out her website and you can see this in action.

It's Heidi Allsop Coaching, A-L-L-S-O-P coaching.com. That's Heidi with an I, H-E-I-D-I A-L-L-S-O-P coaching.com. So you'll notice on this page after the guide section, we're building her authority here by showing how many years she's spent raising [00:20:00] boys, 30-plus years raising five boys, over 1,000 women coached, and that

She is certified as a life coach. Then what we're gonna do, as I mentioned, we wanna give our hero a three-step plan that calls them to action. So for Heidi, we've got, "Here's how it works. Book your 30-minute reconnection strategy call." Step two, "Get the one-on-one coaching support that you need," and step three, "Enjoy a peaceful relationship with your son."

We always want the step three of the plan to be that happy end result to reassure their brain that the end is not as far off or a- as impossible as they, they think it is. Now, we've got some photography here on Heidi's page. Now we have testimonials on the page, that are not moving. They're static, they're, they're concise, they're easy to read, and they're actually paired with images of the actual client.

When you put a photograph of your client with the testimonial, they become much, much, much more believable [00:21:00] and they're, not rotating, which is really important. We designed an infographic for Heidi that shows how her approach is unique. I love Venn diagrams, and what we did was we have three different circles in a Venn diagram, and they overlap to create the joyful mother-son relationship roadmap.

And so I want you to think about what are the three things, like what are the end three ingredients that come together that allow you to create transformation for your clients? For Heidi, we've got authentic connection in one circle, strategic guidance in another circle, and real-world wisdom in the third circle, and they all overlap to create the joyful mother-son relationship.

Infographics are a really wonderful and, effective way to build trust and really show how you're different from everybody else. So one of the things that I mentioned in StoryBrand was that we help our clients find success, but we also help them avoid [00:22:00] failure. That's called stakes.

If there are no stakes in your story, there is nothing compelling about it. There's no reason to engage with it. So for Heidi, I asked her, "What is at stake?" And we came up with this statement: "Don't miss out on the joy of watching your son grow up because you're too busy arguing with him."

Wow, what a strong, bold statement, and so clear. I think of the stakes section as like you gently putting your hand on your client's back and saying, "Hey, if you do nothing, nothing's gonna change." So then we've got Heidi's offerings here. She's got three different packages. and the other thing I wanted to show you,

this is the before and after of her freebie. So we've got a free five-minute video guide, so allowing people to actually get to know her and watch a video of her teaching them. This is much- Better than a blueprint or a checklist or a PDF, right? [00:23:00] We, people, humans wanna see you, they wanna get to know you, they wanna learn from you, and all that is, is done better via video than a downloadable PDF.

So we've got Raising Good Men: The Essential Roadmap for Moms of Teen Boys, and then we have three very clear benefits that they're gonna get when they download this guide. So always wanna really reassure people that there's a lot of benefit to this.

before we wrap up, I want to also tell you a little thing that we did for Heidi pretty recently. We wanted to come up with an incentive for her clients to buy from her. So sh- she was having, she's getting a lot of people booking calls, which is great, and what we ended up doing was integrating an incentive into that sales call.

So her clients, they want her help, but they also want her to help their sons, and most parenting coaches won't work directly with the teenage boys. They just will work with the parents. So she offered, she said, "If you join my coaching [00:24:00] program within the next 24 hours, I will, will include a, a free 90-minute session with your boy, directly one-on-one with your boy.

That way everyone's getting on the same page and we can all work together." And I checked in with her yesterday and she said she had three consult calls last week, and two of the three of them became clients, and these are high-ticket clients. So it is working.

People want to buy, but often they just need an incentive to do so. So now what I want you to do quickly is pull up your website and- Audit it. I want you to ask yourself, are you answering these three questions when somebody lands on your website? What do you do? How's it gonna make their life better?

And what do you want them to do next? Are you doing that? Do you have a freebie? Do you have a way for people to sign up onto your email list? Are you delivering that freebie via video or via PDF? I'm really hoping that it's video, because it allows the potential client to really get to know you and [00:25:00] get a feel for what it's like to learn from you.

So if your website does not have those things, if your testimonials aren't clear, if it doesn't have all the components of story that we just talked through, what I want you to do is book a money-making messaging call with me. This will be 40 minutes of you and me one-on-one. We're gonna look at your website.

We're gonna identify what's working, what's not, what needs to be tuned up, and there's no obligation on that call. if you are interested and you are a good fit, I'll walk you through what it would look like to work together. But regardless, we'll get a look at your website, and you'll walk away with a clear plan for what to do next.

All right, thank you so much.

Is your website turning away potential clients? I can help you turn that around. Book a money-making messaging call with me today, and we'll transform your story into your most powerful sales tool. That's all for this episode of From Click to Client. Don't forget to subscribe and follow. I'm Kris Jones, and I'll see you next time