How to Choose a StoryBrand Guide
The Questions to Ask Before You Hire, From a Guide Who Gets Asked Them
What to look for, what to ask on the first call, and the red flags that tell you to keep looking.
TL;DR
- Start with fit. You'll work closely with your Guide for months. Choose someone you'll enjoy working with and who sees the value in your business.
- Decide what you want first. If you want growth, a clear message isn't enough by itself. Hire a Guide who understands SEO, or your new website may still go unseen.
- Ask for stories, not promises. Ask about the growth the Guide has seen, and about the times a business got the message wrong.
- Ask about money early. What does the work cost, and can the payments be spread out?
- Watch for the hand-off. If you meet the Guide on the sales call and then work with someone else, ask why.
On this page
- What a StoryBrand Guide does
- Start with fit
- Decide what you want before you call
- The questions to ask on the first call
- How payment usually works
- Red flags when hiring a Guide
- What a Guide can and can't fix
- When the right Guide sends you somewhere else
- Where to find a StoryBrand Guide
- Frequently asked questions
What a StoryBrand Guide Does
A StoryBrand Guide is a marketer trained and certified by StoryBrand to help businesses clarify their message using the framework from Building a StoryBrand. Most Guides then help put that message to work: on a website, in emails, in sales materials or in search.
If you've read the book, you already know the framework. The value of a Guide is an outside set of eyes. When you're inside your business every day, finding the right words for your own customers is hard. A Guide asks the questions that get the message out of your head and onto the page.
Every Guide uses the same framework, but each one applies the framework to a specialty. Some focus on copywriting, some on sales funnels, some on ads. My specialty is messaging and StoryBrand SEO: getting clear on what you offer, then making sure the right people find that message on Google and in AI search.
That's why choosing a Guide matters. You aren't only choosing the framework. You're choosing the person, and the specialty that person brings.
Start With Fit
Hiring a Guide is a lot like hiring someone for an important role on your team. Skills matter, but fit comes first. The two of you will spend months working together on the most personal part of your business: how you describe what you do and why your work matters.
I've learned this one the hard way. I've taken calls where, partway through, I could tell we weren't going to work well together. A few times I took the job anyway, against my better judgment, and regretted the decision when my concerns turned out to be right.
Now I look for clients I enjoy working with, who see the value in what I offer the same way I see the value in what they offer. I'd encourage you to look for the same thing from the other side of the table. After a first call with a Guide, ask yourself:
- Did I enjoy the conversation?
- Did the Guide understand my business, or just my industry?
- Would I look forward to a monthly meeting with this person?
If the answer to any of those is no, keep looking. A good Guide will understand.
Decide What You Want Before You Call
Before you talk to any Guide, get clear on what you want the work to do for your business.
If you want a clear message for your team, your pitch or your sales calls, many Guides can help. If you want growth, meaning more people finding your business and more leads coming in, a clear message alone won't get you there.
"If you are wanting growth, just hiring a guide is not going to get you that growth. You need to make sure that they understand the importance of SEO."
I regularly get calls from businesses that have already worked with another Guide. They went through the process, clarified their message and built a new website. And they still aren't seeing the results they wanted. The message was clear, but nobody was finding the website.
Guides work at different skill levels and in different specialties. If growth is the goal, ask every Guide you talk to how they'll get your new message in front of the people searching for what you do. (I explain how I do that in StoryBrand SEO.)
The Questions to Ask on the First Call
A first call should feel like a conversation, not a pitch. Here are the questions I'd ask any StoryBrand Guide, including me.
10 Questions to Ask a StoryBrand Guide
- Tell me about some of the growth you've seen with clients. Listen for real numbers and real timeframes.
- Tell me about a time a business got the message wrong. A Guide who has done the work will have stories about what didn't work, and what changed.
- What's your specialty? Messaging, websites, copywriting, ads, SEO, sales funnels? What do you hand off to someone else?
- How will my message get found? Ask about SEO, local search and AI search, not just the website design.
- Who will actually do my work? And how long have they been doing this work?
- Can I see work you've done for a business like mine, and can I talk to that client?
- What do you charge? Ask for prices in writing.
- What are the payment options if I don't have a large lump sum?
- What will you guarantee, and what won't you?
- What does working together look like month to month? How often will we meet, and what reports will I get?
A good Guide will answer all ten without hesitating, and will be honest when a question points to something outside their specialty.
How Payment Usually Works
Pricing varies from Guide to Guide, so ask early and ask for the numbers in writing. I publish every StoryWorks price on one pricing page, and I wrote a full breakdown in How Much Does It Cost to Hire a StoryBrand Guide?
Many Guides offer a way to spread the cost out. At StoryWorks, a website project is typically $2,000 down, with the balance spread over twelve months and six months of website care included.
I set up payments that way for a reason. SEO takes about ten months to show its full effect. If a project is trickled out a little at a time to match a budget, those ten months can stretch into years.
"I would rather do all the work upfront and then just have you pay me over time."
Getting the work up and running sooner starts the clock sooner, and you see results sooner.
Red Flags When Hiring a Guide
Watch for these:
- The hand-off. You have a great first conversation with the Guide, then you're handed to a junior team member who just started. When you hire an independent Guide like me, you work with me. If you hire a firm, ask up front who will do the work.
- No stories about mistakes. Every experienced Guide has seen messages that missed. If a Guide only has success stories, you may not be hearing the whole picture.
- Only design, no plan to get found. If your goal is growth, a beautiful website with no plan for search is a red flag.
- Vague pricing. If you can't get the cost in writing, you can't compare Guides fairly.
- Promises nobody can keep. No one controls Google, and no one controls how your team sells. A Guide can promise the work, not your revenue.
What a Guide Can and Can't Fix
Here's how I explain my job to every new client:
"It's my job to bring people to your table, but ultimately it's up to you to feed them."
Think of a restaurant. Marketing brings people through the door and to the table. The food, the service and the experience are up to you. A Guide can't make people come back if the experience isn't good.
The same goes for the business model. If there's a flaw in the business model, hiring a StoryBrand Guide won't fix the flaw. A clear message will make the flaw easier to see. I've worked with businesses where that happened. Some realized the plan they started with wasn't going to work, because customers weren't buying what they were selling. Some closed. That's hard, but seeing the problem clearly is still better than spending more money on marketing that can't solve the problem.
Sometimes the problem isn't the marketing at all. A few weeks ago I had a call where, within thirty minutes, I could tell marketing wasn't what was holding the business back. The company was getting leads. The leads just weren't turning into sales. More leads wouldn't have fixed that.
That's why I guarantee the work I control: getting the right people to your website. I can't guarantee sales, because I'm not in charge of how a business sells or serves its customers, and Google changes how search works without notice.
When the Right Guide Sends You Somewhere Else
Sometimes the best thing a Guide can do is tell you they aren't the right person.
If you call me and, as we talk, I can tell your real problem is sales, I'll send you to a sales coach I've worked with on projects for years. If your leads are coming in but not closing, a sales coach is a better place to start than a marketer. The referrals go both ways: that coach sends people to me too.
On the other hand, if you've already clarified your message and you aren't getting the results you want, and I look at your traffic and see a site that isn't optimized, then I'm the right person.
A Guide who's willing to send you somewhere else is a Guide you can trust when they say they're the right fit.
Where to Find a StoryBrand Guide
Start with StoryBrand's official directory of certified Guides. Every Guide listed has been trained and certified by StoryBrand. Look at each Guide's specialties, then book first calls with two or three who fit what you need. Take the questions above with you.
StoryBrand also certifies agencies. If you're weighing an independent Guide against a StoryBrand Certified Agency, I wrote an honest comparison: StoryBrand Certified Agency vs Certified Guide.
You can verify my own certification in StoryBrand's directory.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose a StoryBrand Guide?
Start with fit: choose a Guide you'll enjoy working with for months. Then match the Guide's specialty to what you want. If you want growth, choose a Guide who understands SEO. On the first call, ask about client growth, mistakes, pricing, payment options and who will do the work.
What questions should I ask a StoryBrand Guide?
Ask about the growth they've seen with clients, a time a business got the message wrong, their specialty, how your message will get found, who will do the work, what they charge, the payment options, what they guarantee and what a month of working together looks like.
Where can I find a StoryBrand Guide?
Use StoryBrand's official directory of certified Guides. Every Guide listed has been trained and certified by StoryBrand.
Does a StoryBrand Guide do SEO?
Some do and some don't. Every Guide uses the same framework but applies the framework to a specialty. If you want more people finding your business, ask each Guide how they'll get your message in front of the people searching for what you do.
Can I pay a StoryBrand Guide over time?
Many Guides offer payment options. At StoryWorks, a website project is typically $2,000 down, with the balance spread over twelve months.
What are the red flags when hiring a StoryBrand Guide?
Being handed to a junior team member after the first call, a Guide with no stories about mistakes, a plan with no way to get found, pricing you can't get in writing, and promises about revenue.
Can a StoryBrand Guide guarantee results?
A Guide can guarantee the work they control, like getting the right people to your website. No Guide can guarantee sales, because the Guide doesn't control how a business sells or serves its customers, and Google changes how search works without notice.
Want to See If We're a Fit?
Bring your questions, all ten if you like. I'll answer each one honestly, and if I'm not the right Guide for what you need, I'll tell you who is. The call is free, and the call isn't a pitch.
About the Author
Tim Yates is the founder of StoryWorks Marketing in Waukee, Iowa. He has been a Certified StoryBrand Guide since 2020 and is a StoryBrand Certified Coach and a Duct Tape Marketing Certified Fractional CMO. He has coached about 140 business owners through the StoryBrand framework, including breakout rooms on 20+ StoryBrand livestreams.
Verify Tim's StoryBrand certification · Connect on LinkedIn
Related reading: StoryBrand Certified Agency vs Certified Guide · How Much Does It Cost to Hire a StoryBrand Guide? · StoryBrand SEO · About Tim · Pricing