#654 Replace All Your Marketing with One Story – Kris Jones Reveals How

What if you could replace all your marketing with just one story?
In this mind-shifting episode of Talking with the Experts: Business Insights, Kris Jones reveals how her Signature StorySelling System™ turns your brand story into a full-time sales engine.

After years of working with Nike and Adidas, Kris discovered that most entrepreneurs are drowning in marketing noise—posting endlessly, running ads, and still feeling invisible. Her solution? Strip it all back to a single, powerful story that does the selling for you.

Kris shares how to identify your brand’s emotional core, distil it into a compelling narrative, and use it to create lasting connection and effortless conversion. Whether you’re a coach, consultant, or small business owner, this conversation will help you simplify your marketing, amplify your message, and finally make your story work as hard as you do.

✨ CONNECT WITH KRIS

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reddoordesigns/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reddoorportland

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reddoordesign

Website: https://www.reddoordesigns.com/

📌 PROMOTION: https://www.reddoordesigns.com/book

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Chapters

• 1:40 Traditional solutions like templates, copywriters, and client feedback failed because outsourcing voice doesn't capture authentic brand personality, leading to a fundamental business shift.
• 8:25 Seven fundamental story components include positioning the business owner as the guide (like Yoda or Mr. Miyagi) rather than the hero, clearly articulating the problem solved, and providing a simple three-step plan with clear calls to action.
• 11:50 Effective storytelling requires showing clients both the positive outcomes after working together and helping them avoid failure, as human brains are more motivated by loss avoidance.
• 13:38 Story integration extends across all business platforms to ensure congruent and consistent messaging that converts website visitors into paying clients.

Transcript

Intro | 00:00
Business insights on talking with the experts. Hosted by Rose Davidson. 

 Rose | 00:09
Hello, and welcome to Talking With The Experts. Today, my guest is Kris Jones, and Kris is going to flip the script on everything you thought you knew about marketing. Imagine scrapping the endless cycle of new campaigns, the constant brainstorming for fresh angles, and instead focusing all of your energy into crafting one incredible story. Kris introduces you to the Signature Story Selling System, a revolutionary method that harnesses the raw power of your brand's essence and distills it into a single compelling narrative. Now, a little bit about Kris. She is hand selected as a mentee by Story Brands, Donald Miller, and Kris has cracked the code on turning expertise into sales. After 20 years of crafting stories for giants like Nike and Adidas, she discovered something shocking. A single well-told story can replace all your marketing and double your revenue. Today, she helps coaches and consultants scale from 30K to 300K months using her signature story selling system, which is trademarked, proving that you don't need endless content or complicated funnels to attract premium clients. Just one story told well. Kris, welcome to Talking With The Experts. 

 Kris | 01:29
Rose, thank you for having me. I'm thrilled to be here. 

 Rose | 01:32
Lovely. Tell me a little bit about your backstory and what got you started in marketing the way you do. 

 Kris | 01:40
Well, it all started when I was like eight years old. I was always storytelling. But back then I was doing more what I call visual storytelling or design work. And so fast forward, you know, 12 years, I went to school for design. And really delved into how to tell a powerful story through branding and design and had, was very fortunate to get to work with big companies and work with really incredibly talented designers and learned a lot through that. Eventually opened up my own business and was working with the people that I love serving, which are small business owners, solopreneurs, coaches, consultants, people that, you know, were on a similar path that I was on. And my focus was really on beautiful branding and beautiful website design. And what I found, you know, With many of my clients, but one in particular, her name was Elise. She had a publishing background and she wanted me to design her website and she was like, I'll write all the words on the website. And she came to me. The day her copy or her messaging was due to me, she was going to share a document with me on this April 2nd. And she called me that morning and she had been up all night. She was fried and frustrated and confused as to how could she have had a background in publishing, identified as a writer and still not been able to write her own website copy. And so, We brainstormed some ideas and some solutions. And during that time, Really, the landscape online had changed. 
 Like this was back in the day when all you needed was a pretty website as a business to actually thrive. And then things got a little bit more crowded. And the websites that I was building were beautiful, but they weren't necessarily getting great results. And even my own website wasn't bringing in the amount of clients that I really needed to grow consistently. I was at that point relying on referrals, which is fantastic. Referrals are great, but they're very unpredictable. 
 So it's a difficult way to run a business. Elise and I brainstormed some options. I gave her a template. I gave her the names of a couple of copywriters. I encouraged her to talk with some of her previous clients to get some kind of jostle some more ideas and inspiration. And ultimately, we none of it worked. 
 Like, none of it worked. And I felt very... 
 Like really bummed out because I couldn't help her. I didn't feel like I was well equipped to help her. And yet when she would hire a copywriter, to go write the copy for her, it would come back and it wouldn't feel like her voice. 
 Like you can't outsource your own voice. And so it was really that project which shifted everything for my business. And I just... And it was humbling, but I was like, I'm never, ever letting this happen again. And so I'm going to figure out. How to tell a very powerful story online for business owners and how to pair that story with beautiful design. 
 So really. I shifted the way that I did all my work in that The story was really the became the foundation of everything that I did. 
 And then the design was used to bring that to life. So during that time, I traveled across the country to workshops, I became one of the very first story brand guides. I just immersed myself in story and really came out the other end. And Integrating story into my own business, number one, started there and I started to see like what happened with my business literally overnight when my website started telling a powerful, compelling story. I started getting more and more clients and these clients were ready to pay me more money than I had ever made before. And so, yeah, I witnessed that shift, but more importantly, I integrated it into every client project that I did from there on out. And miraculous things were happening. People were calling me going, I have a record breaking number of lead calls. I'm now charging six times more than I was for the exact same service. 
 So I just watched this happen and I have never looked back since. Now I really help people tell a powerful, compelling story for their whole business. Including their website, but really how can we leverage your story in every area of your business so you can accelerate growth and actually simplify your marketing, simplify your life, simplify your business. 
 So that's the work that I do now. 

 Rose | 07:19
- Well, it's, Quite extensive. And it is important. 
 I mean, a copywriter sometimes or a publisher sometimes is a bit like a mechanic, can't fix their own space, but they can go and fix someone else's. Because I think they're too close to the project or to the item or to whatever it is that they're doing that They can't think past, you know, their own thoughts and look at the box, as it were. But, you know... 

 Kris | 07:49
Yeah, I Yeah, I call that the bottle effect. 

 Rose | 07:49
Call that... 

 Kris | 07:54
So when we're our own business, we're so close to it, we're stuck in the bottle trying to read the label that can only be read from outside. So it's really... Really helpful to have somebody come in and read the label of your bottle for you and collaborate with you. That's really the key is that collaboration. 

 Rose | 08:15
Absolutely. So how can we get a marketing plan and ditch the confusion and complexity of, you know, the traditional marketing strategies? 

 Kris | 08:25
Well, less truly is more. You don't have to be everywhere doing everything. I believe your website is the center of your marketing universe. 
 So there's all kinds of planets that circle around that sun that is your website. And it could be anything from in-person marketing events to SEO to Facebook ads to podcasts. Podcast guesting. There's all kinds of marketing activities we can do, including social media. But we don't have to do all of them. I really encourage my clients to pick one planet or two planets total that you really love. For me... Podcast guesting is really fun. I love talking about story and meeting other entrepreneurs. 
 So that's one of my planets. One of my planets is not social media because that feels like the never ending hamster wheel of homework that you can't escape. And so that I didn't choose that as one of my two planets. My other planet is YouTube. Emailing, just staying in touch with my list. And so those are the really the two things that I do to continue to grow my business and When I'm on a podcast or when I'm talking to a potential client or the story even that I share on my website, it's all. Composed of the fundamental components of story. There are seven components of story. Every story begins with the hero that has a problem they don't know how to solve. They're looking for a guide that is you as the business owner, you are the guide. 
 So if there's anything you take away from our conversation today, it's really to begin to change the lens in which you look at your business and start to position yourself as the guide in your brand story. When I say the guide, I mean like the Yoda or the Mr. Miyagi. There's lots of famous guides. Hey, Mitch from hunger games is a really well-known complex guide. And, And so positioning yourself as the guide, getting so clear on the problem that you solve, that your heroes can find you because you're known for solving that problem and then giving them a clear and simple plan that calls them to action. If your hero doesn't take action, then they're never going to experience change. They're never going to overcome this hurdle. 
 So you your job is to really inspire them to take action and take that next step to work with you. But in order for them to feel comfortable doing that, we've got to build trust, build resonance, help them understand they're our top priority. And that we care about them, we care about their struggles, we care about their success more than we care about ourself and our wonderful way of solving their problem. 

 Rose | 11:34
Yeah, no, that's really great. And I think that, you know, if we can turn a story into sales, you know, it's got to be a benefit. But how do we do that? How do we turn our particular story into a sales dynamo? 

 Kris | 11:50
Well, you follow the story framework, really. It comes back to identifying who's the hero of your story, really articulating their problem, introducing yourself in the story as the guide, breaking down your process into a three-step plan that calls them to action. 
 And then people start clicking on your call to action. So many people have websites and no one's clicking on the call to action because you don't have... All the components of story yet. We need to show them, you know, what their life is going to be like after they work with us. And one of the most important things we need to do to tell our story is really show them that we're going to help them avoid failure as well. People are more likely to click on the call to action. If we really communicate, we're going to help you avoid failure. It's just the way human brains work. Are the way human brains work. If you want to get started Telling your story and shifting the lens at which you talk about your business forevermore. I have a freebie at my website. It's called how to write compelling copy in five minutes flat. And you can go to red door stories.com with two D's R E D O R stories.com. And that will, it's a five minute training with a worksheet and In 10, 15 minutes, you're going to completely... Have a great day. Clarity around your own story and those core components of story. I walk you through all of it. 

 Rose | 13:28
Lovely. Thank you for sharing that. I was going to get to that at the end. 
 So what else can they find on your website, Kris? 

 Kris | 13:38
Well, the main way that I work with my clients is through the signature story of selling system. And in this process, what I do with you is mine for the gold of your story. I really know exactly what questions to ask you in order to pull your story out. And those golden nuggets that I find are rough and raw, and there's dirt jammed in there. And so I polish up those bits of gold. And write your story for you. Because of that bottle effect. 
 So, because I've pulled your story out from your head and heart, it, it's coming from you. So it resonates with you. It's aligned with you. Then I write your story for you. 
 And then one of the most important parts of the process is the collaboration. So once I've written your story, we collaborate and refine it together. 
 So it's beautifully and perfectly aligned with you and your voice and your website feels like an extension of you, but it's your top salesperson. It's really... Wonderful load off when you just can confidently send people to the website knowing it's going to work for you. 
 So once we craft your story, we integrate it onto the website, we integrate it into every area of your business. So you're showing up in a congruent and consistent way across all platforms. 
 And then you begin to sign more clients and get more clients to In the door. 

 Rose | 15:13
Wonderful. What a very comprehensive service. I think I might have to go and check it Kris can be found on LinkedIn at Red Door Designs, Facebook at Red Door Portland and Instagram at Red Door Design. 

 Kris | 15:17
Out. Yeah, you should. It's really fun. 

 Rose | 15:30
And her website is reddoordesigns.com. And she's mentioned about her book. You've got a book, Kris? 

 Kris | 15:40
I do. I have a book. It's called From Click to Client. And you can find it at my website, reddoordesigns.com. And it's really how to create a story driven website that turns visitors into clients. 

Rose | 15:54
Wonderful. Sounds great. Go and check that out at reddoordesigns.com forward slash book. Kris, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for sharing how we can make our websites a bit more of a storytelling adventure. 

 Kris | 16:10
Yes, that's a good way to put it. Thank you so much for having me. 

 Rose | 16:13
Bye for now. 

 Outro | 16:16
You've been listening to Talking with the Experts with Rose Davidson. The podcast that brings you real stories, bold insights, and strategies that work. Be sure to subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast channel so you never miss an episode and dive into our full library anytime at talkingwiththeexperts.com. Until next time, keep learning, keep growing and keep talking with the experts.