Jonathan Christian - Using Story to Supercharge Your Marketing

In this episode, I reconnect with Jonathan Christian, who I first met at a conference in London, to talk to him about his incredible story of surviving not one but two near-death experiences that led him to his career today.

Jonathan is CEO and Founder of We Make Stuff Happen, a Canadian-based digital marketing and training agency that helps entrepreneurs and small businesses overcome marketing challenges. A cornerstone of their service is helping SMBs achieve maximum effect by sharing stories with enthusiasm and passion.

Committed to empowering entrepreneurs, non-profits, and businesses on how to successfully maneuver the ever-changing landscape of the Social Space, he talks about:

• His terrible 2008: the passing of his mom, losing his source of income, and a major car accident that left him with a life-threatening neck injury
• How this trifecta of a perfect storm helped him begin his social media marketing journey
• The genesis of his business and how he pieced everything together after a chance encounter that led to him securing his unique URL
• Leveraging a business’ unique story to strengthen brand differentiation
• The back and forth struggle of leveraging a brand’s story and focusing on client-centric communication (who you are VS who you serve and what you can do for them)
• The value of content marketing as a business development tool
• How he helps his clients uncover their most unique and defining differentiating factors
• Another near-death experience that cemented his belief that helping other people tell their story is his purpose
• Getting over the hurdle of just starting and how he helps his clients by leading them in with sample posts for content marketing
• The mindset shift he underwent to begin his journey as a course creator that now accounts for 40% of his total business
• Why he makes sure that his mastermind community builds confidence and belief in its participants
• Being ready to sell to a client that isn’t ready to buy VS being ready to help 
• His view on relationship selling and what the next social media trends will be
• His personal mantra rooted in a single question he likes to ask himself

Mentioned in the episode:

His Inner Circle mastermind community: https://wemakestuffhappen.com/product/inner-circle-membership/ 

90-9-1 rule from my Brand Design Masters Podcast interview with Neal Schaffer: https://podcast.branddesignmasters.com/19

My Brand Design Masters Guild: https://www.branddesignmasters.com/ 

To connect with Jonathan, head on over to his channels:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdgem/?originalSubdomain=ca 

Website (agency): https://wemakestuffhappen.com/ 

Website (speaker): https://jonathanchristian.ca/ 

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, head on over to the following links for more of my work and some valuable resources to get you started on your own branding initiatives. Until the next episode!

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The Brand Design Masters Podcast is targeted to entrepreneurs, designers, creative professionals and anyone interested in brand strategy, business planning, graphic design, personal branding, trends and marketing.

Philip VanDusen is the owner of Verhaal Brand Design, a brand strategy and design agency based in New Jersey. Philip is a highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management. Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on how to build successful brands for themselves and for the clients and customers they serve.