Montana highway view in Paradise Valley looking towards the sunlit Absaroka Mountains.

In between Missoula and Bozeman, Donald Miller’s voice blared over the car speakers as he read his audio book titled Building a StoryBrand. I listened intently as the task of starting my small video production business back home in Montana seemed daunting after spending the past 5 years in Boise, Idaho.

I felt scattered and overwhelmed with the process and struggled to clarify my online message for Big Cedar Media. How exactly was I trying to serve Montana’s businesses, brands, and nonprofits as a video production company and what unique services could I offer?

donald miller smiles next to his book building a storybrand — Donald Miller with his book Building a StoryBrand

As Montana’s wild landscape flashed through the windows and Building a StoryBrand’s audio continued it became more realistic that the StoryBrand framework could help me grow Big Cedar Media and clarify my message. I felt like I had found a much needed guide on my business journey. But now I needed someone in Montana that understood the StoryBrand framework and could help me apply it to my business.

donald millers business books — Donald Miller’s books; Business Made Simple, Hero on a Mission, and Marketing Made Simple.

I started Big Cedar Media in 2013 after graduating from The University of Montana’s School of Journalism. My intent was simply to create an outlet for the Montana stories I wanted to tell. For my income over the years, I’d split time between video storytelling at Big Cedar Media and seasonal river guiding on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River, where I’d drive the sweep boat and fly fish guide. Recently, with the pregnancy of my wife Caylin, due June 2023 with our first child, I decided to stay closer to our Bozeman home and focus my efforts on building Big Cedar Media into a Montana video production company and my full time career.

onawa linden is a certified storybrand guide in helena montana — Founder Onawa Linden poses for a portrait inside the Proof Marketing office downtown Helena, Montana.

As a small business owner I have to wear all the hats. Eventually I refinished my website with principles I’d been learning through Donald Miller’s books; Building a StoryBrand, Business Made Simple, Marketing Made Simple, and Hero on a Mission. I learned to be the guide in my online website story and to position the customer as the hero. They are struggling with something and coming to my business to find the solution to their problem. So I need to be the guide and show them the way. Learning these principles was important and made sense but I still needed a professional marketing guide to show me the StoryBrand framework. Listening to the Marketing Made Simple podcast I learned that I could search their database to find StoryBrand Certified Guides in Montana which led me to Proof Marketing in Helena.

proof marketing helps businesses clarify their message — Proof Marketing office building downtown Helena, Montana.

Proof Marketing is located in a neat retro looking brick building in historic downtown Helena. Behind their red front door the space opens up into an inviting and modern layout with a relaxed feel. On the back wall glows a blue neon sign that reads “be the guide.” Founder and creative director Onawa Linden works on her laptop and is 1 of only 4 StoryBrand Certified Guides in the state of Montana. Around her works two other women, Carrie Linden Wolf and Tascha Anderson both busy designing marketing materials for clients. Onawa reminds me of a Donald Miller saying, “if you confuse you lose,” and I realize that I am working with the right ad agency to redo my website and clarify my online message with the StoryBrand Framework.

During this trip to visit Proof Marketing I shot a set of narrative marketing promotional videos that I call “Problem, Solution, Success” videos. The idea for these videos came from studying the StoryBrand material. These short online advertising videos discuss the problem that Proof Marketing clients struggle with, positions Proof Marketing as the solution to the problem, and discuss what success looks like after a job. I went on to edit a Founder Video, Employee Video, Team Video, and 3 Client Testimonial Videos for Proof Marketing, all utilizing the Problem Solution, Success structure.

carrie linden wolf works on marketing material — Carrie Linden Wolf works on marketing material for clients.

My services at Big Cedar Media fall into three major categories: Commercial Videos, Documentary Photography, and Freelance Contracting. For commercial videos I make short story based business and nonprofit online advertising videos as mentioned above, and I also make commercial documentary films called branded documentary films for businesses, brands, and nonprofits. For my second major service I shoot documentary style still photographs to be used for marketing. I am a freelance contractor as my third major service, looking for work as a camera operator, drone pilot, director, production assistant, or editor for other production company films and videos.

proof marketing makes logos for montana businesses — Tascha Anderson works on a design for a client.

As a filmmaker and storyteller I’m passionate about stories and was thrilled to find out how I can use “story” to grow my business. Studying StoryBrand has created clarity in my mission and aligned me with marketing professionals here in Montana that can help me succeed in business. It’s given me ideas for successful videos that better serve Montana businesses and nonprofits' online marketing needs. Most importantly it’s helped change my mindset from scarcity to abundance as I focus on how to best solve my clients problems and better serve Montana business owners with videos that get results.

I’m grateful for Donald Miller and his many books and resources and for Proof Marketing’s skill and care for helping my business succeed. I’m excited for what the future holds and please give me a call if you’d like to learn more about my services.