Newsletter Subject
If I ditch the avatar, then what?
From
sarafrandina.com
Email Address
hello@sarafrandina.com
Sent On
Fri, May 21, 2021 06:31 PM
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Hey there - I received quite a few responses to my email, On deciding what’s “normal”
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Hey there - I received quite a few responses to my email, On deciding whatâs ânormalâ, a few weeks ago ([itâs here, if you missed it!](), and Iâm chuffed to say it sparked some really great conversations. Like the one between [my friend Maggie]( and I. We went back and forth on the concept/construct of ânormalâ, yes, but thatâs not what Iâm here to expand upon. It was this piece of that email: âWe, as business owners, try to fit all of our audience into one or a few neat boxes. We create an âideal avatarâ with a standard age, occupation, musical preference, and set of hobbies they engage in on the weekends.â Because honestly, as two people who have been in business for several years and have been privy to a lot of the advice from the âgurusâ, the concept of an ideal avatar is hardly foreign. In fact, creating your âideal avatarâ is usually in one of the first modules of any business coaching program you do. (Hereâs lookinâ at you, B School.) Now, again, Iâm not saying that having a handle on who your people are and what they like is the wrongdoing. Itâs the fact that all too often, without any sort of voice of customer data in hand, weâre fabricating false identities and materializing people that donât actually exist. And suddenly weâre creating for + writing to these mystery humans. Iâm gonna come right out and say that itâs a waste of time. And. It brings up a very valid question for a lot of people: Where do I start in getting data if Iâm, well, just getting started? Iâve got you. And, Iâve got 3 places anyone can begin: 1 - Survey or interview your ideal clients/customers/students/members. They might not already be buying from you, but that doesnât mean you canât talk to them. If youâve got a solid idea of an offer, or that idea built out, you likely built it with someone/a group in mind. Put it in front of them, and ask them questions thatâll give you insight into how theyâd use it, what excites them about it, whatâs missing, and more. 2 - Hang out where your ideal prospects spend their time. If theyâre in a particular Facebook Group; populating a particular subreddit; attending a specific workshop or conferenceâ¦show up and listen. You can take a lot from conversations that are being hadâ¦without you even having to do the asking. 3 - Turn to Amazon. Joanna from Copyhackers popularized the term âAmazon review miningâ â and Iâm just here to share it. What kinds of books might your prospects be reading to try to solve their problems on their own? Give âem a search on Amazon, then hit up those reviews. How do the 5-star reviews talk about the value they got from the resource? How do the 2-star reviews talk about what was missing/what didnât work? Once youâve dove in, know this: Youâre unlikely to create one, perfect âavatarâ that fits neatly into a box. What you will be able to do is find trends/overlaps amongst what youâre learning that you can bring into your copy to begin testing what works + what doesnât. Collecting voice of customer data doesnât have to rely on you having a huge base of clients, customers, students, or members already â and it doesnât even require you having a huge following on your email list or social networks. Getting crafty with where you seek out potential feedback will help you stop the guessing so you can avoid fabricating those false avatars (which is essentially akin to throwing spaghetti at the wall)⦠...and actually start with creating copy that will resonate, from the beginning. Until next time, be kind + show up with the intent to listen - Sara â Ready to call it quits? [Click this link]( to remove yourself from all communications. (No hard feelings.) If you'd like to opt-out of specific content, just hit reply + let me know. Iâll get you sorted, ASAP. | SFS HQ: Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
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