Avatar: Who Is Your Dream Customer?

Answering this question impacts everything you do.   Getting clear on who you want to serve and provide value to gives you a level of clarity that can make you stand out from the crowd of Graphic Designers.  Serving your dream customer at the highest level can create an attraction to you and your business.  Imagine creating a scenario where your dream customers seek you out and want to work with you.

How would that change your business?

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Lets figure out who you want to work with if you don’t already have this nailed down, by first looking at what motivates you.

1. What kind of Graphic Design mediums do you absolutely love to work with?
2. Do you have any mediums or subject matters for Graphic Design projects that come up and demotivate you because you are not into them, they take up too much of your time and you can’t get into a good design flow?  Hint:  It feels like you are forcing it.
3. Do you have specific subjects or themes you love to work with?  Hint: An example of this would be that you love to work on Technical Illustrations, or you love to work on Logo’s for sports brands.
4. What kind of people do you like to hang out with?
5. Do you like sports, or music, plays, movies or other entertainment?  If you do, which ones are you passionate about and love to talk about?
6. When you are with family and friends, are there any topics that you talk about often, that you keep bringing up because you are really passionate about and can’t stop talking about it?  Write these down, they will fuel your drive!
7. Do you know what kind of lifestyle you want to live?
   Hint: Example would be an active lifestyle where I am in shape and have the financial means to provide a comfortable lifestyle for myself and my family and live in a nice neighbourhood with good schools…..
8. Are you involved in any clubs, groups, have a membership anywhere, belong to a cause or movement?  Do you love volunteering for specific organizations?  List all of the things you are into and make you feel good.
9. Where do you like to spend your time online?  Hint:  List out the social media platforms, blogs, forums, podcasts, youtube
   channels, forums, portfolio sites etc.

Ok, now that we have done a bit of soul searching, lets start to define your ideal avatar, your Dream Customer.

1. What kind of person do you want to work with?  Do you care if they are honest, trustworthy and operate with integrity?  If that does not matter to you, or maybe you like to work with people who are abbrassive and take a hard line because that somehow motivates you to get things done, that is ok, just be as honest as you can with how you like to work.
2. What market niche(s) do you want to serve and provide massive value to?  Is the kind of person you just identified working in this market niche?
3. What kind of medium do you want to work with?  Is that medium often used in the market niche you just listed? 
4. Does genre matter to you?  Are you looking to serve men or women, or moms or single dads?  Pay close attention to this, it may be that you are looking to serve any genre, that is fine.
5. Does the ideal person you want to work with love sports, music, plays, movies, are they a car buff or into nature. 
6. Does your dream customer hang out anywhere you like to go?  Hint: bars, restaurants, events, conferences, clubs, meetups
7. Is your dream customer in shape and eat healthy or live a specific lifestyle you can identify with?  Do you live the same way?
8. How does your dream customer experience the content they love to consume about their niche market?  Do they listen to podcasts, watch youtube videos, do they read blogs or magazines or specific books? 
9. What are the challenges and struggles your dream customer has in their niche business? 

Now it is gut check time.  This is where we align what you think you want with what your ideal dream customer needs and see how they match up.

1. What are the challenges or pain points that your dream customers are having in their business, that you can help them solve?  What pain points are specific to the Graphic Design services you are offering? 
2. Would you hang out with the type of dream customer you have identified that you want to work with?  Hint: On a personal level.
3. Do you consume content the same way your dream customer does?  Do you listen to the same podcasts, read the same magazines, books etc.?  If you don’t, are you interested in them?
4. Are you passionate about the same things your dream customer is when it comes to sports, music, movies, or clubs?
5. Do you constantly think about your dream customers and try to figure out different ways you can help them?
6. Are you obsessed with the market niche your ideal dream customer operates in?  By obsessed, we mean that you cannot stop thinking about it, consuming content around it, and wanting to learn everything you can about it?
7. Do you have your dream customer nailed down?  Be super honest with yourself.  Are you happy with your choice?  Remember, this is a choice, no one is forcing you in one direction or the other.  If you are not comfortable with your choice, then start over, it is that important.
8. Have you talked to your dream customer about their challenges and pain points or are these assumptions you have made based on your observations?  You have to communicate with your ideal customer to get these right. 

Time to picture your dream customer and describe them.  Have fun with this but realize that you are looking to create an Avatar (or customer persona) that will be used to drive decisions when you are growing your business.

1. Give your avatar a name
2. What do they look like, how do they dress?
3. Where would you find them on the weekends, what would they be doing?
4. What books do they read?
5. What podcasts do they listen to?
6. What clubs are they involved in?
7. What causes are they a part of?
8. What kinds of foods or diets are they into?
9. What is their job title?
10. What market niche do they operate in?
11. Who is their customer?  What challenges do they have?
12. How is your dream customer solving those challenges? What do they provide their ideal customer?
13. Where are they positioned in the market?  Are they a startup, a market leader or operate in the middle and are growing?

Disclosure: I am an independent ClickFunnels Affiliate, not an employee. I receive referral payments from ClickFunnels. The opinions expressed here are my own and are not official statements of ClickFunnels or its parent company, Etison LLC.