Have you tried to create a customer avatar in the past, only to shove it into a drawer, never to look at it again? Thrown it away? Ignored it completely?
Are you tired of feeling confused and directionless? Being afraid of having no customers? Or worse… a group of high-maintenance customers that demand more value and provide less freedom?
Make no mistake.
As I sit here and write this, I can look over my screen and see palm trees. From my office. My Pandora shuffles from Jimmy Buffett to Bob Marley, to The Dave Matthews Band. There’s also a little Grateful Dead and Kenny Chesney for good measure.
And, next to me, dripping a few beads of sweat, I have a cold mojito.
I’m wearing my Olukai flip flops.
You may or may not know who I am, but I don’t care that much (I do a little, but really… not that much).
You know people that have hired me to take their marketing analytics and tech to the next level.
And that’s all that matters to me.
All that sums up to me. I’m a mojito-loving, economist philosopher Parrothead. I live the ‘Flip-Flop Life.’
I love what I do, and I love my clients.
To quote Mr. Buffett:
“We are the dreamy Deadheads who just like us and Dave Matthews…” – Jimmy Buffett, Here We Are
Right there, in his lyrics, he identifies his ideal customer avatar. His most avid fans – parrotheads, if you will – in general fit this description.
He knows his customers. And to take it one step farther…
“I’m as successful as I want to be. I’ve taken my career and a band and built them around my songwriting… to the point where I can be very successful financially and very gratified artistically and do what I do best… which is write songs and play on stage…
I’d love to have a No. 1 album, but … I’d have to be a Fleetwood Mac or an Eagles…
But I don’t want to be them. I’d have to change my style, and I’m not going to do anything – other than what I do – to get it.”
That’s Jimmy Buffett in a 1980 interview with the Miami Herald.
And even without ever having a number one hit, he’s worth $600 million.
That’s because he leverages what I call Creator/Customer Cohesion. It’s one of the first steps to true financial and lifestyle freedom.
He makes music he loves. He doesn’t try to be anyone he’s not. And, as it turns out, he’s attracted a cult-like following. He’s leveraged that following into creating products and services that his fans love.
You can follow his exploits online (Instagram, Facebook, Margaritaville). One obvious thing… he is his own customer avatar.
Who’s Customer Avatar are YOU?
Russell Brunson has done an amazing job at hitting his customer avatar.
But, at some point, it occurred to me that the only person getting stupid rich ‘funnel hacking’ was… Russell.
Sure, there are a handful of ‘Two-Comma’ marketers.
But that the ‘one funnel’ was, for most people, far, far away. If it was obtainable at all.
That’s because it’s starting in the middle of the process.
It’s creating a mojito without the rum.
‘Funnel hacking’ is minting ‘marketers’ who lack confidence. Many of them, if not most, feel obscure and unknown. And worse, confused and unsure. Confused about what products to create that will sell. Unsure about what to do next (first?) to build a true online business.
I was there too.
I got tired of feeling like a funnel hacking copycat.
Tired of feeling like that ‘one funnel’ may never come.
And tired of creating products I didn’t want myself. Trying to ‘get rich quick.’
Listen. You’re not alone, and it’s not your fault.
I was ignoring my core… and completely missing the core of my customer avatar.
Look. Getting more leads and customers feels impossible when you only get part of the process.
Especially leads and customers that you enjoy working with.
I can’t emphasize that last line enough. The only thing worse than no customers are customers that demand way more of you than they paid for… That’s not freedom. That’s a prison.
There are three commandments to scaling an online business.
These are the only three commandments you need to scale your business:
- Know thy Customers.
- Know thy Numbers.
- Continuously Improve Both.
That’s all there is to it.
The Creator/Customer Cohesion Process flows from the first commandment. It’s all about creating a customer avatar that flows from your own core identity.
Because this is true: To know your customer is to know yourself.
Knowing yourself first allows you to kill information overwhelm and insecurity. Fear of failure and judgment disappears.
It will allow you to be consistent in your creation process. But even better, you’ll create something that both you and your customers love.
You’ll create something they’ll want to tell their friends about.
Imagine what it would be like to eliminate confusion… to have direction… to have confidence that your next product will sell… and that you’ll love your customers as much as they love you.
Because now you’re attracting customers that you not only enjoy working with, but you are happy to call ‘friends’ by creating content (and products) that they love and love to tell others about… without building yet another ‘funnel’ for a product no one wants or believes they need…
That’s the special sauce the Creator/Customer Cohesion Process provides.
But it starts with removing the mask you’re showing the world and hooking into your core identity.
Are you ready to learn more about this process?
Last Updated on January 1, 2021 by Benjamin Teal
