I think maybe having one ideal customer might be a useful a place to start.
But probably it isn't a good idea to invest a lot of time in tailoring experiences/services/products to that ideal customer until you have actual customers.
Because without a lot of relevant experience, the ideal customers in your imagination don't correspond to actual ideal customers in the real world:
+ People do what they do for a lot of reasons. Some walk tightropes, others wear belts and suspenders.
+ People view money in a lot of different ways. $1000 is unrealistic for many people and pocket change for others. $10/year is great for people who don't care if you stay in business and a red flag for people who do care.
+ In general we tend to imagine people are similar to us (mostly because it is easier that way). But selling to people who are not like you is what selling to strangers consists of.
I agree. For example, I can think of creative people that have been successful that just produced what they loved, without a customer in mind. If they had started off by thinking “how can I optimize for theoretical customer X?”, they never would’ve been as successful.
Don’t make a product for others. Make one for yourself that you can dogfood. If you can’t do that, you’re on shaky ground.
Your first customer is always you. If you don't have a problem to solve that you know something about, you aren't going to make a useful product. A useful product can be a successful product.
Interesting points! Starting from a narrow perspective gives you feedback that is valuable, not noise that you can ignore. Most founders set their sights on an audience that is overfit (too narrow) or underfit (they have no experience). Striking a balance is key.
Consulting is one thing, but in the startup ecosystem I'm in I have (during the last 15 years) never ever seen a startup having a too narrow target segment (and I know several investors with the same mindset).
> When someone asks me what makes good marketing, and I’m in the mood to boil it down, I usually say something like “Good marketing is authentic.” What I mean by that is that good marketing is genuine, it derives its essential principles from a core that is pure and has a real purpose. This might sound counterintuitive if you’re someone who generally believes that marketing is phony and can’t be trusted. Well, as marketers, we can tell you – sometimes it is phony. But also, like anything else, most marketing isn’t great, and can be improved. How to improve it? That’s right, make it more genuine.
For me it helps to simply search for willingness to pay. The push-pull between your conceived offering and the customer’s perceived value, tend to turn these persona assumptions into something testable. Then, once true WtP is established, you can model a persona, but in my experience, too much wishful thinking goes into world modeling unless you go outside right away.
[random remarks from the internet]
I think maybe having one ideal customer might be a useful a place to start. But probably it isn't a good idea to invest a lot of time in tailoring experiences/services/products to that ideal customer until you have actual customers.
Because without a lot of relevant experience, the ideal customers in your imagination don't correspond to actual ideal customers in the real world:
+ People do what they do for a lot of reasons. Some walk tightropes, others wear belts and suspenders.
+ People view money in a lot of different ways. $1000 is unrealistic for many people and pocket change for others. $10/year is great for people who don't care if you stay in business and a red flag for people who do care.
+ In general we tend to imagine people are similar to us (mostly because it is easier that way). But selling to people who are not like you is what selling to strangers consists of.
I agree. For example, I can think of creative people that have been successful that just produced what they loved, without a customer in mind. If they had started off by thinking “how can I optimize for theoretical customer X?”, they never would’ve been as successful.
Don’t make a product for others. Make one for yourself that you can dogfood. If you can’t do that, you’re on shaky ground.
Your first customer is always you. If you don't have a problem to solve that you know something about, you aren't going to make a useful product. A useful product can be a successful product.
Interesting points! Starting from a narrow perspective gives you feedback that is valuable, not noise that you can ignore. Most founders set their sights on an audience that is overfit (too narrow) or underfit (they have no experience). Striking a balance is key.
Consulting is one thing, but in the startup ecosystem I'm in I have (during the last 15 years) never ever seen a startup having a too narrow target segment (and I know several investors with the same mindset).
> Distribution Strategy - Assuming this is the right persona, how are you going to reach them, and can you communicate with them authentically?
The author's use of "communicate with them authentically" where I'd expect "persuade them", seems to be building on:
https://www.reifyworks.com/writing/2020-11-04-what-is-a-valu...
Where they write:
> When someone asks me what makes good marketing, and I’m in the mood to boil it down, I usually say something like “Good marketing is authentic.” What I mean by that is that good marketing is genuine, it derives its essential principles from a core that is pure and has a real purpose. This might sound counterintuitive if you’re someone who generally believes that marketing is phony and can’t be trusted. Well, as marketers, we can tell you – sometimes it is phony. But also, like anything else, most marketing isn’t great, and can be improved. How to improve it? That’s right, make it more genuine.
For me it helps to simply search for willingness to pay. The push-pull between your conceived offering and the customer’s perceived value, tend to turn these persona assumptions into something testable. Then, once true WtP is established, you can model a persona, but in my experience, too much wishful thinking goes into world modeling unless you go outside right away.