Recently I’ve been looking at my business in a new way. Trying to cater my content as well as my services to specific types of people that will get the most value out of reading or using our services.
Through this journey and with the help of the Hubspot Academy, I’ve been learning all sorts of new terminologies and concepts that help me do better and be better for the people that are actually paying attention.
The first concept I started considering is the concept of the Buyer Persona:
The Buyer Persona is a 50% fake profile that has it’s information rooted in reality. This is to say, a generalized version of real people and real buyer traits.
A buyer persona helps you know who your business or content is targeted at, and how to best market it based on the likes and dislikes of the buyer personas.
The first buyer persona for my company is the Solopreneur:
The solopreneur is often a one person business or operation, that involves one person doing the bulk if not all the work on a company.
Ex: Independent Writers and Illustrators, part time product creators, musicians and developers.
What they lack in skills they make up in dedication to the project.
They require affordable service plans that take into account their input. Time is often not of the essence when quality can be achieved at a lower price.
Most solopreneurs are not full-timing the endeavor they are hiring you to work on. This percents two important factors.
1- They have a primary job that might take up a huge chunk of their time, making things like meetings, and phone calls a very difficult thing to accomplish. The lack of communication can result in a lot of freedom during the project that can result in several revisions in the future. Establishing parameters to work on at an early stage will allow for a more speedy process.
2- More often than not the fulltime job is their main if not their only source of income. This can be in some cases good whilst in others very bad.
If the person has a well paying full time job, they might be more inclined to purchase from you if you move at a steady pace and their perceived R.O.I. continues to grow with each session you work on.
If in turn they do not have a well paying job, but instead they are barely making enough to support their other passions, they might value a more sporadic update system that helps them not spend too much money on their other passions. However it is key that their R.O.I. always continues to grow. This will help them eventually have a bigger budget which in turn will pay for more work sessions.
Doing an in-depth analysis of the people you are selling to and working with, will allow you to create content that is specific to them and that will resonate with their needs and problems. Making you a reliable person sure to get tons of return customers and recommendations.
The second buyer persona I came up with for my business is The Team:
The team can range from a 2-3 man team to a bigger 10-20 man effort. In this case it’s best to charge an hourly rate and get paid in full first, when doing freelance work. It involves a lot of interpersonal interactions, patience, and breafing times, which if handled poorly can cut away at productivity and efficiency.
Ex:Outsourcing companies, media agencies, studios and collaborative partnerships.
In the past I’ve had to drop several team projects due to a lack of confidence in the individual parts of the team. This lack of confidence can come from a ton of different places, such as; poor work ethics, bad communication and unclear goal or vision.
To relieve tension around this buyer persona it is often a good idea to hold weekly, or daily meetings where people can interact with each other and learn more about the project and what tasks need to be completed in order to bring the idea to life.
Jumping in front of possible issues at the beginning will help the team bond together more effectively, making for easier problem solving activities.
Most teams carry with them the expectation of individual efficiency. This is to mean that people are good at the part they play in a team. Whenever someone is biting more that they can chew this can create a work balance issue where other members of the team have to pick up after the lackluster performance of one of their team members. Which might eventually lead into people quitting or only one person handling the business whilst others take the credit.
It is important that every member of the team is on the same page as often as possible. Otherwise conflicting instructions can arise that can costs thousands of dollars to fix.
Communication is key when working with teams. Everyone must carry their own weight and they must understand why they are carrying it in the first place, and how that which they carry helps or alleviates their teammates.
The more buyer personas you create for yourself and your business the more understanding you will have on how to present your services.
In my case a solopreneur persona might benefit from more specific and individual content offerings like; video tutorials and blogposts. Whilst a team persona could benefit from video tutorials and blogposts, they might have much better luck enjoying the services if they had a hands-on training seminar or a multipersonal comunication platform where they can all give their input.
The environments for success can all be nourished once you understand who you are creating for and what their home-turf looks like. Their dislikes will also help you avoid possible nuances that can destroy the work dynamic.
For example a solopreneur might be alright pushing off 1 meeting to next week, while in the team’s case that meeting could have been integral for the whole team to be able to complete the tasks they had set-out for that week, and now with the delay of the meeting the whole team is delayed by a week.
Big Business:
The name says it all. They need quality work at a fast time with the least amount of friction and revisions possible. We’re talking Ferraiouli, Fiverr, Marvel, Government Contracts, etc.
People that pay good money to get the job done right once.
In this case it is best to give people priority. If you want to retain big business you need to be more than good, you need to be great. These are people that wake up in the morning and need your services right out of the gate in order to provide their services effectively. In my case these are people like Lawyers that need Technical Drawings, Muralists that require mockups of their ideas on site pictures, or Social Media accounts that need a consistent stream of content to be shared across their platforms.
Whatever the case is, they want it done and they want it done well. Here the least amount of friction is accepted. They will often write lengthy emails that will explain the details of the project down to the last eyelash. Being open minded and able to process information quickly and effectively will make you stand out from other sellers and will allow you to be more effective with these accounts.
Treating these clients with priority and providing excellent customer services, even after the transaction has been done, will net you return business of the highest value. This is because big business recommends big business, and in big business people tend to trust what they know and who they know. So a good recommendation here can make a new client that might help you pay off your mortgage or buy you a new car.
Handle these clients well, and know when to hold’em.
Some big business is not good for you and being able to pass off on promising offers in lieu of a better situation might be the best bet.
Be warned of things like:
- Superiority Complexes
- Unreasonable Demands
- Disrespectful Remarks
Sometimes the people involved in big business dealings believe they have a higher status when compared to freelancers they are hiring. These type of people are difficult to please and whilst they might hold a big carrot at the end of their stick, no amount of money should come between you and enjoying your work. So when a client exhibits any of these behaviors and the check is big, your best bet is to pass off the project. You do not want a headache and people to tarnish your name when you fail to uphold their unreasonable standards. Instead wish them good luck on their projects and be on the lookout for the next possible Big Business that will come your way.
Knowing what works for you and the type of people that should work with you, will help you better pick projects and ideas that are in line with who you are as a person and will save you on tons of problems in the long-run.
Hope you enjoyed this post and till next time, I’ve been Antonio “Mabs” and may you have a wonderful day.
If you feel like your fit one of this buyer personas, perhaps our services are right for you.
Check out our Fiverr page for more information our offerings and write us to get a custom quote today.
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