187 - Why and How to Create an Avatar for Your Ideal Coaching Client

This episode is inspired by conversations with two of my VIP clients – both are coaches working with a professional audience. I will share details about why it’s smart to create an Avatar for your target coaching audience, how to do it and use it effectively for everything in your coaching business.

By the way … I’m not talking about those cute little characters that represent YOU on social media. This is about your ideal client. Find the full transcript with the list of questions to develop your Avatar at prosperouscoach.com/187.

So here is what was going on with my two VIP clients that inspired me to create an episode for you about this. Both, independently, were having trouble with their messaging.

Connect Don’t Perform with Your Coaching Prospects

One was not getting engagements from her posts or enough downloads of her podcast. As a result, not enough people in her audience were going to her website and taking actions to get on her list, fill out her application and grab a Discovery Call. So, she didn’t have enough enrollment opportunities and didn’t have enough clients.

The other hadn’t launched yet but was struggling to write blog articles. Though he had excellent writing skills and tremendous expertise his blogs were coming off stiff. They were full of cliché topics and thoughts that could easily be found with a Google search. He was writing to a generic audience even though he had targeted a narrower group.

Neither of these coaches were relating enough to their audience and that’s essential in today’s marketplace.

I realized that both of these coaches were not enough in touch with their specific target audience. They were talking like a coach, which was coming off bland. It’s really important not to be coachey with your messaging. Connect don’t perform. It’s the best lesson I ever learned.

Your Avatar Helps You Attract Your ideal Coaching Client

So, I showed them how to create an Avatar and develop their blogs and podcast episodes, their social posts and presentations, by stepping into the shoes and mindset of their unique target audience. I’ll explain how in a moment.

Remember the blockbuster film Avatar from 2009? If you haven’t seen it, grab some friends and delicious snacks and settle in for a fantastic journey into a beautiful planet called Pandora, that is overrun by humans wanting to mine the native’s resources no matter the cost. Yes, it’s an age-old story but uniquely told.

In the movie, scientists from Earth manufacture a few bodies that look and respond like the bodies of the Na’vi, the indigenous, highly evolved planet-centered people of Pandora. The consciousness of the scientists could then be downloaded into those bodies so they can move about in the culture, interacting with the Na’vi in the most relational way.

Beyond the movie, you’ve probably heard of the Avatar concept for businesses. Your Avatar, in this case, describes in great detail who your chosen target audience is and what exactly makes them tick. Every business should have a clearly defined Avatar so that their products, services and marketing are designed specifically for the Avatar.

If you create your Avatar in a masterful way and use it to interact with your audience in the most relational way then you have a huge advantage in marketing and attracting clients.

See the rest of the transcript including all 22 questions to develop your AVATAR of your ideal coaching client.