Is your Perfect Customer single? If so, is marriage likely? In either case, are there children? Or have children left to build their own lives?

What career is being pursued? Is it a work-at-home bit? Caring for a home and raising kids? (While certainly latter is a career, I'd refrain from using "housewife;" many women don't like this label much.)

What is household income? Is dwelling owned or rented? What part of income is committed to dwelling? How much discretionary income is available?

What level of formal education has been achieved? Is there a continuing effort to achieve more?

Is your Perfect Customer a member of a specific culture? If so, which one? What languages are used? Do you expect any buyers from other cultures?

What does your Perfect Customer do in their free time? Watch TV? Travel? Go fishing?

Is religion a factor? If so, which one? To what degree is it significant relative to selling your product?

Actually, there is no end to questions such as above. The answers to many of them mean more with some products than with others. Consider hot water heaters, for example. Only home owners will even be potentially interested. But many products do not depend upon specifics. We all bath, and do whatever we do with our hair, regardless of where we live or what we do each day.

What Of Hopes And Dreams?

You want to trigger a need for your product by tapping into hopes and dreams of your Perfect Customer. The needs to address are a function of your product and who your Perfect Customer is.

To see how best to make this happen, there's no better approach than to study TV ads. A typical commercial grabs immediately at a specific hope or dream common to target. And there is only about 30 seconds to a minute to get message across.

Sure, some commercials are better than others. So focus on best of them. However, major bucks were spent in production of most of them. You'll be exploring results of thinking of many of most successful promoters in world. It's difficult to imagine a better forum from which to learn.

Getting It Done

The more you know about your Perfect Customer, better you will be able to communicate. You'll come to know what does not need saying. And what needs to be spelled out in detail. Take time to come to know this person as well as you know your best friend, and effectiveness of your messages will increase accordingly.

Prove-It - These people are not content until you have provided evidence to support every assertion made. If you say something about your product you can not demonstrate, you will lose this customer.

How-It-Works - This type wants only to know how it works; they will make their own decision as to whether or not it works well enough. Details make this type happy. And they want a clear definition of each product feature.

A Better Course

Build your own definition of categories as I did above, based on what you have learned about your target. If most interested in your product want details, provide them. If most want facts, list them all. If they want only an overview, give one that is brief and to point.

If you can add these kinds of characteristics to your definition of your Perfect Customer, so much better. Most, however, will find this difficult to do, even impossible. So unless dictated by your product or other specific conditions, here is better plan for presenting information.

Cover The Bases

Ignore personality types, and think in terms of behavior. When your Perfect Customer hits your site, chances are more than a dozen sites have already been visited, and briefly. You have only seconds to capture attention and draw this person into your page and site.

You need a dandy first impression which immediately lends a sense of credibility and expertise. Next, you need a great headline that grabs attention and provides a great benefit to your Perfect Customer. You need captivating sub-headings throughout page, for most visitors will see only these initially. And you need a clear link to an order form.

This of itself takes care of those in a hurry, regardless of personality type. If anything on page grabs attention and reading begins, you can then provide other kinds of information.

Rather than deciding whether or not your Perfect Customer wants details, proofs, drawing, or whatever, better plan is to have all available. That is, let headline and sub-headings give a brief but comprehensive overview, for all need this. Include further details and benefits under each sub-heading. For extended details and "proofs," offer links to a new page.

Summing Up

As you can see, I'm not convinced any personality traits need to be added to your definition of your Perfect Customer. Unless your target is clearly only one type, better plan may be to offer essence of your product in page, with links to other information some may need. _____________

Abstracted from "Your Path To Success"