This post is for all bloggers and small business owners and not UX Designers. It represents a simplified approach to creating a persona. We are preparing a post with a more complexed approach for professionals.
I remember talking to a friend of mine, who had a blog. We were talking about her blog and its design, and I asked her: “But, who are you writing for”? She stopped mid-sentence and almost shouted at me: “For everyone”!
Not everyone will like you and your work, but that’s perfectly okay. Not everyone will be your reader, your user, your customer. Sure, we are creating for someone, but someone is not everyone, and it took me a long time to realize that.
Jasmine Star once said: “My blog, my Cuba.”
That sentence really stuck with me throughout my years of blogging. I’ve stopped writing for everyone. In my mind, I’ve created my perfect reader, and I soon got them. I’ve stopped thinking I have to please everyone. I can actually do what I want. My Blog, my Cuba.
So, what I did was create a so-called Persona … my imaginary perfect visitor. To do that I searched for as many magazines and newspapers I could find. If you don’t feel like going hands down, you can do this with Pinterest or some other Bookmark app. How you do your persona is your own choice, but the end result should be the same – getting a clear picture who your one (or up to three) ideal reader/user/buyer is.
This is my go-to method for creating Personas.
I take magazines, a big piece of paper, scissors, and glue. I like to do things with my hands, so while answering the questions below I started cutting and pasting pictures that represented the answers to the paper. In the end, I also added the words.
The questions:
- Is my reader a man or a woman?
- How old is he/she?
- Where does he/she work?
- Is he/she married/single/in relationship/complicated…?
- For blogs, I was interested if the person is opinionated or not.
- Does he/she have any children?
- What level of education does she/he have?
- What are her/his needs and wants?
- Where does she/he hang out?
- What kind of lifestyle does she/he have? What kind does she/he want?
The cherry on my cake of ideal qualities that my reader has, was usually a question: What is his/her name?
You can go into as many details as you want. Usually, my vivid imagination would, after this process, show me the picture in my mind that I could always have with me, and use it when writing.
Knowing who I want my readers to be and accepting that I will not be liked by all, help me build a blog I was proud off, and one that was alive.
So, new blog, new opportunity to try my theory again.
Until next time,
Pia
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