Six Keys to Finding Your Avatar

This about avatar identification, not about religion, but I’m going to start off with the story of the Saddleback Church and its founder, Rick Warren. Warren was born in San Jose, California, to a Baptist minister and a high school librarian. He graduated from Ukiah High School in 1972, and went on to study at California Baptist University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Again, this episode isn’t about religion. Instead, it’s about a man understanding who his congregation is, and exploring how this relates to you. After all, you too have a congregation; your following is your congregation. Your congregation is about your prospects and clients. When you understand your congregation deeply, you will understand your business even better than you already do. What Warren did exceptionally well was to simplify the avatar for those who went to his church, or his congregation. Remember that your congregation doesn’t have to be religious. It can be your mailing list, your following, or even your friends and family. These people, or the “who,” need to come before the “what.” In other words, you need to understand your market before you create your message. This is what Warren did when he created his avatar, Saddleback Sam. If you aren’t familiar with the avatar of Saddleback Sam, check out the link to see his picture and learn more about him. I’ve come up with six keys to help you create your own avatar for your congregation. Three are moving toward (pleasure), and the other three are moving away (pain). The first three (pleasure) are aspirations, attributes, and affiliations. The latter group (pain) includes fear, frustrations, and foibles. Tune into this episode to learn more about all of these topics, what it means that your avatar is your bullseye client, why it’s so important that your message comes after you identify your market/avatar, what it means to follow the platinum rule rather than the golden rule, what words of wisdom Gary Halbert has to share, and much more.   In This Episode: [03:08] - Alex introduces the three key insights into becoming a highly skilled ethical influencer that he’ll cover during today’s episode. [04:08] - We hear about the subject of today’s episode: Rick Warren and his understanding of his congregation. [06:36] - Because of the success of Warren’s book, he returned his 25 years of salary to the church and stopped taking a salary. [08:20] - Alex explains when Warren felt called to full-time ministry, and talks about the importance of mentoring. [10:11] - We return to the topic of avatars. [11:24] - People focus on the “what” before the “who,” Alex points out, and explains why this is backwards. [12:51] - We learn about Saddleback Sam, Rick Warren’s avatar for his congregation. [14:20] - Alex has come up with six keys to creating an avatar, which he lists. [17:22] - How you get to know your audience is to have a dialogue with them and understand them, Alex explains. [19:41] - Marketing is about strategy, and if you know the six avatar keys, your life will be a lot easier. [19:50] - This episode’s Alexism is this: effective social influencers are like the wind. You can’t see them, but you notice their presence. [23:50] - The single biggest mistake that entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, and others make is to not clearly identify their target market. [24:22] - We hear a quick review of the major insights that Alex has illuminated throughout this episode. [25:15] - Speaking of reviews, please take a moment to head to this link to leave a review. it will help Alex a lot if you leave your biggest takeaway from this episode as a review and leave a star rating as well! [26:32] - Alex gives listeners a gift in honor of the 22nd episode of All Selling Aside! To learn how to get your free copy of his book Alexisms, tune in to the episode!   Links and Resources: Alex Mandossian MarketingOnline.com Skipio - where mass business texting gets personal! Alex Mandossian on YouTube Alexisms by Alex Mandossian All Selling Aside on iTunes Saddleback Church Rick Warren Billy Graham Peter Drucker The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren A. Criswell Clement Stone Jack Canfield Roy H. Williams Buckminster Fuller Mark Victor Hansen Socrates Plato Aristotle Alexander the Great Benjamin Graham Warren Buffett Maya Angelou Oprah Winfrey Saddleback Sam Jay Abraham The Platinum Rule by Tony Alessandra Gary Halbert