How to Build a Buyer Persona That Actually Works (The Anti-Avatar)

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You know what's killing your business? That buyer persona worksheet you filled out last year.

Female. 25-34. Urban. Likes yoga and coffee. Has a side hustle. Shops on Instagram.

I call her "Marketing Mary." And she's a lie.

Not because those details are wrong—but because they're useless. They tell you who someone is. They don't tell you why they buy.

Here's the truth that took me six failed YouTube channels to learn: The "average user" doesn't exist. And the moment you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no one.

So what's the fix?

Stop looking for a person. Start looking for a struggling moment.

We're not building demographics anymore. We're hunting psychographics—the actual emotional job someone needs done. And weirdly, the fastest way to find your real audience is to define who you're not for.

Your Anti-Avatar.

You've probably heard the phrase "Jobs to be Done." But most people miss the point.

It's not about the customer. It's about the progress they're trying to make in a specific moment.

The classic example: A fast-food chain wanted to sell more milkshakes. They did all the traditional research. Who's buying? When? What flavor?

And then someone asked a different question: "What job is the milkshake being hired to do?"

I asked Sage to pull the research on this. Here's what the data actually showed:

See what happened there?

If they'd targeted "Men, 35, income $50k+" they would've made the milkshake taste better. But that's not what morning buyers needed. They needed it thicker and chunkier—so it lasted the whole drive.

The context predicted the sale. Not the person.

But here's where it gets interesting. You've been told to "find your niche" a thousand times. You probably rolled your eyes.

So did I. Until I saw the conversion data.

I asked Sage to compare specialists vs. generalists. The gap is absurd:

Translation: When you say you're for everyone, people assume you're good at nothing.

And there's a psychological reason why. It's called the Four Forces of Progress. Most creators only market one of them.

Most marketing is just shouting benefits. "Save time! Make money! Scale faster!"

But nobody talks about the anxiety. The fear that you'll buy the thing and still fail. That's the force that's actually stopping the sale.

Let me tell you about my R&D phase.

Coming from a background in Product Design, I treated my early media career like a series of rapid prototypes. I launched projects in six different verticals—ranging from tech commentary to digital art—specifically to see where the "One-Person Business" model breaks.

And I found the breaking point.

The content wasn't the problem. The targeting was. In every single "failed" prototype, I made the same mistake: I tried to cast a wide net to avoid limiting my growth.

I was chasing a phantom demographic. "People interested in technology." Cool. That's 4 billion humans. Super helpful.

I'd watch a video about gaming, and think "but what if business people unsubscribe?" So I'd make it more general. More bland. More... nothing.

I was chasing a phantom demographic. "People interested in technology." Cool. That's 4 billion humans. Super helpful.

Here's what changed: I stopped looking at Google Analytics.

I ran a simulation. I used AI to model my actual audience—not who I wanted them to be, but who was actually showing up. The broke solopreneurs. The people stuck at $2k/mo. The ones drowning in administrative chaos.

And I realized: My audience isn't "people who like AI." My audience is "people who are being suffocated by their own business."

That's a struggling moment. That's a job to be done.

But here's the scary part. The moment I defined that clearly, I also had to define the Anti-Avatar. The people this is not for.

And that felt like suicide. Like I was turning away customers.

But the opposite happened. The business started working.

Because when you say "This isn't for you," the people it is for lean in. Repulsion is a growth mechanism.

Stop trying to be for everyone. It's making you invisible.

Here's what you do instead:

Step 1: Close Google Analytics.

Seriously. Those demographic charts are lying to you. Age and location don't predict behavior. Context does.

Step 2: Run a "Switch Interview."

Call your last three clients. Ask them one question:

"What was happening in your life the week before you decided you needed to solve this problem?"

Not "why did you choose me?" That gets you bullshit. Ask about the moment. The context. The struggle.

You're looking for the Push (what was broken) and the Anxiety (what almost stopped them from buying).

Step 3: Define Your Anti-Avatar.

Write down three traits of people you refuse to work with. Be specific. Be harsh.

Here are mine:

See what that does? It repels tire-kickers. And it makes the Burned-Out Builders feel seen.

Marketing Mary doesn't exist. She never did.

Your customers aren't demographics. They're people in a specific moment of struggle, trying to make progress.

And the fastest way to find them isn't to cast a wider net. It's to be so specific about who you're not for that the right people can't look away.

So. Who's your Anti-Avatar?

— Scott

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