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One, Two, or Three Avatars?

by svborgman
5 replies
Here's my question. I write a blog targeting men, Gen-X, with high functioning autism, who are successfully employed, but who may struggle with relationship and career issues.

As I have been thinking about it, I am questioning whether I have been unrealistic with this avatar.

I may be wrong, but statistics say that about 80% of high functioning autism adults are unemployed. (However, that makes me think there are still 20% out there).

Someone suggested I target partners and parents of high functioning autism adults as well.

I'm just wondering whether that will dilute my writing, and confuse the audience.

Being crystal clear on my audience and their wants and needs is crucial to providing value and monetizing my site. On the other hand, my avatar needs to be able to afford the products and services I offer.

I would love your input.
#avatars #ideal customer
  • Profile picture of the author apoorv.parijat
    Hey Steve,

    You're in a very specific niche - 20% high functioning autism adults. You're trying to solve relationship and career problems in their lives and you understand your audience very clearly.

    Now, if I were you, I'd rather target their parents/partners. In this case, I would still be solving the same problems. And my understanding of the audience will keep coming into play.
    Only my standpoint has changed, i.e previously, I was talking to an autistic adult, now I'm talking about an autistic adult.

    This small change allows me to -
    1. target a larger audience with more buyers
    2. grow my website to cater to niches which are very close to this one.

    My two cents,
    - Apoorv
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    • Profile picture of the author svborgman
      Originally Posted by apoorv.parijat View Post

      Hey Steve,

      You're in a very specific niche - 20% high functioning autism adults. You're trying to solve relationship and career problems in their lives and you understand your audience very clearly.

      Now, if I were you, I'd rather target their parents/partners. In this case, I would still be solving the same problems. And my understanding of the audience will keep coming into play.
      Only my standpoint has changed, i.e previously, I was talking to an autistic adult, now I'm talking about an autistic adult.

      This small change allows me to -
      1. target a larger audience with more buyers
      2. grow my website to cater to niches which are very close to this one.

      My two cents,
      - Apoorv
      Is it possible to write to both audiences on one blog? What do you think?
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      • Profile picture of the author apoorv.parijat
        This is a typical multiple audience dilemma. Normally, it is okay to address 2-3 types of audience. In order to decide which types to address, you first need to do an audience analysis based on their interest/motivation and what do they expect.

        It looks something like this -



        An enthusiast will be self motivated but will be reading only for the information. Similarly, an autistic adult will be reading your post to solve his problems. The autistic adult's relatives will be reading your blog to solve someone else's problem, hence 'other motivated'.

        From the above, both the adults and parents/relatives group have the same interest - "solving problem". Therefore, if you are writing for autistic adults, you might as well address their parents/partners/relatives. This would also increase your revenue as you can see here -



        This audience analysis takes into account the audience's motivation and their employment status. We assume they are all interested in solving problem. Clearly, if you widen your audience, you get more buyers while you are focusing the same cause. It's like an 80-20. You make 20% extra effort to cater to parents/relatives (the 'other motivated') and you get 80% reward.

        To sum it up, it is okay to target more than 1 type of audience. You obviously cannot target everyone. You'll have to find a sweet spot. Also, since the adults and their relatives have the same motivation, it'd be easier to address these two types.
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    First, you would likely get a lot more views and replies to your thread if you change the question in your title to Re: One, Two, or Three Niches?

    I think it is a great niche and a good website could help a lot of people. I am not sure how you would monetize it but I am sure you have analyzed that already.

    As far as your question I think you may be right that your niche is too narrow to get enough traffic. It also doesn't make sense to target an audience with 80% unemployed and the other 20% probably making minimum wage or less.

    I think your idea to broaden it would help with both traffic and monetization. Without any research I think you would do much better with a website that targeted both male and females with high functioning autisim as well as family/caregivers/friends.

    You could have your main website and then separate categories.

    Main Website Domain
    * Help For the Guys
    * Help For the Gals
    * Do You Assist An Autistic Person?

    Remember this is without doing any keyword or demographic research. I also don't know much about the sensitivities or reading skills of most autistic individuals. I do know that the family members and caregivers that I have known are passionate and totally committed to helping their loved ones with this condition. They are also the ones likely to have the money to spend on ways to help.
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  • Profile picture of the author svborgman
    I'm blown away by your generosity and level of detail with suggestions! Thanks so much - I need to take this away, think about it, and come back with my input!

    Thanks again, so much!!!
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