Noah Parsons offers a great reminder of why creating buyer personas is good for business. It’s easy for business to forget that they’re in business to “remain” in business. Ultimately, they should exist to provide a needed service or product. However, that becomes a challenge after having to hang the “going out of business” sign in the storefront window. The only way to maximize the number of customers who arrive at your store is to first know who they are. This fact will never change.

Noah touches on some key points in creating a strong buyer persona.

#1. What’s your customer’s name? It makes it easier to relate to them as a “real” person.
#2. Paint a picture of their professional or personal background. Know what they enjoy doing, where they’re at in their career, and how they spend their time off.
#3. Know what your customers are concerned and care about. Will they need your product for years to come?

Of course, there’s more, but the idea is to understand your customers and their needs. It may take a little time if you haven’t already done it, but a good persona is an aggregate of your best customers. Stereotyping is the worst thing you can do when developing a buyer persona. Research is critical and can yield some surprising results. Your customers’ are the best source for telling you about themselves.

Keep your personas consistent. Their lifestyles are likely to be congruent with the services and products they buy. Keep in mind that creating generic personas can throw you off track as well. Be specific. Is your customer a man or a woman? What is their income range? What’s their education level? What social media venues do they frequent? You can learn more about creating effective buyer personas here:
http://articles.bplans.com/how-a-buyer-or-user-persona-can-improve-your-business/.