The business I’m launching today has been on my mind for more than a decade — ever since an attendee at the seminar I developed for Pragmatic Marketing said that buyer personas were the best part and asked me “what’s next?”
I founded Buyer Persona Institute to answer that question. We are starting with two workshops but a single goal; provide the expert guidance that you need to capture the buyer’s voice . . and then rely on that voice to drive every aspect of marketing strategy and execution.
The goal was obvious but the path was unclear for many years. Because I wanted to impact the value of buyer personas for everyone, I knew I couldn’t do the work for you. And I had seen too many variables at the execution step to expect you to succeed with a simple how-to guide.
So I knew that I had to find a scalable way to work alongside you as you acquire the skills to build and use buyer personas in your real work. A year of development and testing proves that Buyer Persona Institute is ready to do just that.
I hope you’ll look around the new site and send me your thoughts and questions. Everything I’m doing at Buyer Persona Institute was inspired by something you said or asked, so keep the comments coming. I’ve got an ebook that’s nearly complete and more workshop ideas. Your input will continue to keep the company focused on finding answers to your most compelling challenges.
Acknowledgements
Here’s a shout-out to the people and companies that helped to make Buyer Persona Institute possible.
Andrea Sutherland, for capturing my endless thoughts and magically transforming them into coherent, accessible workshops and workbooks.
David Barnhart of Business Blogging Pros, for your “black magic”, steady hand and endless patience as we transformed my blog into a real website.
David Meerman Scott, for communicating the value of buyer personas to hundreds of thousands of people through your blog, tweets, keynote speeches and best-selling books. And yes, thank you for making me start my own blog all those years ago. You were right.
Doreen and Paul Caldera of Saltworks Inc, for your always-inspiring creative work, and especially, for the tough love that kept me on track as we imagined the company’s image and website.
John Harris, you are a true genius with the written word. I can’t wait to see our ebook in print. Thank you for taking the extra time to work on the website.
Jonathan Kranz, your ability to write copy that people want to read is amazing, and thank you for sharing your secrets through some fascinating workshops.
Steve Morton, Maureen Kelly, Ann Marie Cullen, and all the senior directors and product marketers at Symantec, how can I ever thank you enough for allowing me to work by your side over the last year. It has been fun, challenging, and above all else, a privilege.
Most important, thanks to all of you in marketing who believe in the potential of buyer personas and continue to stay in touch. Your willingness to share the details of your obstacles and successes is the source of everything I do.
