The other day I shared the need to create and nurture your business’s attraction character. Today I’d like to share 4 potential identities of an attraction character:
Explorer
Thought Leader
Interviewer
Duty Calls
Explorer
Personally, I tend to relate this identity. The explorer is someone that doesn’t always have a lot of the detailed answers but instead has lots of questions that constantly need answers. The explorer is curious and takes the customer on a journey of discovery. They are always on the lookout for new and interesting topics to explore.
Each week I meet with clients and answer many of their business questions. As we explore their specific situation, I often develop a few questions of my own that I need to explore a bit further. After the meeting, I often contact experts or research topics that I then square with my own constantly growing small business knowledge base.
Frequently, I use that information to create a blog like this one to share this new-found knowledge with my readers. Additionally, I internalize that knowledge even more by physically writing the post. This concept is explored more in “The Value of a Blog Even If No One Reads It”. Attraction characters that embrace the explorer identity share their experiences.
Thought Leader
The thought leader is someone that has done one or two specific things amazingly well. The audience has identified a need for the expert’s experience and seeks out the thought leader for answers to their questions.
Thought leaders generally have a before and after story, a “once I was like you, but then I discovered…” story. A person like Gary Vaynerchuk is an example of a social media thought leader while Jeffrey Gitomer is an example of sales thought leader. Thought leaders are mavens, have in-depth knowledge about a certain business aspect, and have built a reputation for being the person with all the answers.
Interviewer
The interviewer is similar to the explorer identity. However, where an explorer’s own curiosity drives them to find the answers from multiple sources, the interviewer inspires others to share their knowledge.
Interviewers are essentially reporters that interview thought leaders and record their messages. Many of the podcasts that I listen to regularly, such as Will Barron of “The Salesman Podcast” or Michael Stelzner of “Social Media Marketing Podcast” are spokespersons that embrace the interviewer attraction character.
Over time, the interviewer acquires much of the knowledge that is shared by their thought leader guests and may become thought leaders themselves.
Duty Calls
The duty calls an attraction character is a person who others often seek out for advice but who are reluctant to step up and be a thought leader. They generally like to remain behind the scenes but they know that they possess knowledge that others do not have and feel duty bound to share it.
Commonly, the duty calls attraction character is uncomfortable being in the limelight but feels the call to duty to share it. Many small business mentors have a duty calls attraction character.
It is likely that you or your business’s spokesperson can identify with one of these 4 attraction characters. If you identify with being an explorer, share stories about your journey of exploration. If you are a thought leader, share stories of where you came from and where you think the industry is heading. Embrace your inner attraction character and leverage your unique charisma to make your identity come alive.
What attraction character do you most identify with?
