Sample Visitor General Profile
Note: This is a start on an in-depth profile. Normally, the next step would be to flesh it out in group discussion, adding characteristics. Every business will have several of these. This particular profile was drawn up for a musical instrument business. The profile for your organization would be different, but have the same kind of detail and depth.
Remember to check out the following, as well.
Sue lives in the suburbs. She's married to Ron.
Ron commutes to the city where he works for a medium-sized wholesaler of HVAC equipment. He makes a pretty good salary, but they still need Sue to work in order to have the house they want and to give their children what they think is important. Ron works long hours but enjoys what he does and the people he works with. Weekend work is common. He doesn't travel much on business unless it's the occasional trip to a manufacturer or an industry convention.
Sue works as an administrative assistant in a law office in their town. She's good at what she does, but sometimes she has to work late or go in on Saturday.
Sue and Ron have three children. Kristin is 20 and away at college. Taylor is 18. He's thinking about where he'll go to college next year. Their youngest is Brandon. Brandon is 14 and in his freshman year of high school.
Kristin is in her junior year at a state school. She's majoring in social science and thinking about going on for a graduate degree when she graduates. She's active in social and extracurricular things at college, but doesn't have one big activity that draws her interest. She played clarinet in high school, but doesn't even have an instrument with her at college.
Taylor plays sports a lot, but only for recreation. He's not on a team. He's really interested in girls, though, and his dating schedule is intense. He's got a driver's license, but doesn't own his own car, so he often borrows mom's or dad's -- whichever is home.
Taylor has been playing computer games since he was very young. He's also the reason that the family has an AOL account. Six years ago he simply bugged his parents until they gave in and bought a personal computer and modem and signed up with AOL. He spends some time online every day. There's a lot of chat and work on school projects, sometimes late into the night.
In a lot of ways, the computer in the family room is Taylor's. He often takes it over for hours. Right now he's researching school possibilities and sending lots of email and instant messages to Becky, the current One Great Love in his life.
When Taylor's not on the computer, Brandon is likely to be. He's just getting into the swing of high school and uses the net to connect with his friends a lot. He really doesn't remember when the family didn't have email. Right now he's discovered online greeting cards. He's sending them to Mom and Dad and Taylor and Kristin, two or three a day. Next week it will be something else.
Brandon is passionate about skateboarding, music, and his rock collection, in that order. Most days after school when the weather allows he's out skateboarding. He's gotten in trouble a couple of times, including the time he bowled over the mayor's mom while roaring down a sidewalk on his board. Brandon knows all the skateboarding sites and chats. He's trying to find a job that will let him earn money for things he wants that are "outside the budget." So far, no luck.
Sue and Ron both use the family computer, but only after the kids let them have it. The only connection they have to the net from home is AOL. They're using version 4. Ron can connect to the web at work, but is often too busy. Sue has email at work, but no web access.
They both use the web, even though they admit to being a bit uncomfortable about it. They've also made some online purchases, but small ones. Even then, when Ron ordered a book from Amazon, he used his online banking/Quicken to check his credit card every day for two weeks, just to make sure no one was making unauthorized charges.
Remember to check out the following, as well.
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Copyright 2002 by Wally Bock
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