Spider-Man is without doubt one of Marvel Comics most popular superhero. Created by Stan Lee in 1962, he has featured in over 11,000 issues and has appeared in six live-action films since his inception.

But did you know…Spidey was so close to being kicked in the paper bin just moments after making it off the drawing board? Head of Marvel told Stan Lee that he thought his new character was a “rotten idea” for a comic book hero; believing that Spider-Man would struggle to ingratiate himself with Marvel’s adoring fans, for the simple fact that people were scared of spiders—so they’d supposedly be scared of him.

How wrong was he?! Stan stuck by his webbed-wonder:

“I always wanted to produce a character that the average reader could identify with. He’s not the strongest man in the world. And in his normal identity as Peter Parker, he’s not as handsome as Brad Pitt, he’s not a great athlete. He’s just a regular guy like most guys. And I think that has helped to create the popularity that he has because so many readers can just identify with him.”

And why was Stan so confident – and so successful?

He knew Marvel’s readers, knew what their loyal fans would want.

Can you say the same for your business?

Do you know your clients, their pain points?

Have you assembled this data into an Avatar: creating a character with a story?

This will help you answer questions around your products and services, where you should advertise, what language you should use in your marketing and what story you should be telling them.

Without your ideal customer Avatar your marketing will be generic and ineffective, copy on your website and in your emails will be boring with no real purpose or clear message. You’ll attract less than ideal customers, you’ll confuse your readers and your business will not be fun.

There’s a saying in the advertising world and it’s this:

“If you can’t turn yourself into your customer, you probably shouldn’t be in the ad writing business at all.”

And the same is true for your business…