No, not really the movie, but an Avatar is the person to whom your products or services are designed, and the more detailed of a description you can put together of that person, the more you will be able to better target your products.  The two examples in the book were ones where people were basically designing their business for people like them, and that is really what I am doing too.  So here we go.

My ideal customer, let’s call her Melissa (that is what I am often mistakenly called!) is a working mom, with two children ages 8 & 5.  She is the person with primary responsibility for gift giving in her family (including for her in-laws), and grew up in a family where gift giving, particularly at Christmas, and particularly from her Aunts and certain family friends was an art.  Immediate family gifts tended toward the utilitarian, a nice new winter coat,  a book that she’d been wanting, etc – but the Aunts!  They seemed to find the most perfect, unusual gifts.  Not wildly extravagant necessarily, but really special, and aimed specifically at what she didn’t even know she wanted.  Melissa is on the lookout year round for special items for her friends and family members, capitalizing on craft shows and museum sales to find special presents for those she loves.  She loves to buy hand made items to support crafts people, and would like to be able to find a variety of items in one place – she shops fairly often on Etsy, looking for specific items via targeted word searches.

My store will sell items that have a special interest, e.g. vintage advertising, purses, and patterns, and newer items designed around both vintage styles and modern designs, for women on the go, to keep themselves stylishly organized.  She will have the ability to choose special themes or fabrics for made to order products as well, with a few days lead time.  She can access my products on Etsy, my WordPress site, or at craft fairs.