A while ago I wrote about finding your online voice. While all of it is important, there is one step that I am finding businesses either struggle with or skip altogether – defining their ideal client.
Now, I grew up with the adage:
You can please some of the people some of the time, you can’t please all the people all of the time. So why do we as business owners try?Tweet this
I know in my handmade business that I am not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. I don’t want to be. So why does my service business (Write to Right) have to be any different. Well, fortunately I don’t believe it and in fact, before I started the business I worked with a leading marketing professional to define many aspects of my business.
Why did I define these aspects of my business? Well, I knew that I would need to market Write to Right differently to my handmade business. That being the case, I took a corporate approach and went to a consultant. The first thing we didn’t do was sit down and discuss how she was going to revolutionise my business, nor did we work out strategies for different media. The first thing was working out who my ideal client was.
This pushed my buttons as I hadn’t even considered defining my ideal client, and to be honest I was happy to provide my services to anyone. I hadn’t realised that the fundamentals I had learnt in the handmade sphere translated to business services. The thing I have realised since is that I am not alone. Most of the businesses that I have worked with do not know who they are marketing to. They haven’t gotten to know their ideal client.
Don’t worry, defining your ideal client does not mean you can’t work with anyone who falls outside the definition. Defining your ideal client allows you to develop so many strategies to help your business, to grow your business, and to save you stress. Yes, it’s another ‘thing’ you should do and need to do, but I promise that it will save you time (and help to make money) in the long run.
Current research indicates that it takes between seven and ten ‘touches’ before a customer will purchase from a business. A touch can be them seeing your business name, speaking to you, reading a social media post, or seeing you in person. If you are consistent with how you speak to your customers, then these touches are easier. By having an idea of who your ideal client is, it is easier for you to formulate these interactions.
There are many tools and videos online to help you define your ideal client. I have found these two videos to be simple and informative. Watch them in the order I have posted below and use the questions in the second video (they are more in depth) to help you define your ‘who’, and the instructions in the first for the ‘why’.
I’d love to know how you go defining your ideal client, so leave me a comment below. Did you find the videos helpful? Was the exercise enlightening? Or, do you already know your ideal client and can share how you use this knowledge?