Here’s what savvy online business owners ought to know about clarifying their ideal client (spoiler alert: go beyond demographics)
If you’ve been in business for any time at all, I’m sure you’ve seen it…
The fill-in-the-blank templates with a space for a stock photo where you can outline the details of your ideal client to help guide your business efforts.
I like these, I do.
But they typically only cover aspects about the person like age, gender, marital status, title, and income.
And we all know that who we are as a human being (and the reasons we buy) go way deeper than that.
Alright, so how do you craft a meaningful ideal client profile that you can use on a daily basis and not just shove in a (digital) drawer?
Here’s a really easy hack.
Think back to your absolute favorite clients to work with. Seriously, get maybe 1-3 people in mind. What do you love about them? Which of their tangible qualities make them a joy to be around? What was happening in their life that caused them to start working with you? What were they trying to accomplish?
This can be anything. And it’s going to be unique to you.
You might love how lighthearted, or gracious, or present, or professional, or serious they were. Maybe they’re easy to schedule with. Or truly listen to the nuanced details you share.
Some of these qualities might be subjective, and easy to recall. It can also be useful to go back to some of your early email conversations to get specific details on what challenges they were having at the outset, and what they wanted to accomplish when they started working with you.
By thinking through these questions, you’ll be able to highlight a number of qualities about this person that made them a great fit for the work, that go beyond the city they live in.
Let this process be light and fun, and compile the qualities you want more of in future clients!
Once you have a more holistic view of the type of client you want more of, make sure they check each box of this formula.
You want to make sure you’re working with people who have a pressing, urgent challenge, to which you have a proven solution.
☐ You want people who will be thrilled to have found you!
☐ They have the money to purchase your services.
☐ They use those services, and get great results from doing so.
From there, many of these folks will be excited to tell all their friends about you, too.
Can you see? How if you focus your business efforts on this type of ideal client, you’ll be setting yourself up for long-term sustainable business success. As well as a ton of happy clients, and joy in the process of running your company.
What if you have more than one ideal client?
Often, business owners are so passionate and want to help everyone! But since they know the importance of specificity, they find a way to narrow down their ideal clients to 2 or 3.
This is a great step in the right direction!
But this still comes with some issues. The thing is, speaking to 2 or 3 different personas means you’ll have to create 2 or 3 unique customer journeys. So 2-3 sets of ads, speaking engagements, and opt-ins, then 2-3 sets of marketing emails, 2-3 sets of sales pages for each offer, etc.
And oof, that gets more complex on the back end than most business results tend to account for.
So if you’re willing to choose just one ideal client profile (and trust there are more than enough of these types of people to work with)...
Craft an ideal client profile that’s made up of qualities of your favorite clients, checks all the boxes above, and speaks to shared emotional drivers of the 2-3 ideal client profiles you initially put together.
This way, your copy all across the funnel will still be highly focused and specific, and will speak to the main people you’re trying to reach.
Tl;DR
At the end of the day, choose one ideal client who you’ll love working with. Base the specifics off the qualities of past favorite clients. Tailor all your offers and customer journeys just for them. And long-term sustainable success will come with that much more ease.
