Not doing this ONE THING in business could lose you thousands of dollars in profit

There’s a new form of torture being experienced by business owners the world over.

It’s inflicted at various stages of their business life. But mainly it hits when they’ve been in business for a few months, haven’t seen an explosion of business coming their way, and are pulling their hair out as to why.

Pulling their hair out: not the torture itself.

(Side note: Rather pleased I used the word explosion in a post and didn’t refer to an actual bomb).

You guys have been through it. I’ve even helped some of you through it.

And the torture? Defining your ideal client.

*shudder*

*groan*

*bang head against desk*

I know how you feel, folks. Defining your ideal client can be tough.

You don’t want to be too narrow and miss people out.

You want to have enough breadth so that you still enjoy the people you do work with.

You’ve worked with a variety of people already, so what’s the point of defining any type of client?

But if you don’t define your ideal client? Your business will still remain random and unpredictable. People won’t know who to refer you to. And it’ll be near-on impossible to decide your branding/voice of your copy.

And what can help you get to the definition of your ideal client?

One thing: Crystal meth

Joking, you guys. I’ve just started watching Breaking Bad. I know, I know. Delayed reaction.

Back to today’s raison d’être.

There are two things you need to be clear on when defining your ideal client:

1. The kind of person you want to work with
2. The hopes, fears, dreams of the people you will work with

And it just so happens that I’ve crafted some rather helpful questions for you to finally nail that definition.

Here we go:

I’d do a one-handed backflip and twirl a baton whilst wearing a fetching two-piece if I ended up working with someone who wants to: _______________________________

Shockingly, my client has an age which is ____ and a gender which is ____.

My client wakes up feeling panicked about ______________ because _____________

The 5 things my client most fears are ___________________ because _____________

What my client really wants to figure out is: _____________________________

My client feels stuck because ________________________________

The 3 most important things in my client’s life are: ___________________________ because _____________________________

The thing my client would love to do is ________________________. And I can help them because _____________________________________

When my client envisions their ideal life, it looks like this: ____________________________

 

When answering these questions, remember that by defining the kinds of people you want to work with isn’t limiting. It provides focus.

Why?

Because when you write the copy on your site/blog posts/emails and love notes to these people, you’ll be using language that resonates most with them.

Yes, you may have worked with both people in their early 20’s and mid-50’s who want to make a major change in their life, but will they typically care about the same things?

Will a 50 year old be able to spontaneously go travelling? Will a 22 year old be worried about a pension plan?

Exactly.

Over to you. Who’s your ideal client? And if you’re finding it difficult to figure it out, then let’s do it (the figuring out) together.