"Choose your customers, choose your future." - Seth Godin
Every once in a while I get a question that sounds something like, “If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself when you were starting your business?”
It’s an awesome question.
The truth is, there’s no ONE thing I’d go back and tell myself. Business growth and sustainability are a combination of many things.
My approach to business and what I walk my clients through includes creating clarity, mindset, strategy, action, and feedback. We need it all to create our version of success.
That being said, there are a few things that resulted in huge shifts for me.
You probably think I’m going to say mindset, and that IS a big part of it and something I continue to focus on daily, but I’ve got a little something different for you today.
One of the things that made the biggest difference for me? Getting clear on my ideal client, understanding WHO they are as they relate to my work, and how I can help.
This is at the core of my business and pretty much everything I do.
Before I got clear on who my ideal clients were, I was floundering. Once I had clarity on who my people were and what they wanted everything changed.
Because at the end of the day, our businesses aren’t about us! They’re about our clients.
From our business identity to the content we create, it all goes back to our ideal clients.
Figuring out who our people are isn't always the easiest thing, though. There’s a lot of confusing information out there. I didn’t know how to go about figuring out who they were, and for the longest time, I was winging it.
I distinctly remember hanging up the phone after a discovery call (that’s what I was calling my consultation calls at the time) with a prospective client. This particular call resulted in a ‘no’, and I wanted to figure out why. That’s when the light bulb went off. I had been marketing to anyone and everyone. While this was an awesome person on the other side, it was not my ideal client, and what I was offering really wasn’t what she wanted or needed.
After that call, it took me a hot second to dig into who my people are. I knew that it wasn’t the person I had been talking to, but who was it?
Turns out, there are two main detours we tend to take when identifying our ideal clients.
Detour # 1 : We’re treating our ideal client discovery like a creative writing project.
So, I definitely did this. When I first learned about the whole ideal client thing, I printed off my worksheet and filled it in like a good little student.
The problem? Everything I was writing was completely made up! Then I wondered why my clients weren’t showing up.
We want to base our ideal client profile off of real humans.
Of course, at the start of our businesses, before we have clients, we have to make an educated guess to some degree. But, even there, we have an opportunity to look to real people and experiences we’ve had when we create our ideal client avatar.
This is a little like the exercise told to women around the world to find their Prince Charming; create a list of the “perfect” man to call him in (which DOES work, btw). There's a tendency to make up these descriptions that either aren’t real or have nothing to do with what would actually make us happy.
Those lists work when they’re based on real qualities people have that align with what we want and who we are. Our ideal client avatars are the same.
Let’s stop having the word ‘avatar’ turn into science-fiction!
Detour #2: We’re focusing on the wrong details
So, back to those client avatar worksheets. I filled out all these details like gender, age, and where they lived.
It had me come up with the hair color of my ideal client and give him/her a name. It suggested I get a photo to represent this person.
Fast forward a few years and a whole lot of clients later, and I’m working with dream clients. Clients I LOVE.
Want to know something? None of them have the same hair color or live in the same place. Knowing these made-up details had nothing to do with us connecting and working together!
I’m going to just come out and say it, those details don’t matter. Not when we’re talking about connecting with potential clients!
Our dream clients are people we want to build relationships with. Think about your IRL relationships...do you go around looking for friends who only have a specific hair color? Or who only eat one kind of food? Or who only hang out at one place?
No way! That would be absurd.
So, why, when it comes to business do we suddenly think the rules of relationships are different? Why do we try to fit our ideal clients into superficial boxes?
If you want to not only identify your DREAM clients but also connect with them and work with them, you need to go deeper.
I’m clearly pretty fired up about this, so I decided to host a free Masterclass, and I’d love for you to join me!
We'll dig into why your client avatar isn’t cutting it, what you need to know to turn your dream clients into paying clients, and how you might be blocking yourself from your dream clients and what you need to shift!
You’ll want to bring a notebook, pen, and your favorite beverage 🙂
This is going down June 15th at 12 pm EST. {That's 9 AM PST, and 6 PM Central Europe Time} You'll need to RSVP!
Click Here to Register and Get Your FREE Seat!
I’ll check in and send you a link to our secret workshop location.
Hope to see you there and wishing you your version of success!
P.S. Ready to Identify and Book Your Dream Clients? Join me for a FREE MASTERCLASS on June 15th at 12 PM EST! Click here to register and grab your free seat! I can't wait to dig into this with you!!
