6 Money Saving Ideal Client Tips for Your Business
Dr. Susie Carder
Ph.D. | Self-Made Millionaire | Fractional COO | Empowering Entrepreneurs to Achieve Unprecedented Success | Keynote Speaker | Best-Selling Author | Industry Influencer | Strategic Brilliance
Who’s Your Ideal Client?
When you first created your business, did you create an ideal client avatar? This is an important step in building a business and increasing the effectiveness of your marketing strategies. Your ideal client avatar is the best possible representation of your business’s perfect client. This might include:
- what they look like,
- how old they are,
- what they do for a living.
- whether they purchase online or a brick-and-mortar store,
- how they are most likely to hear about your business
- and more!
Knowing the answers to some of these questions and making decisions accordingly can make or break your business.
Creating and Updating the Ideal Client
If you created an ideal client when you started your business, that’s great! But, if you haven’t updated your ideal client since then, you’re making a critical mistake. Your business has most likely undergone some changes since its inception. Maybe you’ve expanded your product line. Maybe you operate out of a different location or maybe you’ve made new valuable partnerships. You should consider how any changes your business has undergone might alter your ideal client.
Are you wondering who your ideal client is? If you’re uncertain, here are some important guidelines to follow in your updating process.
Narrow Your Target Market
Start with the basics: who are your products or services best suited for? Who can benefit from them the most? Think of what problem your business is trying to solve and who needs that solution. Who wants that solution? If they don’t want it, how can you make them want it?
Then get even more specific. How much are you charging for your product? Who can afford it? If you’re selling high-end items or services, you don’t want to market to a group of people who won’t be able to pay for it. Think about your ideal client’s preferences: their likes and dislikes. Knowing these details can help you laser your focus in marketing.
Don’t Worry About Limiting Yourself
In the past, maybe you’ve been scared to create an ideal client avatar because you didn’t want to limit yourself. You were afraid of attracting too niche of a group and overlooking a large group of potential clients in the process. Here’s the problem with that line of thinking: if your product is not designed for anyone, it’s reaching no one. And if you’re not reaching someone with your business, you’re not selling to anyone.
Remember that your ideal client is just your most desirable client. When you have an ideal client firmly in place, you’ll create better product solutions for your consumers. Your marketing materials will be more effective, and your sales will increase. The more clarity, the better.
Know Your Client Versus Your Customer
If you don’t know who you’re trying to reach, that’s a problem. For instance, take Motivating the Teen Spirit (our sister company for Motivating the Masses). You might think this company’s marketing efforts should ideally appeal to teenagers. But that’s actually incorrect. The people we want to reach are people who have the ability to sponsor teens going through the program. This program is too expensive for the average teenager. They most likely won’t be able to invest in the program themselves. So instead they need the help of someone who is passionate about helping teens. In this scenario, the teenager is the customer while the sponsor is the ideal client.
Figure Out Who’s Driving the Purchasing Decision
Let’s look at another example. I once heard about a bar that had food and games like shuffleboard and arcade games. This bar primarily marketed to men who they thought would want to play their games. The problem? Women were actually the driving factor in deciding what restaurant to go to for date night. The bar was overlooking the key person they needed to attract sales.
As soon as the bar shifted their marketing focus to women, their sales tripled! Even if you have the best product or service in your market, if your marketing targets the wrong group of people, you won’t see high sales. Focus on your ideal client and serve them well. This doesn’t mean that no one else can buy your product. It just means your marketing dollars are going to the client that’s most likely to invest. You’re not wasting your hard-earned money. You’re getting the best return on investment that you can.
Pursue the Right Clients
Let’s take a look at one final real-world example to highlight the importance of having an ideal client. I once knew a high-end business consultant who charged $25,000 for ten sessions. Because of her high price tag, she shouldn’t pursue clients who make $50,000 a year in income. Those folks couldn’t afford her services.
This is a classic example where marketing to everyone is not productive. This business consultant would just be wasting money if she marketed to everyone. Instead, this business consultant’s ideal client made a minimum of $750,00 a year. They were in supportive relationships and wanted more balance between work and home, were business leaders who wanted to take their businesses to the next level, and were also mostly women ages thirty-five to fifty-five.
Determining your ideal client is such a vital part of your creating a business that you can’t overlook it. It’s freeing. If your marketing is hit or miss, this will help you narrow your focus. If people other than your ideal client find you, that’s great. But if they don’t, that’s okay too. Your target market will be tighter.
Who is your ideal client? Let me know by commenting and posting about it, so I’ll know you’re doing the work. Action is the antidote to despair!
I look forward to supporting you in your journey as an entrepreneur!!
I’d love to hear what value you got out of this video, leave a comment below about any tips or A-Ha Moments you had about your ideal client.
Your Partner in Prosperity,
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