Building an inexhaustible Prospect list
Building your list is the foundation for successful prospecting. While I don't adhere to the ideal client avatar methodology, you still need to know who you're going to talk to and why they would do business with you. so in the shortest way possible, I'm going to explain how you could build a massive prospect list.
Start out with a list of EVERY type of client who could utilize your services. for this step it is okay to start wide, we just want to know what types of customers you may have. (i.e. if you're an auto detailer you could simply start with personal vehicle owners, fleet owners, and non-fleet work vehicles.)
Once you have a broad list it's time to start narrowing it down into marketable niches. you can achieve this by asking the question "What Kind?" (i.e. What kind of personally owned vehicles? Classic car owners) you can separate all of these into a niche that you can talk to directly. stay away from being so specific though that you don't allow people to self-identify as your client in a marketing message. for instance, if you market only to 1974 Red Mustang owners for classic detailing, someone with a Camaro MAY think you don't work with them. it's a ridiculous example, but I hope you get the point. I'd say the narrowest you should go with that niche is 1980 and older classic cars.
keep in mind, that just because you're marketing to a specific niche doesn't mean you won't work with others. I work with nearly every type of business owner, but I only actively prospect within 2-3 niches at a time.
once you build a sizable list, we want to list out the characteristics of that potential client. those characteristics are: Good, Bad, and Money.
now, if you're in a non-profit or TRULY don't care about money as a working motivator, that can be replaced with a metric you weigh decision against (such as getting more volunteers as a nonprofit)
The Good:
Don't list this as why someone is a good client for you, but rather why would they say that they are a good client for you. This stops you from chasing clients solely on a money basis. They don't care about your business or that you want to make money, they want to know why it's going to be best for them.
The Bad:
This is great to know ahead of time. essentially these are the headaches you're going to encounter with that client. are they going to be a time-vampire and call you needlessly all the time? are they going to not do what you instruct them to and then tell people your product was faulty?, etc.
The Money:
This is where we really consider how much someone is worth to us. Now, don't look at the best-case scenario, but rather at the worst. when laying this out you can only look at the least amount of money someone may reasonably spend with you or your base service. The reason we do this is so you don't set goals based off of unicorns, but rather based off of a guarantee when you see that client. anything above and beyond just helps you in crushing your goals
(for example, if you set a goal to work with 10 clients at your base price of $100, you plan to make $1,000. however, when inevitably 4 of those clients buy your top package for an additional $1,000 each you've now made $5,000 when you planned to make $1,000.
on the flip side, if you plan for everyone to buy your top package, you're expecting $11,000+ in income, but only receive $5,000, now you're scrambling.)
The reason we list out these characterizations is to know how to measure clients. if a client outweighs the bad on either the good or money aspect, they are typically worth working with. if the bad outweighs both, they're generally worth avoiding. but keep them on the list because your market may always change.
Now finally the most important part...Where.
We have to know where these clients are...and I mean Physically. if you can't find them or get ahold of them, you can't sell to them. this isn't going to be easy to contrive, but determining how you can place yourself to meet more people like this makes you more likely to get them as a client. if you own a mobile dog grooming business you probably want to set up at dog bars, dog parks, and veterinary offices...
I hope this short guide was helpful and can aid you in creating large marketable lists.