The Secret to a Million-Dollar Creative Business—Define your ICA ??

Finding your ideal clients is key to a successful creative business. In tough times, finding any clients can be a stretch. Reaching out can feel daunting. Most people look in the wrong way.

And we’ll fix that today. Because only with ideal clients you can:

• Become a force in the industry
• Challenge yourself and your team to create outstanding work
• Work with people that love who you are and what you do
• Access big budgets more easily

What I’m about to teach you today is gold for any creative person, so listen closely.

How to Find Ideal Clients

A new member in my community asked this week, “WHERE do we find our ideal clients? And WHAT do we say to get a response?”

Great question, but it’s the wrong question.

The right questions would be: WHO is my ideal client?

Define them first.

It’s here where most creative pros get stuck.

Let’s address this.

Part 1: Define Your ICA

You can’t directly answer WHO your ideal client is. It’s like asking who falls in love with you on first sight. We don’t know.

Here’s your mind-shift:

Don't define your ideal clients. You simply can't. Instead define your Ideal Clients Audience (ICA).

Look at your best projects—the work you love and could do every day. The work that gets you a decent budget. Find the pattern. Think about who your client targeted with this work.

More specific, if you did a print ad, an explainer video, or a TVC, it’s typically a marketing asset. Who did your “asset” sell to? What’s the audience?

Define that audience. Do this with all your top projects. Find the pattern. Who did you sell to through your work?

Once defined, look at which brands want to sell to that exact audience.

Part 2: Find Their Assets

Next, go on LinkedIn and find those brands. Identify the CMOs, CDs, or relevant people.

Pro Tip: Go for the underdogs, the second placed companies, not market leaders—they’re usually still “hungry.”

Follow them, search for ads, commercials, and product launches (The Assets). Watch for recent product launches or things they want to share.

Part 3: Provide Value

Send simple, non-fancy cold messages that make you relevant to their journey.

Skip formalities.

Shoot them a message like this:

—

Hi Melinda

Saw your latest commercial on LinkedIn featuring your “Sustainable Coffee Caps” this morning. Great job! ← Recency

Loved the vibe. Working with clients targeting the same audience (Millennials in the US), I know what goes into crafting a resonating message. I leave you a link to a recent project we finished if you’re curious. LINK ← Relevancy

If you’re willing, I’d love to ask you a few questions around your approach to storytelling for a piece of content that I’m writing for LinkedIn. It’s about how Product Brands target Millennials, and your spot would be a positive example. No sales pitch. We’ll learn from it too. ← A no-brainer offer

If you’re swamped—no worries! Just thought you’d be a great example for my next industry article. ← An easy out if they’re not interested

Cheers, Marko

—

This short note does a lot of things well:

• They will chase you seem to know how to sell to their audience
• It might start a new relationship
• It provides value
• It gives an incentive to check out your workIt shows recency
• It demonstrates your relevancy by referencing your work
• It makes a ‘no-brainer’ offer in exchange for their attention/time
• It gives them an easy out if they’re not interested

ATTENTION: You have to deliver on your promise!

In Summary

I hope this gives you the game plan and confidence to tackle your cold outreach more strategically. Defining with ideal clients is crucial for building y million-$ creative business.

Keep these in mind:

• Find your ideal clients by defining their ideal audience first
• Find the “marketing assets” they align with
• Reach out with a personalised providing value.

Try this with 3-5 people a day for 2 weeks and your business will change.

Want more simple concepts that you can apply fast?

Ask me about my community for creative pros aiming to grow a million-dollar business.

Plentiful Mind is my flagship community—a comprehensive journey for growing successful creative businesses. Avoid common pitfalls (like ignored cold DMs) and leverage high-ticket strategies to grow your business more easily.

High-ticket clients are easier to get than low-budget ones if you know WHO they serve.

See you next week.

Marko 'Ideal Mentor' Pfann

p.s:. I’d love to hear from you. What can I write about to help your business? Reply to this email and let me know (I read every email). And when you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:

2. Private Business Coaching: I help creative pros 1:1 to overcome self-imposed limits and see opportunities. Coaching can get you to the next level faster and with fewer headaches.