By understanding your ideal client, you’re able to provide a brand experience that serves a specific type of person and helps them feel seen.
And as an added bonus, you can also pick up a Clarifying Your Ideal Client Workbook in the Brand Resource Library by clicking here!
The single biggest ‘thing’ that I see separating those who are struggling and those who are getting steady clients? Their understanding of who they are serving. And not just a side handed, “Oh yea, I help entrepreneurs.” But rather, a clear understanding of the person’s stage in life or business, what they’re specifically needing help with and what their version of success looks like.
Don’t believe me?
Think about one or two business owners that you look up to. Is there any question who they are for? Is there any doubt whether or not they’re crystal clear on who they’re serving and what they’re helping that person accomplish?
One of my favorite authors, Brene Brown, helps people work through shame and gain courage to show up vulnerable. One of my favorite entrepreneurs, Amy Porterfield, helps women business owners scale through digital courses.
Changing Your Mind
Let’s take a closer look Amy Porterfield for a moment. She didn’t always focus on digital courses. In fact, when she just started, she was a social media manager doing 1:1 client work. Then, she pivoted into teaching Facebook marketing. And then she pivoted again into digital courses and now has The Digital Course Academy.
A common misconception I often see is that whoever you decide to serve right now is who you’re going to be serving forever. But that’s just not the case. Spoiler alert: you’re the business owner, which means you get to steer the ship.
Now, I’m not saying that changing up your ideal client is something you should be doing every other month. Because that’s not really going all-in on that perfect-for-you person. That’s half-assing it and then moving onto the next thing when you get bored.
Yes, it’s okay to change your mind if something isn’t working. But in order to know whether or not it’s working means giving it your all.
Consistency is the name of the game here. Consistently show up for that perfect-for-you ideal client, consistently serve them to your best ability, consistently work with that type of person. Because then you’ll be able to identify specifically what isn’t working for you and pivot to the next right fit with intentionality.
On the flip side, if you keep hopping from one person to the next as quickly as you change outfits, you’re not serving them to your best ability. You’re confusing your audience – and a confused audience does not invest their time or resources.
Bringing It All Together
There’s a lightbulb moment that nearly every client I work with experiences during our brand strategy conversation about ideal clients. It usually starts with them telling me that they want to work with Person A and then also Person B and they can’t forget about Person C, either.
Then, we dive in a little more to what makes their brand unique, what separates how they work from others in the market and what they really want to share and talk about. And usually at this point, the perfect-for-them ideal client starts to take shape.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that they don’t have hesitations about going all-in on that one type of person because they do. But when we start to talk about content and website layout and email opt-in ideas, they understand the benefit of picking one ideal client to focus on because then their marketing efforts all work together. The brand experience is telling a specific story for a specific person. When you’re clear on those specifics, that person feels seen, feels heard, feels cared for.
When we talk about choosing an ideal client just because it’s important, I understand the hesitation. But that’s only part of the story. Think about how someone experiences your brand and the various touch points they can have with you. By gaining clarity on your ideal client, each of those touch points then has the ability to serve a purpose, for a specific type of person.
Rather than having your website talk to Person A, Person B and Person C, and then your Instagram talking to Person A sometimes and Person B sometimes, and then your email opt-in rotating each month to serve A, B and C appropriately, you’ll have everything working together in the same direction.
And when your entire brand is working together, going towards the same destination, I promise you’ll get there so much faster and with a hell of a lot more ease and fun.
Want even more resources on gaining clarity around your ideal client? Click here for a FREE Clarifying Your Ideal Client Workbook!
All my best,
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