Whether you are looking at your marketing or onboarding a new client, you’re going to come across the question of “Who is your ideal client?”
Without knowing the answer to this, you’ll find your marketing and messaging disjointed and more difficult to create than it needs to be.
I’ll be honest. For a while, I wasn’t totally sure who my ideal client was. I was too nervous to get really specific. It’s easy to be nervous about cutting out a certain group of people because it feels like you’re throwing away money.
But think about it this way:
You are making it EASIER for the people you REALLY want to work with (aka your ideal client) to say YES! to working with you.
What makes an Ideal Client?
Think about the perfect person you’d love to work with.
In the best case scenario, you open your email to find a message. The subject line reads, “PLEASE, LET ME HIRE YOU!”
Who has sent it?
Now you may be thinking about someone you know. Or maybe it’s someone exactly like you. (No shade there–that’s pretty much what I do!)
The next step is to write everything down. Having these items documented makes it easier for you AND for anyone you work with in the future.
Side note: If you’re doing this for your client, it makes it easier for your team AND you can provide it to them as a point of added value ($$) within your service.
Characteristics of Your Ideal Client
When I work out an ideal client, I write it like a story. That’s the way my brain works, and it’s more helpful for me.
Maybe you want to do the same thing. Or maybe you’re better with a list.
Regardless of how you end up documenting the characteristics of your ideal client, you should run through the below questions to get a well-rounded view.
Note: These are all included in the Ideal Client Worksheet I put together for you.
- What industry do they work in?
- What is their role in the company?
- How long have they had that position?
- What do they read? (Books, magazines, blogs, etc.)
- What do they watch? (TV, movies, news, etc.)
- What do they listen to? (Music, radio, podcasts, etc.)
- What/Who do they follow? (People, subjects, media, etc.)
- How old are they?
- Where do they live?
- Where do they work?
- What is their family life like?
- What type of education do they have?
- What do they do for fun?
- What are their hobbies?
- What do they value in their life?
- What are their goals?
Tell me: do you have your ideal client documented?