Marketing to your ideal client means you’re able to rise head and shoulders above the competition. You’re able to be seen, heard, and valued beyond the crowd because you are targeting very specific clients for whom your services and passions best match. I want you to assess and evaluate who your best fits are, instead of taking whoever shows up. To do that, you need to start conversing with your clients and creating key points of connection with them, which will ultimately turn into points of profit for you.
Why You Need To Identify an Ideal Client
If you are marketing through word of mouth only and you are not enjoying the types of clients that you’re getting, it is because the referral sources are not your ideal clients to start with. Once you’ve identified the types of clients that bring you the most joy and light you up creatively, you will find yourself feeling more satisfied with your business and the creative projects you get to work on.
You will also find your business will become more profitable. You want to avoid the Pareto’s principle trap of 20% of your revenues coming from 80% of your clients, while 80% come from your ideal 20% of clients. Instead, focus entirely on your ideal clients and you’ll earn far more in less time with less stress. I know, I’ve done it and coached countless designers and creatives across the country to do the very same. By freeing yourself up from less-than-ideal clients, you can increase your profits while getting back that coveted work-life balance. It’s that important!
Four Key Types of Client Intel You Need to Know
To get to this point, you first need to start by figuring out what types of clients you love to work with. Start by making a list of three to five clients in your practice, past or present, that you absolutely love. These should be clients you would get up early for, stay up late for, meet for dinner or lunch. Clients that are so much fun to work with and trust you completely. Write their names down and then ask yourself what you know about them. You need to identify as much about them as you can because you can start to discern your ideal client type through the qualities they have in common. And, you’ll figure out where to focus your marketing to gain more clients like them.
I’ve identified four key types of client information that you need to learn about your clients to ensure they are ideal for you. You need to learn demographics, psychographics, group-graphics, and geographics. By looking at demographics, we’re looking at marital status, age, income, and other important characteristics. When we look at our clients’ psychographics, we’re thinking about all of the things that make them tick: their preferences, tastes, passions, and hobbies. Group-graphics refer to the various groups they belong to, be it religious groups, sports groups, health groups, you name it. And finally, geographics, meaning where you can physically find your clients. This could be where they vacation, where they’ve lived, or where they currently live.
You will find that you have preferences for certain clients within each of these subsets of information. And the sooner you identify those preferences, the closer you are to maximizing profitability while minimizing your own feelings of dissatisfaction in your business. It is going to make a transformational, profitable difference within your practice in a very short time.
When you’re ready to take your design practice to the next level, explore your expert coaching and training options with Melissa Galt. To catch the entire podcast episode LISTEN HERE.
