Wednesday Wisdom: Jo Soley on getting clarity about your ideal client
This week we are lucky to have a Jo Soley, Your Brilliant Business Angel guest blog for us on the subject of getting clear about your ideal client, something that both new and experienced Virtual Assistants often struggle with. Jo Soley helps female heart-centred entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed with their marketing to attract more clients and make their business easy.
I asked Jo to tell us a little more about herself before we read her advice on getting clarity about your ideal client: “Are you charging too little? Do you have to work crazily hard in order to make any money? Are you exhausted as you scrabble to find more and more clients? I was always aware of needing to do a ‘good’ job so my clients wouldn’t stop using my services and in return, scraping by, exhausted. I began to resent my choices, the fees I charged and my clients – blaming them for my exhaustion. Although I had created this. What saved me was review. I had to re-look at how I was making money, shift my products and services and prices accordingly, decide how many clients I could hold energetically AND then set my boundaries. And through doing this, I felt empowered in my business and felt energised to serve again. My passion and mission is to share this with you.”
Why you are more likely to hit your business goals if you are clear about your ideal client!
One of the first things I do as a marketing coach is ask my client who their ideal client is. If they are not clear on this I help them, as it is so much harder to build a business without this clarity.
Do you know your ideal client is? And no, the answer is not ‘Everyone!’ You need to be marmite. You need to stand out. We need to be sooooo right for some people that we are so wrong for others. When you are speaking directly to your ideal client, they will resonate with you and feel that you hear them, see them and understand them and because of that they will be inspired to work with you.
As consumer’s we are subjected to literally thousands of pieces of information every day. 85% more information than our Grandparents time, and back then the ‘build it and they will come’ model worked. Now it’s all about being the pattern interrupt.
And we do this by knowing who your ideal client is.
When you know your ideal client you have information. We know gender, – their age, their location, their occupation, their family status, where they hang out online, where they venture offline. We know what keeps them up at 3am, you know what language they use, you know where they shops and what magazines she reads. We know how to save them money and how to make them money.
We use this vital information in the marketing process. I then show my client how to focus their message so it carries impact. You know the saying sell them what they want and give them what they need? When we know our ideal client, we understand what they want and needs. Their goals and desires. We know what makes them tick. We know their challenges and problems. We know how their pain points. And from this place we can offer products and services that encompass the solutions they need.
I then show my client where to find their ideal client on and offline. We look at their competitors and who they follow. We look at know which books and magazines they read, which blogs and websites she digs, which social platforms she favours. We can understand their role in the purchase process and any objections they may have.
Why do we need this level of information about our ideal clients?
This is the magic part! I am then able to sit with my clients and create a message that their ideal clients will hear as we are speaking to them directly in their language. Energetically this helps on many levels. It is a lot easier to become known in your community as the “Go to Expert” for your area of expertise – and your ideal clients become your best advocate as they promote you!
One of the reasons that people do not do this exercise or fail to implement it into their business is fear. They are fearful if they just choose women – they will be cutting out men. If they just choose 25-35 year olds they will be cutting out the younger and older targets. If they just go for corporate women what about the entrepreneurial types? It doesn’t mean you won’t ever attract different types of people to you, it just means that your ideal client becomes your main client base that you will be known to work with and will become an authority in your field. Feel the fear and do it anyway – you won’t look back!
January is a perfect time of year to get clarity on your ideal client. Doing this exercise enables you to attract more clients with less activity as you are focused on your niche and use marketing platforms that work with them in mind. With total clarity on your message and who you are speaking to your ‘tribe’ will hear you.
Without clarity – your message is mixed, your marketing is poor and ineffective, you end up adopting the ‘spray and pray’ approach marketing as your efforts are not targeted and these do not yield results. Your marketing ends up costing more than it should. You attract clients that are not energetically a fit for you, your business or your message.
With clarity – you can align your goal setting and ideal client. For example, you can plan your social strategy for the year with your ideal client in mind – which social platforms are they hanging out on most? you can plan your product offer with your ideal client in mind. Your goal maybe to create an online course – this is so much easier to create based around your ideal client. You want to write a book? What does your ideal client want to read about? You goal is to do more public speaking? Which events would your ideal client be at and what do they want to hear about?
People do business with you if they like you, know you and trust you. Business is about building relationships. Your ideal client will tell their friends, family and colleagues about you and referral marketing is worth its weight in gold! They wax lyrical about you and writes you testimonials! You feel confident sharing what you do and becoming visible as you know she is listening and wants to hear more.
I know from experience that your business grows with more ease when you know your ideal client, as you tailor your products and services around their needs. You save time as you develop a strategy to reach them. You save money as your marketing is targeted. You are focused as you know what to say and they knows you are talking directly to them every time!
Meet Jo: If you would like to connect with Jo or seek some help in identifying your ideal client, here are the important links:
Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/JoSoleyYourBrilliantBusinessAngel
Twitter ID: https://twitter.com/jojosoley
LinkedIn URL:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-soley
Email: [email protected]