We’ve all done the exercise. It’s the first thing you’re taught when you first start your business: Create an ideal client avatar. This vision of your ideal client guides everything you do, including pricing (you can’t charge that single mom as much as you can the CEO of a Fortune 500 company), pain points (mom probably isn’t worried about shareholders), and branding.
So you spend a few hours considering things such as:
- Age group
- Income
- Family status
- Education
- Lifestyle goals
- Location
Maybe you even write up a nice little story about your ideal client. You give her a name, a couple of kids, a husband who just doesn’t get it, and a load of student loans. You know quite a bit about her, you think.
But you would be wrong, and if you stop there, you may be missing a huge piece of the puzzle—and losing out on the best clients because of it.
Personality Mismatch
Here’s something that’s rarely considered in the “ideal client” equation, and it’s arguably the most important part: personality.
If you’re snarky, sarcastic, fun-loving and loud, then a quiet, middle-aged mom who spends her time volunteering at the church is probably not a good fit for you. Sure, she might purchase one of your products but will not be your raving fan. Either she made an impulse purchase or she got it for someone else.
Drive Determines Success
This one can be difficult to calculate from the start, but once you recognize it (or the lack thereof) it’s worth paying attention to. When selling a service, an online course, for example, the client without the drive to succeed will—more often than not—only end up frustrating you both.
Better to end your relationship as soon as you see the signs of this than to waste your time trying to explain why her focus on the material and exercises is so important. Going over the same again and again with someone who simply won’t do the work doesn’t make sense.
If you look at your current and past clients, you’ll begin to see patterns. You can easily look back and see what made some clients a joy to work with, while others were a struggle. Think about what those differences are, and add them to your ideal client profile. Then compare any new potential clients to this ideal profile, and you’ll never again target a less-than-perfect client.
Dive deeper into finding that ideal client avatar and discover why your branding should be directed to them specifically to consistently attract clients who know, like and trust the real you from the first time they ‘see’ you by joining the Building a Brand Masterclass. And that’s just the first module. Throughout this course, you’ll learn the basics of building your own brand as you work step-by-step from choosing an ideal client to choosing a color scheme. And everything in between, including hands-on tutorials on the latest & greatest tools.