How do define your ideal client?

lot of times, we are taught that finding our ideal client in school or marketing that it’s demographic-based. But in the online space, this isn’t always the case.

We put ourselves in boxes by making our ideal client base too small. Most coaches target other female entrepreneurs, whether small, medium, or large in impact and income. 

Why You Need to Niche Down

I hear this in my DMs all the time: I don’t want to niche down; otherwise, I’m going to limit myself.

Imagine you’re standing in a room of 100 people and somebody else has one too. You’re trying to shout to everyone all at once: “I’ll help any of you and you and you.” It would be tough to get people to tune in and listen, right?

Imagine if it were only five people who all had blinders on, and they were solely focused on what you had to offer because it spoke precisely to their needs. This is why you need to niche down to a smaller group of people.

As we like to say in the entrepreneurial space, “the riches are in the niches.”

I was like you at one point, trying to speak to a wider audience because that’s what many successful business coaches were doing. But it wasn’t until I niched down to Online Business Managers, Virtual Assistants, and Social Media Managers (done-for-you service providers) that I saw my income skyrocket.

Further reading: What is Consumer Buying Behavior

When we think about our ideal client, there are a few main points you want to focus on:

What type of person do I like working with the most? 

So, who is she? 

How do you help her? 

What does her day-to-day life look like? Get as specific as possible. 

Sometimes you have to work with a variety of people to figure this out. But keeping this in mind and noting the characteristics you enjoy the most and click with. With that specific person, they’re going to have one problem that you solve, instead of a variety of issues.

This leads to point number two…

Finding Your Ideal Client Based on the Problem They’re Having

If you’re not sure exactly who you should be helping, another way to find your ideal client is to consider what you are good at. If you really struggle with this, it could be time to do market research in your business.

Some questions you could ask yourself BEFORE market research are:

• Do you know how to nail down Facebook ads?
• Are you skilled with Pinterest?
• Do you like coaching?
• Are their past experiences that you can apply to your current business? 

You have to define the results you can provide and how it makes that person feel. When we’re too broad with our results, it is hard for people to picture themselves inside of your program. They can’t see the possibility specifically for them. So, what is ONE thing that you can solve? 

I call myself a sales coach who teaches you how to sell, and that is my main message. But this, of course, helps women build their business as a byproduct or get them a marketing plan that works. It just means my content is focused on sales. 

This helps narrow my audience to people who really struggle with selling and want to understand it better. My clients come to me for this, but we eventually open up into other areas of their business. The sales aspect gets them into the door. 

Further Reading: What should you Sell First as a business owner, A Case for Lead Generation

Help Statements

When we create our help statements, they want to know how you help them within that first 10 seconds it takes to read it. 

Think, how would I explain what I do in the least amount of words possible? This is your help statement. This is who I help and the problem I solve for them and the results they get. 

The bottom line here – you need to niche down, you need to commit, and you need to base your ideal client around a singular problem. 

Further reading: Sign more clients with the 7-day promotional plan