Think about a time when you felt deeply seen, heard and valued as a customer. A time when a business went above and beyond for you.
How did that make you feel? Was it something that was said, or done for you? What lasting impression did this have on you?
When we feel heard and understood, our trust and loyalty grows. We begin to feel connected with that business or brand. And we remain loyal to them even if they change and evolve over time with market shifts.
"People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions, and help them throw rocks at their enemies." Blair Warren
The value of building trust and loyalty - and a genuine connection with your ideal client - has long reaching effects. It leads to raving testimonials and reviews, repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals.
And word-of-mouth referrals are still the best form of advertising for more small business owners!
When you work with people who value and appreciate you, and are happy to pay for your services, your confidence grows as a small business owner. You feel more fulfilled. You may also find yourself enthusiastically going above and beyond for your grateful customers.
It's a win-win situation!
Your business exists to be of service to people. It's not about how you can get people’s money. It's about who you want to serve and what difference you can make to their lives.
When you know who your ideal client is, you build your business in response to their needs. Your business is not about you. It's about your customer. No customer, no business!
Shining the spotlight on your ideal client allows you to focus all your energy on them. It's all about your ideal client.
Suddenly everything falls into place, starts to make sense and becomes so much easier.
Your ideal clients are the key to your business success. They are the people who determine what services you offer, what products you create, what your branding looks like, the copy you use... and how your website is designed!
As you learn more about your ideal client and build your business in response to their needs, you connect with them on an emotional level, and understand what they want and need so that you can provide a solution to their problem.
You are a problem solver and your goal is simple: to provide a solution for your ideal client's wants, needs, desires, frustrations or aspirations. A solution that your ideal client is happy to pay for!
Define Your Ideal Client
So who are your ideal clients then? It's tempting to say "everyone is welcome!" 🤗 But this results in bland messaging that resonates with nobody. The more specific you are about who you're speaking to, and the more narrow your niche is, the more people you attract!
It may seem counter-intuitive, but the more you niche down, the clearer your message becomes. The human brain needs to process billions of bits of information every second, and we're programmed to only absorb things that are relevant to us in some way. Our reticular activating system filters out all the noise... and bland messaging goes along with it.
So if your ideal client hears your message and it's speaking directly to them, their ears will prick up and you'll have captured their attention.
That's why it's important to niche down! And the best way to do that is to create an Ideal Client Avatar that you can keep at the forefront of your mind any time you're creating content for your business.
How to create an “Ideal Customer Avatar”
An Ideal Customer Avatar is basically a single person who represents your entire target market. You can base your avatar on someone you know, or create an imaginary person. Sometimes this avatar is an earlier version of yourself!
Whatever you choose, keep this person in mind when you're creating services and products, choosing your branding, designing your website or creating any content for your business.
It's really going to make your life much easier, and naturally result in much stronger messaging.
To create your ideal client avatar, you need to get really specific about who you're talking to and describe this person in great detail. You want to know their demographics, what makes them tick, what keeps them up at night, what they're struggling with, where they hang out online, etc.
Once you have this information, you get to truly understand your customers, and can build you business in response to their needs.