Great article from our friend Betsy Kent.
Whether you call it an avatar or a buyer persona, actually identifying and finding your ideal customer is not always an easy task. In a perfect world you want every aspect of your business, from your website to your elevator speech, to connect with the people who need you most and can pay you. But you’re often too close to your business be in a place of total clarity. Moreover, it’s sometimes too scary to think about your business being built around one type of person. But there’s no time like now to shed your resistance and dig into this stuff.
Most businesses that are not clear about their ideal customers are simply not asking themselves the right questions.
So, today is your lucky day because I’ve compiled a list of important questions you must to ask yourself to find your ideal customer. Answer them all and you’ll discover it’s not so difficult after all.
The process of identifying your ideal customer will help you solve tons of business challenges from marketing, to promotion, to effective speaking, to networking. It takes some time at the beginning but it keeps on giving!
Bonus: Click here to download my free workbook to get started identifying your ideal customer.
Way back when I was in sales I discovered Brian Tracy. He was the first motivational speaker I had been exposed to and I still think he’s a great source of ideas. In an article in Entrepreneur Magazine, Brian wrote:
“The ability to find a customer, sell your product or service to that customer, and satisfy the customer so that he buys from you again should be the central focus of all entrepreneurial activity. The greater clarity you have with regard to your ideal customer, the more focused and effective your marketing efforts will be.”
I’ve pulled out five of Brian’s tips and put them in question form. Here’s a good place to start if you’re just starting to dig into thinking to this stuff:
Online marketing has made it urgent to know exactly who your ideal customer is. It’s now estimated you have only one-twentieth of a second to make a connection that sparks interest online. I went to a trusted digital marketing source for more tips on finding your ideal customer.
In the Digital Marketer blog, Russ Henneberry made this terrific analogy:
“…your customer avatar is The Swiss Army Knife of Marketing”.
Russ recommends you ask yourself these five questions:
I’ve dedicated my business to providing the guidance and coaching in this area. Over the years my process has evolved and the amount of questions my clients must answer has grown. This exercise takes time (and sometimes a lot of angst), but the payoff is totally worth it (you can read about successes here).
My process contains more than 40 questions, but here are the one I feel are the most important for you to answer:
I hope this article helped you get closer to finding your ideal customer. But even if you’ve answered every question, you may still need help sorting it all out. And, if you discover you have some resistance to this process, you’re not alone. We All Do!
That’s where I come in. I have become sort of the authority on this stuff! So, in my 6-Step Find Your Ideal Client program, I can really support you in this effort. We’ll create a prototype (or prototypes, if need be), develop a marketing bible containing the actual words and phrases you will use for your marketing, website and everything else. We’ll perfect your elevator speech and create sticky, wonderful content for your website. All of it designed to make an instant emotional connection with the people you want to attract.
Want my help to find your ideal customer and do a great job of attracting the people who need you most? Let’s chat! Click here to schedule an appointment with me.
Learn more about How To Have Digital Marketing That Works.
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