When you first launched your business, I bet you were delighted to attract any clients at all.
How do I know?
Because we ALL felt that way at the start! But once you got your bearings and began to hone in on a niche for yourself, that delight probably faded.
No business is suited to every possible client type, and once you have a better sense of who you’re best suited to serve, you need to hone in on your ideal client.
Doing so is the best and only way to build your business toward sustainable success.
Are you struggling to reach and connect with your ideal clients right now?
If so, I’ve got 5 reasons why you might be missing the mark, and some easy-to-follow strategies to help you attract those perfect-fit clients from here on out!
But First … What IS an Ideal Client?
Your ideal client is all the characteristics you want EVERY person you work with to possess, all rolled up into a single client avatar.
You create this character to build your understanding of your target audience and to help you develop new products, messaging, and services.
Your ideal client is the person you hold in your mind as you go about building and promoting your business, the person you truly want to work with, the person who can benefit most from your offerings, the person who’ll leave you stellar reviews and tell her friends about you.
Why should you bother creating this imaginary person?
Because when you communicate with potential clients, everything you say must grab the attention of the RIGHT people, the ones you actually want to work with.
And when you build content, it needs to resonate with those same people.
Skip this step, and you risk creating an entire business that’s scattered and directionless. You’ll waste your time and money on strategies that don’t move your business forward.
Make sense? Great!
Now let’s chat about why you aren’t currently attracting these folks to your business so you can make some key changes.
5 Reasons You Might Not Be Attracting Your Ideal Client
Maybe you’re attracting a few ideal clients, but not as many as you’d like.
Or maybe you’re getting boatloads of clients, but they’re not the right type; they don’t stick around, complain that your services aren’t what they’d hoped, or just cause headaches for you and your team.
Let’s diagnose the issue.
You might not be attracting your ideal client because:
- You aren’t offering the services they need: Part of the magic of building an ideal client avatar is it helps you understand their problems and craft strategic solutions. If your current services don’t address the pain points of your ideal clients, they’re addressing someone else’s pain points! You’re offering the wrong services and getting the wrong people!
- Your pricing is skewed or not visible: Your ideal client has a monetary sweet spot. If you’re aiming too high or too low, they won’t be attracted to your offerings. If your pricing isn’t clear to them, they’ll ignore you altogether.
- Your brand design isn’t attracting them: Understanding your ideal client means researching their visual and design preferences. If they like minimalist aesthetics and your brand is colorful and over-the-top, they’ll be turned off.
- You’re not looking in the right places: Your ideal client avatar includes information about where your perfect-fit folks spend their time. Where do they hang out online? In-person? What do they read? What shows do they watch? Without this knowledge, you can’t target your marketing messages to reach them.
- Your copy isn’t speaking to them: Just like design, your ideal clients will have stylistic preferences when it comes to writing. If they like fun, casual copy, and yours is stiff and formal, they’ll look elsewhere to get their needs met.
Now here’s what you can do to ensure you never make these mistakes again!
Crucial Steps to Attracting Your Ideal Client
Start by creating or updating your ideal client avatar.
List out the traits, preferences, likes, and dislikes of this person.
How much money does she make? Is she partnered or single? Kids? Pets?
Did she go to college? Favorite books and movies? Which celebrities does she admire?
What’s her greatest worry? Her greatest strength? What does she envy in others?
Get super detailed so you can understand what motivates her and why.
Then ask yourself this question: What is the value you bring to your clients? What superpower of specialized knowledge do you have that can benefit them?
Think about this in terms of the avatar you’ve built. How can you serve THAT person best?
Use this insight to start crafting messages and content that will reach and resonate with your ideal client.
Once you have those messages, make sure you’re “hanging out” in the right places.
In other words, if your ideal client is on Instagram, you need to be pushing content through Instagram. (Even if YOU prefer TikTok.) If your ideal client reads HuffPost, you need to advertise on HuffPost. (Even if YOU read Vox.)
To reach your audience, you need to focus on their preferences and habits instead of assuming they share yours.
And that’s it!
Three relatively easy tweaks that will make a huge impact on your business!
By combining insight and targeted efforts you avoid the trap of sending your marketing messages out to everyone.
Instead, you’ll reach a smaller group of people … but they’ll be the right people.
xoxo
Melissa
PS. Not sure what your time is actually worth?, Click here to get access to my free calculator to find out what your time is really worth.
