3 ways to discover who your ideal client is

When you get an email from a client, are you:

A. Excited to read that email
B. Cringing inside
C. Or what email… your inbox is so empty the crickets have even left.

Well friend, l hope you responded with you are SO excited to read that email and love working with them! But if not, well we’ve got a bit of a problem. Your business isn’t going to be profitable and you may start to hate it! 

But guess what?!? It is possible for you to be booked with amazing clients you absolutely love.

Don’t believe me? Well, I’m living proof! I exclusively work with clients, who I can’t wait to get that email from! But that wasn’t always the case.

Before we go any further, you’ll definitely want to make sure you’re all caught up!

Check out my other ideal client posts:

• Why You Need To Figure Out Your Ideal Client
• How-to guide to find your ideal

And don’t forget to grab your FREE Ideal Client worksheet

When I first started my design biz, I was happy to take on ANY and EVERY client that would come my way. I was starting to work long hours trying to please everyone. I was getting really frustrated and felt discouraged. I would get jealous whenever I would be on social media because I couldn’t help but look at my competition. They seemed to be getting all the “really cool clients”. I started to hate my business. BUT I had no one to blame but myself.

Then I got my wakeup call… it was monthly checkin from my online business coach. She asked me what my current struggles were in my business. I told her I didn’t feel it was where I thought it would be. She said, ok let’s look at your website, portfolio and process.

I walked her through my step-by-step process for my clients. I explained:

• How I love to get to know the story behind HOW they started their business.
• How I guide them to figuring out WHO could benefit from their product or service.
• Then, I take all of that and transform it into a handcrafted irresistible brand.

THEN THE TRUTH BOMB HIT!

She flat out called me out on for not practicing what I preach!

The problem that I wasn’t getting the dreamy clients was because I was playing it safe. I didn’t give myself the type of branding that I create for my clients. It was hard to hear but she was SO RIGHT!

Before I could give my branding the facelift it needed, I had to get clear on WHO it was that would really benefit from my services.

The next day I wrote down a list of all the clients that I worked over the past year. I circled all the ones that I absolutely loved working with and crossed off the few that weren’t the right fit. Next to their names, I made notes on WHY I loved or wasn’t crazy about working with them.

Then I thought about my 3 favorite clients. What did they all have in common?

• Where did she live?
• What did she do for living?
• Was she married or single? Did she have a family
• Where did they shop?
• What did they do in their free time?

Thinking about these types of questions allowed me to get inside my dream client’s head. I could start to understand what phrases, images, fonts and colors would resonate with her.

I could’ve stopped there, but I knew that I would still be playing it safe. If I really wanted to work with those dreamy clients, then I needed to actually talk to her.

3 ways to figure out who
really is your ideal client

1. Ask your ideal client to coffee!

This one is my favorite way to find your ideal clients!

Create a post in a couple of your favorite FB groups that you hang out in asking for 5-7 business owners for a no-sales pitch cup of coffee. Invite them to chat about their business. During this chat you will ask them a couple of questions about the area you specialize in. And because you respect how valuable their time is, you’ll treat them to coffee. Who doesn’t love a Starbucks gift card?

You’ll be amazed at how many people will want to chat! You will end the conversations with clarity on what type of business owners you want to work with. PLUS… you will get keywords and phrases of their struggles and pain points.

2. Reconnect with Past clients

Reconnect with a couple of clients you loved with. Ask them how they feel before they hired you. How did your product/service help them? What do they do in their free time? Where do they spend their most time on social media?

3. Survey to find your ideal clients

This one is the simplest one yet! Create a survey using either Typeform or Google Forms (both are free!). Then create a post in a Facebook group or your Instagram with a link to it.

Wanna take it another step farther? Ask for their email at the end. If someone’s answers really sparked your interest, then ask them to have a virtual coffee date with you.

So, get started on that finding that Ideal Client, girl! I’d love to know if this is helping you know where to find them — and how to market to them!

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