One of the most common questions you will receive in business, is
“who is your ideal client?”
If you’re going into business or already in business, this is an area that will either propel you towards greatness or be detrimental to your future. It’s a question that I’ve personally struggled with too. So, I started doing some thinking to help business owners and entrepreneurs solve this problem. And I feel like I found a valid solution.
A thought came into my head, “Business is like dating.” You got to go out into the world, find your prospects, show value, and then seal the deal. Like anything you need to be extremely specific in what you’re looking for, otherwise, you’ll be like a fish attracted to every shiny object you place your eyes on.
So, I’m not a magician, but here’s what I’ve found through real life experiences, the best ways to find your ideal client.
1. Define Your Mission.
Your mission will help people be attracted to you organically. It’s supposed to reel them in so that you can have customers that believe in what your company is doing. Without one, you’re shooting out in the open air hoping that through many shots will lead to a kill.
Yet, this is a recipe for burnout and disaster due to the fact there are many options for people to do business within this day in age.
If you’re having trouble defining your company’s Mission, then I’d implore you to check out Simon Sinek’s book Find Your Why.
It has a simple exercise for you and your team to complete so that you can define a mission that will resonate with your future customers.
2. Know Your Age Range.
The hard truth is that people will judge you based on your age. If you’re not performing a service that is an essential service such as a Dentist or a General Contractor, the amount of time you’ve spent on planet Earth will define your target market.
According to psychologytoday.com, they use a simple formula to determine the upper and lower ages that you should be targeting in the dating scene. Yet, I feel that this equation also works well when defining your ideal customer.
For example, say you’re 30 years old, in order to determine the lowest age to target you would divide your age by 2 (15) then add 7, which gives you 22. For the highest age range, you would aim for, you would subtract 7 from your age (23) then multiply it by 2, which gives you 46.
By using this formula, you can now identify your target demographics which for a 30-year-old would be anywhere from 22 to 46.
3. Find Common Interests.
The English language is one of the most complex in the world due to the fact there are so many different ways to communicate. Lawyers have different lingo compared to Doctors, and whatever profession you’re in, it’s tough to get your message across to valuable prospects.
However, if you find common ground with your customers, it will be much easier for you to strengthen your connection and allow yourself to break the ice. Whether you have a love soap opera or are a huge football fan your target market needs to be directed at other people who share the same passion.
That will give you the unfair advantage to build your network in a way that is genuine and be able to connect with people on a higher level than your competitors!
Your Guide,
Joshua Krafchick, “Unconventional Money Guy”
