“Hello,
Is it me you’re lookin’ for?
‘Cause I wonder where you are,
And I wonder what you do.”

Raise your hand if you expected to get business advice from a Lionel Richie song!

Anybody?

Unexpected as it is, it’s legit a pretty smart place to start.

Before you can start marketing yourself and your services to an ideal client, you’ve gotta have a strong idea of who that ideal client is, what they’re like, and what they’re looking for.
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Why Is This Clarity Important?

When you have a solid target audience of people that need your services and that you want to work with, your marketing efforts go much farther.

Better marketing leads to better sales. “Better sales” can mean more money, obvi, but it can also mean more exciting projects that you actually want to work on. And both of these things are just straight up good for business.

The process of gaining this “good for biz” clarity is a little like filling out a dating profile or seeking a new roommate.

You’ll come up with some questions to ask yourself about each client, but you’ll also create a standard for each answer ahead of time and have an understanding of which answers are most important to you.

Think, “Do they like dogs? I already have a dog, so it’s important to me that they like dogs!” vs. “Do they like dogs? I’m extremely allergic, so it’s important to me that they don’t want to adopt a dog!”

Some things are negotiable, but others? Not so much.
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Ask Yourself These Questions

Here are some questions that we consider non-negotiables. We need a positive answer for each of them in order to “swipe right” and move forward with a client.

Do I like you?
‍What vibes am I looking for in a client?
What services or causes do I care about?
What services or causes do I absolutely not vibe with?

Do you have work that I can do?
‍What am I equipped to do?
What am I exceptional at?

Can you afford my services?
‍What is your budget like?
What is the minimum dollar amount I’ll pursue in courting a client?

You might have other questions that are equally– or even more– important to you. That’s great! Jot those questions, and write down your “swipe right” answers for reference.

If you’ve got other people on your sales team, make sure they’re in the know, too, so you don’t end up on a bad blind date with a less-than-ideal client. Big yikes!
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Now What?

You know who you’re looking for and who you want to have to look for you, but how do you lead them to you? How do you make yourself “findable”?

We’ll be back with more on that soon! In the meantime, check out this free dream client challenge to tide you over.

And while you’re gettin’ so good at all this business stuff, check out this quick lil assessment to see if you’re ready to join the next cohort of our Business Bootcamp!

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