That’s the tweet Pamela Slim sent me.
@Ribeezie that has been the story of this year for me — finding the right people makes EVERYTHING easier/more fun/profitable. — @PamSlim
Identify Your Target Client:
This should always be your first step in launching any new business venture or any new marketing campaign. Do you know why? Because working with the wrong clients will cripple you and your business. They’ll never respect the value that you bring and as a result, they’ll never pay on time. It’s nothing against them, there’s just a bit of a mis-match between you (the service you offer) and the client. Working with the right client on the other-hand will stream-line your business and your marketing! They’ll evangelize your product day-in and day-out without a moment’s hesitation (everyone loves that).
In fact, Seth Godin said it very well in his post this morning:
Sell to angry cheapskates and your business will reflect that. On the other hand, when you find great customers, they will eagerly co-create with you. They will engage and invent and spread the word.
It takes vision and guts to turn someone down and focus on a different segment, on people who might be more difficult to sell at first, but will lead you where you want to go over time. — Seth Godin
I couldn’t agree more! Don’t you think?
Identify the Key Characteristics of Your Ideal Prospect/Client:
This exercise might seem silly, but it’s really quite simple and painless and well worth the investment of time. Just answer some of the following questions about your ideal prospect/client…
- What’s their age?
- Are they employed?
- Gender?
- Occupation?
- Income?
- Married or single?
Once you’ve identified your “ideal client” as drawn by answering the questions above, it’s your job to communicate with them and get them to know, like and trust you! We’ll talk prospecting/list-building in another post…
Have you actually done an exercise like this before launching your business? Does having a picture of that make your business marketing easier?
