Podcast: Play in new window | Download
10 things you absolutely need to know about your ideal client!
1. What do they want – what’s their goal?
Be able to identify in detail what your ideal considers a ‘successful transformation’ . This will makes it easier to build rapport quickly.
Join the conversation that’s already happening in their head about what they want to achieve and position yourself as an immediate expert.
2. What would achieving this goal (or not!) look like in their life?
Selling a vague transformation like ‘feel better’ or ‘live your best life’ makes it hard for them to see your program as the solution they need.
Translate ‘feeling better’ to something they can actually picture themselves doing (running their bucket list marathon or being able to keep up with their kids at the park) or having an experience that they’d miss out on if they do nothing gives them a concrete outcome to mentally connect to working with you.
3. What is the pain point they’ll pay anything to fix?
Right now your ideal client has an underlying issue that’s causing a lot of annoying symptoms.
What’s the most annoying symptom that is keeping them up at night?
What are they Googling right now when it comes to their health or wellness?
4. What do they believe is holding them back from solving the problem?
This obstacle may or may not actually have anything to do with why they haven’t yet solved the problem… but they believe it is and that’s what they’re looking to you to help them overcome. Show them how you can make that obstacle irrelevant to their success and you’ll have a new client.
5. Where are they hanging out?
What platform are they on?If you want to boost your visibility for your ideal client, you have to show up where they are. It may not be the platform that YOU love the most, but if you want more eyeballs on your content you need to put it where they’re already looking!
6. Who do they follow/trust already?
When you’re just starting out your Circle of Trust is small.. it’s limited to your personal network, and maaaaaybe your friends on Facebook.
Instead of investing a ton of time in the beginning building your own audience one at a time, fast track your success by borrowing the trust of pre-built audiences of the experts they already follow by appearing on their podcasts and showing up in their social media feeds.
7. Are they able or willing to pay for a solution?
Do market research before deciding what they will and won’t pay for.
Survey potential clients to find out what it’s worth to them to solve the problem they have.
8. What format of content do they want to consume? (Video? text? audio?) and what type of content they want to see?
Before you launch a podcast or a blog or YouTube channel find out how your ideal client wants to learn from you.
Busy moms might appreciate long blog posts they can read during naptime.
Executives that commute might want shorter podcast episodes to listen to while they’re driving.
Do they want shorter tutorials? Motivational success stories? Handy how-to videos?
9. What have they already tried? (and found it didn’t work) The solution that failed them has lost their trust and you want to separate yourself as much as possible from it.
Show them your how you’re nothing like that product/program/strategy that didn’t work and you’ll gain their trust. (or at the very least you won’t gain their distrust by association!)
10. What do they value?
Is the solution they want something that’s going to save them time, energy, and money?
All three?
Odds are that by the time someone finds you they’ve tried a few things already to solve the problem. Show how you’ve created a solution that gets them results faster, easier, and saves them money long term.
What have you found helpful when it comes to understanding your ideal client avatar?
