Essential Tool: Ideal client description

In order to know how to write the best marketing copy for your business, you need to know who you really want reading it. Often, the person to keep in mind when you’re writing will be a potential client—someone you would consider to be your ideal client.

Your ideal client is someone who values what you have to offer, wants to work with you, and wants to pay you what you’re worth. (Sounds good, huh?) At the same time, the flip side of this is also true: an ideal client is someone YOU want to work with—because yes, that’s important and you do have a choice in the matter.

I know, it can often feel like you should want to work with everyone who wants to work with you, but I’m telling you it’s okay NOT to work with certain people. (You know the types—the ones who make you cringe a bit when you see they’re calling or they’ve sent an email you’re hesitating to read.)

If you struggle with that concept (don’t worry, that’s natural), having a clear ideal client description will help you decide if a potential client is a good fit for you. If someone comes along who doesn’t match the description, no guilt, you can decline the opportunity. For real.

(Yes, I know you’re probably thinking “I need the money! I can’t turn clients down.” I get it. But if these clients are raising red flags before you even get started, listen to your gut. (That’s what put up the red flags.) You have to balance out the money you’d get from these problematic clients with the ongoing frustration and stress they’d likely cause you. And use it as incentive to work even harder to get those ideal clients.)

Possible details to include in your ideal client description

When you work up your ideal client description, there are a LOT of details you could include. I like to keep it simple and only include what I feel will really help me in the process. In working your way toward that simple, helpful description, details that might help you visualize your ideal client include:

• Demographics (age, gender, family situation, location, occupation)
• Psychographics (beliefs, goals, worries, attitudes, values)
• Behaviors (what content they like, when and what they buy)
• Pain points (what problems they have that your services can solve)

(Some people might like to include more detail—and if you feel it would help, go for it.)

So take all of that info and work it up into a clear description of your ideal client. And once you do, you’ll see that in addition to helping you figure out what to say to connect with these people, it’s also going to help you figure out where to find them.