“Right” Market: Attract Your Ideal Client
By Walt Goshert on Feb 5, 2008 in Attract Your Ideal Client, featured
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Ok… you want to grow your business.
Over the years, you’ve blown thousands of dollars on ads and marketing crap that while some of it worked, lots of it bombed, and the stuff that did work…
Well… you’re not quite sure why it worked, or you’re now scratching your head wondering why it’s suddenly turned limp and lame.
Now, you’ve stopped listening to ad sales reps who know as much about marketing that puts money in your pocket as a poodle on Prozac.
http://flickr.com/photos/jonner/487461265/
Congratulations! You’ve decided to step up and work ON marketing… ON Marketing Innovation throughout your business. Marketing Innovation that positions your business for EXPONENTIAL growth.
But…
You’re wondering…
“Where do I start?”
Small Business Marketing Innovation—- Beginning Steps
1. Get Clear. Understand the 10 Natural Marketing Advantages that you possess as a small business.
2. Focus. Sharpen your focus on a target market segment. “In order to survive, (and I believe thrive) most small businesses must adopt a narrow market focus. In doing so, they can develop a premium reputation for serving that narrow market.” From John Jantsch’s 10 Natural Advantages article.
3. Understand the Power. Of a Well-Selected Target Market.
4. Shift Your Thinking. Think Clients, Not Customers.
5. Find Ideal Clients. Three questions you must answer.
All right, you still with me?
Here are three more tough questions about that picture of the Ideal Client of yours floating around in your head:
1. How do You describe Your Ideal Client?
2. What are You DOING to Attract this Ideal Client to Your Business?
And, as Dr. Phil says…
3. “How’s that workin’ out for ya?”
Share your answers.
Raise your questions.
Maybe all you have are questions…
That’s OK… it doesn’t matter.
Go ahead and share ‘em in the comments here.
We’ll all pitch in, work together, and help each other understand how to Attract Ideal Clients and adopt Innovative Marketing.
To Your “EXTRAORDINARY” Success,
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16 Comment(s)
By
Alex Blackwell
(Check me out!) on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply
Walt - great article. Your five steps are clear and very helpful. Thank you for providing this info!
Alex
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply
Thanks Alex… Appreciate your comment.
I love your site and your personal stories.
What have you found works best to attract your Ideal reader?
By
Rowan
(Check me out!) on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the concise tips on attracting the right clientscheersRowanwww.piratesmath.com
By
Suzie Cheel
(Check me out!) on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply
I like the way you have presented this The 5 steps give me food for thought on my strategiesThankyou
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply
Thanks Rowan and Susie…
Glad to get you thinking. Please stop back and share…
“Who is YOUR Ideal Client?”
By
Rob Steenwyk
(Check me out!) on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply
As a owner of a small home computer service company, my ideal client is one that: Wants quality and is willing to pay for itIs honest and talks with me - lying about what happened to your computer gets you nowhere! Has a large network of similarly minded people that they will recommend me to.
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Hi Rob,
Thanks for taking your time and responding.
Your Ideal Client sounds like what almost every business wants…kinda vague…
What specific qualities does your Ideal Client possess?
Type of business? Location? How long in business? Revenue size?
And, then drill into their heads… what keeps ‘em up at night? Who do they envy? What really gets their blood boiling?
Break it down:
What don’t you want?
What do you want?
You see, you gotta dig in and specifically describe your Ideal Client before you can figure out how and where to find ‘em.
Rob, come on back and keep talking,
Walt
By
Cath Lawson
(Check me out!) on Mar 19, 2008 | Reply
Hi Walt - I love that poodle.Thanks for all the great resources. I’ll be checking them out.It’s so true what you say about knowing who your target market are. Otherwise you may as well be throwing breadcrumbs into a pool just hoping there might be some fish in there.
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Mar 19, 2008 | Reply
Thanks Cath…
Yeah that poodle… Some dog huh?
Not my idea of an Ideal Dog, but it is the image I get in my head when I think “poodle on Prozac”.
You’re right. If you wanna catch that big fish, you can’t toss ‘em a couple breadcrumbs. Feed him a nice, big, juicy special worm!
Walt
By
Ian Denny
(Check me out!) on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
Walt,
Your question - how do you describe the ideal client. Sometimes that can be difficult.
I’m not a pro-marketeer, but I help out friends. And I ask this question and they don’t always know.
I’ve found the easiest place to find the answer is in their accounts package. You can run reports on the big spending clients - some have top 10, top 100 spending clients. But if you don’t have that option, a bit of old-fashioned addition or typing/pasting numbers into a spreadsheet for a few months worth of invoicing (or longer if you have time) can yield the results.
Look at the top 20% of your list. Now add a couple of columns if you have it in a spreadsheet.
If it’s business-to-business, add “business sector”, “number of employees” and find out the answer. If you find you have any in your list from more than one sector, or a pretty consistent size, start looking for more people like that.
Or even, aim a little higher. If your biggest client is in a certain sector, employing say 50 staff, look for some in the same sector and region who employ say 100. They may not exactly be worth double, but they could be significantly more lucrative, and you can boast about the great job you do once your marketing yields an appointment - or with permission - use strategic testimonials from your client.
They are bound to know them.
Just my 2 pence on really tuning into the exact people you need to focus on.
And another tip - spend 80% of your marketing effort and time on this type of client, and 20% on the rest. If will pay off for you far more handsomely.
DOH! Done it again. Need to follow my own advice. I haven’t done this exercise since last time we had a big growth spurt - how stupid I am! Isn’t it amazing how easy it is to preach to people and then forget to do it yourself.
One of the problems of marketing yourself - you have other stuff to do in a business and end up spending too little time on the thing you’re better at, enjoy most, and can do well at if you can shift the other responsibilities!
Ian Denny’s last blog post..You Are The Best - So Why Don’t New Clients Beat Down Your Door?
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
Ian,
Thanks for your comments.
First, I fixed the link, and am in the process of still fixing lots of things since I’ve moved my domain name and changed blog theme. It’s ongoing.
You’re right about the old 80/20 focus.
I find it’s usually more like 90/10, or even 95/5 depending upon the business.
You hit upon the process to identify your top, most profitable clients.
In my Free e-course, “7 Simple Secrets of Growth-Focused Entrepreneurs”, I introduce this process.
As mentioned, in The Law of Ideal Client Attraction page, my upcoming re-release of my e-book will go into the process in detail.
The demographics of your market is one thing… employee size, type of business, location, etc.
However, to really hone your marketing focus, you gotta look at Psychographics, such as, in a business, are they “Early Adopters”, willing to try new technology, what’s the corporate culture surrounding change, taking risk, innovation, etc. In other words, what’s the corporate “personality” and driving forces that causes them to do what they do.
Additionally, it’s worth taking time to discover “Buying Trigger Events.
In your top, most profitable clients, can you pinpoint or see patterns as to when they engage you?
Is it a new hire internally who hires you?
If so, keep you eyes peeled on new staff announcements within your target market.
Is it upon moving into new office space?
Keep an eye on new lease announcements.
There’s almost always an intersection among all 3… Demographics, Psychographics, Trigger Events… that will reveal your market sweet spot and where you need to be positioned and focus your marketing efforts.
All you need to do is put down the busy work and discover it :0) ( Yes, easier said than done… even for me, and I know the process!)
Ian, I invite you to sign-up for my Free E-course. Simply drop your name and email in the box on the top right of my page here.
Also, stay tuned. My re-launch of Design Your Ideal Client is coming soon.
Thanks Ian,
Walt
By
Ian Denny
(Check me out!) on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
The 95/5 principle is so right. Isn’t amazing how we spread our time evenly among all clients?
Yet, only the vital few can often deliver the kind of results we want. When small businesses think about it or just take a peak at their numbers, they may one or perhaps two clients that produce a huge chunk of their profits - 10-40% range.
And instead of spending all that time chasing clients like the other 95%, if they focused on finding clients just like their top 1 or 2 clients, each won client with the same profile is highly likely to produce a huge leap forward.
And think about it. Imagine one client produces 20% of your profit. And instead of hammering the phone, spending money on local press advertising etc, instead you your marketing just on clients with the same profile, what would it do?
If it only got one more client like that every 2 months, within a year, your profit will have risen by 120%, by adding just 6 more clients.
Ian Denny’s last blog post..You Are The Best - So Why Don’t New Clients Beat Down Your Door?
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Apr 3, 2008 | Reply
By George Ian…
I think you got it!
Walt
By
Scott Frangos
(Check me out!) on Apr 3, 2008 | Reply
Hi -Very useful post, which with the links gives a great overview of the best way to focus your advertising. Interesting that you link to related articles you have written at other sites like Squidoo. Do you find stitching your blog into other social marketing sites stretches your visitors away from your own blog? I wonder about all the “places” you can appear online — Squidoo, Facebook, NING, etc. — is it spreading yourself too thin, or does it pay off in the end?Isn’t the 80/20 rule fascinating? I find that about 20 percent of the folks understand and use it.- Scott
Scott Frangos’s last blog post..Launching Your WordPress 2.5 Upgrade
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Apr 3, 2008 | Reply
Scott,
Good point… Where is my 80/20 on traffic and loyal readers?
Actually, in this post, on the Squidoo Lens, it’s all part of a larger inter-connected overall marketing strategy. It ties back into some of my main keywords, and will ultimately lead into my products and services.
My blog here, Keyword, high-ranking Squidoo Lenses… Yes, part of the 20% high payoff. Facebook, Ning, all the other social sites and activity? We shall see…
Thanks for your input Scott,
Walt
By
Walt Goshert
(Check me out!) on Apr 3, 2008 | Reply
Scott,
Thanks for your comment… and question.
It’s all part of my online spider-web of expert content. If my visitor sees my rants and words of wisdom not only here on my blog, but on Squidoo Lenses, my Facebook page, Ning sites etc— what are they gonna think?
When does Walt sleep… and how does he do it?
And… how can he help me do it for my business too?
I’d like my business to blanket the Internet too!
As I do things and they work, I keep handing them off so my time is freed up for the 20% that drives 80%.
It’s a constant shuffle, and not a perfect science.
Walt