A funny thing happened the other day to me. I was writing the articles for my ezine this month and the topic happened to be around finding/discovering your ideal client. As I was writing the articles, I received an email from my ideal client (let’s call her Amanda) wanting to hire me to help her with her marketing. Gotta love that Law of Attraction, right? 
As we began to talk, Amanda started to tell me that she wasn’t having a lot of luck marketing her VA business. I started to ask her some basic questions, such as, “Who is your ideal client? What is the problem your ideal client faces? Where are you marketing? How are you marketing?” This is where things got interesting. Amanda couldn’t tell me who her ideal client really was or what problem they faced! Without this critical piece of information she was trying to market her business, and guess what results she obtained? Right! Nothing. It was like shooting an arrow into a room full of a hundred people and not hitting a one of them.
So, I ask you, was Amanda’s problem really a marketing problem? No. Her problem is she doesn’t know who she is marketing to, and without that knowledge how can she even begin to market her business? By getting to the root of the problem Amanda can solve her marketing problem.
Let me ask you, dear reader, do you know who your ideal client is? Let me hear from you on this topic.
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With my ideal clients, it’s more about what they need rather than what they offer because my work is focused on websites, carts, ezines and social networking. (This often results in me being in charge of customer databases, marketing materials, event scheduling, and customer/associate contact – so it goes beyond simple task work.)
I already know what they need (a strong internet presence.) And, if they don’t already have one, it can be challenging to market. Should I snail-mail people to let them know they should be on the internet? LoL
I often rely on word of mouth. I’ve gotten retainer clients through referrals and a lot of project work (nice padding to the monthly income). Still, I need to do more marketing. Right now, I’m trying to fill a hole in my retainer hours that’s got me feeling a bit pinched.
Hi Val,
If I were to ask you who your ideal client is (so you could market to them) what would you tell me? (Feel free to email me if you’d rather with this answer!)
.-= Cindy Hillsey´s last blog ..Do You Know What Problems Your Ideal Client Faces? =-.
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