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What you’ll learn in this episode:
Defining specifically who you’re speaking to is one of the most important things you will do for the success of your offers and your business overall.
Your ideal client is the person you will have in your mind’s eye as you’re working through each part of your business – from your offer to your marketing materials to your lead magnets.
Although the exercise of creating an ideal client avatar (ICA) can sometimes seem overwhelming, and you’ve probably heard of it and may have even revisited several times, it bears repeating it as this is something that is 100% worth your time.
In this episode, I walk you through the steps for identifying who your ideal customer is, the steps to creating your avatar, how you can drill down into their pain points, and how as a business owner you are there to share solutions with them that will help them solve their problems, moving them out of pain and towards pleasure.
Here’s a glance at this episode:
- Why it’s crucial that you get clear on exactly who your ideal client (ICA) is
- Why understanding your ICA’s pain points is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle
- Identifying the pieces of your business most influenced by a clear ICA
- Key questions to ask yourself to begin to build and craft your ideal client avatar right now
Mentioned in this episode:
Work/Connect with me:
Consults That Convert FREE Training
[00:02] Hello, everyone, and welcome back. I’m excited to talk to you this week about something that is very important in your business. And that is your ideal client. Now, if this is not your first day in business, you have probably thought about, heard about seeing programs about your ideal client. And if you’re anyone like me, sometimes you might just be rolling your eyes at this exercise, or you’ve maybe you’ve done that in the past. Because thinking about your ideal client can sometimes be difficult when we’re trying to figure out who they are or what pain points they have, or what’s going on with them. But I’m here to tell you that knowing your ideal client inside and out, knowing who they are, what they’re struggling with, the things that keep them up at night, what solutions they’re looking for, is one of the most important things that you will have to know in your business.
[01:08] Defining specifically who you’re speaking with is critical for the success of your offers and your business overall. So you might be wondering, why is that, and I think when we’re rolling our eyes sometimes at this exercise, we forget why this is so important. Many of you know that I just kicked off another cohort of my 10k accelerator program, which we launch every quarter. And with every single cohort, we start in the beginning with an immersive experience. And one of the key components of that experience is identifying and drafting your ideal client avatar, it’s getting super clear on the person that you’re targeting that you want to help in your business. And I want to offer that if you want a business that is powerful, and streamlined and creates consistent money by providing so powerful solutions to people to solve their problems, you need to know who your people are, you need to know exactly who your ideal client is, what they are struggling with, and how you help them. This is the person that you will have in your mind’s eye as you are working through all of your offers, your marketing materials, etc. It is the thing that is the person that every piece of your business touches. And although sometimes working through this can seem overwhelming, and maybe it takes some time and work. I am here to tell you that this exercise is 100% worth your time and effort.
[02:44] So today, I want to talk about why is this so important. I want to really remind people and pinpoint why do you need to understand your ideal client, frankly, better than anything else in your business? Why is that so important? And what are some things to think about when you think about your ideal client? Some things that you need to have answers for in order to really shape that person in your mind, and understand how you’re going to build your business around this person. So let’s jump right into it. And if you have a pen and paper, I would recommend, you know, following along writing down your thoughts that come up with this, really thinking about those things that jog your memory, because again, the ideal customer, it’s like the center of your heart and universe of your business. So okay, why is an ideal customer so important? Well, likely, what you’ve heard is it affects things like your marketing, right?
[03:45] It affects how you’re going to say things, how you’re going to message to people, what you’re going to talk about, when you identify your ideal customer and you understand what they are struggling with what their pain points are. You can speak to that person adequately. And more than adequately, you want to be able to speak their language in such a profound way that you’re able to cut through all the noise that is out there in the marketplace, competing for this ideal clients attention. There is so much noise both within your universe within your industry, direct competitors that are competing for this person’s time and space in their ear, as well as just the noise in everyday life that is commandeering this person’s time and energy. And so your ability to cut through the noise is directly proportional to how well you can speak their language, how well you can communicate to them in a way that makes them think that you understand them. You get what they’re going through, and that you most importantly as a business owner have something that is worthwhile for them to listen to, that is going to help them get out of the pain and move to pleasure, essentially, that you have a solution to their problem.
[05:09] So when you understand your ideal client and what they’re dealing with, you’re able to craft your messaging and your language to such an extent that you can cut right through that noise. Okay, so the first reason it’s so important, is around your messaging. The other reason that I think the second biggest reason it’s so important is because as we’ve talked about many times, your offer is the cornerstone of your business, it is the center of everything that you do in your business. And your offer needs to offer your ideal client a compelling solution for them to get out of pain. Without understanding what your ideal client is really going through, what they’re struggling with how to speak to them, you will not be able to position your offer, as the solution to their biggest problems. And if you cannot position your offer in that way, if you don’t understand this person, in a way to tell them that you get them, you hear them, and you have something that can help them, your offer will not sell. And without an offer that sells, you will not make any money. So you need to be able to understand this person and speak to them clearly and powerfully so that it cuts through the noise. And then you need to optimize your offer, in order to have that offer really be compelling as a solution to this person’s problem.
[06:47] And the third reason I think it’s really important to understand your ideal customer, is because when you optimize that offer, and that messaging in your business ecosystem, the other things that touch it need to also be dialed in to this ideal customer. So in other words, your visibility strategy, where you’re going to hang out what you’re going to do to share your offer needs to be in the places where this ideal client actually hangs out. If you don’t know where they hang out, you don’t understand them, you don’t understand what they’re thinking about and doing, you’re not going to be able to find them. That’s an example, if you don’t understand how they consume information, right, you wouldn’t give a busy mom, you know, a three chapter, you know, blog to read, right? It would have to be something quick and easy to consume. So without understanding this person, it is difficult to optimize your business, to bring that person through your funnel to be a paying customer. And also to just catch them and catch their attention when you’re out there. doing other things in your business, like creating a lead magnet or putting things out in social media are developing a, you know a business plan that is optimal for that person.
[08:05] So it’s important to understand your ideal customer. And I would say crucial, not just important and crucial that you can speak their language that you can optimize your offer to be a compelling solution for them to get them out of pain and into pleasure basically solve their problems. And that you can really fine tune and streamline your business ecosystem to meet that person where they’re hanging out in the way that is most powerful for them. So understanding that ideal customer is really, really important. And if you don’t do this properly, if you don’t really understand this ideal customer, some part of your planning and your infrastructure will break. And when it breaks, it becomes very clunky. And it becomes difficult for you to bring people into your world, move them through your funnel and your systems to become a paying client. And also to touch them while you’re out there, you know, showing up in the world, with your business and your offers.
[09:02] So I want to walk through a handful of things I find to be very important and very helpful in how you think through your ideal customer. Because when you think about them, you’re really looking for the perspective of their challenges, their desires, their wants, hopes, goals, dreams, and you want to look at things from that angle of of their vantage point. And so here are some questions, I’m going to share some things to think about when you think about this ideal client. And again, I want you to get really specific and focused, the more specific you can get, the better. But I want you to get really focused when you’re thinking about your ideal customer in your business as it relates to your offers and your programs and the ecosystem of things in your business and the goals that you’re creating. It’s not about thinking about this person in general. It’s thinking about them in relation to your business and the way that you can help them solve their problem. So again, the more focused and constrained and clear you can get and specific, the better.
[10:13] So there are some obvious questions that we probably have all thought about, which are things around, you know, what is the gender of your ideal client? How do they identify? What do they look like? How old are they? You know, are they singled or married? Do they have kids, maybe their income bracket, A Day in the Life, things like that, that really describe this ideal person. So I think those questions are really valid. And it’s good to ask about those things. Because we want to get a sense of where our clients might be hanging out and what they want to be dealing with. And when we start to drill down into these topics that I just mentioned, we get a sense of who they are. I think another important thing is to think about what is the day in the life look like for them? How are they experiencing their life each day? Also, what kind of things are they drawn to? So what books do they read? Are there magazines that they are drawn through to? What kind of blogs they consume influencers? Do they follow? You know, what kind of things do they deem important? Where they’re getting information, and they’re getting insights, too, that you can be aware of?
[11:30] The other thing that I think it’s really important to is to think about what problem do they have? What is the problem? That is keeping them up at night? What are the specific pain points that they might be having, again, within the context of your business? Because the next piece we’re going to get to his what are the solutions they are looking for? But what pain points do they have that are really important to them. And this is crucial, because when it comes to buying solutions, people are only going to pay for things they really want to solve pain, they really want to get out of if it’s not important to them, if they don’t value it, if it’s not painful enough to them, then they’re not going to buy a solution for it. So what are these pain points that you know, that they’re really struggling with? That are in your, you know, in your your space that you can really, you know, hone in on? So what are those pain points? Importantly, how do they describe their problem, and this is really, really important to think about.
[12:38] Oftentimes, as business owners, we end up focusing on problems that we had ourselves, which is great. But as we move along the journey and the trajectory of transformation, we are often on the other side of that problem, we have now solved it. And so the way that we see it, describe it talk about it is not the way our ideal clients talk about it. So you want to take the time to really think about how are my ideal client talking about their problem? How do they explain it? And what are their words? And if you don’t know exactly what those words are, because sometimes we’re a little bit too far away from them. If you have ideal clients, ask them, go into Facebook groups, post something, get the words that your ideal client is actually using to describe their problem. So what do they worry about? What do they keep up? keeps them up at night? And how do they describe that? The next important factor you want to know about your ideal client is? What solutions are they looking for. So when you think about this problem that they’ve identified, that’s really important, and that you’ve identified as being a very integral part of your business and the thing that you’re going to focus on as it relates to this ideal client.
[13:46] What are the solutions that they think they desperately need? What will they believe? What is the mindset that they will possess, once they’ve achieved this solution? So for every single person listening to this podcast, right now, as a business owner, you are in the business of transformation, you offer a solution. So people evolve into something else they transform, hopefully out of pain and into pleasure. And what you want to be able to capture is like, what does that look like? And what are they going to think and feel wet and believe once they’ve achieved that solution? And then why are they willing to pay money for the solution? I really want you to take some time and dig into this. You know, why does somebody wants to solve this problem? And why are they willing to pay money for it? What is the result that they’re gonna get? And why is that valuable to them?
[14:39] Okay, another piece is where do you find them? In order to reach your ideal client, you need to go to the places where they’re hanging out. So whether that’s a networking group or a Facebook group or a playdate or a conference, or wherever that is understanding where to find them. is so important. So, you know, are they on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat? Are they in certain groups? Are there associations that they are involved in? Where are these people hanging out? That is so super important to understand. And then who do they love to follow online? This is one of my favorite questions like, Who do they love to follow? What things are they following and why you can really get a sense of your ideal client, and where you might be able to find them if you think about the things that really capture their interest. So if you happen to be following an ideal client, for instance, maybe you’re an interior designer, and they’re following, you know, and I’m so guilty of this on Instagram, they’re following these profiles of people that you know, decorate or certain furniture brands, or all sorts of different anything that has to do with like architecture and remodeling, and everything. I love that stuff. So we’re what are these places that people are following? And that they care about that really capture your ideal client? And
[16:09] where can you go to find them there and relate to them, you know, talking about those types of things that are very specific to your ideal client, make your content and the content you’re putting out there or your offer the way you craft it, it makes it really relatable, and it pulls them in? And so who inspires them? Where do they love to hang out? Who are they following? You know, what are some of those things? I know, I’ll tell you that one of my coaches, huge bridgerton fan. And she knew that her audience was also they were huge bridgerton fans. So she actually rolled out a bunch of things to her market that were in like bridgerton branding, it was really cool. She did an amazing job. And it’s spoke to her audience like bam, it was amazing. And those people just pulled that now, it didn’t have anything to do necessarily, with bridgerton. As far as the content of the things that she was, you know, selling, it could have been a free webinar of, you know, how to create your best life.
[17:09] But she used that branding and that hook because she knew that her ideal client cared about it. So she could speak their language, she could really pull them in. And she did an amazing job, like all the way down to her branding, the way that she you know, put it out there, it was really fantastic. I personally have never watched bridgerton. But I just thought it was really fascinating the way that she use something relatable, that, frankly, didn’t really have anything to do specifically with her business, but that she knew her ideal clients identified with and it was very powerful. And talk about cutting through the noise. I mean it pique their attention, like immediately. So really think about who inspires them, what inspires them, what is that hot thing right now that maybe they’re all talking about, or they’re all dealing with, that you can get, you know, in front of them in a way that’s unique. So the goal of this exercise is to get very clear on who you’re serving, and what you specifically can do for them right and thinking about what they’re like who they are, what they’re struggling with, what their pain points are, what solution do they think they need, and really thinking about inserting you and your business as the guide as someone who could help them, get out of pain and move to pleasure is really important.
[18:25] As you go through your business, this is the person you want to have in your mind. And in your heart. When you’re creating all your content, putting your offers together, optimizing your business, it is essential. And once you have some of these details about this person, then you need to get out there and actually talk to them. And that could be in person online or wherever. But the beauty of this, it will be all streamlined around this person. It will be cohesive and relatable and compelling. Your job is to provide genuine value to people. And when you answer these questions, you let them know that you see them, you care about them, you can help them and you’re putting things out there that is going to be enticing to them. And here’s the thing, people want to get out of pain, they actually do want to get out of pain, they want to consume your content.
[19:15] But if it is not specific enough, if it isn’t clear enough, if it is just vanilla like everybody else’s, they will move right past it, because their time and energy is important. And it is it’s valuable to them. So it has to be worthwhile in the sense of making them stop that scroll or stop and listen in order to get you know information that could be helpful to them. So, again, when we go back and think about this ideal client, it is one of the most important things you can do in your business for the success of both your business and your offers overall. This is the person your ideal client that you want to have in your mind’s eye and in your heart. Are when you’re working through just about every single piece of your business. So just to recap, number one, that person is so important because it affects your marketing, it is going to be the so important that you understand this person so that you can speak directly to them, you could speak in a way that is relatable to them, you can speak in a way that is unique, that cuts through the noise of your of basically the marketplace, your competitors and everyone out there, you want to make sure that your offer is dialed in to that person it’s calling them in.
[20:33] And it’s offering a compelling solution. If you don’t understand your ideal client, you cannot create a compelling solution to their problem, because you won’t be speaking to the right problem for the right person in the right way, and offering a solution that actually helps them. And then when you’re building your whole business around this offer, and this ideal client, if you don’t have clarity around that, the pieces of your business will be disjointed. So when you go to show up, for example, in your visibility plan, you will be in the wrong place, and your ideal client will not be there. Or you will be putting things out in a way that is not easy for them to consume, because it’s not dialed into what that client really needs and how they want to consume information. Just to give you a few examples of how it can get really, it could break those pieces of your business can break and become very clunky. And so when you think about your ideal client to recap, you want to think about some of the things such as, you know, who are they? How old are they?
[21:35] Do they identify as male or female? Do they you know, what income bracket or they and do they have children or not? Are they married? Who is their partner? How did how did they show up in the world in those ways? How old are they? You also want to think about? What is the day in the life look like for them? What kind of books? Do they read magazines, blogs, what is capturing their attention? What do they value, you also need to understand their problem in a way so that you can describe it to them in a relatable fashion. And that you’re really clear in specifically, what problem is it that they have that you’re going to focus on to solve, you really want to own a problem? You want to be able to describe that problem also in their words and not yours. And you want to understand, you know, what keeps them up at night? What problem is frustrating them? How is this showing up in their life specifically? And then you also want to understand what do they think that their solution is like, what did they think they desperately need to get out of pain? When they get that solution? What will they think and feel and what will they believe once they’ve achieved it? What is the transformation that they are going to go through this is really important.
[22:50] And it’s also really important when you’re crafting your offer, when you understand the transformation that you offer to people because you understand the pain points that they’re in, that they have or the struggle that they have and the solution that you have. That’s how you come up with your process that you bake into your offer. So you are in the business of transformation as a as an entrepreneur, make no mistake of it. So understanding that makes sense. And then why are they willing to pay for the solution? What are they going to get? Why is it valuable to them to pay to get out of this pain? And I know some of that might seem obvious, but you really want to think about that. And then last but not least, you know, where do you find these people? Where are they hanging out? What things are they consuming that inspires them that they are drawn to because oftentimes when you know that you know where they’re hanging out, and what things might be able to get in front of them? Who do they love, and who do they follow online and why.
[23:44] So all of these things are crucial for understanding your ideal client. And you cannot have a tight business that is powerful and makes consistent money without identifying your ideal client, understanding what they’re struggling with, and what their pain points are understanding the solutions that they are looking for, and how you are going to create a solution in your offer that positions you as a guide and an expert to help them get out of pain and move to pleasure. It is crucial that you have this person in the center of your mind and your heart. In every single thing that you do in your business from start to finish. You need to optimize those things around this person and their problem. And what it is that you’re offering as a solution.
[24:31] There is no bridge business that could function and make consistent money and grow in a powerful way without knowing exactly who they are targeting so that they can help that person move out of pain and move to pleasure with ease as their business and their offer as a solution to their problem. So go back and listen to this episode if you need to pause it and really take the time to walk through this. I promise you It will be one of the most important exercises you go through. Because once you nail this, you understand what to say to people, you understand an offer to put out there, you understand what and how to show up in your marketing, where to show up, how frequently in what capacity, it makes everything come together. And it is the linchpin, as I always say, around how you build your offers, which is how you make consistent money in your business. So take the time, go back, and I would love to hear from you. You can always send a message to support at Jessica Miller coaching.com. And let us know what’s coming up for you around your ideal client. What you have learned about this, from this episode about your client and how it has made your business stronger, more compelling, and able to really bring those clients in and help you be the business owner that you deserve and always wanted to be.
