A few days ago, I had a serious conversation with a friend. She started a business, was met with a pop of momentum, then it a plateaued. We chatted over acai bowls and I asked her if she'd taken time to create a profile of her ideal client. I'm a huge proponent of creating a profile for who your business caters to, which will in turn help you how to market to her and service her in the best way.

So often new I see entrepreneurs start a business without taking the time to outline who their services or products are perfectly suited for. In case you're looking for an article about a company who rocks the faces off their clients because it knows them so well, check out this Fast Company article on Anthropologie (so good!).

My friend admitted she didn't spend the necessary time to create an Ideal Client Profile (she knew, loosely, who she catered to, but couldn't commit to stating outright who she wanted to target). Later we spent two hours in my backyard working through how to identify her ideal client. I asked her a litany of questions and at the end, not only did she create the client of her dreams, she had a much sharper marketing approach and reframed her branding techniques. Awesome, right?

If you're at a point where your business needs shaping up, I heavily encourage you to take time to figure out who your ideal client is. If you don't know where to start, here are a few questions to answer to help get you started…
1. Where does your client live? (Big city, small town, rural area…name the city, get specific.)
2. How old is your client?
3. Marital status of your client?
4. How much does your client earn a year?
5. What are your client's hobbies? How does he/she spend their time?
6. What books/magazines does your client read? What TV shows does your client watch?

I asked her over 25 questions to help my friend create her Ideal Client Profile, so I encourage you to really get to know the person who you're perfectly suited to service. Remember, you're uniquely qualified to work with certain people, so identify them, talk to them, and close the deal.

You got this,
j*