If you’ve been following my journey of getting laser clear on my niche after reading the blog on Copyblogger about 6 Online Business Mistakes, you can also see what I’ve been writing about in my previous posts (here and here).
This weekend my intent was to spend some time focusing on where I see my services fitting in and how they will help my clients, well typical of how things can often work on during the summer this didn’t happen quite the way I had intended. Something I did discover though is the process really isn’t as easy as you might think.
This I know:
- I offer services that are relevant and needed for many potential clients
- I know I enjoy working directly and most often with women, successful women (either they’re already well on their path to success or they are climbing quickly)
- I like project work
- I like working in a collaborative environment which often develops with women
- I like have my business based out of my home
- I like the flexibility
So how does all of this help to answer what my niche should be? It doesn’t really, but it does help me get clear of the aspects of my business that I enjoy and it’s also helping get an understanding of where I can help my potential clients and how I can solve a problem for them.
I know that I enjoy working with savvy business women who are creative in how they approach their business.
This is how I see my ideal client
She are likely a solo professional and it’s most likely they have a home office where they run their business. She has a family and many have young likely school age children. She started her business to have the flexibility she desires, yet it gives her the satisfaction that she is making a contribution towards her own self worth!
She thinks differently and she is expert at what she does. She has an expertise and she also knows that she can not be an expert at everything. She acknowledges that her strong suit is not technology but she also knows the importance of using it in her business. She knows the importance of having more than one stream of income for her business whether that’s in workshops, information products, consulting, speaking events or online group classes. She i
s willing to explore new ideas and after the initial due diligence no idea would be to crazy to explore.
My ideal client knows the importance of communication with her community and looks to satisfy the different ways her community connects with her whether it’s using social media,memberships, newsletters or regular blogging. She does what needs to be done but also know that it’s not possible to do everything and finds the right mix of business, family and personal time. She looks to the people she partners with to provide sound advice and to manage the tasks and projects she’s not able to. She partners with other business women who have strengths in areas she doesn’t. She knows that the tasks and projects will be handled, she looks to partner with others who are looking to support her in her goals.
She prefers to build long term business relationships with her business partners and is comfortable in paying for that extra support. She is not looking for a clone of herself, but rather someone who has a similar business outlook as she does and she also knows that the business relationship is about give and take. She appreciates the flexibility provided by her business partners but also supports their need to find their balance between work and life.
This is how I’ve seen my ideal clients (and soon I’ll be introducing you to my fictionalized ideal client – that will be a fun blog post!), now I simply need to get my message into a succinct and to the point write up. Something I’ve realized though is I haven’t always communicated this to my audience, guess it’s about time I think about that huh?
Stay with me on this journey won’t you? I’d love to hear your feedback on what you are thinking about in relation to your business. Have you started to rethink how you communicate to your audience? Are you communicating to the right audience, your ideal client? Do you know who your ideal client is?
Please share your thoughts and experiences….