There are a few key area’s that will save you a huge amount of time, energy and money in your business if you nail them early on. Knowing who your ideal client is, is one of them.
Being able to clearly define and articulate who your ideal client is, your AVATAR is one of the first building blocks needed to ensure a strong foundation for your Business.
Some of you may have heard the term Avatar before but have no idea how it relates to your marketing plan and some will have a picture of a big blue person in your head. For the record, that’s not the Avatar I’m talking about (but I did enjoy the movie).
Let me explain.
The term Avatar is used as a way of getting you to describe your ideal client. You may have multiple avatars, and that’s okay, just repeat this exercise for each of them. You will understand the significance of having each of your avatars identified separately when you begin your marketing campaign.
It’s really important that you understand you can’t be everything to everyone. When you try to be, your message is watered down and weak because it’s not targeted. It will get lost in amongst all the other ‘noise’ out there, where everything sounds the same – blah, blah, blah…
What you need to be doing is speaking to 1 person (your avatar) about 1 of their problems or desires, and offering them 1 solution. When you get this right, your client numbers will soar.
Let me share a little secret with you. We didn’t do this exercise initially, we thought we knew our avatar, and we never committed her to paper. As a result our business suffered, we were doing okay but we could have been doing a lot better. Over 85% of the clients we work with don’t have a written avatar either. It’s one of those things that most people know they should do, but they are confident they know who their ideal client is so they never commit them to paper. And guess what, they can’t actually tell you who their ideal client is when they’re asked.
So why don’t people commit their ideal client to paper?
The most common reason is they have a fear of missing out. With an amazing skill set that could help a lot of different people they think by choosing only one that they will miss out on all those other people.
The truth is, you don’t want to be known as a ‘jack of all trades’. You want to be known as the expert, the go-to person in your chosen field. You don’t need to be the best in the world, you need to be known as the best in your ideal clients world. You’ve got to go small to go big. To achieve this you need to define your ideal client. When you clearly articulate your avatar, your marketing message with become extremely clear and will therefore be heard by the people that need to hear it. This is how you grow your business.
Here are some questions to help get you started with writing down who your ideal client is. Chances are you’ve either worked with or met someone who is your ideal client – or in some cases perhaps you are your ideal client – which will really help you with this exercise because all you need to do is describe you or that person.
Describe Your Ideal Client - Your Avatar
Is your Avatar Male or Female? Give them a name
What age are they?
Are they married, single, divorced?
What type of car do they drive?
Are they educated?
What books or magazines do they read?
What do they do for work, and how much money do they make?
What keeps them awake at night?
What problems do they have?
What are their dreams and aspirations?
4 Reasons Why Knowing Your Avatar is So Important to Growing Your Business.
Let me finish with 4 reasons why knowing your Avatar is important to the growth of your business.
1. You can create targeted marketing campaigns specific to your Avatar. 1 person 1 problem 1 promise. Being able to do this will reduce your marketing costs.
2. You will attract better prospects, ones who are already warmed up to the idea of solving their problem or achieving their dream and therefore converting them into paying clients is easier.
3. Your client numbers will increase, which means you’ll make more money.
4. You can use this knowledge to enhance your Business Branding to make it more appealing to your ideal client. (Click Here to read Helen's post on 3 Keys to Smart Branding)
So what are you waiting for, grab a sheet of paper and a pen and write out everything you can about your Avatar.