Q and A: Who is my ideal client?

Every week I will personally respond to one question received via email or social media. If you send me a question, you do not need to give your name. If you have a question, you are not alone – there are others who want to know the same thing! Please submit your burning question to: clientcare@businesswomenontop.com to participate.

 

choiceQuestion: I’m a life coach. I’m desperately trying to figure out who my ideal client is, where they are and then what the heck do I say to them! Everyone is telling me to niche even though I don’t really know who will want to buy my program. Help! I am so confused and it’s starting to really stress me out. ~ Mary in Confusion

Answer:

There are a few things going on here and they are both confidence and confusion.

Confusion is a state of mind that chronically sabotages success. I hear it all the time with entrepreneurs.

Let’s focus on the confusion issue, because when you get out of confusion often a greater level of confidence rises. (which is a good thing).

Confusion pops up when someone is faced with a decision and has  a fear of making the wrong choice or fear of making a mistake.
You can not think your way through your business, you need to get out and take action to stay what ‘sticks’ for you. Go to networking events, speak, have sales conversations, write regularly and you will soon begin to tease out who is your ideal client. We need to work (get paid) with a wide variety of clients in order to know who is the best fit (like dating!).

I have a question for you:
Why do you feel the need to niche?

I suspect someone (and they may not be business experts who are giving you advice!) is telling you that to be successful you need to niche.

I strongly disagree with this. Why? Because when you are confused on who your ideal client it means you do not have clarity on who YOU want to work with, nor have you been speaking to larger audiences to see who you want to work with. Often entrepreneurs come from the position of who wants to work with me, or who will buy from me, rather than who they want to work with. Backwards thinking.

When I first started my business as a coach I cast a wide net to see who would become my ideal client, where my expertise landed. I listened and learned from my prospects, heard their needs, worked with a wide variety of different markets and then as I gained experience, I soon became so clear on who I did and did not want to work with.

My advice would be to stop trying to define a niche and instead get out there and help as many people as you can.

You’ll know when it’s time to niche, and you won’t be confused anymore.


“I have been in Odette’s group coaching program since February 2014. There is so much I need to improve on in terms of running and growing my business more effectively and profitably, and approaching it with the right mindset! Working with Odette has helped me grow as a business owner, and much faster than I could have hoped to by myself. For instance, I now charge what I’m worth, have improved my sales messaging (i.e. elevator pitch, and created a signature speech), and am setting a better strategy for growth. There’s no way I would have achieved all this without Odette as my business coach!” ~ Martina Rowley
 
 
martinarowleyMartina Rowley has been a business owner for just over two years. Initially starting out with running a co-working office, she has now switched to working from home as a virtual assistant.
 
Her European background and professional training gives her a unique edge and skills set. She is bilingual in English and German and now also ambidextrous, so she can easily give you a hand in getting your business better organised!
 
Martina is a passionate environmentalist and spends much of her free time being active in the outdoors and volunteering with local environmental groups. She loves animals, gardening, and music and hopes to get much better at playing her flute.