Why I’m Obsessed With My Ideal Customers
If you’re a reader of my blog you may already know that I’m totally obsessed with my ideal customers and the power that comes from being totally clear about who they are, what they think, how they feel, and what they say. In fact, my entire business is built around helping other businesses get totally clear about this. But it wasn’t part of my plan when I started my digital marketing agency 12 years ago. Like many entrepreneurs, I discovered my secret sauce by accident. The accident in my case was the result of a huge business mistake.
Here’s the story:
A few years back I recognized that many businesses simply didn’t have the budget to hire my company to manage their digital marketing. But they needed help. So, I figured out a way to teach them how to implement the content marketing strategies that were working so great for my clients and I launched an online course called Blog School.
To get the word out I held live free webinars called The Basics of Blogging in One Hour (who wouldn’t want to attend that?). It was a huge success! Each webinar attracted more than 250 people and I held it four times the first month. During the webinars I offered free strategy sessions to attendees who wanted more help. I ended up with 63 strategy sessions on my calendar. Needless to say, I was psyched!
63 strategy sessions – only 2 enrollments?
Yes, I had 63 conversations and only enrolled two people. I was devastated (to say the least). I knew my course was valuable because I had already taught it three times the year before and the businesses were all getting results. But those first enrollees were people I already knew such as past and current customers. The 62 strategy sessions were all with strangers.
I couldn’t’ figure it out what I was doing wrong. I went into a deep wormhole (ever been there?). Then it hit me – I was simply talking to the wrong people! (duh!) My webinars got tons of attendees, but very few of them were ideal for Blog School.
I made a humongous mistake because I wasn’t clear about my ideal customers.
I made a decision right then and there which has had an enormous impact on my business (and my life). I was decided to figure out was the perfect fit for my course and not stop until I was 100% clear. The more I dug in, the more I discovered about my ideal customer. I went really deep – much deeper than any templates I found on the internet. I got into my customer’s head, her heart, and her life. I gave her a name. I found a photo that looked like her. I was able to create a prototype – a human being who is the exact prototype of my ideal customer.
From that place I updated my website content, my sales pages, and my email messaging. I crafted a new and more finessed webinar. I adjusted my elevator speech. I actually aligned my entire business to speak directly to my ideal customer.
And guess what? Blog School filled up! All the people who enrolled were a close match to my ideal customer prototype! Strategy sessions became easy and fun. My enrollment rate went from practically 0 to 40%. I raised my fee and had no resistance.
Then, I realized that if I wasn’t totally clear about my ideal customer…certainly the businesses taking my course weren’t either. So, I began to teach the ideal customer formula in Blog School. Everyone said it was the most valuable exercise they had ever done for their business.
I became obsessed with my ideal customers and the process I used to get clear about them.
Starting in 2017, I shifted my entire business and focus 100% on guiding businesses to get them totally clear about their ideal customers and helping them crafting the perfect marketing language that connects. So far, more than 70 businesses have used my process…the same process that saved Blog School.
So, now you know why I’m obsessed with my deal customers and the power that comes from being totally clear about them. And why my entire business is built around this concept. The happy accident that came from my huge mistake is now what I do every day.
Check out what my customers say about my process here, and if you want to get totally clear about your ideal customer just reach out to me and we’ll chat about it. Schedule an appointment with me below:
And…thank you for reading!
