Fire! Ready. Aim.  How to Define Your Target Market.

Target marketing is a refinement process, and a skill.  Too often we get so caught up in the getting ready that we forget to get moving.  We can work on our website for a year and still be tweaking it, but if we don’t actually begin offering our services, there’s no real point.  It’s in the offering that we learn who our clients really are.

Marketing is an Evolutionary Process

1. Describe your ideal client in as many ways as possible.  Are they male or female?  Short or tall?  Professional CEO, self-employed, or a WAHM?  How young or old are they?  What is their purchasing power?  What is the problem or need that they have that attracts them to you?  What is their mindset that makes your service ideal?

For example, when I first began freelancing, I thought I would do the writing for others.  So I looked for self-employed professionals who wanted to focus their time on what they were best at and leave the brochures, flyers, articles, etc. in the hands of an expert. 

2. Take notes.  Who you start out thinking your ideal client will be and who actually shows up may or may not be the same.  But the more you pay attention to what you like and don’t like about each person or project you work with, the easier it becomes to build the profile of your ideal client.  Look for the defining characteristics as well as the phrases and comments that give you clues to who they are.

Back to the freelancing:  As I began taking on projects, I began noticed that I enjoyed working in a collaborative style with someone as opposed to being seen as the ‘expert,’ and I enjoyed long-term projects as opposed to having to shift gears often.  I also noticed that I hated doing the writing for others, and really enjoyed the process of pulling out an incredible writer in others, especially when they didn’t believe they had it in them.  As my business evolved I shifted my focus towards supporting writers through the writing process by coaching and content editing.  Today, the one thing that I look for in my clients isn’t how busy they are, but their level of motivation.  If they aren’t motivated, they won’t see it through regardless of the support I offer.

3. Be willing to let go.  As you learn who your business is attracting – and who you want it to be attracting – it’s time to let the other projects and customers go.  I often see clients who’re afraid that if they say ‘no’ to a project, even if they don’t really want to do it, they’ll be loosing money.   At the same time, if they take that project on anyway, they wind up spending twice as much time as they should on it, which means they’re really making half as much.  But when they are able to say ‘no’ to what they don’t want, it gives them the time in their schedules to say ‘yes’ to what they really do want.  This is when they begin to take half as long to do something, which means they wind up making twice as much. 

In my own freelancing career, it wasn’t until I learned to refer out small projects and say ‘yes’ to only the most ideal projects that I began to really enjoy my business.  The ability to enjoy what I do in spite of the inevitable challenges is what makes all the difference.  I’m more creative, having more fun, and yes, making more money as a result. 

Keep in mind that learning about your target market is its own long-term project.  It has taken me three years to get to this place in my writing life and I’m sure I will continue to refine and redefine my target as new possibilities present themselves.  But what I know will stay consistent is both my desire to pull the best out of whoever I’m working with, and their need to be motivated enough to follow through each step of the way.