Your Business Isn’t for Everyone: How to Define Your Ideal Client with Lisa Johnson

Here’s the fear that stops most business owners doing this work properly: if I narrow down who I’m for, I’ll lose everyone else. It feels like turning away money. It’s actually the opposite, and until you sort it, nothing else in your business will click into place.

For far too long I’ve watched companies define their client by demographics and think the job’s done. “I want a client who lives in London and needs a website,” says the website designer. That’s not a client. That’s a postcode with a budget. It tells you nothing about what to say, where to say it, or why anyone should choose you over the hundred other people offering the same thing.

You need to get personal. Once you do, everything downstream gets easier. You have a niche. You genuinely know your client and what they need, so you can build it—just for them. It might mean that 95% of the people who want a website will never buy from you. Fine. Because the 5% you spoke to directly? They will all buy. And better than that, you’ll be their champion.

Your Ideal Client Is Not a Demographic

Who and why are the two most important questions in your business, whether you’re selling products or services. Only once you’ve answered those can you work out your what and your how. You probably already have the products and the services, but knowing how to package them, and which one should be your standout offering, comes entirely from knowing who you’re speaking to. Skip this and your strategy has no purpose. It won’t get you where you want to go.

Use Kimra Luna as an example. She decided she wanted to work with geeky, rebellious entrepreneurs who never fitted in with the usual crowd. She’s now making millions doing what hundreds of other coaches do. The only difference is that she’s speaking to her audience and nobody else’s.

People buy from people. We’re human, and we get reeled in by the people we resonate with. There was a time when new business owners had to undercut everyone in sight just to win the work. You don’t need to do that anymore. Speak to your people and they’ll get you, and they’ll buy from you, and everything else falls into place.

Where to Find Her

Your ideal client already exists somewhere. She’s usually one of these four:

• You: Perhaps you ten years ago, you a year ago, or you right now. (Or your team.)
• Someone you’ve worked with before: Or are working with now, who you’d happily clone.
• Someone you know: From social media, or a friend or family member.
• A woman called Tracey: Who you’ve completely made up, but you’re certain she’s out there based on conversations you’ve overheard.

If you’re brand new and none of that lands, try this instead: Your ideal client walks through the door right now and says she wants to work with you. Who is she?

Whichever route you take, your ideal client is simply “someone who gets their exact needs met by what you’re offering.” Pick the one that’s most applicable to you, based on your why, and then start asking questions. You may need to do some digging—a conversation, a feedback form, or asking people to point you towards someone who fits the description.

The Ideal Client Questionnaire

The easy bits: Gender (don’t overthink it—if you run a florist course, chances are it’s female. Yes, some men will buy. Who is it most of the time?). Married or single. Kids. Age range. Job. Income level. Level of education.

The trickier bit: Write down 100 sentences about her. Yes, one hundred. What her friends think of her or what she wants her friends to think of her. Where she buys her coffee. What magazines she reads. Where she travels. Anything. It’s hard. Don’t skip it. By the end, you’ll be able to see her.

Prompts, If You’re Stuck

• What are her main pain points? What keeps her up at night?
• What does she ask you—and people like you—about most often?
• What concepts does she need introducing to? What are her biggest “ah-ha” moments?
• What are her core values? What’s her own mission?
• What’s a typical day for her?
• What does she love to consume—images, audio, text, video? How much time does she have? Where does she consume it (on her phone, on the commute)?
• How did she find you? What about your online presence attracted her?
• What makes her trust you enough to hire you?
• What would make her book immediately?
• What concerns does she have about working with you?
• Why does she invest in what you do? What is she actually trying to achieve?
• And if she’s a real client you’ve already worked with: what conversations led to her biggest breakthrough? What about her story and personality let you do your best work? What was her feedback?

A Note on You

Here’s what tends to happen somewhere around sentence sixty: the profile starts looking suspiciously like you. Good—that’s not cheating, it’s a shortcut. For Lisa Johnson Coaching, my ideal client was exactly me, five years earlier.

So now do the same list on yourself. What are you exceptionally good at? Why are you different—and ignore your Britishness here, you know you’re brilliant, just say why. What are you passionate about? Is there anything in your story that certain people will resonate with more than others? Then look at both lists. Where they overlap is your business.

What Your Analytics Are Actually Telling You

Every entrepreneur online will tell you to look at your analytics to find your ideal clients. I’d push back slightly. Unless you’re already getting dream enquiries consistently, the people on your website and in your comments probably aren’t your people.

So use your analytics for a different job: to find out who you’re currently attracting, and why.

Same goes for sending a survey—revealing stuff, especially if you’ve built an email list. With most email systems you’re paying for the number of subscribers you have. If those people are never going to buy from you, you’re paying to send emails that will never see a return. If the results show your audience is miles off your ideal client, don’t invest more time trying to convert them. Let them go. Be okay with unsubscribers and unfollowers.

Say It in One Line

As well as the in-depth profile, you need to be able to summarise what you do, who it’s for and why you do it—fast. You’ll want this at networking events, in your social bios and in your bylines. Try one of these:

• I help [who] to [what] because [why].
• I create [what] for [who] who [pain point/goal].
• I do [what] to [why] so [outcome].

From Client to Message

Now that you know who she is and what her problems are, you can work out your message: what you want to be known for, what you’re going to say, why you’re saying it and how.

I’ll use my own business as an example. When I wrote the client profile for Just Own This, the pain point was simple: my ideal client either wanted to start a business, or already had one but wasn’t getting clients or making enough money. The symptoms? She was trying every form of marketing going, or trying none of it at all—spraying and praying with no consistent results. Or she was frustrated at having no structure to build on. (Note: if you’ve ever felt those symptoms yourself, even better. It means your clients will resonate with you.)

The solution? A course that gave her a structure, a direction for the business and control of her own marketing strategy.

Now do the same for yours. Write down 50 sentences about your message. What’s the ultimate goal? What makes your business different? What do you want to be known for? Where do you create value? What do you do exceptionally well? What from your own journey would resonate?

Don’t expect the answer to arrive immediately. It usually takes a lot of thought and journalling before you realise what your message actually is. Take your time; it needs to be clear, not perfect.

A Note on Multiple Ideal Clients

You may well have more than one. Pick one for now. When you get to branding and your website, you don’t want to be merging messages—it dilutes the brand. It’s possible to serve two clients from one website, but it’s much harder, and I’d only attempt it once the first one is nailed.

Branding Is Not a Logo

Now that you know exactly who your ideal client is, everything you do needs to be directed only at her: your website, your wording, your images, your social media. That’s what branding actually is. Not a logo. It’s the voice and the feel of your company; the message to your ideal client. All of it has to be on brand for her to believe in you.

So start at the beginning. What do you want your branding to achieve? Do you want potential clients to see you differently and if so, how?

Then your mission, your vision and your values. Your mission is the reason your company exists: what it does and who it’s for—keep it concise. Your vision is how you see the company in the future, and it’s genuinely useful for driving your goals. Then the really important bit: your core values, the beliefs your brand is actually about. They’ll show up in everything you do.

All of it helps when you come to the visuals. If you’re all about low-key, quiet authenticity, you probably won’t be using hot pink.

Know Your Competitors. Never Copy Them.

It’s worth knowing as much about your competitors as possible, but never be tempted to copy. You’re unique, and your ideal clients will buy from you because of that.

Take your ten closest competitors (closest in product, service or design—not necessarily geography) and work through them properly. What do you make of them? What are they doing well, and not so well? What do they offer, and at what price point? Who’s their ideal client? Do they have a USP you can see from their branding? The exercise shows you where the gaps are—and if someone’s already covering your niche, how you’ll need to do it better.

So many businesses in the same sector never think about how they want to brand themselves. They just copy each other. There’s no point in that. Rise above the crowd, find the points of difference your company will do really well, and make them impossible to miss.

The Feeling Test

Put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes. She lands on your website or your social media. How do you want her to feel? Calm? Excited? Reassured? Then: what colours and typefaces convey that? And what do you want her to think you’re passionate about?

If you have a brand board, go back to it and ask honestly: is this right for my ideal client? If not, start a Pinterest board collecting images and brands that convey how you want her to feel. Your designer will thank you.

And do use a designer, even if you’re building the website yourself. Squarespace, WordPress and Wix all have templates, but if you have any marketing budget at all, spend it here. It’s your shop window.

Your ideal client and your message will evolve as you do—that’s not failure, that’s a business growing up. What matters is that your strategy is purposeful, intentional and meaningful. Be willing to let go of anything that isn’t serving you: a platform, a blog, a list full of people who’ll never buy. And don’t let fear stand in the way of getting your message to the people who actually need it.