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Entrepreneurs

What Is A Solo Entrepreneur?

entrepreneur-solo.jpg

A Solo Entrepreneur (Solo-E) is a professional who chooses to go into business by themselves (go solo), collaborate with others, grow their business without boundaries and, more than likely, without employees. The Solo Entrepreneur may also be called a free agent, freelancer, solopreneur, self-employed, sole proprietor, personal business or home based business owner (although not all Solo Entrepreneurs are home-based.). Other terms used by government agencies that count and classify solo entrepreneurs (like the U.S. Census Bureau) include: nonemployer business, no-employee business, microbusiness (which usually means less than 5 employees), and SOHO (small office – home office).

Being a Solo Entrepreneur does not mean being isolated or being completely on your own. Solo-Es often collaborate with others and/or build alliances with other Solo-Es according to their business needs. Although many Solo-Es do not have employees, some may have up to five employees to help support their day-to-day business needs or build the business in other ways. Many find creative ways to support themselves, for example, by using virtual assistants.

What Are Typical Solo Entrepreneur Characteristics?

– A desire for personal freedom that affords them an opportunity to make unique lifestyle choices.

– Seeing themselves as entrepreneurs with a vision, a personal drive, and a passion to fulfill their dreams.

– A deep longing to succeed in their chosen area of expertise and a joy for learning.

– Believing in themselves and being passionate about what they do.

– Being committed to their quest to be solo.

– Comfortable using technologies such as the Internet to promote their business, collaborate with others, and learn.

“The thousands of people starting home based businesses confirm my belief that a new breed of person is emerging on Earth. Such a person is of higher value doing self-created work instead of a job thought up by others. This person is both independent and committed to service, highly flexible, constantly learns, and gets better and better every year.” Al Siebert, PhD., author of The Survivor Personality: Why Some People are Stronger, Smarter and More Skillful at Handling Life’s Difficulties…And How You Can be, Too.

Where Do Solo-Es Come From?

Many come from the corporate world, while others enter the world of being a Solo Entrepreneur as they change from a traditional-based small business with employees and management responsibilities to being an independent professional.

In a 1996 study, 66% of all people pushed into being solo (through downsizing or being fired), said they’d now rather be soloists than wage slaves. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were over 20 million single-person businesses in the US in 2005 — an increase of 2.7 million in just three years!

What Are The Social Changes Occurring That Are Supporting The Shift Toward Solo Entrepreneurship?

In the paper, The Swedish Solo-Entrepreneur – Extension and Characteristics (http://www.fsf.se/AhusPMkompl_slut.doc.pdf), Eva-Britt Hult and Dick Ramstr’m proposed three factors:

– A general change in attitudes toward individual choices in actions and life direction and away from working in large companies, climbing the corporate ladder in search of more money, and more employees.

– The spread of tools and techniques, including information technology developments, that enable many people to work together on projects, but not be confined to a formal organization.

– The increased volatility of the industrial sector in general, which leads to a quicker change in the fortunes, direction, and size of companies and makes it advantageous for companies to employ Solo Entrepreneurs with the right mix of talents at the right times.

Another more recent white paper written by Dawn Rivers Baker, Editor/Publisher, The MicroEnterprise Journal, addresses the many factors behind this shift, from political to economic to cultural. Read this fascinating, in-depth analysis: “THE MICROBUSINESS WAY OF GROWTH: How microbusinesses substitute operational efficiency for scale, and sacrifice organizational growth for revenue growth.” (http://www.microenterprisejournal.com/download.html)

Other Places To Read About The World of Solo Entrepreneurs:

Trading Places, Inc. magazine, November 1, 2002 (http://www.inc.com/magazine/20021101/24825.html)

What Should I Do With My Life, Fast Company magazine, January 2003 (http://www.fastcompany.com/online/66/mylife.html)

Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working For Yourself, Daniel Pink – Self-Employed Business Ownership Rates in the United States: 1979-2003, Robert W. Fairlie, University of California, Santa Cruz (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs243tot.pdf)

Where Do Solo Entrepreneurs Do Their Work?

A Solo-E’s office may be considered unconventional as compared to an office in a corporate setting. The Solo-E’s office is characterized by low overhead. It may be located in the Solo-E’s home or be a shared office, and it is used as needed. The Solo-E’s conference or meeting room may be the corner coffee shop, a local bookstore, or a client’s office.

Solo-E’s often use other tools and services such as a laptop, mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, and text messaging to support their business mobility needs.

What Drives The Solo Entrepreneur?

Daniel Pink, author of the best-selling book, Free Agent Nation, describes a revolution in how we work and live in the United States. According to Pink, four major factors are driving this new work ethic and propelling professionals to become Solo Entrepreneurs. These factors, which are listed below, are echoed in the 2000 Swedish study referenced above:

Freedom: the ability to exercise one’s will. (Pink; Free Agent Nation, 2001; p. 66) For Solo-Es one of the biggest complaints about their lives as a employees was that they disliked office politics. They felt imprisoned by all the games played in corporations.

By having freedom, Solo-Es determine when they are going to work, with whom they want to work, and where and how they are going to work. They use their freewill to make business decisions. Solo-Es feel liberated and motivated by their new freedom.

Authenticity: People want to be themselves – not wear a “mask” at work to fit into the corporate culture and environment.

Traditional work environments tend to force people to fit into a mold, and individuality often is suppressed. People express discontent with not being able to be themselves at work.

Solo-Es are able to allow their personalities, individuality, creativity, and uniqueness to shine, while being true to themselves and not ha
ving to “be someone else” in front of the boss or their peers.

Accountability: “putting one”s livelihood and reputation directly on the line. (Pink; Free Agent Nation, 2001; p. 73) Solo-Es are on the front line of their businesses. There is no one to hide behind or any coattails to ride on. This means Solo-Es are accountable for everything they do, including their business – marketing, the quality of their work, delivering what they promise to their clients, the success of their business, etc. They accept these business challenges and reap the rewards and lessons learned along the way.

Self-Defined Success: the measures of success are being redefined by Solo-Es.For Solo-Es, money and the promise of a promotion to the next rung on the corporate ladder are no longer motivators or factors in defining what it is to be successful. Solo-Es use a different measuring stick to define their success. Money remains an important factor to many, because they have to pay for their bills – but it typically is not the primary measurement of success. Instead, success is building the business they dreamed of building for years, and following their heart’s desire (or calling)–and that is what they deem success!

Success may also be defined by having the freedom to choose the work they do, the freedom to present their authentic selves in the work they do, the ability to integrate and balance their work with their life, the freedom to grow their business as they deem appropriate, and the list goes on. The criteria for success are self-defined by each Solo-E. In the 2000 Swedish study, one woman said, “My lifestyle is my big profit.”

What Are The Challenges Facing The Solo Entrepreneur?

Solo-Es often have many challenges and demands on their time, self-confidence, finances, and other resources. These challenges include:

– Having a desire to be solo, with no idea of where to start or of what is possible.

– Working through the initial start-up phase and not giving in to the temptation or pressure to go back to a corporate job or other “safe” haven.

– Having skills, products, and/or services that are in demand, but little experience or knowledge of how to package, market, and sell.

– Understanding how to cohesively fit together the relationships and elements that are part of running a business.

– Determining how to create a unique and solid brand for their business that helps position their strengths.

– Having a desire to go solo, but not knowing how to build a support network.

– Developing ongoing personal leadership skills that help them connect in more meaningful ways.

– Finding a way to transition from doing “tasks” to managing and building their business.

– Figuring out they do not have to do everything themselves, and then learning how to find and build the right alliances, as well as initiating collaborative efforts to support their business.

– Recognizing they are not alone as they make the move into the Solo-E market.

– Determining how to embrace their new career move and establish realistic and achievable goals.

In spite of these challenges, Solo Entrepreneurs find that the rewards are worth it! Being a Solo Entrepreneur is not so much a job, as a lifestyle. Solo-Es get to work when they want, doing the work they love, with people they enjoy working with. It’s a fantastic choice – one that we think more individuals will be making in the years to come.

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Online Business

Part 2: Designing Virtual Classes Your Students Will Rave About!

Continued from Part 1

Adding Structure, Accountability and Community to Your Self-Paced Classes

In Part 1 of this series, I offered various ideas for designing your live classes to offer maximum value to your students. Beyond just learning the concepts, students have a much better chance of actually applying your wisdom in their business. If you provide these three important elements in your classes:

  • a schedule to do the learning (structure);
  • a modest work assignment each week, and a place to post completed assignments (accountability);
  • and a rich network of fellow students to share with and learn from (community).

Applying these elements in self-paced classes (i.e., written, audio and video content available to the student on their own schedule) is quite different, and perhaps more challenging, than in a live, scheduled environment. A further challenge is that often, you’ve designed these courses to be hands-off for you – truly passive. On the other hand, your self-paced classes could be a funnel to more intensive, live classes or coaching/consulting – in which case a dose of you, live, could be the tipping point.

He.re are some suggestions you can incorporate into your own course design; most can be automated, although they may require some intervention or assistance from your VA.

Structure

Live classes come with their own built-in structure, in the for.m of a fixed schedule. However, the student purchasing a learn-at-your-own-pace course has to make a real effort to schedule time to read, listen to the audio, or review the video — and resist the temptation to do something else instead. As the course designer, how can you build in structure for your customers/students?

  • Release the content on a schedule; i.e., don’t give it all to them at once. This is the concept behind an ecourse – delivering a little bit at a time.
  • Send scheduled follow-up emails. In the introduction to the course, you can suggest a schedule (one chapter a week?), then follow up once a week with a tidbit about that chapter – a case study showing actual results, a teaser, etc. I’ve seen this done by one of the big internet marketers – I signed up, and once a week I got a nudge email, something like “Have you checked out this technique in chapter 14; it could triple your sales!”
  • Help them commit to a schedule. At purchase, ask them to commit to a time/day each week to cover the content of the course. Then, send them an email with an attached Outlook recurring appointment with that schedule! They open the attachment and save it to their calendar, and viola, it’s scheduled for them.

All of these techniques can be easily automated with an autoresponder! Remember to customize the messages to make them more personal. And be prepared to respond if they reply –  or have your VA ready to handle this responsibility.

Accountability

Getting folks to read/listen/view/study the material is one thing; getting them to apply it in their business is quite another. Some of the techniques mentioned for live classes will work he.re too:

  • Ask them to sign a statement of intent to do the homework (this can be an automated part of the purchase checkout process, for instance).
  • Follow up with encouraging messages via autoresponder.
  • Offer something extra for a limited time after their purchase: a fre.e review of their homework; fre.e laser coaching to help them overcome a roadblock or problem; a regular live call where they can ask ques.tions.
  • Provide an incentive. Encourage the student to complete the course by asking them to send you their completed worksheet(s) and offering a fre.e report, audio, or even a rebate or coupon. Tie this in with structure by giving them deadlines for sections of the work. Again, your VA can handle fulfillment of these incentives.

Community

Providing peer support can be much more challenging when there are no live classes where folks meet each other, but with the proper encouragement from you, I believe it can be done!

  • Set up a bulletin board (or listserve) for all purchasers. You’ll need to be more active, especially at the beginning, to encourage folks to join and share with strangers. Autoresponders might help; but they may not be enough. This is one area where you might need to be involved directly in answering questions and providing feedback, although as your board/list “ages”, peer leaders may emerge naturally (you may even want to approach a few of them to provide continuous, paid support instead of doing it yourself.)
  • Offer a free/trial membership in your existing community. This adds value to the course; you are already interacting with your community so it’s not extra work. If this is a limited time offer, you can even upsell to your monthly community at the end of the trial.
  • Mastermind calls. Again, this requires your time- unless you can hire it out. Either way it can be very effective.

Summary

All of these techniques still require commitment on the part of the student – you can’t force students to do the work, and you also shouldn’t take it personally if a significant number of your purchasers never follow through. But you can make it easier, and going that extra mile will set you apart as a supportive, caring individual that they might want to buy from again.

Categories
Online Business

Part 1: Designing Virtual Classes Your Students Will Rave About!

Technology gives us all kinds of wonderful tools to enhance virtual classes for solo entrepreneurs. Teleconferences, audio and video recordings, both streaming and downloadable, interactive multimedia, online learning environments, automated learning tools – all great options. But while the bells and whistles might abound, what is it that REALLY makes for a great virtual learning experience?

Last January, I was having lunch with my friend/advisor Sherry Essig. We were talking about a virtual course I was taking at the time that I was really enjoying. The subject matter of that course (marketing) was one I was pretty familiar with as an MBA student, in consulting with clients, and even co-writing an e-book on the subject. So why the heck did I pay several hundred dollars to take a class on a subject I already knew a lot about? And why, when I was finished, did I feel more capable of using that knowledge to improve my business than I might have after reading another book?

As we talked, Sherry started noticing the elements I was raving about: structure, accountability, and community. What I was really paying for wasn’t the knowledge (although I definitely learned). I was paying for:

  • a schedule to do the learning ( structure);
  • a modest work assignment each week, and a place to post my completed assignments ( accountability);
  • and a rich network of fellow students to share with and learn from ( community).

Here is a look at these three elements – and how you can apply them to your own course design.

Structure

I think of structure as the element that gets me to sit down and “do the learning”; usually, in the form of a scheduled appointment, with myself or someone else. For a live class, this is a no-brainer. The scheduled classes provide the structure.

However, the trend toward offering recordings shortly after the live class can undermine the urgency of being on the call live. Recordings are invaluable when there is truly a conflict for the student (and can add value to the course overall) -but it also makes it easy for students to rationalize when they get busy (and when are solo entrepreneurs not busy?) and skip the class, knowing the recording is there whenever they get around to listening. (I’m guilty of this!) And then suddenly there is no structure, no timetable to listen to the recording. (Sometimes this means I never do get around to listening to the class.)

How do you solve this dilemma and provide the structure your students really want? I haven’t seen anyone with a good solution to this yet, but here are some ideas to experiment with:

  • Make the recordings available “on-request”. Each week anyone who needs the recording has to contact you. Most students will, I think, shame themselves into not missing more than a couple, just to avoid having to ask each week! If not, you can perhaps challenge them after the second or third request (a great coaching moment!) If the recordings are a valuable part of your offering, upload them to be available to all a week after each class, or at the end of the course.
  • Give some incentive for being on the calls live. Something above and beyond what they are paying for (i.e., you can’t penalize them for not showing up!) Free ebooks, audios, CD, etc.
  • Give an incentive for attending all the calls – sort of a perfect attendance bonus. Maybe even a modest rebate on the cost of the course!

Accountability

AKA homework. Learning and retention is enhanced when the student does something to practice what they’ve just learned; even better, if they can implement it in their business right away. So how can you encourage students to complete the homework?

  • Have students email their homework to you. You could even provide an incentive by offering valuable feedback to your students.
  • Provide a space online to post homework. Nothing like peer pressure to get some people moving! This also offers a rich opportunity for the student to ask for help; feedback, etc. (see Community, below). You can implement this with something like Moodle, a bulletin board, etc.
  • Ask students to “sign” a statement of intent to do the homework. This can help them make a promise to themselves to work hard to keep up.
  • Assign buddies to trade homework. For some, knowing that someone else is waiting can be motivating. This can also backfire if neither student complies – letting them both rationalize away the work. A threesome might work better.
  • Check in with students. Send an email and ask them how the homework is going. Sometimes they are just stuck and a few words of wisdom from you could quickly get them back on track.

Community

Just as it’s easier to stick with an exercise program with a buddy or a regular workout group, interacting with fellow students can provide the “I’m not in this alone” feeling that they sometimes need. Community can also be an excellent side benefit of taking the class; it can provide a richer learning experience as additional wisdom is shared, and students may even make connections that last long after the final class. You can create community environments for your students:

  • Create a bulletin board. Students can post homework, ask for feedback, ask questions, and share their own knowledge. Password protection is recommended, to provide a “safe” environment without fear of a silly question getting aired via search engine later.
  • Set up mastermind calls. These are calls, facilitated by you (or your teaching assistant), that are open to whatever the student(s) need to talk about, ask questions, etc. Depending on class size, you might need to break students into groups, each with their own call time, to ensure everyone gets the air time they need.
  • Set up mastermind groups. These can be very effective especially in long-running programs. You create the groups, or let students form their own. They will probably need either live help or some instructions on how to set up a powerful mastermind group.
  • Establish buddy pairs or triplets. Trading homework, weekly check-ins, giving feedback, are all possibilities to explore. For a long program, mixing up the groups midway can liven things up and give a second chance to students who just didn’t mesh with their first buddy.

Summary

We can’t make our students learn and use what we teach them. But we can provide a supportive learning environment with the structure, accountability and community elements that make true learning more likely.

Categories
Entrepreneurs

10 Essential Tips for Starting Entrepreneurs

Ignore these at your peril!

  1. Do What You LOVE:If you’ve chosen your business because you read that this niche was the next hot one, or because your favorite uncle (or your best friend) thinks you’d be well-suited for this business, you may as well pack up now and save yourself some time and money. If you don’t love what you do, it will show…potential customers will know it and will go elsewhere. Is it possible to be successful anyway? Sure — but it won’t be easy and it won’t be fun…and isn’t that why you want to be in business for yourself anyway?Instead, choose what you love. You’ll know what that is when you find yourself being incredibly productive, forgetting the time passing by, and not being able to wait to get up in the morning to do more! At Solo-E we call that being juiced…but whether you call it being in the flow, or the zone, or whatever, FIND IT!
  2. WRITE DOWN Your Business Plan: As a small or solo business owner, you still need a business plan. Even if you aren’t getting a loan! Would you invest thousands of dollars of your own money buying stock in a company that didn’t have a written prospectus? (I hope not!) Then why would you spend thousands of dollars AND hours of your precious time on a business that doesn’t have a written plan?Write your plan, get it critiqued by professionals, and most important, BE READY TO CHANGE IT. This may seem counterintuitive…why bother writing it down if it’s just going to change? Because writing it down makes it more clear…and helps you get to the next stage of learning and planning and revising. It’s critical–67% of businesses that failed had no written business plan. Want to play the odds?
  3. Multiply Your Expected Startup Costs by Two–or Maybe Three: When I started my business, an honors MBA grad with 15 years of solid business experience behind me, I figured I was smart enough to estimate my startup costs accurately. I knew all the things I needed and made conservative estimates and I was still WRONG! That’s right, I was still off by a factor of almost three. Don’t make this mistake! One of the biggest reasons small businesses fail is because of lack of capital. Give yourself the best possible start by saving or acquiring sufficient startup funds NOW. Before you start! 
  4. Make Your Market Niche as Small as Possible: Again, this is counterintuitive–shouldn’t you try to appeal to as many people as possible? The paradox is that the more you try to appeal to EVERYONE, the less you will appeal to ANYONE. Let’s say you are selling your house…would you rather list it with the agent who operates in 14 counties, sells both commercial and residential real estate, and sells everything from cottages to estates? Or would you pick the agent who specializes in your community, selling only houses in a well-defined price range that she knows extremely well? Ruthlessly define your niche, make it as small as possible, and stay true to it. You’ll thank me later! 
  5. Do Marketing Your Way:The temptation is to choose all the marketing methods that the competition uses. To stay with tried-and-true marketing channels. To place advertisements that you know nothing about creating, or make cold calls that give you heartburn. Why? Because (all together now) “that’s how it’s always been done.”It’s difficult to stand out among your competitors when you are doing the same kind of marketing! So instead, look to your strengths. What do you like to do? What are you good at? Then choose three marketing methods that play to those strengths. If you need ideas, check out

    136 Ways to Market Your Solo Business. 

  6. Remember the Most Important Ingredient in Your Business–YOU:Business-owner: know thyself. Spend some time learning about who you are and how you are unique. Then let that uniqueness shine through in your marketing, in how you run your business, in everything you do. Don’t hide your quirks–celebrate them!Customers go to small and solo businesses primarily because they are looking for a personalized experience. They want a relationship with you as the owner of your business. If you try to come off as who you think they want, they’ll smell right through that and not come back. Be who you are, and trust that who YOU are is going to be attractive to the right people.
  7. Build Your Business by Building Relationships:Being a small or solo business owner isn’t about sitting in the corner alone. Actually it can be–and that isolation is what drives many out of business and back into a “job”. Build relationships to survive! Start with your colleagues–others you know who are at the same stage of business as you, or are farther along and willing to mentor you. Next, build relationships with potential customers. Ask them what they want! Then create products and services based on their input and come back and show them what you have done. Get feedback, tweak, and maybe make your first sale. Stay in touch with your customers even after they leave you.

    Last but not least, build relationships with your competitors. You might be able to do this right at the beginning, simply by asking them for their advice. Surprisingly, many ARE willing to share their secrets if you just ask. Later on, build cross-referral relationships, co-marketing alliances, and other relationships that are win-win for you, your competitors, and your customers.

  8. Don’t Accept a Customer Just For the Money:This is probably the hardest advice for new business owners to apply. Especially when there is a job, a project, a potential client, just outside your niche, that could keep your business solvent for the next six months. Don’t do it! Taking on a client outside your niche inevitably results in frustration for you, dissatisfaction on the part of the client, and in the end, usually costs you more than you make. Ask any successful business owner and they’ll tell you this is true! 
  9. Don’t Do Everything Yourself:It’s so tempting to fall into the self-deception that “it’s cheaper for me to do it myself.” IT”S NOT! If you aren’t good at something, for instance bookkeeping, it will probably take you 2-3 times as long–time you could be spending doing things that are essential for you to be doing personally, like writing your business plan or deciding your marketing strategy. Put sufficient capital into your business upfront so you CAN hire help right from the start. Your business will get off to a quicker start because you aren’t distracted by time-consuming tasks that drain your energy. 
  10. Assemble Your Support Team: Start with the people who will help you do the things you aren’t good at. Some examples: bookkeeper, marketing writer, web designer. Then add the people who give you professional business advice: a lawyer, an accounta
    nt, a business coach. Finally, include the people who support you personally: your family, friends, and colleagues.    Don’t forget to be part of other’s support teams, too. Share your expertise at Solo-E, start a networking group where business owners support each other, share a referral with a colleague. Solo Entrepreneurs supporting other Solo Entrepreneurs is what will make us all successful!
Categories
Sales & Marketing

Your Ideal Client – A Key Concept for Solo Business Marketing

How to identify who is – and more importantly, who isn’t!

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure
is trying to please everybody.” — Bill Cosby

Have you ever had clients that were more trouble than they were worth? Maybe they were always late to pay, or didn’t do what they said they’d do. Maybe you just had a personality clash, or they expected more than you were able to offer. Whatever the situation, chances are you had an inkling when you first met that client…a tiny voice that you didn’t listen to, that was probably overshadowed by the bigger voice that said, “Hey, it’s business; I’ll take it!”

Drawing The Line
Learn to say no to those clients, before they start draining your energy! The key to being able to do this is to understand Your Ideal Client. Once you know how to recognize who is ideal and who is not, you can practice turning down business from the latter. If you have trouble saying no, you’ll need to learn this critical business skill, and what to do to get rid of problem clients you already have; see the resources at the bottom of this article. If you have a coach, ask them to help you complete the Ideal Client exercise, or to role-play those “saying no” conversations.

How to Discover YOUR Ideal Client
There are many ways to approach the Ideal Client/Customer Profile. You can sit down and imagine the best, most wonderful client you could have–whether that is an abstract entity, a celebrity (what writer wouldn’t want Oprah as a customer, for example), or a specific demographic profile. If your customers are more likely to be companies, you could look at your current client list, and pick the company that gives you the most business, the most joy, the least heartburn.

The Ideal Client Profile
Whoever you pick, start a profile matrix with two columns: “My Ideal Client Is:” on the left; “My Ideal Client is Not:”, on the right. In the column on the left, list all the characteristics of that type of person or company. Use the questions below as prompts to get you thinking about all the different aspects of each client.

Then, either think of the opposite of all those aspects, or pick the “client from hell” and fill in corresponding traits in the right-hand column. Be really honest with this exercise! If you’d rather only have clients who make over $500,000, put that down! Your clients who don’t fit your Ideal characteristics, whether you write them down or not, will eventually know it. May as well get that over with early!

Prompts: Consider these aspects of your Ideal Customer or Client:

  • What career or business are they in?
  • What demographics do they fit? (age, sex, race, religion, income, marital status, etc.)
  • What do they think is important in business? In life?
  • What do they like most about you and your business, products and services?
  • What is the nature of their relationship with you? (transactional, long-time customer, acquaintance, friend, refers others to you, etc.)
  • How do they do business with you? (by phone, in person, on the Web; quick transactions, takes time to negotiate; pays early, on-time, at 30 days; etc.)
  • What personality characteristics do they have?
  • What do you get from them (besides payment)?

Now What?
Compare your current client list to the two columns in The Ideal Client Profile. How many have the characteristics of your Ideal Client? If the answer is “not many,” you may need to work on firing some of your clients! Check out some resources below on how to do this.

Next, post your Ideal Client Profile somewhere you will see it often. Every time a new potential client comes along, start looking for those Ideal characteristics…and beware the non-ideal! If that little voice starts to tell you something might be wrong, check in with the non-ideal list–and be ready with some ways to turn away non-ideal clients. Offer them other options–refer them to someone else who is a better fit, and make two people happier!

Ideal Clients–For Life
There are many ways to leverage the work you have just done with the Ideal Client Profile. Here are some ideas:

  • Audit your marketing materials. Do your business cards, brochures, ads and website appeal to your Ideal Client? Are you sending the right message, to the right potential clients? Hone your materials, and start seeing better-qualified potential clients walk in the door.
  • Consider your marketing channels. Based on your Ideal Client profile, where would you expect to find these clients? Is that where your marketing efforts are focused? If not, figure out a way to get in front of them!
  • Review your contracts, policies, terms and conditions. Are they set up to be friendly to your Ideal Clients? Do they give you clear avenues for dealing with non-ideal clients? If not, update them, and you might see non-ideal clients take care of themselves.

Start attracting your Ideal Clients today!