Selling to your Ideal Customer was supposed to be a snap, remember?
You toiled away at your previous job, dreaming of the day you'd chase your passion. After what felt like a few hundred people who kept telling you to take a chance, you did it.
You went all in and played what felt like a winning hand of cards...but it wasn't.
Many days, weeks or months later, you still have those cards, but you've switched to solitaire as you wait for that door (virtual or otherwise) to open and the cash to start rolling in.
At this point you'd accept Monopoly money.
Hold on a sec! Before you decide to throw in the small business towel, here are four surprising ways you can reach out and sell to your ideal customer.
Redefine Who Your Ideal Customer Is
If your business suddenly feels like climbing the Empire State Building with vaseline all over your extremities, then it's time to rethink who your customer is versus why they aren't coming to you. Here's a little secret - wanna know what it is?
You are not your ideal customer.
There's a bit of bias in the business community, that if YOU think it's a great idea, then everyone else will too. (If you're married, you already know this is hardly the case.)
In a previous life I had a boss who passed up on a golden opportunity because he saw the business world through his eyes and not those of the customer. I'll never be able to quantify the potential growth my former employer would've seen back then, but I hazard a guess in the millions.
You are not your ideal customer.
Because if you were, your doors would be busting at the hinges. With that not being the case, redefine who that customer is. What are they looking for? What pains do they have that you can solve? Can you aptly resolve their woes, putting them first? Can you see them as though they were in the rear-view mirror of your car, close enough to touch?
When you can answer these questions with a resolute "YES," then you are not ready to accept and look for your ideal customer; and they will evade you until then.
Reduce The Size of Your Butterfly Net
If you've ever had success at swatting a housefly, you know that it takes speed as well as accuracy. You have to recognize the patterns of where the fly will land, how long they will stay there - and what size of rolled-up magazine will do the best job.
Ever tried swatting a fly with a catalog? Probably not, because an actual catalog is hard to find, plus it's just too big to swat a fly with.
And you won't catch butterflies with too large of a net.
When you've nailed down who your ideal customer is, don't try to solve all of their problems in one fell swoop. In that respect you'll likely miss them all.
Being good in business starts with proving your worth at solving one issue. Once you're good at that, you can go on to solve additional problems. But before you get the cart before the horse, work hard at solving that that one issue of your ideal client - then rinse and repeat many times over.
The more specific you can get at resolving that one issue, the more hyper specific you can get. And the more hyper specific you become, then your ideal customer will hunt you down because you become so well known for one particular niche.
Nerd Fitness is a great example. If you're a nerd looking to get fit, that's the site for you. With fitness and weight loss plans geared to help you "level up" with references to Star Wars and other nerdy topics. Not fitness for everyone mind you.
Fitness for nerds.
Who knew?
But from the picture below, this little niche has grown quite successfully.
Re-Test Your New Research
Just buying the cake mix doesn't mean you're ready to bake the cake. And just because you've taken the added steps above to heart and done the work, well that doesn't mean you're ready yet either.
But!
Before you go to any added troubles, it pays to take a deep breath and test your new hypothesis. In a small business it can be challenging to reach out to customers when the number coming in are few.
That means it's time to improvise.
Venture out, using friends, family, associates, or others you've met at networking functions to build your business.
"Wait, what? I'm supposed to go to networking functions? But I'm an introvert!"
Burn your footy pajamas right now, throw the remote in the bottom drawer and get your butt in front of people RIGHT NOW.
Hand your product direct to people you want as customers. Talk about what you do or how your service assists. Do they like what you are saying? Are you writing notes based on their feedback?
Though tough, gaining direct input about your business offerings is an invaluable use of your time and could have a dramatic impact on the success of your business (and career). Putting yourself at the mercy of others and their critiques is not always easy. But when you listen, you will hear what the customer wants.
Not what you want the customer to want.
Finally, Rethink Your Thinking About Marketing
Although we're all social media marketing geniuses (AKA "Instagram consultants" amongst other popular titles), it's time to use this pause in your business cycle to consider a valuable truth.
Marketing is not a cost of doing business. It IS an investment.
Those who view marketing as a waste of money will gloss over this part of the article. But for those open-minded folks, thanks for sticking with it.
Any dollar spent on marketing or advertising will prove one of two things. If you're skilled, you'll quickly learn what works. And if you're not so skilled, you'll learn what not to repeat.
What is working these days in the world of marketing? Well, word on the street says that the way to go is targeting your approach. You know, the opposite of running ads on TV or radio. Even if the big boys and girls are advertising on mass media, that doesn't make it right for you. Big advertising means big budgets.
There's a reason why they call it small business. Smaller budgets.
Use your money wisely. Hone in on places you can target your spend. Places like Facebook are great to advertise because it allows you to directly impact the audiences you want based on a multitude of targeted options (gender, age, income, education, likes, dislikes, etc.)
Best of all, if your Facebook advertising is not working, you have the ability to turn it off, tweak the ad, and then turn it back on. You choose how much you wish to spend and you also choose what action you want your audience to take (visit your website, like a post, call you or come see your store).
What's Next?
This short series of actions has hopefully brought you closer to who your real and ideal customer is. With some quick research, asking questions, and being real with yourself can result in dramatic changes for your business. All that's left is creating good content to advertise with on Facebook.
In addition to video being the best way to engage audiences with your brand, there's another golden opportunity for you...
In other words, a properly produced video engages Facebook users - and when they like it, they'll buy from you.
You're in luck! It just so happens that we know the perfect place where you can learn more about producing a video specific to you, your ideal customer and future sales.
To learn more, simply send us some minimal info below. We'll respond back, hear your concerns, and if we can help, we'll provide the next steps and get you to your ideal customers.