The magic key to focusing your marketing

If there I had to choose just one thing that would make a dramatic impact to anybody's marketing campaign it would be to have really nailed down their perfect client profile.  It sounds easy - but it's not!  However, it is definitely worth the effort.

For years I skimped on this job - and I knew I hadn't got it right.

Like most people I started out with 'anybody who wants what I offer' (a.k.a whoever will pay me!).  Then I progressed to 'web designers' - because one of the things I do is write web content and it seemed obvious.  But I hadn't specified what kind of web-designer - one man bands, specialists in a particular industry, agencies, client base, turnover, staff number ... etc. etc.  I thought that 'web designer' would be enough for people to recognise themselves or for others to connect me with any web designer they knew.  It didn't work.

Let me tell you a story that demonstrates why not:

About 10 years ago I attended two Institute of Directors meetings within 2 weeks of each other.  They were two different groups, but close enough to have some members who attended both.  I was the guest presenter for both meetings.

Part of the meeting structure was for each attendee to provide an outline of the referrals they wanted.  We were told to be specific so, at the first meeting I said "The training manager of a high street retailer".  Nobody 'bit'.

At the next meeting I decided I needed to be even more specific, so I said "The Training Manager at Arcadia*".  Immediately after the meeting Stephen came up to me and said "I've got a contact at Arcadia - he's the CEO!"  

Stephen had been at the previous meeting and I'd known him for some years already so I thanked him and then asked "Why didn't you tell me this at the last meeting?"

"You didn't ask," he replied.

"I asked for referrals to the training manager of any high street retailers," I reminded him.

"Oh, didn't realise that, sorry.  I just heard 'Arcadia' and made the connection."

The point of this tale is that you really have to be very specific for people to focus on connections - general descriptions are often heard as "Blah, blah, blah."

Of course, I got business because I network online and offline a lot, but not the kind of business I really wanted - regular clients who paid me monthly to create a reliable income.

Then I finally knuckled down and worked through a list of questions about my perfect client - and came up with a really detailed description.  The result - suddenly I started getting phone calls from people who fitted my ideal client profile - and I hadn't done anything yet!

Describing my ideal client at networking events is much more effective - nobody else has that level of detail and it means that everyone at the meeting starts imagining what that particular person looks like and making the connections with people they know who fit.

Are you up for the challenge?  Go to www.insidenews.co.uk and download the Perfect Client Profile Worksheet from the Treasure Chest.

*A large retail group that owned, at the time, Dorothy Perkins, TopShop, Burtons, Evans, and many more high street chains.