As a business consultant there is one question that I get asked a lot: “How do I get paying clients?”

When you are starting a business, or launching a new product or service, I don’t think there’s anything more frustrating than desperately trying to find paying clients. It is probably the most wearisome thing, because generally you are struggling to get clients while spending hours upon hours working in your business to adequately serve them.

As a business consultant, I see a an emerging pattern with those I consult that are struggling to increase sales. Generally, it comes down to two things: a) they don’t know their ideal client or b) they aren’t focused enough with their offering and end up with a mediocre product or service that tries to be too many things to too many people.

So, why do you need to know your ideal client?

Well, let’s face facts. If you’re trying to gain traction, new to an industry or currently unknown, trying to appeal to everyone is a really difficult task. On that same note, I know people say, “But I can help everyone!” I’m sure you can, as could I, but that doesn’t mean you should. Imagine trying to get your message heard by everyone, it’s going to be so difficult to cut through all of the noise.

Meanwhile, your message has to connect with someone deeply, not at a surface level. Could it be that the reason you’re struggling to increase sales is because your message doesn’t resonate? This hurdle won’t be made any easier with expanding the different types of people you target.

Defining your ideal client allows you to, not only tailor marketing efforts, but it enables you to create a message that is actually heard and accepted.

How do you define your ideal client?

Your ideal client is a) who you want to work with and b) who you don’t. Start by thinking about who you don’t enjoy working with; maybe they have certain characteristics that you can’t serve in a real way or are in a sector or life stage that you’re familiar with.

Once you have an idea about who you don’t want to work with then you can narrow your focus to who you’d like to create value for; and work on building your knowledge to match your skills in that area.

Once you’ve defined your ideal client, set out to discover as much about them as possible. Learn their pain points and what life changing result they want to achieve.

So, how do you turn ideal clients into paying customers?

Simply put, you need to offer something they want – right now! Not something they want in 6 months time. Take a closer look at what you discover about your ideal clients. Remember that life changing result they are after?

People won’t pay for something that doesn’t fulfill a real and immediate need. For instance, they won’t pay for something that will give them more confidence, but they would pay for something that will provide tools and unique insights to give them confidence to become a public speaker. You see – that’s a specific life-changing result.

Think of the life changing results that your ideal clients want and give it to them!

This article has been edited and condensed.

Jane Willmott is a successful business consultant who works with online business owners worldwide, she works with them to help create strategies that enable them to rise up become the go to expert and have clients banging down the door to work with them, by achieving this her clients are then able to hit their big income goals and live out the life they dream of. Recently, Jane has decided to lift the lid on the strategy behind her clients 10k days and she’s created this free guide to do just that. Connect with @womensbusinessa on Twitter.

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