You’ve identified your ideal client and got really specific about her with the help of social media. Now, it’s time to do something a little scary and take this out into the real world! You’re going to actually talk to your ideal client face-to-face.
It’s one thing to think up an ideal client and make theories about her passions, challenges, and habits. It’s another entirely to actually ask her about them. You already know a lot about your ideal client, but until you actually reach out and talk to her, you won’t know whether your profile is on target or not.
I know it’s awkward to ask random people to help you out. You could just reach out over email and send them your list of questions, but you won’t benefit nearly as much from that as you will from a real conversation. Trust me, I did this exercise for myself too!
People are much more likely to give you real and authentic answers when you’re taking face to face. They’re more likely to open up and share the kind of information that will help you build an amazing brand. They’ll ramble a little or go off on tangents and that’s the part of the conversation you don’t want to miss out on.
Plus, you’ll already be asking for a favor. Why not make it easy on them and even enjoyable? Writing answers to a long list of questions is much more daunting and far less pleasant than chatting over coffee for 30 minutes.
So gather up all your courage and reach out to a few people. Ease into it and start with 5 of your favorite clients. Send them a note letting them know you’re working on your ideal client profile and would love to have their input.Offer to buy them a coffee or schedule a phone call if that works out better.
Then, choose 5 other ideal clients to interview. Chances are you’ve already been plugging into the tribe you want to reach and know a few people you could talk to. If not, here’s a great chance to make some new friends! Go to an event your ideal client would be interested in, start a conversation with someone at your ideal client’s favorite hangout, or reach out to some of the people you found on social media.
So what do you ask your ideal client once you have her attention? This should look a little different for everyone, but here’s a list of questions to help get you started:
- What are the most important things in your life?
- What goals are you focused on right now?
- What challenges are you facing?
- What do you do on your free time?
- What are your favorite websites, blogs, social media platforms?
- What kinds of posts do you like to share?
- Who are some of the people and brands you follow and why do you follow them?
- Does my product sound like something you would use?
- What would make you want to try a new product?
Chatting with your ideal client for a few minutes is going to help you so much! It will bring you even more clarity and help bring her to life. You’ll have real conversations to turn to and real information to base your brand decisions on. You’ve got nothing to lose, so go out there and rock this!
Your action steps for the week:
- Write out some questions you’d love to ask your ideal client.
- Reach out to 5 of your favorite clients and schedule some coffee meetings.
- Reach out to 5 other ideal clients and schedule more coffee meetings!
- Try not to overdose on caffeine and have some fun interviewing your people.