The sun produces 386,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 watts of power. Yes, that’s 386 with 24 zeros after it. You can stand in the sun and not be injured.
A laser produces 5 watts of power. And it can cut a diamond.
What’s the difference?
Focus.
When it comes to your business, which would you rather be? The sun or a laser?
Sure, it’s tempting to want to be the sun. You reach everyone.
But the laser gets the job done a whole lot faster and more efficiently by reaching only a very specific point.
By trying to serve everyone, you end up serving no one very well.
When you try to serve “everyone,” this naturally leads to you watering down your message to appeal to the masses.
This doesn’t create broad appeal. It creates no appeal.
If your message is vague enough to apply to anyone, chances are it’s generic. Generic translates to boring. And boring isn’t selling anyone on your idea.
Being generic and boring means the only thing you have to offer is doing things cheaper, faster, and with fewer mistakes than the other guy.
That’s a race to the bottom you don’t want to win.
Your business is unique, so your customer base should be, too!
Don’t be afraid to talk directly to your ideal customer. In fact, if you don’t, you’ll never cut through the noise and get their attention in the first place.
Be bold. Don’t hold back. Speak to that exact thing that your ideal customer needs. And speak it in the tone you ideal customer responds to.
When you do that, your message will be like a magnet pulling your ideal customer to you.
But what happens if you try to align the wrong ends of magnets?
They repel each other.
Just like any magnet will have one end that attracts and one end that repels, any message that strongly attracts one group will repel another.
Yes, you read that right; I want you to repel people.
Potential customers will have 1 of 3 reactions to what you put out into the world:
- Attraction: They are drawn to you based on your message
- Repulsion: Your message repels them.
- “Meh”: They aren’t moved one way or the other
So, the minute you start talking to your ideal customer in exactly the way that attracts them, you’re going to start repelling other people.
That’s OK!
That’s better than OK. It’s exactly what you want. The people you end up repelling are not the customers you want.
When you try to water down your message to win everyone over, everyone will have “meh” reaction. It is better to go for the “wows” and suffer a few “yikes” than receive universal “meh,” no one is moved by mediocre things.
Who's that? Your ideal customer should be unique and specific. You want to corner a small niche of people so you can draw deep and intense support from them.
Find your ideal customer.
You need to find your tribe. These are the people who need what you do and vibe with the way you do it.
Let’s start by identifying what your ideal customer looks like. Be specific.
In fact, be so specific that you (or anyone else) who reads the description of your ideal customer could say, “That’s Bob” or “That’s Anne.”
Your description of your ideal customer should be so specific that people who hear it can name someone they know who is your ideal customer.
Here are some things about your ideal customer to get you thinking. Use as many as apply, and add any that are missing.
- age
- geography
- politics
- ethnicity
- gender identity
- socioeconomic status
- community
- education
- marital status
- Goals
- Self-image
- Needs
Establishing an ideal customer is a lot like playing matchmaker for your business
You need ideal customers who, like you, are crazy passionate about your business.
This leads to having a more loyal and long term customer base.
This can increase unprompted word-of-mouth marketing (which is free! And proven to be highly successful) as well as differentiate you from your competition more clearly.
How are you different?
The truth is, you have to do hard work and identify what distinguishes your business from your competition.
You serve your customers to the best of your ability and care about the work you do. But it is important you know what exactly you’re doing to set your business apart from the competition.
If you’re having trouble with this identification you can try a couple of approaches:
- Look at your “My business exists” statement from How to unlock the purpose that will motivate you to be your best. How does it compare with your competitors?
- What are you proud of about your business? Make a list.
- What is unique about how you do what you do?
- Do you think other businesses would have the same list?
- Why or why not?
- Do these things set your business apart?
Your business should give off a big, bold message to attract a group of rabidly loyal customers.
You can’t be shy.
You will need to repel and attract people with force.
Go full throttle with a distinct company philosophy, image, brand or motto.
Leave no room for neutral reactions. Ideal customers should flood towards it and the repelled customers should go running.
Go a mile deep and an inch wide, not a mile wide and an inch deep.
So, which are you?
The laser that cuts an inch-wide hole a mile deep? Or the sun that warms the top inch of a mile-wide strip?
When you’re ready to be the laser, contact us. We are ready to help you get the focus you need.
If you are having trouble knowing exactly where your business should be going or what you need to make your journey successful, we can help!
Book a free 1-hour Breakthrough Consultation with us.