As a small business owner, we are often wearing all the hats!  Sales, marketing, HR, operations, janitor, social media manager and more!  It’s exhausting just thinking about it.  

But this is even more reason that it’s so important to ensure the things you’re putting out into the world are making a difference or as I love to say, moving the needle.  

Sometimes we are so busy doing it all that we don’t take the time to see if our efforts are bringing in more business or moving us closer to our goals.  I see this so often in marketing and social media!

Before creating even the first piece of marketing, we should know who our ideal client is.  

Can you describe him/her?  
What do they do for a living?
What do they like to do on the weekends?  
What is their annual income?  
Where do they like to shop?  
How old are they?  
Do they have a spouse or kids?  A dog?  

I could go on.  The point is, knowing these things about your client will help you to determine how they buy.  Where they buy.  What will attract their attention and at what price point they will be willing to purchase.  

Once you can define the 1 person you are speaking to, you are able to focus your marketing toward their habits and attract only your ideal clients!  

Now I know some of you are saying “but Brandee…I don’t want to exclude anyone.  You never know who may buy from you.”  But I would say that although you may every once in awhile find that someone who is not in your ideal market may buy from you, it is rare if your marketing is done well.  And at the end of the day, working with clients who share the same values and characteristics as us will make our lives that much more enjoyable and be a win/win for you and your clients!

So here’s my challenge to you.  Take 30 minutes and list out all of the qualities of your Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA).  Post it near your desk and every time you create a piece of marketing or social content, ask yourself….”would this attract my ICA?”