Are you ready to Break out and become an Individual?

This morning I was chatting to someone about the branding of their fairly new business, and had to be totally honest when he showed me his business card and asked "what do you think?"

AndyK Graphic Designer / Artist

I am very much the type of person who says it how it is. If you don't want to know the answer, then don't ask me. I'll tell you as gently and nicely as possible, but I will be honest. It's not because I'm trying to get extra work out of everyone I speak to, it's mostly because I don't want you to waste your money promoting in a way that's not going to work. No matter how much money you throw at it.

So this gentleman's response was, "I really like your business card, it stands out, but I'm an accountant ...."

It's a very common question.
How do I make my business stand out in a room when there's heaps of other people doing exactly the same thing?

While the short answer is that you simply have to give your business a personality, you can't be all things to all people, so to start with you'll have to work out who you are selling yourself to.

Who is your perfect client?

Everyone dreams about the perfect client. The one who doesn't compain about the price, doesn't give you a deadline and lets you make all the decisions about what's best for them. In reality that particular client doesn't exist, but it doesn't mean there isn't still a perfect client for you.

Forget about what you do for a moment, and answer these questions;

• Do I associate better to men or women?
• Do I gravitate better to a specific age group?
• Do I prefer to work with/for small start ups or multi national corporations?
• Outside of work, what's my absolute passion?
• In what industries have I had previous employment?
• Do I like to work from my office, their location, or be on the road?

Now that you have those questions answered, can you list 5 specific businesses (if you are a B2B) or people who fit into those criteria? This result is your perfect client. They are who you are targeting with your brand and your marketing.

Now that you know this, you'll find that describing your services, writing your business profile, posting your facebook posts or even working out your elevator pitch for the next networking event will be so much easier. You are no longer catering for everyone. You now have a niche market that separates you from everyone else out there who is supposedly doing the same thing.

Break out and become an Individual

You are now an individual

You can now take this information with you to your marketing people and your branding people and tell them to stop wasting money by targeting EVERYONE ...

But I want more than 5 clients ...

By targeting those 5 perfect clients, you probably think you're limiting yourself, when in fact you're actually focussing on a specific client type allowing you to pick up more of the right kind of client.

For example, my own perfect client is Betty from Erebus Racing and while I doubt she even knows I exist, by aiming my brand and services at her, I then pick up the perripheral client who almost fits all my criteria.


AndyK.
Racer, Artist, Graphic Designer
www.andyk.com.au