You left your previous job because you wanted more freedom to work how, where, and when you wanted. But do you often find yourself working with clients that just aren’t the best fit for you but you take them because revenue is important? What if I told you that you could attract your dream clients instead?
Just think about how great it would be to be helping people who are the best fit for you and your business. They love working with you, send more people like them your way, and they’re easy to work with to boot.
I know that might sound fanciful if you’ve been building your business for a while, but it doesn’t have to be a fantasy.
You can attract the right leads and your dream clients to your business.
Let’s dive into five powerful tactics that will transform your business.
1. Define your dream client
Before you can attract your dream clients, you have to decide what that looks like. Who do you want to work with?
If you’re not clear on who you’re trying to attract, it’s nearly impossible to get the right people through your doors.
The best way that you can define your dream client is to do what professional marketers do and create a buyer persona.
But I don’t want you to just think about the simple demographics. No, we’re going to get deep on who you’re talking to.
Creating a Buyer Persona That Matters
A Buyer Persona is a picture of your dream client. It’s a profile of a fictional person that represents who you want to work with. To make it easier, you can build a persona around one of your favorite clients that already matches your dream client profile, or you can quite literally make this up.
When you’re creating a buyer persona, it should be one person you’re trying to attract.
In a classic buyer persona, you might have seen people use simple demographics like they’re this old, live in this city, and what their job is.
But not all people are built the same. A 32-year-old nutritionist in Seattle might have nothing in common with another 32-year-old nutritionist in Seattle because they’re at different stages of their business.
Yes, you want to decide how old they are, but think about what their education is, where they hang out online, and even what other people they follow are.
But the big pieces that most personas miss out on?
You need to think about their pain points and frustrations, their worries, their biggest desire, what they need, and what transformation they would be looking for in working with you.
Your buyer persona doesn’t need to be fancy either. You can open a Google Doc and start typing.
But, if you do want to get a tad fancier, you can grab my free buyer persona template on Canva. Just fill in the blanks and away you go!
2. Speak Their Lingo
You know who you’re talking to, so now it’s time to talk to them so they understand. That means speaking their lingo.
Here’s a secret that most of your competitors don’t understand – no one really understands your technical jargon.
As an expert in what you do, you have a certain way of talking about your services and how you help people. But does your dream client understand what you mean?
I can be totally honest and tell you that when my accountant (my mom) tries to explain things I constantly say “Can you dumb that down?”
Using your technical jargon can repel your dream clients because they don’t understand that you can help them.
This shift sounds simple, but you need to use their lingo when you’re describing your services.
For example, when I explain to clients what I do, I could say that I’m a web developer who specializes in accessibility and SEO. Let’s be real – no one gets what that means unless they’re also a web developer.
Instead, I talk about how I help service-based business owners do the work they love by bringing them the right leads online. And when pressed, I’ll say I’m a “web designer” over a developer at times because that’s more common terminology.
It’s wrong, but it’s better understood.
Using your customers’ lingo means they can understand how you help them far better and they’ll be more likely to pay attention to the content you’re creating.
3. Use Clear Calls to Action
You’ve got your dream client identified and you’re getting their attention, but what next? Well, you have to tell them.
Give them something to do with a clear call to action.
This includes that Reel you posted, your blog post or podcast, or even on a page of your website.
When you have your dream client’s attention, you need to capitalize on that attention and tell them the next step to sticking around with you.
A call to action doesn’t have to be to “buy now” either. It can be as simple as asking them to send you a DM, sharing or saving a post, or downloading a free guide.
When it comes to your website, having a call to action is imperative because you’ve actually gotten them to your home online. This is something that a lot of businesses miss out on, too, because 70% of small business B2B websites lack any kind of CTA.
Get ahead of your competitors and get your dream clients to work with you instead by just asking them to do something “next.”
4. Engage on Social Media
Want to bring your dream clients to you? One of the best ways is to go to them and start building relationships on social media.
Remember, social media is about literally being social. This isn’t you finding accounts, sending cold DMs or immediately asking someone to book a call with you when they follow your account either.
This is getting in the comments section, stories, and engaging on their posts with real, human interaction.
Use your buyer persona to help you decide who you should be engaging with and spend some time on Instagram and other platforms following and finding people that are the right fit for you.
You can reach more people by joining communities with lots of people who might be your dream clients.
While Facebook Groups aren’t as popular as they were in 2020, they are still a great way to engage with many people at once and provide value and authentic connections.
Again – I can’t stress this enough – do not be salesy.
This is about building actual relationships, showing up for people, and becoming the person they think of first when they are ready for a service you provide.
I’ve gotten some of my biggest clients through Facebook groups, so this strategy is not one to slouch on.
Social media has also introduced me to some of my favorite people who I’ve never met in person. (Sounds super weird when I explain that to my bf, but it’s true.)
Use social media how you wish people would use it with you, and you’ll start building online relationships that bring you revenue for years.
5. Offer Free Discovery Calls
Your dream clients probably want to know that you are human, so give them a chance to get to know you with a free discovery call.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the Know, Like, and Trust factor if you’ve been in business for longer than 5 minutes. We want to know the people we’re working with, not just the business.
Especially if you are a solopreneur or the main person who talks with customers, they’ll want to feel like they know who you are.
It’s also important for your dream clients to know that you’re an actual real person and not some AI creation (oh the things we have to worry about these days.)
You can shortcut a lot of issues by just jumping on a quick call with your prospects. And this is coming from the introvert queen of “don’t call me, just send an email please.”
With a free 15-minute call, you can better understand your client’s needs and hear straight from them what problems they’re looking to solve. You’re also able to demonstrate your expertise, building trust and rapport before they commit to working with you.
A couple of things to keep in mind with discovery calls: you want to listen more than you talk and you don’t want to switch into consulting mode.
These calls should be about getting to know them and allowing them to ask you a couple of questions about the process of working with you, not “How exactly do you do X, Y, or Z?”
Make it super simple for your prospects to book a call on your calendar with a free scheduling tool so you’re not doing a ton of work, and sit back and wait for those to roll in!
It’s Time to Attract Your Dream Clients
The only way to scale a service-based business? Work with the clients that are right for you.
We only have so much time in our day, so the last thing you need are the types of clients that you’re trying to figure out how to do this new thing or the ones who just drain your energy for the day.
Instead, let’s focus on getting super clear on who you want to work with, how you can solve their problems, and break through the online noise to get their attention.
And if you want some help to create that buyer persona, then make sure you grab my free Canva template to start yours.
Can you drop this at the bottom of the blog post?
