You may have in your head that you’ll take any customer you can, but to make work something you *actually* like doing, you need to narrow it down.

And your ideal customer has to go deeper than just ‘Stay at Home Moms’ or ‘Small Business Owners.’

I used to take any client I could and honestly, I hated my job. I almost quit doing design because it was so overwhelming.

But then I attracted one really ideal client, then another, then another and now I rarely work with someone who doesn’t fit my description and work is amazing and fun and it’s all I want to do! 

When you narrow down on ONE specific person and know all about them – their likes, their fears, their home life, where they hang out – you start to understand them, WHY they’re driven to buy something and how to talk directly to them. You’re putting yourself in their shoes and that’s when you learn how to really talk to her. 

Here are two important reasons to find your ideal client:

1. One ideal client will lead to more ideal clients, and the same thing could be said for less than ideal clients.

When you work with people you don’t like to work with – whether they don’t respect your boundaries, aren’t in the types of industry you want to work in or their work doesn’t match the style you really like designing for – the only work you have to share is the work you have done for them.

And when you only have examples of work that you don’t really like to do, you generally do one of two things:

a) you’ll share the work begrudgingly, not knowing it is going to attract more of the same type of work, or
b) you won’t post at all because you have nothing you’re proud to post

And if you choose option a, then you’re just asking for more of the same work, which creates a vicious cycle of working with clients you don’t love on projects that don’t light you up!

On the flip side, if you are SUPER proud of a fun project you did and you want to do more of that kind of work, posting about it will share with your following that you do that kind of work. If a follower isn’t in the market for that type of work, there is a chance that they know someone who is and will share your name.

This creates a wonderful cycle of ideal clients referring you to other ideal clients. Your work gets better, your work days are more fun and you are happier because you’re doing work that fulfills you!

2. You’ll fill your calendar with work you love and you’ll make more money

When you become the go-to person for work that lights you up, people will wait in line to work with you. Your calendar will fill up quickly and you’ll be pumped to wake up and get to work each day.

Just like in step one, when you do work you love and are proud of, it breeds more of the same work. If you continue to hone your skills in that line of work, you get better and better at it. You might even become the go-to person for that type of project.

And when that happens, your schedule fills up fast. Your work becomes steady and so does your income. As you complete projects, your work will be in higher demand which allows you to raise your prices.

For example, I had a super low branding package price when I started working with my first ideal client. Once that project wrapped up, I attracted more of the same type of branding clients and my schedule started to get booked pretty far in advance.

I made a promise to myself that every three months or so I would reevaluate my pricing if I was still getting booked 3 to 4 months in advance, and I’ve never had to break that promise.

Between 2019 and today, my branding package pricing has increased 450% (😳). Now, the value I provide my clients now is much much different than what I provided 2 years ago, but I have consistently filled my calendar with happy, ideal clients who are willing to pay for the value I provide them.

Finding my ideal client helped my hone my process and provide better value to them, fill my calendar with work I love and increase my income drastically. I wake up early, excited to work because almost every project is fun to work on. I do have some projects that aren’t necessarily ideal, but the majority of what I work on is work I love to do.

Ready to start the process to find your perfect people?

I have a worksheet that will help you get started on the right track! Click here to download.

And if you want to dive even deeper, you can learn more about you course, Your Perfect People, right here!

Let’s have more fun at work, okay, friends? It starts with who you work with!

Have you found your ideal clients? Share in the comments – I wanna hear all about her!