Not everyone is going to be your customer.

It seems like a paradox because when you are starting out in business you don’t want to say no to a customer.

But as they say, it is better to be a “meaningful specific, instead of a wandering generality.”

Your goal is to clearly define:

WHO you are looking to target
WHAT separates them from their market
WHAT they care about
WHERE you can connect with them

Research Your Competitors

Who out there offers something similar to what you do? For more details, click here.

Create an Empathy Map

An Empathy Map is basically when you jump into the shoes of your customer.

Some basic questions are:

What is your marketing hearing?

What is your marketing thinking?

What is your marketing seeing?

What is your marketing saying/doing?

What is his/her hell?

What is her/his heaven?

For more on this, check out my post on Emotional Marketing.

Build a Persona

Next, narrow down what you have learned by defining that person. Where do they work? Do they have kids? Etc.

Second, you want to define who you DO NOT want as your customer.

Here is a full list of Persona criteria.

I help entrepreneurs, business owners and freelancers solve problems. Whether you need me to guide you or solve something before me, I’ve got your back. Click here to learn more.
Oh, by the way, I can help you with this...

Use Your Customers Words

Now that you have gotten really clear on your customer, start to build a story using their words.