Your Best Customer is Imaginary

You already know how important it is to have a target market. It's all you ever hear about. But do you have any idea HOW to target your market? If not, you aren't the only one. There are a few concrete steps you can take, not least of which is developing your business niche correctly.

Do you remember having an imaginary friend as a child? If you didn't have one, start now. Why? Because you're not just creating an imaginary friend, you're creating your perfect customer. To identify the people who need you most, you need to create a persona. A persona is the hypothetical person who will benefit most from your talents and skills. This persona will give you constant feedback as you refine your niche.

When you are talking about your unique skills, picture the person you are talking to. When you think of the person who will buy your products or services, hold that image in your mind. Who are they? Make this image as detailed as possible. Give this person a name and an age. Decide if they are male or female. Picture how they dress and how their voice sounds. Give them a job, and perhaps a family. Most importantly, listen to the questions they ask you. Listen to the objections they have. Listen to the things they tell you through their body language and tone of voice. Find out about their hopes, fears and dreams. Figuring out what makes this persona "tick" is the fastest way to help them.

So what makes this persona the perfect client? They have a problem that only YOU can help them solve. When you have identified what this problem is, you have found your niche.

Example: Sarah collects Wedgwood china and she is looking for a particularly rare piece. If you know several unlisted antique dealers, then the information you have is the solution to Sarah's problem.

Identifying the person is the first step. Identifying their problem is the second. When you take the final step of applying your skills to solve that problem, you're in business.