How To Define Your Dream Client

Last updated on April 2nd, 2012 at 12:53 pm

If you have entrepreneurial dreams, have you done your homework? When it comes to capturing your target market, the words “everyone” or “anyone” won’t help narrow down the field of sales possibilities.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great clients over the past 7 years. They are big business, small business, and the sellers of services and products. Some needed one little thing, others need continued help and still others I’ve been working with for years.

The one thing they all have in common – they need direction for their online marketing.

Business 101: you gotta know who you’re selling to

My involvement in BNI – Business Networking International – gave me my first taste of my own medicine: Know your niche.

The conversations about a ‘dream client’ comes up all the time. BNI is a ‘one profession per chapter’ organization and the first thing you have to decide is what category you want to focus on. Forward Motion Studios covers several aspects of marketing support – offers graphic design for print, web design and development, and product photography.

Pick one.

When I joined almost 5 years ago I chose to focus on graphic design for the main purpose of growing a part of the business I wanted to expand. That seemed like a logical decision at the time. I got new clients, small jobs and every one in a while, a fun design project that let me step out of the box.

About a year in, the category for web design was available. I took a look at where the money in my business was coming from. At the time, 60% was web-related.

Time to make a change.

I’m in the process of making a change now, but for different reasons. The market for custom web design has changed, including the impact of social media on your web presence. So what does my new ideal client look like?

How would you define your dream client?

Here’s how I started to define my dream client:

• What did they need a web site for – sell products or provide a service?
• How many employees do they have?
• Where are they located?
• What are they currently managing themselves with in-house staff?
• What is their annual revenue?

Based on all this, here’s one description of what my brainstorming process revealed:

• An established business in Northern California with 2-15 employees and 750k+ in annual revenue with an in-house marketing manager and no in-house staff to support their online marketing

What’s your dream client definition look like? With this , you can identify potential opportunities and pursue clients that match this criteria.

So what if you’re not looking for client, but looking for a job? I know I’ve used a variation of this process to find a dream employer in the past.

What does your dream client, or dream job, look like? Share it here… you never know who can help you discover your dream!

– Heather

Heather’s dream is to have multiple streams of income, starting with launching an e-commerce website that showcases her couture jewelry, which are crafted by her. You can find Heather online at For Your Adornment; Etsy.com; and Twitter And Beyond Dot Com. She also teaches Social Media tactics for business, besides being CEO of her own web design company. Heather’s post day is Friday.