Clarity of your ideal client is one of the foundational building blocks of a coaching business (and, frankly, any business!).

If you’re not clear on your ideal client, you can’t be clear on your process. Your messaging won’t be as enticing, your packages won’t be exceptional and the tools and resources you create will be hit or miss.

But when you’re clear on your ideal clients you can create a process that caters to their biggest challenges and desires. And when your process and packages are completely catered to your ideal client, it’s easy to define a clear value proposition for working with you. And yes, when you narrow your focus and hone in on who it is that you best serve, all of this becomes relatively simple.

Even though, theoretically, a great coach could coach anybody, it diminishes a coach’s value when we aren’t willing to be specific about who we actually serve best.

When you get specific, your marketing efforts will become much clearer and you will be far more attractive.

I’ve had clients come to me for help after months of struggling to write copy for their website. Some of them had even been in business for a while, but they struggled to write their copy because they were trying to serve too many people at once. How can you touch, move and inspire someone if you’re trying to touch, move and inspire everyone? You can’t. The content you create will either be confusing or so broad that it’s just not appealing.

When I work with coaches, I take them through a divine ideal client clarification process. At the end of the process, they end up with a divine ideal client profile that is multiple pages long (by the way, if you write about your divine ideal client and find yourself with only one paragraph written, that should inform you that you have a great opportunity to get much more specific).

Clearly, I’m a big fan of niche. I’ve written a lot about it and getting clear on my niche and honing it from entrepreneurs to specifically working with professional coaches has enhanced the outcome I offer my clients. But this conversation isn’t purely about choosing a niche. You can choose to work with executives (a popular niche category!) and still not be clear about your divine ideal client. The nuances of your ideal clients and how you address them are what has you stand out in the crowd and helps you create an undeniable value proposition.

To be clear, I absolutely believe that there is plenty for everyone. When you’re foggy about your ideal client, however, you’ll disappear into the noise and you won’t see the results you want. And it’s easy to point the finger at something else. This is why I often hear from coaches that there are “too many people who do what I do and it’s impossible to have a thriving practice”. I continually find with my clients that this is just not true.

When you’re crystal clear about what you want to give, what your divine ideal client wants and the special space where those two things overlap, your business will have the opportunity to flourish.

With appreciation,

Tara Butler Floch