I am very lucky to have some great Super Confidential Clients. The one and her business partner today gave me some great inspiration in writing these Tips!
Today I was very lucky to be working with some great clients. One of them is today was a high-end Photographer with her Business Partner. I have a great deal of respect for them and they know who they are!
Without giving away any confidentiality of what she had done, she has successfully worked out the most profitable client segment & direction for her business. I can tell you that she is a Photographer and when she came to us, she was “What Direction do I take my Business with my photography?”
In short, I didn’t know the answer to that question, but I knew the process she needed to go through. Basically it was testing out multiple Markets & Types of Photography to see what really stuck and gave her the most results.
And guess what? She found it. She found a VERY PROFITABLE segment and type of photography that she has started picking up lots of clients in (now what that is I am not allowed to tell you x x – Client Confidentiality).
In complete inspiration of what they have achieved, it made me want to give my Awesome Loyal Fans and Readers (you) what they are to help you find the right answers:
1) Consider what you are offering? What product or service are you offering? Is it a service that can be changed easily or is it quite standard? For example – you may be a Mortgage Broker. You are selling the same products as everyone else, BUT you may target a certain physical suburb or type of client as you know they will love it.
2) Test your Service / Product on Different Client Types? With our Photographer Friend, her style of photography doesn’t change at all – but she is offering her services to a very particular need in the market. Basically, they really want what she does in that area and will pay handsomely for it (as she is proving with Sales Results).
3) Be Willing to Experiment and Be Wrong: When we started working with this photographer client, we got them to try lots of things. The reality is that some would stick, some wouldn’t – however it would tell us where the money is. Looks like we nailed it quickly!
4) Be Objective & Change: Don’t get married to ideas. Get married to commercial performance and results. If you know say this client doesn’t like you, but this one does – then go after them! Talking myself, I have always in all honestly never worked well with Tradesmen. I have found them to be price sensitive and not appreciate what I do. However, Business Coaches, Website Developers, IT People and people from the Finance Industry love me – and I love them (so I chase them).
5) Don’t be Constrained by what others of doing: Please be really careful on this one as I have been guilty of this mistake. For probably too long in my business, I was a bit over-obsessed with what my so called “Competitors” were doing. Don’t do that – sure watch them, but you must come up with your own unique ideas and thinking.
6) Come up with Creative New Ideas: Out of the box. Try different things. Expect many to fail, but you will get that one brilliant idea / client that loves you.
7) Start working on it now: Be it you are a startup, or say you have been going for years – if you know you don’t have the right type of “Clients” and it’s driving you nuts, it’s time to change. Keep what you have by all means, but start targeting the new industries / people with perhaps a revised offering and see how you go. You may find that “Gold Mine” in no time.
Overall, it’s really important to make sure you are selling the right thing to the right person. It can be harder for some figuring that out (it was so super hard for me) but getting in there in the end is super rewarding.
Love your work, please drop me a line if I can assist you and thank you!
About the Author:
Edward Zia is a Marketing Mentor, Commentator & Blogger who loves working with Awesome Small Business Owners, speaking at events and giving commentary on challenging views in our society. He is a Certified Practising Marketer (with the Australian Marketing Institute), loves Online Marketing and Video Games (when he gets a chance).
If you like what you have read, Edward Invites you to check out his Premium Online Sales & Marketing Strategies + Ideas Community “The Awesome Marketing Vault by Edward Zia”. It’s full of Profitable, Realistic and Workable Ideas. >> Learn more about it here.
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