How to get to know your dream client before anyone has hired you
When I started my business, I spent the first few months feeling stuck. Maybe you can relate.
I knew gathering client insights was the key to an effective message and marketing strategy – after all, that’s what makes my own interview-inspired website copywriting process so powerful and exactly why my clients rave about working with me.
But the problem was, I didn’t have any clients yet. And because of that, I had no client insights and no clue how to connect with the people I was trying to reach.
I was guessing my way through my own copywriting and marketing, because I didn’t have any real information about who my dream client was or what they wanted.
I had to assume a lot – and not surprisingly, my assumptions didn’t attract the clients I wanted.
Here’s what I wish someone had told me sooner: getting to know your dream client doesn’t have to be all or nothing, especially at the beginning.
Even if you can’t talk to real clients yet, there are still plenty of ways to research your market, learn what really matters to the people you want to work with, and develop a brand message that makes them feel genuinely excited to hire you.
Whether you’re just starting out in your business, or you’re transitioning to serve a brand new niche, I’m sharing three ways you can get to know your dream client right now – so you can start actually booking clients and building the business you want now, not a year from now.
1. Use what you’ve got
Do you remember how you felt the first time a random stranger filled out your inquiry form?
I do.
Checking my email that morning was like winning the lottery; in all of the internet, someone had found my website and actually wanted to hire me!
Of course, not all of those early inquiries panned out. Maybe their budget or timeline was tighter than what I could accommodate, or they were looking for blog posts even though I specialized in website copy.
At the time, it was easy to see each one of those dead ends as a failure. But if that's where your head is at now, then keep reading – because that couldn't be further from the truth.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that each of these interactions were actually huge opportunities.
Because the thing is, every time you receive a message in your contact form, or take notes during a sales call, or exchange emails with a prospective client, you’re building a library of information about your dream client. And just like a local library, this is one of the most cost-effective ways to get the info you want.
You can use that information to learn why your potential clients are reaching out, what they’re struggling with, what results they want in their life or business, and how they describe all of this in their own words.
This part is key, because when a dream client lands on your website and hears you saying what they’ve been thinking, right down to the words they use, they’re going to feel seen, heard, and excited to hire you.
So, even if your early inquiries end up not being the perfect fit for your services, you can still embrace those opportunities to figure out how their pain points, desires, and fears might align with those of your dream client.
Then, you can use what you’ve learned to develop and refine your message – so that when the right person lands on your website or comes into contact with your marketing, they’ll know you’re the perfect solution for them and be excited to hire you!
2. Ask your audience
Are you trying to solve a problem your audience doesn’t actually have?
This happens more often than you might think when it comes to marketing your business.
We might think we know why our dream client wants our help – but without any market research, it’s hard to know if that’s really true.
The good news is, there’s a super simple solution to this one: just ask.
Send an email to your subscribers or poll your audience on social media to find out what they really care about. Or ask them to hop on a quick 15-minute call in exchange for a mini service you offer or a $5 Starbucks gift card (you may be surprised how willing people are to help you out!)
This could be as simple as starting with a single question: “What are your biggest struggles when it comes to [insert your service or deliverable]?”
For example, when I’m looking to learn more about my potential Brand Message Consulting clients, I might ask, “What are your biggest struggles when it comes to writing copy for your business?”
Many of these business owners bring up challenges like…
feeling like a bad writer, which keeps them from showing up consistently
struggling to stand out in a crowded market where everyone sounds the same
worrying their content sounds too “salesy”
not knowing how to communicate clearly and concisely about their business
doing all the marketing tasks, but still not getting the leads and clients they want
When I listen to what my audience is saying, I can look for words and themes that show up repeatedly in their answers, and I could even follow up with specific people to ask more questions and go deeper.
You may find that your audience’s responses confirm what you’d already assumed, or maybe they’ll reveal a pain point you never thought about before.
Either way, it’s pretty amazing what you can learn when you take the time to ask.
3. Go where your dream clients are
Let’s be honest: we’ve all used social media to spy on a crush or an ex.
But what about using that same strategy for your dream clients? (Just not in a creepy way.)
What I mean is this: figure out where the kind of people you want to work with are hanging out, and go there.
Join Facebook groups where they might be active, and search for keywords related to your services to find out what they need and how they’re talking about it. Or tune into threads on Reddit, Quora, and other forums and do the same.
Search Amazon reviews for products related to the problem you solve – I learned this one from one of Copyhackers’ Tutorial Tuesdays. Simply type this phrase into Google (and fill in your keyword): site:amazon.com inurl:"product-reviews" "tired of" “your keyword”
For example, a health coach might type: site:amazon.com inurl:"product-reviews" "tired of" “diet” – and that search could bring up thousands of Amazon reviews and give them a peek into their dream client’s biggest pain points around nutrition and weight loss.
And finally, immerse yourself in the content your audience consumes. Read the blogs and books they read, listen to the podcasts they listen to, follow their favorite accounts on social media, and tune into the YouTube channels they watch.
Even if you’re thinking you don’t have time for all that, I encourage you to start somewhere. Subscribe to one relevant podcast and listen to it on your morning runs. Or dedicate half an hour to reading through Facebook group discussions or Amazon reviews and see what you learn.
That way, when you go to write about your business – or dive into Brand Message Consulting with me – you’ll have a working idea of what your dream clients care about, so we can spend less time guessing and more time creating and implementing your strategic message.
The more you can put yourself in your dream client’s shoes and understand what matters to them, the more effective your marketing will be.
Getting to know your dream client
I get it – when you’re getting a new business or niche off the ground, trying to write copy that resonates with your dream client can feel awkward and just about impossible.
You may feel like you have nothing to say and that no one really cares what you’re selling.
But the more you know about who this person is, what they’re struggling with, and how they want you to help them, the better equipped you’ll be to create a message that makes them feel seen, heard, and excited to hire you.
Of course, it’s always a good idea to directly ask your clients about their struggles and the results they’ve achieved through working with you.
That’s why every time I start a website copywriting or Brand Message Consulting partnership with a new client, I dedicate a full week to interviewing their past and current clients, so I can hear about their experience and turn their real words into clear, strategic copy that sells.
After working with me on this, one of my clients even had a website reader reach out to her to say “I felt like you were speaking directly to me!”
But you don’t have to wait until you have clients to get clarity on how to connect with your readers. Right now, you can start learning how to speak their language so that you can generate those dream inquiries and fill your calendar with work you love.
And the best way to fast-track this process and get you writing copy that converts with ease? My Brand Message Consulting partnership, where you get access to all my messaging strategy and experience delivering results for my clients, at a fraction of the investment for a full website copywriting project.
Ready to create a brand message that converts that first or next dream client?
I know exactly how frustrating it is to feel stuck in your marketing early on in your business – like you don’t know who you’re talking to, what to say to them, or how to turn that into actually making money online.
Like me a few years ago, you may find yourself wondering why nothing’s working, and worrying you’ll never be able to break into the kind of work that lights you up.
I get it. But I’ve also seen how developing a clear, consistent brand message can completely change the game.
If you’re ready to shift into a place of clarity and confidence in your message so you can book the dream clients you want (even if that's literally never happened before), I’m here to help.
Through a Brand Message Consulting partnership, we’ll uncover your voice and develop your one-of-a-kind brand messaging guide – which includes an easy-to-reference ideal client profile – so you can write copy that sounds like you, speaks to your dream clients, and gets you the leads and clients you’ve been dreaming about.
Contact me today so you can start attracting those dream clients and growing your business – with less guesswork and confusion, and a lot more ease.