As an online marketing coach, other entrepreneurs often ask me for advice on what to write for their blog, their Facebook page, their email list.

I could give a generic answer, but I like to be as helpful as possible. So before I answer their question, I ask one of my own: “What will your prospective clients find interesting / funny / useful?”

This is where the conversation tanks. 

You see, we spend so much time running our business that we often forget to walk in the shoes of the people we’re looking to serve. 

So in order to bust your writer’s block, you first have to ask: who do you want to work with, and what would they find interesting?

 

Who do you want to work with?

A few weeks ago, I started a new online training program called the Audience Business Masterclass with Danny Iny, the founder of Firepole Marketing.

The very first homework assignment was to answer the following questions:

Who do you want to serve? Who is the person (or group of people) that you will enjoy working with for the months and years to come? Who needs you the most, and will be the most receptive to what you’re looking to offer?

The whole point of these questions is to get you thinking about the kind of people you want to serve. What are they like?  What’s their background, their interests, their personality? What might they find funny, or interesting? What don’t they know that they should know about what you can do for them?

I’m not suggesting that you go all creepy-stalker and track down every detail of their lives. But knowing some basic info about who they are, and what they want, will go a long way towards building an awesome business and giving you some direction about what to blog about or post on Facebook.

 

What would they find interesting?

In order to answer this question, I’d like you to take 5 minutes to jot down some details about your ideal clients.

Grab a pen or open a new Word doc on your computer and start listing anything and everything you know about your perfect client.

If you’re struggling for inspiration, think about your favorite clients or customers. What did they have in common? Was it an attitude, a mindset, a certain place in their lives or business?

It might also be helpful to think about your least favorite clients.  If they shared a trait or traits in common, that’s a clear indication of the kind of people that you do not want to serve.

Then, you make some educated guesses about what your ideal client might find most interesting in a blog post, a Facebook update, or an email.

 

Who I Serve

Now that you’ve written down your answers, it’s only fair that I do the same.  Hopefully, most of what I’ve written will be no surprise to my long-time readers (fingers crossed).

My favorite clients to work with are entrepreneurs who have started their business, built a website, and they’ve finally realized that just having a website is not going to make their business a success.  So now they want to use the web, and social media, and all that jazz to get clients and grow their business.  The only problem is, there are so many options out there (website, blog, email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) that they have no idea where to start.

They have no formal marketing or business training, but are stepping outside the box to build the kind of life they’ve been dreaming about.  Their business is mostly online, usually a coaching service or training program of some kind.

They have no employees and are willing to learn what they need to know, but they’re not interested in a bunch of marketing theory.  They’re interested in getting clients.

They’re organized, action-oriented, and willing to spend both time and money on learning, implementing, and refining. They’re goal-oriented, which means they know what they want and go after it.

It’s ok if those goals are general in regards to online marketing: the whole point of working with me is that I’ll show them what’s possible, and point them towards several possible goals.

 

Your Turn

Take a second look at your brainstormed list of ideal client traits.  I highly recommend taking 10 or 15 minutes to write up your list in paragraph form, like I did above.

The act of writing will help you organize your list into something that’s easier to read at a glance. That way, the next time you’re stuck with a “what should I write about?” question, all you have to do is re-read your ideal client paragraph, and allow inspiration to strike. 🙂

Feel free to post your paragraph in the comments below, or email me if you’d like some personalized feedback.

~ Felicity

 photo credit: Tintin44 – Sylvain Masson via photopin cc

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