I love this question because there’s really a question within a question here. Sure on the surface the question is how to attract the “ideal client” but the question that’s really being asked is “how do I generate the leads that are the best fit with my services?” Let’s be real, anyone can generate leads, but this is about generating quality leads. 

So I want to break the answer to this question down into three parts, and a lot of this comes down to your messaging. 

So there's three things here that I want to share with you that you should be considering as you're developing your external messaging in your business, because these are the things that are going to influence the quality of your leads. 

Part 1 - Service Based versus Value Based Messaging

In your messaging, you should be focused on sharing the value versus the service. Meaning you need to start by sharing the value of your service rather than the logistics of it. Let me share an example of value versus service based messaging when it comes to a webinar.

Service Based → “Come to my webinar: [INSERT WEBINAR TITLE]. It will be at 3pm EST on Sunday. You can access it via Zoom”

This shares absolutely nothing about what the webinar is about aside from the title. Why should anyone attend? Bare bones may seem efficient but when you’re trying to engage and audience and find the right clients, this is not going to work. 

Value Based → “Come to my webinar where I’ll share with you top tips on how to do [INSERT YOUR SERVICE/TOPIC HERE]. For more information, click the link in my bio!” 

See the difference? The value based messaging focuses on the value and transformation that people can expect when they attend the webinar and engage with you and your services. By clarifying the value of the webinar, you’re able to share with your audience who exactly this webinar is for and you can attract your ideal client through that messaging. 

Part 2 - Vantage Point versus Vision Point

I am borrowing this language from my wonderful coaches because I think this is the perfect way to explain it. When it comes to value based messaging, you want to be able to share how you can not only help with the problem (vision point) but also share with them the possibilities (vantage point) of what can happen when they work with you. 

You can also think of it like this: A client’s vision point is everything they can see right in front of them, which is usually the problem and any immediate/short term solutions. A client’s vantage point is the big picture resolution that they could achieve while and after working with you. 

I’ll give you an example. In my own business is for Get LaunchED Consulting™️, you'll notice that we don’t use the language of “starting a consulting business” we actually say instead that we help educators “grow a six figure education consulting business”, because I'm thinking about the vantage point, not the vision point. My messaging is more aspirational and logistical so that I can share the reality of expansion for those who work with me and my team. The goal is to widen their lens of the possibilities of what could be true and what they could become because that is what’s going to connect emotionally to your target client.

Part 3 - Speak Their Language

To attract the right client for your services, you have to speak their language, which circles back to market research. Y’all, I cannot stress enough how important market research is. Seriously. And before you start getting intimated, stop. As an educator, you have done market research. It just wasn’t called that, but all the time you spent with your kids, seeking their opinions, building relationships with them and their families? Yep, that’s market research. 

When I was a high school math teacher, I taught geometry and because there’s such a stigma around high school math, I knew I had to hook my kids within the first five minutes. And if I ain't hook them in the first five minutes, it was going to be downhill from there. So when we did transformations in geometry, which is how different shapes can slide on an X, Y coordinate, I opened up with Chris Brown's ‘Let Me Transform You’. Mhm. I sure did. I'm like, "So this is our lesson for the day. Let's first get into this song.” I also played Ohio State halftime show because marching bands are transformations that are happening on a field. And I had them. 

I only knew that that strategy would work because I had talked to my kids, and worked with my kids and worked with other kids like my kids. That was my market research in the classroom. 

Another thing to mention about using the language of your target client is to literally use their language. Any terms and words they use, you need to know about and know how to use. Conversely, any terms that you may use in a business sense that your clients would never use are something you need to leave out of your messaging. You can use it internally,but when you’re trying to connect to your audience, you’ve got to speak to them with a language they understand, and it’s not entirely unlike codeswitching (depending on your target client).

For example, and not to pick on my DEI folks, but I see this disconnect happen often because their  messaging doesn’t include the words that their target client uses. Their target client may not use the word “ally” or “co-conspirator”. Just because you say it doesn’t mean that they do. If your target client doesn’t use those words, take them out of your messaging, because you’re actually alienating your target client by leaving those words in.

I hope this overview of the three parts of messaging was helpful because when it comes to finding your target client, your messaging is key! 

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