I hope you’ve had the chance to read through the first part of our Make Your Business Known series – Who Are You. If not, stop right there. You can read the first blog post in our series here.

Okay, now let’s move on to defining your ideal audience. 

A key part of making your business known is understanding who you are talking to. You wouldn’t sell running shoes to a newborn, or wheat bread to someone with a gluten allergy. Knowing your audience matters. It’s crucial.

By going through the process of determining who you serve, you’ll better understand their problems, hopes, fears, and frustrations. This is essential if you want to provide services or products that matter to the people you serve.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “I serve everyone! I don’t want to exclude anyone.” I understand. But the truth is, if you’re trying to serve everyone, you’ll end up serving no one. Even if you serve burritos to anyone with a $10 bill, there’s still a way for you to narrow it down to your ideal customer, so that you know how to serve them better.

So let’s work through how to nail down your target audience. Here’s the process. 

1. Set aside 20-30 minutes right now. Don’t wait until later. Later usually gets swept up with the urgent matters of the day and you’ll forget this. (Shut your office door, put on your headphones, whatever you need to find some quiet space to think.)
2. Think of who your ideal audience is. Be as descriptive and specific as possible. Here are some ideas to get you started:
   • Mom of two young children, 34 years old, lives in a suburb outside of the city
   • Established male business owner, 57 years old, owns an insurance agency
   • Young working female, 24 years old, works in marketing and enjoys travel
3. Write down as many descriptive words or phrases as you can think of. Write down a minimum of 20 descriptors.
   • Pro-tip: Don’t edit right now. If you think it and it sounds like someone who would be a potential customer, write it down. 
4. The next step is to narrow down your list to your top 5. Who are your biggest customers, spenders, clients, etc.? Now take out your highlighter and put a nice fluorescent swipe across the individuals you’ve chosen.
5. Okay, last step. From your highlighted choices select the two audience groups that are most influential to your business. Circle them.
6. Great work. You’re on your way!

Next, we’ll go over the way you speak to your audience. Hint: Speaking to your audience doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the words coming out of your mouth. Make sure to check out the next blog post in our Make Your Business Known series.