So you’re getting ready to put your heart and soul out there to the world on your website; connecting with all those potential customers; giving them your unique views, help, information, problem-solving: whatever it is you offer in your existing or dream business. So who exactly are all those potential customers? Who exactly are you speaking to and hoping to connect with?

Right now, we’re just going to drill down on an essential part of your business’ ability to connect with potential customers: what do you have that makes you unique, and how do you provide the answer to your customer’s problem, or need, or desire?

Answer the following questions (remember, it is far more powerful to write, type or audio record your answers, don’t just answer in your head!) and they will help you decide how you want visitors to experience your site. If you get stuck, you may want to read through all the questions below first – as many of them relate to and depend on each other – and then once you have an overview of all the different components, go back and answer the questions.

NOTE: Don’t just give logistical answers, like “my customer wants a new floor” – if you have a floor refinishing business, for example. Always think about your customer as a complete person, not a machine. So a customer that wants a new floor also wants:

• to be able to look at his floor with admiration,
• wants a beautiful shine and color to enjoy,
• wants to have his visitors come over and say, “Wow, your floor looks great!”
• Maybe he wants it to look new and luxurious because he’s putting the house on the market.
• Your customer wants to FEEL beauty and happiness and “ahhhhh” when he looks at his new floor.

Can you feel the emotional difference between these statements vs. “wants a new floor” – get it? Okay, grab you notebook, and let’s get started…

 

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Imagine YOU are a visitor or potential customer coming to your site – and if you don’t have a site yet, you can just pretend (this is just as useful a process)… What are you looking for?

What are your problems or desires?

 

What do you want to know?

 

What would be interesting to you?

 

What would help you?

 

 

Next (you can switch back to being you again), answer these 5 key questions to help you really nail down and define what your business is about and what you can offer people.

1. Which problem(s) do you solve for people?
2. What need do you meet or supply? Which desires do you fulfill?
3. What is your story?

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Remember, your story is your compelling sales tool. People don’t 
buy facts or data, they buy benefits (as per the two questions above) and they buy because they believe in you and trust you. Your story – make it as sincere and transparent as you can – will help accomplish that.

Who are you?

How did you get to where you are?

What journey did you walk?

How did you rise like the phoenix from the ashes?

How did you turn your frustration, or sadness, or pain into something that makes the world be er (and now you are o ering that to others)?

And why now?

If you’ve already worked through “How Do I Tell My Story?” then you can look back on your answers, and then use the bullet point questions above to summarize your story again here. And if you haven’t, click on the link above to learn more in-depth story stuff.

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4. How are you least like the competition? (If you don’t know who/what your competition is, then take the time now to research that and then come back here.) How does your thing differ from their thing?
5. Take a few moments now to think about and define your ideal site visitor or customer, i.e. WHO are you solving the problem for?
6. Look at your answer for point #5 above – the person you defined as your customer – these are the people that will form your community, your tribe. Would you like to go away on a retreat with these people for 2 days? If the thought of that fills you with excitement and eagerness, you’re on track. Write your answer and thoughts here:

NOTE: If the answer is no, then you may want to re-examine your positioning!  How can you expect to build a relationship and have long-term success with people you don’t even want to spend a weekend with? Perhaps you are targeting the wrong person, or presenting yourself in the wrong way, or perhaps you have chosen the wrong business. Take the time now to re-evaluate and adjust as necessary. Or to gain some more clarity, check out this great audio on WHO your ideal customer is, and then come back here.

 

7. Now that you have a better idea of who your ideal customer is, write down who your customer is NOT (i.e. do you NOT appeal to adults or children, women or men, Christians or Buddhists, etc.):

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Is this starting to be fun, or at least interesting? If you’re still with me and this process, move on to “How Do I Figure Out Who My Customer Is?” to get deeper into the details of this crucial business planning step.

It’s absolutely crucial that you have a clear concept of WHO your site visitor is. Who is your ideal customer or reader? If your answer to that question is, “Well, everyone!” then you haven’t spent the time really thinking about the kind of person who will be attracted to your stuff, or who will need your help, knowledge, etc.

I also want to point out that you will need to re-visit this process – or at least do this great audio exercise –  for every single new product or service you offer. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that ALL of your products will appeal to the same customer! Some of your services may be for beginners, and others for people at more advanced levels; or you may have products that appeal to people with widely differing problems.

At this point, I’m going to walk you through this process of who is, and is NOT your customer, for your overall business and website. But remember to come back here again when it’s time to niche down and focus on your individual products or service offerings.

Let’s really explore this process by using an example: Let’s say you know everything there is to know about garden sheds and you want to feature 5 of the best models you’ve found on your site. You plan on generating money from affiliate links (these are commission-based referral links), plus an instruction kit on how to build your own super-amazing garden shed (which you will sell as an ebook with diagrams, lists, workbook, etc.). You may start off thinking that pretty much anyone could be your customer…

But let’s narrow it down. Let’s start by listing who is NOT your customer:

• Kids
• Apartment dwellers
• Condo dwellers
• People who hate gardening
• People who are never home and hire someone else to look after their yard
• People who are renting – *unless your sheds are movable, ah, you need to make this clear, don’t you? Make a note to yourself to include this in your site copy and product descriptions

Now let’s talk about who IS your customer. You might think that your customer is someone who can “afford” a garden shed. But research has shown that people don’t buy what they can afford, they buy what they WANT, or think they need.

I remember a guy who owned a deluxe garden shed company telling stories about his customers who lived in trailers or mobile homes, and they had not one, but TWO of his super deluxe, super expensive garden sheds – that was their priority, it was what they wanted. Because…that’s right, people buy what they want! So don’t even worry about affordability right now. Just assume that your customer will buy if you have what they want and if they have confidence and trust in you.

So your customer could be:

• Someone who has a garden and at least mows the lawn
• Someone who has a hobby that requires a shed to store stuff – okay, so here we go, your customer doesn’t need to use your shed for gardening right? So now you need to brainstorm other uses for your sheds; playhouses? Art studios? Tool sheds? Workshops? If you come up with other excellent uses for your sheds, don’t dilute your homepage or take away from your site’s main focus (that will just confuse your visitor), but you could do a blog post about each type of usage and have pictures of the sheds that would work best for that application. That way you will get additional Internet traffic coming to your blog, that you would otherwise miss because they’re not looking for a garden shed, they’re looking for a tool shed!
• Someone who hires someone else to care for their garden, but has all their own stuff they want used in their garden.
• Someone who used to be too busy to garden, but is now retiring and ready for a great hobby.
• Someone who’s read about how ‘earthing’ and getting your hands in soil is good for your health.
• Moms and Dads who want to cut their grocery budget and grow their own food – lots of resources you could offer these visitors!
• Someone looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift
• Someone looking for the perfect gift for their retired parents

Where Does Your Customer Live?

Spend some time thinking about where in the world your customer might live – which countries, regions, climates, language, culture, etc.? Start to build a picture of that target group and the specific environments they live in.

Is your product or service only applicable to your local market? Or do you appeal to people in other states, countries, or continents?

If you realize you have a much bigger market than you originally thought, then it will be worth your while to research shipping to other countries.

Let’s stop there for now. But do you see why it’s so important to really explore who your customer is and get all this info down in writing?

Remember the lesson we learned about the garden sheds: People don’t necessarily buy what they can afford; they buy what they want.

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Spend some time thinking about where in the world your customer might live – which countries, regions, climates, language, culture, etc.? Start to build a picture of that target group and the specific environments they live in.

Is your product or service only applicable to your local market? Or do you appeal to people in other States, Countries, or Continents?

Define your ideal site visitor or customer, i.e. WHO are you solving the problem for? Focus on their wants or desires, their feelings, not their needs:

 

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