The simple way to find customers who love what you sell

Imagine you love to make the most delicious homemade cookies. The kind your grandma used to make. 

You give them away to family and friends to rave reviews. 

So you decide to turn it into a side hustle.

You take professional photos, start posting them on social media. 

Surely this will take off. They’re cookies… everyone likes cookies, right?

Maybe…but it's far more complicated than that. 

Knowing EXACTLY who you’re targeting is the single most important step in marketing.

You can have the catchiest hook. The most insightful content. The most persuasive pitch.

None of it matters if you don’t know who you’re talking to.

When I ask business owners who their target audience is, I usually hear:

No. Sorry. Wrong. 

Say it after me: if you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll appeal to no-one. 

Trying to sell to everyone forces you to make your marketing broad. And when your marketing is broad, you lose the specifics.

If we didn’t, we’d all drive the same cars, use the same phones, and eat the same food. 

We all have specific needs and tastes. We buy products that reflect that. 

If we go back to the cookie business: not everyone wants the same kinds of cookies. That’s why supermarket shelves are filled with a variety, like:

• Low-sugar cookies (for people watching their diet).
• Cheap, bulk cookies (for families).
• Luxury cookies from the bakery (for people who want quality).

Your job isn’t to make something bland for everyone, as you simply won’t win. 

Your goal is to make something AMAZING for a few people. 

But how do you go about figuring out who your target audience is? 

Most people act like their customers are assigned by fate.

Here’s a real conversation I recently had with a hairdresser:

Him: “I think my target audience are 20-somethings looking for a cheap but good quality haircut”

Me: “Do you want them as your target audience?”

Him: “Not really, but they’re the ones who keep coming in.”

Me: “Who do you want to be your target customer?”

Him: “40-something professionals. They can afford nicer treatments.”

Me: “So why don’t you target them? Raise your prices and get some testimonials from people in that demographic”

Silence. 

Don’t settle for an audience you don’t want to serve - allow yourself to CHOOSE who you want your customers to be and take action to entice them to your business. 

Most people never get past Step 1. They keep guessing who their audience is instead of deciding.

If you already have customers, the data is right in front of you. 

Let’s say you already have a steady stream of customers. There’s probably at least some variations between them: age, job title, finance, gender etc. 

You might wonder, “well, who is my target customer now?”

Even with a large pool of customers, you will likely have some that were:

• Easy to persuade into using your product/service
• Enjoyable to work with
• Got results from your offering 
• Happy to pay without any fuss or negotiations

 These are your effortless customers. They should be your north star when figuring out who to target. 

Why? Because they made your job easier. They didn’t require much persuasion AND they were willing to put in the work. 

That isn’t to say there’s no effort involved in getting them - but perhaps it was easier because they truly understood your offering…or maybe you simply enjoyed spending time with them.

Remember: the customers you choose to serve are the customers you will be spending the most time with. 

Don’t bother wasting time trying to attract people you wouldn’t want to hang out with outside of work (that’s a recipe for burnout).

 

Even if you sell a product instead of a service, low value / high effort customers can cause such a headache with refunds and complaints. 

Business, like everything in life, doesn’t need to feel like pushing a boulder uphill - look for the customers that require less effort to acquire, figure out why that is, and target people just like them. 

It can be scary to get specific with who your target customers are - but I promise you, it will do wonders for your marketing (and your bottom line).