5 Ways to Identify Your Ideal Client

Growing a successful business starts with having a solid foundation that includes an ideal client base.

Imagine this: you have a social media or Instagram business account with 15K followers. That sounds like an amazing potential client base, right? Well, not so fast. If only a fraction of your followers are your ideal clients, then there may not be much business value in all of those numbers, besides looking good.

Those follower numbers may actually give you a false sense of security and business growth. The numbers may not really mean you have a solid foundation of ideal clients. The numbers may not mean these people have any emotional

And guess what? You WANT ideal clients.

You want to work with ideal clients.

After all, they are the people who are going to support you and your brand. They are the people who are going to buy from you. They are the ones who are truly inspired by what you do.

So, how exactly do you identify your ideal client? And who are your ideal customers?

For example, as a yoga teacher, what does your ideal customer look like? Is it a student? A student drawn to a particular yoga niche or practice area?

Let’s take a closer look at finding your ideal clients, so you can create a rock solid business foundation and build a wildly successful business. Like your yoga business.

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Who is Your Ideal Client?

Who exactly is your ideal client? And how do you identify your ideal client?

In order to create a solid business foundation and grow your business, you have to have a sense of your market.

This includes being able to describe your ideal client. After all, how can you possibly market your business — or buy Instagram, Facebook, or Google ads — if you don’t know who will be interested in your business or services?

For example, if you are running a yoga class for college students, what does your ideal customer look like?

You’d probably describe this ideal customer as a college student! So, your ideal client might look like someone of college age and someone dealing with college related issues or concerns that would make them interested in yoga.

For example, your ideal clients might be college students seeking better health and fitness. College students seeking stress reduction. College students seeking a better mindset or trying to work through problems, like break-ups, or heal from childhood trauma, or boost self-confidence.

Knowing your ideal client for your class, can then help you better target your marketing efforts. For example, you might then advertise to these ideal yoga students in your local college or university community, such as in student newspapers or campus area event listings, or network with college counselors who work with struggling or stressed out students (so they are aware of your special niche).

Learning who are your ideal customers and how to identify your ideal customer is essential to growing your business and maximizing your marketing budget. After all, you don’t want to waste your money advertising to people who don’t care about your products or services.

Ways To Identify Your Ideal Client

So, how specifically do you go about identifying your ideal clients?

Here are 5 Ways:

1. Ideal Client Assessment + Inventory

To find your ideal client, student, or customer, you’ll want to try to describe your ideal person or describe your ideal client group. Specifically, ask yourself what qualities do my ideal clients have? What do they all have in common?

For example, my ideal clients are clients who are highly motivated for self-growth. They are dreamers who want to build businesses. They are courageous doers, although sometimes they feel stuck or are riddled with imposter syndrome. And that’s where I come in… to help them get UNSTUCK.

2. Be Honest with Yourself (Don’t just think About $)

When you think about working with someone, what makes you most excited? What makes you cringe thinking about? Like what are customer turn-offs?

Don’t just think money. Don’t just think any student will do. Be honest with yourself and think about what clients you want to work with on a daily basis.

3. Ask Tough Questions

To find or define your ideal clients, you have to begin by asking important questions. Sometimes critical and tough questions.

How to Identify Your Ideal Customer–or Client, Yoga Student:

• What type of person do I like spending time with, specifically, what qualities do I like or most value in a person?
• What type of person stresses me out or weighs me down, specifically what qualities in a person stresses me out or makes me uncomfortable?
• Are there certain personalities that you find abrasive or hard to work with?
• What type of energy do I need my client to have? (if you are an empath or highly sensitive person, your client’s energy can potentially have a big impact on you).
• What values or mindset do you most value in your clients?
• What types of habits do they share?
• Where are your ideal clients located?
• What do you ideal clients’ personalities look like?
• What about their likes and dislikes?
• Do you prefer to work with people who share similar backgrounds — or people who have vastly different life backgrounds or life experiences?

4. Think About Your Prospective Clients’ Needs and Interests

• What problem do your clients need help solving (e.g., more movement, flexibility, anxiety-relief, etc.)
• What type of services or products are they looking for (e.g., intense yoga classes, like vinyasa flow or gentle, restorative classes)
• Why you? Why should your ideal client work with you?
• What is it that you specifically offer your ideal client?

Pro Tip: If you need help figuring out what problem your prospective yoga clients need help solving, do some independent research. Use Google searches to find out what your prospective clients and students are searching for on the Internet. For example, use Google trends or go to AnswerthePublic. Learn what questions people are asking and what topics they are following. Also, go to Instagram or Twitter and see what’s trending or what topics are popular related to your business area. You can also look at Pinterest trends.

5. Consider Any Relevant Demographics To Your Yoga Business Niche:

• Location
• Age
• Gender
• Education
• Employment
• Income

Your Current Clients May Not Be Your Ideal Clients

A word of caution.

There’s no easy way around this, but keep in mind that sometimes your current clients are not your ideal clients. For example, a private yoga student who blurs the boundaries of professional/personal life, by calling you or texting you incessantly, despite your clear communication against it, might not be an ideal student. At some point you may choose to let them go or sever the relationship.

Sure, letting go of clients may seem tough, especially if you are struggling financially or aren’t yet hitting your financial goals. However, sometimes freeing yourself of less-than-ideal clients can free you up, emotionally, physically, and energetically, so you have time to focus on finding your ideal clients.

READ MORE: How to Build a Sustainable, 6-Figure Yoga Biz

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Share your perspective. What advice can you offer to new yoga teachers or yoga business owners on how to find ideal clients? What would you put on a How to find my ideal customer list?