The great thing with creating your own business, you have the freedom to create your dream clientele. When starting out, I was so happy to work with anyone that I put up with the feeling of discontent when I did shoots for clients who “liked my style, but wanted it more like so-and-so’s.” I was so eager to please but I really didn’t want to have to bend my own vision to please others (although my job is obviously about the client being happy). If I then shared this work, I would continue to attract these same sorts of clients. I decided to change tactics and look at attracting clients who not only respected my vision, but who trusted my process. Happy client, happy photographer!

Who is your ideal client? 

So how do we go about building trust with our clients that attracts those like-minded souls and gives you that buzz and excitement for every shoot? We all dream of having perfect clients who love what we do and recommend us to their friends. These people do exist; we just have to attract them! First of all, we need to figure out – who is my ideal client? I suggest imagining your perfect client as one person. Let’s say, for example, you’re a family portrait photographer. You might hone in on a wife who is in search of a photographer to create some new beautiful imagery of her family. You can come up with a whole backstory – who she is, her likes, her age, what her life is like. Once you’ve done this, it will be so much easier to create content that’s clear in its voice, directed to your ideal client. 

Questions about your ideal client

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself in order to figure out who your ideal client is:

• What gender does my ideal client have?
• How old is my ideal client?
• Where do they love?
• What do they do for work and how much do they make?
• What are their interests/hobbies/values?
• Are they single or have a family?
• Where are they located (if location is not important, you can specify if they live in a city, suburb or country side)?
• Where do they hang out online and in person?
• What are their dreams and goals?
• What are they struggling with?
• What keeps them up at night?

After you have answered these questions, name your ideal client and write a text about them.

Example from one of my past coaching clients:

“My ideal client is Daisy. She is 34 years old, lives in New Jersey and loves nothing more than spending the weekend outside with her energetic young family of 5, plus Hugo the dog. They are a sporty and fun-loving family. Daisy runs her own local flower business and loves getting involved with her local female small business groups, who meet up for coffee and support each other.  

She likes to shop in local independent fashion stores and support sustainable companies. Her friends would describe both her and her husband as kind and light-hearted. She likes to keep fit and attends local yoga classes. She is always looking to improve her social media platforms for her business and come up with quirky ways to brand it. 

Her biggest fear is that something will happen to her kids and that makes her want to cherish every moment with them.

This description could go on, but you get the idea. Of course you can have more than one ideal client, so you could do this multiple times. The idea should be though, that you are whittling down to create your ideal clients, so as to create a template for perfecting the voice and imagery that you are posting. 

So now we can start looking at our business. Does your brand reflect this type of client? Does the content you post and the imagery of your work speak to them? Show them what they love and they’ll start coming to you! 

Here are a few of my tips:

1. Visual Consistency
   Make sure you’re only showing your best work. Your social media and website must be consistent; your voice and style must be clear. Portray the images that demonstrate the feelings you want your clients to feel. If you’re a family photographer for example, this may be love, happiness, nostalgia, and silliness. For instance, if you want to take relaxed natural portraits, don’t have any super posed, camera-aware images on your site.
2. Attract only your ideal client
   Having a clear voice to go along with the imagery is just as important. The wording you choose can tell your clients what you do and you don’t do. For example, you could say, “if you don’t want to say cheese in your family photographs, then you’ve come to the right place.” You also want to make sure that you speak to the right age group (and other specifics related to your ideal client) and work with their pain points. For Daisy, that would be talking about how quick kids grow up and how booking a professional family shoot would help keep the memories of them alive when they get older.
3. Let them know what to expect
   From inquiry to booking to shoot, smooth flow throughout the process is what you want to achieve. You should have an info page on your site which clearly and quickly demonstrates what it is like to work with you. Reassure your clients regularly throughout the process what the experience will be.
4. Give advice
   Is there some beneficial advice you could give to your dream clients through a blog and social media post? Maybe it’s advice on what to wear to a shoot, or what props they could bring. Create a client guide for them to enhance their experience.

I hope you found this helpful! If you’d like to work with me to hone in on your ideal client, check out my business coaching sessions here.