Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator and Associate Coach Kiala Givehand David Blaikie (from flickr)

Last month I wrote about the importance of knowing your perfect customer and gathering as many details about them as you possibly can in order to help your business thrive. You can read that post here

At the end of that blog post, I mentioned that even as you try to hone in on who your perfect customer is, it’s important that you don’t narrow in so much that you leave yourself with only a few people who can benefit from your services. So on the one hand, you really want to get clear on who your customers are, and on the other hand, you want to have a broad enough customer base that you can stay in business.

Yes! Many creative entrepreneurs start out casting a wide net in hopes of finding customers and clients, only to realize over time that many of the people following or subscribing aren’t actually their perfect customers. How do you know if someone is not your perfect customer? Well, there are several telltale signs, but let’s look at the two most common:

FREEBIE OVERLOAD — Let’s start with the customer who wants everything for free. These are the people who load up on the freebies you offer, but as soon as you start to charge for your offerings, they unsubscribe from your list, give you a thumbs down on YouTube, or send you emails telling you that they are so disappointed to see that you are no longer giving away your time, expertise, and knowledge.

It’s tough seeing folks unsubscribe, but you have to stay true to your values and your personal goals for your business. This is a hard one for heart-centered entrepreneurs because we really want to be of service to others and we really hate rejection. But we must remember that our perfect customers are the ones who see value in what we offer and are willing to pay us for it, not the ones who only want the freebies. If your list is filled with people in this category, it’s time to start doing some serious work to help you get clear on your ideal customer. Otherwise, you could be spending a good amount of time, energy, and resources on the creation of freebies or products that no one will ever buy.

READY OR NOT? Another way to know that someone is not your perfect customer is when they tell you that they really, really, really want to…take your class, sign up for your program, join your membership community, buy your products, etc…but they can’t because they just don’t have the money right now or they don’t have the time to invest. Those are valid and honest reasons for a lot of people and it simply means they aren’t your perfect customers right now. Maybe they will be down the road, but remember, your perfect customers are the ones that can and will pay you, even if they have to do it in installments or at a later date.

You don’t have to give up on these customers, instead, you should continue to put your energy into giving value to your community and the right people will find their way to you and when they do, they will be ready to work with you!

Creating a profile of your perfect customer is something you should do periodically so that you are always aware of who you want to work with. One part of that work is knowing as much as you can about them, and the other part is knowing which customers are not your customers. If you can figure out both ends of the spectrum, you will be well on your way to creating a thriving business that you love.

When was the last time you revisited your perfect customer portrait?

Kiala Givehand, EdS, MFA, MA is the founder of Giving Hands Creative, Generations Literary Press, and HowToArtJournal.com. She has a unique perspective on what it means to be a multi-passionate business owner. As an empowerment & accountability coach for creative female entrepreneurs, introverts, writers, & artists, Kiala uses her fierce energy to help her clients identify and embrace their gifts so they can empower their lives with passion and intentional success. You can visit her on her Website. Kiala is one of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators and a Right Brain Business Plan Associate Coach.