How to listen to your ideal client

My Spring work desk

I'm in the middle of working on a client's website, right at the part of the process where I'm pouring over every testimonial - and this coach has a lot of glowing testimonials! But, like most entrepreneurs, not every testimonial on her list is from an 'ideal client.' All of these clients loved working with this coach, and got a lot out of the experience, but not all of them fit into the parameters of the people this coach is currently trying to serve.

As the copywriter, my job is to sift through these comments and find the gold - the lines and words that resonate with her ideal clients.

The challenge is - I'm not her ideal client either.

Sometimes I am the ideal client - I fall into the parameters perfectly, or near enough. And that's when my job is easy. I just write for myself (and, as sometimes happens, I end up selling myself on my client's services so well we end up working together!).

But, often, I'm not. And that's okay too.

You don't have to be the ideal client to recognize one.

What I'm doing now with these testimonials, is sifting through them with the coach's direction - she's telling me who does, and does not, fall into her current ideal client parameters - and I'm highlighting key phrases and words that keep appearing again and again.

These repeated phrases, words, and sometimes even stories, reveal the biggest problems that drive this coach's clients to work with her, and the biggest benefits they receive from working with her. I use them to create the "Biggest Baddest Benefits" list that is the foundation of my conversion-copy.

But, because this coach is in a period of transition in her business, she doesn't have as many testimonials as I would like from *just* her ideal clients. Otherwise, I would only look at those ideal-client words to tell me what impacts those people most about working with her.

So I'm taking another look at the rest of the testimonials to glean some more benefits, but I have to gut-check every single one.

If my gut says "yes, this sounds amazing, I want to work with her," I have to second-guess it. Because - I'm not her ideal client! If it sounds right for me, the word or phrase or story may not be right for her copy.

Usually, when we say "check your gut" or "go with your instincts," we mean go in the direction that feels right. And, usually, that's excellent advice. But when you're writing for someone who is not you, and who is not like you in significant ways, you can also 'gut-check' -- so you know what may not work.

Note: I don't know if I would recommend this for beginners. I've honed my 'ear' for ideal client language for a decade. But, it is important to note whether you are, or aren't, your own ideal client.

Here's the fun thing - a lot of coaches are actually their own ideal clients. I'm working with another coach right now who's "about me" page could as well be her "about my ideal client" page, because she's been in those exact trenches and come out the other side!

The point is to be aware of who you are, who your ideal client is, and who your ideal client is not.