How to Find Clients Who Pay

One of the most common questions we receive is, “How do I find clients?” Unfortunately for many freelancers, entrepreneurs, and new business owners, this question isn’t quite complete. What you should be asking is, “How do I find clients who will pay me what I’m worth?”

It might be hard to believe, but clients are a dime a dozen. Clients who will pay what you’re worth are far more rare.

What’s an avatar?

To find your ideal clients, we’re going to show you how to create an avatar. This is a fictional, “perfect” client. This will help you identify who to market your services to so that you aren’t just finding any clients; you’re finding the clients who want to pay you.

This isn’t just some superficial picture. If you really want to find and work with your ideal clients, the ones who are going to pay you a premium for your services, you’re going to want to really dig into the details. By the time we’re done, you should have a very clear mental picture of exactly who your ideal client is and what their motivations are.

Finding your client avatar

• Finding your client avatar begins with going back to your initial product and market research. When you decided to offer the specific services that you chose, you probably did some research to make sure you were offering something that people were interested in. Now it’s time to identify who those people are, by answering some of the questions below:
  Where does your ideal client live? What country? In the city, suburbs, or rural area?
• Is your ideal client educated? How much education do they have? Where did they go to school?
• What is their current job title? What profession or industry do they work in?
• What is your ideal client’s income? How much can they afford to spend?

If you’re offering services to businesses, rather than individuals, there are some other questions you should ask as well:

• What industry does your client specialize in? Who do they sell to?
• What is their annual revenue?
• How many employees do they have?
• Are they well-established, or just starting out?

Now that you have the answers to these questions, it’s time to dig a little deeper into their personality. This will help to make sure that you’re working only with clients who mesh well with your own ideals.

• What are your client’s values?
• What are some of their current companies or brands?
• What websites do they spend their time on?
• How do they get their news?
• What social media sites do they prefer?
• What are their goals for their business? Their family? Their personal goals?

Asking and answering these questions will help you really understand who your ideal client is. This is important, because once you understand the answers to these questions, it’s far easier to create content that resonates with them and captures their attention. And, as you know, in the game of getting clients who will pay you, attention is everything.