Ideal customer? Don’t you just hate that advice?
Duh, someone who buys lots of your work!
Okay. Now what?
What kind of advice is that anyway?
As far as you know none of your customers have anything in common with each other except they are willing to purchase art work on occasion.
What you do know is that you’re doing the right things:
- You enter juried art shows.
- You win awards.
- You have ads in magazines.
- You show at galleries.
Your work sells well.
What you want is your work to sell better
But all anybody says is, “define your ideal customer.” Well, I won’t tell you to do that. In fact, I’ll go as far as to tell you it’s stupid advice.
Why is it stupid advice?
Because as soon as someone says define your ideal customer, off you go into your head making stuff up. You start creating this ideal person that just does not exist.
No matter how much defining you do, this person will never buy your work because they’re not real.
You get bogged down with demographics. Maybe even statistics. And blah, blah, blah.
So how can you make this work for you instead of causing you grief?
Instead of defining and a making up this fake person, think of a real person. Yes, a real living, breathing, honest to goodness person you can talk to on the phone. A person you could grab a cup of coffee with or maybe even a cocktail. (Or better yet, definitely a cocktail.)
Notice what happens when you shift your focus to a real living person? Someone who’s not some statistic on a sheet of paper. Your thinking gets very specific doesn’t it? You also start responding to a real person and not someone you’ve made-up.
Let’s take an example of someone who’s not made-up:
Let’s just say you wanted to sell some work to your best friend. How would you talk to this friend? What words would you use? I bet your approach would be very different than if you were trying to sell your work to your next door neighbor. Or perhaps your sister or mother.
Choosing to speak to a real person instead of the ideal person helps you address the real concerns that are important to that person.
But don’t people tell you what you want to hear
This is somewhat true. You want to ask the questions and then just be quiet and listen. Let the person talk. Eventually you’ll get to the meat of the matter. You’ll find out their concerns. You’ll find out what’s really bothering them. You’ll find out what their objections are and you’ll know what you need to address.
Otherwise you’re just guessing. And most times you’ll guess wrong.
Wouldn’t you rather get it right?
Take a look at Molly’s story. She’s a vocal coach. We wrote three ads to three different people. In two of the ads we addressed what we thought were the problems. In the third ad we spoke to someone to find out her real concerns. Guess which ad got the most response and the most customers?
Change ‘ideal’ to real
So next time someone tells you to define your ideal customer don’t get upset. Think of a real customer instead. Someone you know already buys your work. If it’s someone who buys frequently, that’s the only ‘ideal’ you want to worry about. Otherwise this ideal person only exists in your head.
Make it real to make it easier. Make it real to start selling better.
Action Step:
Identify a real person you can sit down with and find out why they really buy your work. Leave the statistics and demographics on the paper where they belong.
