Have you ever tried to find something when you did not know much about what you were looking for? Imagine looking for a missing person when you have no name or address, do not even know if they are male or female, have no description whatsoever, yet you have been given the job of finding them!

What Next?

What would you do next? Most likely, you would start asking questions to get a description of this missing person. Then you might look for people who know them and ask more questions. You would put together some kind of profile until you had as much information as you needed. Then you would try to find an identity for this person and go out to look for them.

In “real life” we have the common sense to go about finding a missing person using some organized steps or game plan, like those I have just described. Then why is it we do not apply the same “common sense” when we start up a business and are trying to find our “missing clients?!” Quite often we have no “suspect profile” and no plan of action. We carry out “random acts of marketing” and wonder why we do not find clients this way!

Defining

Defining the scope of our business will help us to get a clear picture of who we help, what we do for them and how we do it, just as “defining” or profiling the missing person could better help us find them. Then we can tell others about our business in a way that is clear to them, just as a clear description could help others point us to our missing person.

Having failed with many start-ups previously, my turning point came when I was able to define my business in this way. I stopped struggling with my marketing, stopped aiming my message at everyone, and knew exactly who I was looking to help and what they wanted from me. I was then able to customize my own proven solution so that I stood out in my niche as a solution provider. This way, I began to attract clients instead of chasing after them.

Growing

To grow your business and get clients quickly, the first thing you must do with your marketing is to stop targeting everyone as a potential client and everything as a possible problem to solve! Then you must define your WHO, WHAT, HOW and WHY.

Action steps:

1. Determine who you are best able to offer value to in your marketplace (your WHO).
2. Discover what they want and will buy from you (your WHAT).
3. Create your solutions to their problems (your HOW).
4. Communicate the unique value you provide (your WHY).

Once you are able to define your business with the above four pieces correctly assembled, you will have the kind of clarity that attracts clients!

About the Author: Oma Edoja helps self-employed professional women rapidly grow their client base and business.  For further information about Oma’s “Defining Your Business” OR “Clarity to Clients” workshops please visit: http://claritytoclients.eventbrite.com