Who are you trying to exclude?

Despite what this question seems to imply, I’m not talking about being a “mean girl” here, but I am talking about “leaving people out” in a strategic way! Let me explain.

Often when working on our marketing strategies and growing our businesses we spend a lot of time focussed on attracting our ideal client. Who are we trying to draw in? Whose attention are we chasing? How are we going to engage with the type of people willing to spend money on our products and/or services?

Equally important to focussing on who you ARE trying to attract is a consideration of who (or what) you DON’T want to attract.

Let me give you a few examples:

• If you’re a photographer; do you want to attract clients for family portrait sessions AND maternity shoots AND kids birthday parties AND weddings? Probably not….

• If you’re a cake artist; do you want to attract orders for birthdays, baby shower gender reveal cakes, anniversaries and weddings? Or do you specialise?

• If you’re a florist; do you want to attract corporate clients (and their requests for 100 table centerpieces at $35 each)? Or do you prefer to attract more detailed and design-oriented work?

• If you’re a service provider of any type; do you find fulfillment in working with large corporate clients, or are smaller businesses of fewer than 10 employees more your thing? 

If you have a particular type of client or work you’d ideally like to exclude, then exclude it from your marketing. 

BUT… hold up a second. I want to be very clear here—Your business may require you to take a variety of work in order to pay the bills and that is absolutely o.k.a.y. This is the #realworld, remember! But just because you can DO it, doesn’t mean you have to PROMOTE it.

What is the work you actually WANT to attract more of? That is the type of work you should be featuring and putting out into the world.