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Foreign hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Kate Show. My name is Kate, and today we are talking about your ideal client. Now, you might already know who your ideal client is, but you might still struggle to reach them. Maybe the leads you are getting are just not the ones that you want. Or maybe you're not getting any leads, which is also super frustrating. Today we are breaking down why that's happening. Because after working with so many people in the home industry, I've realized that at the heart of most marketing issues is a lack of clarity around the ideal client, number one. And then if they have that, the second biggest issue is they just don't know how to talk to their ideal client. So we're going to break down what's that, what that looks like. We're going to start with your website because that is the mothership of your entire brand. And once your website says all the right things, it's a lot easier to have your marketing be offshoots of that. You already know who you're talking to and how to talk to them. So now it's just a matter of putting it in different media, such as an email newsletter, a blog post, a lead magnet. So that not only is your messaging consistent across all of those areas, but it's also reaching the type of person that you really want to work with. So, like I said, the problem I often see is that if you're struggling with your marketing, it's probably because your marketing rarely states point blank who your ideal client is, even though you internally know who your ideal client is. And it doesn't present your services as a solution that is tailored to that ideal client's pain points. This means that no matter how much you think you know your ideal client, they don't know you. Therefore they're not going to understand why they should hire you versus someone else. So I'm excited to get into this. When I have these conversations one on one with my clients, when we're on a consulting call and we go through my worksheet of website copywriting, really copywriting is so huge, there's a reason why copywriters charge thousands of dollars for it. When you're on a consult with me, it's not an additional fee. We're just going through working at it together. And by the end of that, my client is often so much more confident. Like, oh my goodness, yes, this is exactly what I've always thought about my ideal client and what I know they need. I just didn't really know how to put it into words. And then when they put that fresh copywriting on their website, they start getting more of the right clients. I've had it happen over and over with my clients, so I'm very confident when I tell you that this works and it's such a simple fix. You might be told that you should go spend many hundreds of dollars on ads or that your SEO is bad. Maybe your SEO just needs to be adjusted. A huge part of SEO is the copywriting of your site. So if that is not talking to your ideal client, then yeah, your SEO is going to be in trouble because you're just going to be ranking for the wrong things. Not necessarily ranking for nothing, but for the wrong things. All right, guys, before we dive into this episode, if this podcast has been helpful to you in any way, would you please leave me a rating and a review? And if you're watching on YouTube, give it a thumbs up and subscribe. If you're on Spotify, you can leave a star rating. You can even leave comments on the episodes, which I definitely do read. And if you're on Apple podcasts, please leave a rating and a review. All right, let's get into this meaty episode. All right, the first thing I want you to do is open your website. What does the first headline say? What does the first paragraph say? If those things are not describing your ideal client, you've got your first fix to knock out right there. So let's kind of walk through a scenario here. Let's say you're an interior designer that focuses on homeowners who have primary and secondary homes. Maybe the current headline of your website says something like this, the essence of your home away from home or something else equally esoteric. And the old intro paragraph says something like this. Looking for a designer who gets you, a designer who hears what you want and translates it into a design that's fresh and more than you imagined. I'm Jane Smith, not a real person of Signature Design Studio, also not a real company, and I specialize in modern transitional and rustic design. But more than that, I specialize in hearing what you want and making it a reality in your home. I help you renovate or build new a home that fits your aesthetic and matches your lifestyle to meet your vacation home needs. Now, at face value, that doesn't sound terrible, right? In fact, it reads a lot like a bio. And in fact, that's really what it is. Unfortunately, this is what a lot of people start off saying right out of the gate on their website, completely ignoring who the ideal client is and what their pain point Is because, honestly, a designer who hears what you want and translates it into a design that's fresh, more than you, than you imagine is something that literally every interior designer is doing. So that is not a pain point. That's not a unique solution. That's nothing standout. Specializing in a certain aesthetic. Okay, sure, whatever. Specializing in hearing what you want and making a reality in your home. Yeah, that's what every designer does. So there's just nothing out there that's like, aha, I see myself in this paragraph. And here's what it should say instead. So again, as an interior designer focusing on people with second homes, vacation homes, whatever, are you frustrated with your vacation home when you arrive? It just doesn't feel like home yet. The decor is not you, the colors aren't right, even the space layout is really not functional for the way your family intends to use that home. At such and such design studio, we specialize in in helping our clients create vacation homes that feel just as comfortable as their primary home. And we are used to working remotely with our clients, which means that you don't even have to be present for the majority of the project and then go back into more pain points. So it could be, do you need a mother in law suite added? Do you need more bedroom space? Do you need a bunk room? Do you need better outdoor living? These are all things that, you know, someone who has a getaway home is probably interested in. So obviously this will change drastically depending on who your ideal client is. But it's so important to address your ideal client in that main paragraph, that first paragraph on the homepage of your website. But what about the headline? You should always have a headline before anything else on your site. This is for SEO value, because Google reads headlines before it reads body text. But it's also valuable for the humans on your site because humans will often skim paragraphs reading only the headlines. So the headline should state what you do, who you do it for, and the geographic area you focus on. So it could be something as simple as vacation home interior design for homeowners escaping to Pensacola, Florida, something like that. Okay, I'm just coming up with this on the fly, but it needs to state all of those things so that people can identify right away. Are you the designer for them or are you not? Are you a specialist or a generalist? Who are you? What are you doing? How are you helping them? So when you have knocked out the main headline and that first paragraph, you're well on your way to doing something that many of your colleagues will Never do. And that is be clear on who their ideal client is. So after you've done that, then you can go into something that's a little bit more bioish about the firm. You can talk about. You know, our specialty is renovations and new builds. Our clients tend to lean toward the modern transitional aesthetic. Now remember, a lot of your ideal clients will have no idea what a transitional aesthetic is. So make sure that you have visuals on your site that match what your ideal client wants and the type of projects that you want to have. Otherwise they're going to be like, transitional. Like, that means nothing to me. And this goes along with something that I've spoken about earlier, earlier on, in like previous episodes in the podcast, where if your specialty is presented in such a way that it's meaningless to your ideal client, it's not going to work. People will not be attracted to you. So if you're going to specialize in a thing, make sure that it's presented in a way that matters to them. So don't say I specialize in project management when it's like they don't care. They just want to know, can you help them in their unique situation? What does project management even mean? Don't take time to define that, by the way, because it does not matter. That's not what they're after. They're after the feeling they will get when you present their new space to them. They are not after the nuts and bolts of how the peanut butter is made. Okay? Nobody wants that. It's very boring. All right, so after you've had the main headline, the intro paragraph, talking directly to your ideal client, then like I said, you have this little about slash bio section, or sometimes it's just about the studio, about the firm, whatever it might be. And then you can have a button that goes to the about page. Maybe that button says meet the team. It should definitely not say something vague like learn more, Find out more. No, that is another thing will ding you on SEO. You. You have to have tap targets that are clear and also easy to see. All right? So going further down on your homepage, you also need to have elements of social proof. So you should have at least one testimonial from a previous client. More if possible. They should be sprinkled throughout the homepage, or at least two of them side by side. Don't put your testimonials on a rotating slider because nobody can actually read that fast and you want people to read. Also, if you're displaying images on your homepage, which of course you should be. Don't put those on a slideshow either because people will not be able to appreciate your work. Now this brings me to the final section that you should have on your site and that is the actual part about what you do. So you could say something like our suite of services. That would be a headline and then a little line or two that explains your specialty and then a button to view all your services, which takes people to your services page. That is a strong call to action to end your homepage with. Because you know, a lot of people will make the mistake of putting their Instagram. Insta. Insta. Well, Instagram feed at the end of their homepage, which basically means that you're telling people the whole point of my homepage was to send you to my Instagram. No, don't do that. Some people will have a blog preview. So like different thumbnail images or cover images of their blog posts at the very end of their homepage. Also a mistake. You're not trying to get people to read your blog. At that point you want them to go check out your services. Or maybe you send them to your portfolio page. One of those two. Some people will just straight up say, book a call with me, contact me now. And they'll have these contact buttons just proliferated all through their homepage. That's like proposing on the first date. We don't do that. That does not work. It's a real turn off because people don't know you well enough yet to know if they want to contact you. You need to get them through to your services page, to your portfolio page, to your about page, and then ask them to contact you. So the journey that someone makes through your site once they've realized that your homepage is speaking directly to them is extremely important. And this is why a lot of websites do not convert people. They look pretty, they might even have good SEO value. But you're telling people to do the wrong things at the wrong times through the calls to action and the buttons that you're using. And as someone who's designed over 150 websites, I can tell you that is a very common problem on people's websites. Okay, so onto the about page. I will say first and foremost that if you don't already have a picture of yourself on the homepage, put one there, then get another picture of yourself and put it on the about page. People have to see your face and if you have team members, you should have pictures of them as well. Invest in professional headshots as at least or better yet, get a whole brand photo shoot. Now, when it comes to what to say on your about page, it really doesn't matter whether you share what you like to do on the weekends or your favorite type of coffee or what certifications you have. Even now, you can list those things. But just know that the most important part about your about page is that you should explain the aspects of you that are relatable to the ideal client you're trying to reach so that they understand why you are the best person to help them. So if you are a professional organizer and you specialize in helping large families get organized and implement systems, it would be good for you to share why you care so much about that demographic. Maybe you have a lot of children, maybe you come from a big family. Could be anything. But this is a chance for you to share a relatable aspect of your story, to find that common ground with your ideal client. Super important. All right, so then the portfolio page is the next page we need to tackle. And my question for you on this page is, are you showcasing projects that don't align with what your ideal client wants and with what you want more of? If that's the case, you need to remove those projects. That might mean you're only left with one project to showcase, but that's okay because. Because presenting projects that you don't want, presenting projects that don't align with your ideal client will turn off any interest that ideal client was starting to build in your business. So it's just important to take an objective look at your portfolio page and remove what needs to be removed. Now, this also means that anytime you get a project that you're like, wow, this is great, I want more of this. It is your responsibility to photograph that project. Now, if you can't afford an interiors photographer, I understand. However, you have to find some way to get good pictures that is completely on you. And if you have a lack of photos in your business, then that's. That's going to hurt your marketing. It just really is. You need to have a good photography. All right, so let's move on to the services page. Are you offering more than three services? If you are, you are confusing the heck out of your ideal client. And you need to condense, delete, remove those services. So, for example, you don't need to offer more than one type of consultation. A consult is a consult. End of story. Having a color consult, A space consult, an organizing consult? No, it's a consult. Okay? You show up at the client's house, you talk about whatever is relatable to them and their issues and you fully deliver it better be a paid consult. Discovery calls should always be free and your services page should have no more than three options for them to choose from. So for a lot of people, they just offer full service design and they also offer a paid consultation that can precede that. And some people stop with the consultation. Some people go from the consultation to booking you for a full interior design project. Fantastic. But that is like the simplest and best way to do it. Now, if you're an organizer, you don't have to say kitchen organization package, garage organization package. No, organizing is organizing. If you offer digital organizations, you're going to go through their computer and clean up files. Sure, you can make that separate and then have like the actual physical in home organizing as a separate service because maybe you charge different rates for those things and that would make sense. There's enough delineation there, but you shouldn't be sorting it out by rooms and packages. And oh, you get this much, you get this much off. That's so confusing for people. The more options you give someone, the less likely they are to choose any of them. So look at your services page and figure out where you can cut the fat. Also, your services page should include, once all services have been listed, how you work. So step one, step two, step three, whatever. And I'm going to give you some examples, some ideas on what that could say. I'm just going through, I have like a cheat sheet that I give my clients that has a process page outlined for them. And, and step one is always going to be a discovery call. So here's what it says. It all starts with a conversation. The first step is to schedule a discovery call with me. We'll chat for 15 or 20 minutes over the phone about your project and your goals. If we're a good fit for each other, I'll email you the questionnaire for completion and schedule our consultation. Or you could say something like this. Regardless of which service package your product requires, we always begin with a brief discovery call. During this 15 minute call, we'll discuss the overall scope of your project and determine whether we're the right fit for your needs. If we agree to move forward, we'll arrange for an on site consultation. So there's a couple different ways to say it. Of course, you should further tweak it based on how you handle discovery calls and what your ideal client needs to hear from you. The next step, step two is the consult. Our 90 minute consultation, in person or virtual helps us get to know each other better, review your space in detail and provide you with a plan of action to launch your project. After our consultation, we'll prepare a proposal for your project and send it to you for review and signing. Another way to say this is the on site consult allows our team to get to know you and your project better. During this two hour meeting, or however long it is, we'll be taking measurements on photos and interviewing you in depth. We'll also provide input and suggestions. If you're unsure what you'd like, this is your time to ask questions and share your desires. All right, so that's step two. Step three is the action plan, or some people call this the implementation. We will set up a phone or a zoom call to review the proposal and share any questions you might have. Now I will say here I have heard from successful, experienced interior designers that you should actually only present your proposals in person because it allows you to see the facial expression of your client and if they start to have issue with the price that you lay out at the end, you'll know why and you'll have a more likely chance of closing the sale because you're able to address their issues and concerns right then and there. So this is something I'll be modifying in my own template here, but and I would say this is probably even true of organizers and stagers. Like if you're giving someone a bigger number or if you know your client type tends to have sticker shock, don't send the proposal in an email until after you've presented it to them in person. Even doing it in a zoom call is hard now. Sometimes you don't have an option. Video call is the only way you can do it that's better than an email, but in person is always going to be best. Make an event out of it. Bring snacks, whatever you need to do. Anyway, this step goes on to say once the contract is signed, we collect the deposit from you and begin your project. My team and I will prepare a comprehensive design plan including mood boards, drawings, renderings, selection, samples, a budget, and everything necessary to complete your project. We'll communicate regularly with you as we develop the design and we'll schedule an in person final design presentation to go over all the details. So again, in person Always best. Another way to say this is once contracts have been signed, we'll create a plan based on what we discussed at the consult and present it to you for review and revision. Design plans often require six to eight weeks to prepare and we'll keep you updated as we move through the process, your design plan will be refined prior to the actual implementation. Now, the next step is it could be called procurement, it could be called project management, whatever you want to call it. But here's how it goes. After our presentation, my team and I will make any revisions and selections necessary based on your comments. Once we receive your approval on all product selections, we'll prepare a proposal and collect payment for all products. We will place orders, handle fulfillment logistics, and promptly take care of any issues that may arise. During this phase, we'll coordinate directly with tradespeople and begin any renovation, new build, or custom build work. Another way to say this is after you and our team have finalized the design plan, we'll begin procuring the necessary products and materials. We'll also handle scheduling the tradespeople that are required for the success of your project. We'll work closely with trusted vendors to ensure the quality and ethics are maintained from start to finish. All right, so now we get to the style and reveal. As we approach the end of the project, we will prepare for and schedule our installation date. The Final reveal. We'll bring the furnishing items to your home, set up and style the spaces, and resolve any deficiencies. Another way to say this is as products, furniture and fixtures begin to arrive, we'll arrange for and inspect each delivery. We'll then coordinate installation with our team. Once installation is complete and all tradespeople have fulfilled their roles, we'll begin the styling process. Furniture, accessories and decor will be placed according to our design plan and prepared for the final reveal. This next step is often left out, but it's a big one. The Care and Photos we will give you a product care binder that contains cleaning, repair and replacement information on all products we curated for your home. Our professional's interior photographer will capture your space for our portfolio promptly after your project has been revealed. We'll be careful to keep your information and the address of your project completely confidential. Another way to say this is we will reveal your completed project and tour the space with you to address any changes or nuances. Shortly after, we'll arrange for our professional photographer to capture the project for our portfolio. We take great pride in our work and look forward to showcasing your spaces and in our marketing. Now, this is important because your clients need to know ahead of time that you probably will be photographing their space. And I know some interior designers who end up with potential clients who are like, I don't want you taking pictures. And that's enough for the designer to say, I'm not working with you then, because sure, I get payment for the project I'm doing right now, but now I can't use it for marketing, so it's become less valuable to me. It's up to you what decision you want to make. There. There's no right or wrong, but I think it's, it's interesting because photography is important. How else are you going to have any proof that you know what you're doing? All right, so notice this process is about six steps. Okay? A lot of home pros, especially interior designers, have like an 18 step process or something else equally long and ridiculous. Now internally you might have an 18 step process. Totally fine. I'm here for the SOPs. However, your client does not need to know that. That's too much information. And when you give people too much detail like that, whether it's on your website or in a design presentation or what have you, they don't retain any of it. And by the end they're just kind of like, I'm not sure what I'm paying for. This is a lot of gobbledygook. So you have to condense what you're saying and what you're doing into a format that is quickly read and easily understood. And that is easier said than done. All right, so now that we've kind of worked through the services page, you shouldn't have too many services. You should have a very simple how we work section following the services. Then let's go over to the contact page. So a couple of questions for you there. Does your contact page offer a discovery call but not actually give people a way to book that discovery call right then and there on your site? Well, that's a problem because either you're offering a discovery call or you're not. Some people will say they offer a discovery call, but then they'll say you have to fill out the contact form and then we'll get in touch with you to book a call. That's kind of unprofessional. If you don't have a way for people to book a call call, then don't talk about it. Just say contact me and then you can take them through whatever process you're going to take them through. My next question for you is, does your contact form qualify your leads to save both of you precious time, A really smart way to qualify leads is to ask them about their budget. But don't make it a blank space, make it a drop down menu and have the lowest price be the absolute minimum you will touch A project for. So if you're a kitchen and bath designer, you don't want a project starting at $3,000, because what on earth can you do for $3,000 in a bathroom? Not much. Not much at all. So instead, maybe you want to have your minimum set at 20,000. Even then, like most people know these days, you can't do much with 20,000 if you're trying to gut a bathroom. So you figure out what your minimum is. This does require a level of confidence, but it's like, do you want to keep messing around with teeny tiny projects? Maybe you like that. Or maybe you're like, no, I'm just going to go for it. I want projects that are at least this dollar amount. And don't break it up between design fees and, you know, actual project costs. Because the homeowner is not thinking about it that way. They are thinking about the total sum of their investment that they're going to give to you. So whatever that total sum is, if you're like, well, I know I can gut and design a really amazing bathroom for 50,000 and that matches what my ideal client would want, then 50,000 needs to be your minimum. All right, the third question I have regarding your contact page is, does your contact form give people the option to be added to your email marketing list? Because, let's be honest with ourselves, not everyone who fills out the contact form will become a client yet. They might need some time. So if you have a way to get those people onto your mailing list automatically. A lot of contact forms on websites will let people check a box to give you that permission to add them to your mailing list. I would recommend that you do that. All right, moving on to the blog. If you have a blog on your website, you need to, number one, hide the dates of your blog post, unless you're publishing a new one at least every month. And you also need to take stock of what you've been blogging about. Do your blog post topics feel DIY in nature? If you're trying to serve a luxury client, blogging about diy, how to whatever is really going to disconnect with them. And if your blog topics are disconnected from from your ideal client, your services aren't going to make sense either. And you just need to delete those blog posts entirely. They're diluting your SEO and they're confusing people who visit your site. All right, so let's then talk about your lead magnet, because the lead magnet is a very important part of your website. So if you have one I want you to answer the following four questions. If you don't have one, then these are things that you should be thinking about. Because if someone's on your site, they're doing their research, they're just not ready to contact you yet. But you need to stay in touch with them, right? So give them something else they can do. Let them sign up for a lead magnet. But the first question to ask if you already have a lead magnet is number one, is it buried? Is it like in the footer of your website? Are you considering your discovery call pitch to be a lead magnet? Because it's not. Are you saying, sign up for my newsletter? That's not a lead magnet. Your lead magnet should be something that offers value. Which brings me to my second question. Is it offering value? Well, this all depends on who your ideal client is. If your lead magnet talks about how to select a color palette that is not valuable, that's something that someone is coming to you for you to do for them. Giving them a guide that shows them how to do it themselves is not only attracting the wrong person, but it's devaluing what you offer. So make sure that it's offering value. Right now, some of the most valuable things are investment guides. Because people have money to spend on their homes, but they're just not sure what to expect. They don't understand how much of an investment is required to build a new home, to renovate, to even furnish a home. So it's your job to explain it to them. You could have a good, better best scenario for each main space in the home if you wanted. Whatever it looks like, it needs to make sense for your ideal client. Which brings me to my third question. Is it aligned with your ideal client? So you might have a lead magnet that's very visible. It's like at the very top of your website. Nobody can miss it and it's offering valuable information. But is it aligned with your ideal client? If you're focusing on people who have vacation homes or who live in luxury homes, or you're focusing on short term rental hosts, that is going to drastically change the topic. The visuals of your lead magnet. Now, fourth question on that is, is your lead magnet delivered via email within minutes of people signing up for it? It should be. But you'd be surprised how many people say they have a lead magnet. People sign up for it and they never actually deliver the lead magnet to the people. Maybe it's because they don't understand the tech that is required to set that up. But a lot of Times people just kind of start the process of setting up a lead magnet and then they get distracted. So you have to make sure that you have that complete workflow. But then there's the follow through. So how are you staying in touch with people who contacted through your site but didn't become a client? How are you staying top of mind with those who did download your lead magnet? How are you staying current with past clients, potential referral partners and leads? How are you explaining your service offerings or sharing expert advice around your specialty? Well, this is where my favorite, most powerful marketing tool comes in, and that is email marketing. So when you know who your ideal client is and you know how to talk to them, email marketing can be so lucrative because it gives you the opportunity to share expert advice around your specialty. Remind people what your service offerings are, because people might think you only do one thing and you actually do three things. But the problem is a lot of people who say email marketing doesn't work for them are actually just offering a charcuterie board of truly inactionable newsletter items. A good example of that, or rather a bad example, is when you say what we're loving right now, and then you have a few products or random things, what we've been up to, and then you're like, oh, we went to high Point, I took a personal vacation, blah blah blah lately on the blog. And then you've got like a blog post with the link to read more. Okay, technically that's a newsletter. Statistically it's completely ineffective because you have too many calls to action. They're competing with each other. And also none of those calls to action actually have people take the action you want them to take. So that's why we have found our niche in email marketing, because people just don't know what to say. They don't know how to talk to their ideal client. They don't have time to write it. They're not sure what the call to action should be. But I can tell you it is so much simpler than you're probably anticipating it to be. You talk about your expertise, you share your knowledge on something that has a common thread that relates back to what you do or your ideal client, and then you put a call to action at the end. What do you want them to do after reading your newsletter? Book a discovery call, go to your contact form, hit reply, whatever that might be. You just have to be very clear about it. So if you can be clear in your marketing, it's going to feel a lot easier. It's also going to have a lot better roi. And isn't that why we're all in business? So if you're like, I know who my ideal client is, but I am struggling to make it happen. I don't know how to talk to them, whatever that might be. I want you to email me. You can email me directly@KateateSocialite.com you can also just go to my website and use our contact form. But I help people on a regular basis figure out the words they need to use in their marketing to talk to their ideal client. And if you have been trying all sorts of different marketing things and you feel like you kind of reach the point of you're just guessing, that's not a good place to be. It's also a very expensive place to be, so let's not do that. All right, guys, that is what I have for you today. Thank you so much for watching and for listening. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. And until next time, keep your marketing simple, your message clear, and I'll talk to you soon.