#01 The Clarity Sessions - Grow Your Ideal Audience

It's time to grow your ideal audience.

As a new writer working on writing a book, she wants to figure out how to grow her audience and know exactly where to put her time. It's hard to know what to work on and how much time to spend on each of her platforms. She has three days a week to pour into her content and wants to make the most out of her time.

Here are my tips for how she can reach and grow her ideal audience:

1. Narrow down your audience.

We often think that everyone should be included in our audience because if everyone is our audience, we will sell more, right? Wrong. What I've found is when I focus on only one person and serve that person really well, it makes it really clear what I should say and what I shouldn't say.

I write for Cheryl. She's 38-years-old. She has three kids and Thursday's her day. It's her only day to work on her blog, her book, and her course. So I have a picture that I look at pretty frequently of Cheryl Sousa -- a made-up character and an amalgamation of a bunch of different people I've talked to through the years. The picture is of her sitting in this really cool coffee shop with her laptop open and a little cappuccino and dessert. She's treating herself on her Thursday, and she's working on her blog once a week. So she's trying to find time in the margins to share her message. This image of Cheryl gives me clarity when I share content.

Now, not everyone I talk to is exactly like Cheryl. I've talked to a couple of guys that are retirees. They're not Cheryl, but a lot of what I share for Cheryl also relates to Bill and to Jim. Focusing on one person really clarifies what you say. I do not have to say anything about parenting because Cheryl doesn't want my parenting advice. I don't have to say anything about politics because she doesn't want my advice on that. She just wants me to help her with her belief, message, and strategy.

Follow these steps to find your "Cheryl:"

1. Go through your friends list and pull out the characteristics of people who fit who you want to write to. Combine into one person and name her.
2. Think through: What does she want to do?
3. Think through: Where is she stuck?
4. Think through: Why is she trying to do (blank)?

Get detailed: Does she send her kids to public or private school? Does she homeschool them? Does she go to a small church or a big church? Does she live in a small town or a large town? Does she live in Canada or America? Be specific so you can start to picture her daily activities. Will she be reading your content in the carpool line? How long does she have to listen to your podcast? Continue writing down as many details as you can think of for your ideal reader.

2. Identify where your ideal client/customer/reader is stuck.

Think about your ideal client/customer's journey and where she might be stuck.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Where does my ideal client need help?
2. How are you not currently connecting with her?
3. How do you plan on helping her?

3. Figure out your sweet spot.

Figure out your sweet spot or what I call your "profitable purpose." It's great to have a dream, but somebody still has to pay the bills for the dream.

Here are the four components to finding your sweet spot:

1. Competence
2. Passion
3. Market demand
4. Platform

When all these steps are complete, think about where would she engage with your content and then write specifically into that part of her day.

So next time you sit down to write and don't know where the best place to spend your time is, think: What would help Cheryl the most? Then write from that perspective and you'll have clarity for where to post and what to write. 

To listen to Danette figure out her audience and follow her journey as an example, click here to listen to the episode.