Are you attracting less than ideal clients?

As a copywriter and writing teacher, I get a lot of questions from business owners about how to express what they do in a way that makes other people want it… while feeling 100% aligned with who THEY really are and what they’re about in this world.

But often, there is a hidden problem beneath this.

And that problem is that they are attracting clients who are LESS than ideal.

These clients are REALLY stuck. They don’t have a habit of regularly investing in themselves, in support, in what they need to get results. They ask to barter instead of pay joyfully. They don’t do what you advise.

They seem (strangely) more invested in staying stuck than they do moving forward.

Working with these kinds of clients is draining. It’s not fun. And it’s exhausting, interacting with people who tell themselves a story of lack, self-doubt, and unworthiness… and no matter WHAT you say back… they refuse to open to another way of being in the world.

Do you need to work with clients who refuse to pay you well or don’t do what you tell them?

The answer is no. No, you don’t.

You are accepting less than you deserve. You are putting up with clients who don’t value your skill set and expertise. And you are selling yourself way short.

And although the conventional marketing advice says to tell you “it’s not your fault”—I’m going to tell you that it IS on you to correct.

I don’t recommend worrying about attracting your ideal clieat too much until you’ve been in business for a couple years.

Or you have the strong sense that the way you have positioned your work has hit a dead end.

Because when you are starting out, you just need to build momentum and get money in the door.

But when you HAVE been doing this awhile, you need to take a good look at the way you present your business to the world—and who is responding to it.

A story for you here.

I was working with a student in my Write Your Website production lab last week, and we were looking at the “pull questions” for her homepage. (“pull questions” are powerful questions that speak directly to the hot + itchy problem your ideal clients are experiencing in their lives RIGHT NOW, and name how they feel about it).

She offers spiritual guidance to entrepreneurs who are growing, and experiencing the side effects and push back of their success.

She wanted to know if the words she was using were grounded or “too woo.”

But the thing that was screaming at me was that her pull questions were setting her up to connect with business owners who were broke, struggling, and still dealing with building up momentum.

Here’s the “shitty first draft” (thanks, Annie Lamott for the term!) of her pull questions:

How long have you been repressing that inner yearning to step up to a bigger life?

Has it become painful to continue to play small as the days, months and years are flying by?

Do you simply feel empty and even a little lost, unable to make the next step?

Is your invisibility costing you money, clients, relationships which puts you into a further downward spiral?

The common marketing advice says “name their pain.” But in this instance, it’s just too painful!

Can you see how she would attract people who are associating more with their stuckness, their smallness, their pain… than people who are in motion, taking imperfect action, and looking for ways to unleash EVEN MORE of their greatness?

This is something I am fierce about, for my students and clients.

You need to work “higher up the food chain” – and set your sights on attracting a higher caliber of client.

Unless you love working with stuck people, don’t assume you have to.

Unless you feel most alive working with totally business newbies, refer them to a strong business coach.

Unless you totally enjoy your clients dickering with you on your prices, position yourself as a leader, a trailblazer, and a person who refuses to play small to make others feel more comfortable.

This is what I told my student: write pull questions that attract people who are already winning. (If that’s who you enjoy working with).

Even winners need support, guidance, and help. And winners get stuck, too. But they just have a different psychology around it. A different attitude.

If that’s who you like working with, then write your marketing to THAT.

This is something I work with clients on in VIP days—how to create a business name, tagline, and business concept that SINGS to these ideal clients. And now, I say it to you: take a look at how you describe the “problem” you help your clients solve. Does the “pain” you describe accurately line up with the way your favorite clients talk about their issues?

If not, maybe you need to aim a little “higher up the food chain,” too.

Mighty thanks to Ostrosky Photos flickr photostream for crazy