From Mom Life to Boss Life: How to Design Your Attraction Strategy

Sarah Brumley

Sarah Brumley

Want to attract more of your ideal clients? Don’t we all! If that’s you, then you are in the right place. Today we’re all about understanding the core elements that make your marketing strategy click: knowing your ideal client inside and out, empathizing with their pain points, and having a rock-solid solution to their problems. It’s the secret sauce to becoming a magnet for paying clients and knowing how to design your attraction strategy, and I’ll walk you through each step with real-life examples. So, whether you’re sipping that lukewarm coffee or multitasking with chores, this episode’s going to be a game changer. Let’s get started!

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From Mom Life to Boss Life: How to Design Your Attraction Strategy

Well hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Mama Business Podcast. I’m your host, Sarah Brumley, and I’m excited to have you with me today. We’re working our way through what I like to refer to as a “season of episodes” geared toward helping you understand and implement a successful foundation for your long-term marketing strategy. In the previous two episodes we’ve clarified that the foundation of a good marketing plan includes Attraction, Nurture, and Service components, and we’ve chosen to start with that attraction piece, knowing that there’s no possible way to nurture and service our clients if we don’t have them to begin with.

So, if you missed either of those episodes, you can find them linked in the show notes, but otherwise, let’s jump into today’s topic: actually designing an attraction strategy that works for you. That draws paying clients and customers to your business. And that succeeds at doing so long-term. We aren’t talking about a short-term strategy here. When we do this work, when we put the effort in now to get it right – it’s something that should work on autopilot with minor tweaks over time. Granted, you will have to put some work in, but you’ll never have to guess whether you are on the right track or doing the right thing to attract paying clients.

So, where do we start?

Well, if you want to attract paying clients, you have to know who you are trying to attract and you have to know how you will use that information to actually attract them.

These are the basics of every successful attraction strategy, of every successful marketing strategy, and yet this is the type of work that business owners tend to gloss over. And that’s what puts so many business owners out of business within the first three years. Because there’s no true knowledge of the things that actually matter.

So, that’s not what we are going to do. We are going to spend the time working through this until it’s SUPER clear. That means actually doing the work. Okay?

Step #1: Know Who Your Ideal Client Is

Okay, so first and foremost we have to truly understand who our ideal client is. This is the person who can benefit the most from what you have to offer.

And NO…it’s not everyone. Can everyone benefit from your product or service – it’s possible, but for the purposes of marketing, it’s just not a good approach. When you try to attract everyone, you will attract no one. I’ll guarantee you that. You have to get specific and you have to know EXACTLY who you are speaking to, speaking with, so that your message is clear and consistent going forward. So there’s no confusion and no guesswork on your part or theirs as to what you do, what you offer, and how you can solve their problem.

So, what kind of information are we looking for? Well, start with demographics – that’s age, stage of life, whether they are male or female, parent or non-parent, etc. – those kinds of things. You probably can write those down off the top of your head, right? Now, this won’t perfectly represent EVERY client or customer of yours, but it’ll give you ONE person to speak to consistently. And…it might just be a representation of you in the past. That’s okay, too.

In my case, my ideal client is Jane. She’s a 34-year-old married mom of three. Two in preschool and one in elementary school. She’s has a four year college degree that she’s still paying student loans on, but never chose to pursue a job in her field. Instead, she spent her first few years out of college working odd and ends jobs in the professional world. When she had her first child, she and her husband made the decision that she would stay home. That worked well for awhile, but now that her kids are in school for a good portion of the day, Jane has a desire to get back into the business world. Specifically, she has a dream of growing an online weight loss coaching business for other moms. She’s got tried and true strategies that she knows works, and she’s excited to help other’s get the same type of results she’s been able to get for herself.

I love knowing these details about Jane because it means that I’m able to really speak to HER when I talk on this podcast. It means that I’m able to speak to her needs when I’m talking about family, about business, or sharing resources that she might appreciate in her stage of life. And because I know who I’m talking to, my message remains clear and consistent across the board.

Of course, your ICA will be different, but you get the picture. Start with the demographics.

Step #2: Know Your Ideal Client’s Problem

Once we have those demographics in place, though, we have to dig a little deeper and truly understand what they are struggling with. We call that the pain point. The thing that’s so frustrating to them that they are now looking for someone to solve the problem. They are looking for you. But you can’t solve that problem if you don’t truly understand the pain, right?

So, that’s something we need to figure out. And I think it can come down to the following questions.

  1. What is your ideal client currently struggling with?
  2. If your client wants to see a change, what is holding her back and why?
  3. By not taking the steps to create change in her life or in this situation, specifically, how is your ideal client hindering her progress?

So, let’s work through these questions using my own business as an example so that you can understand how this will play out.

Question 1: What is my ideal client currently struggling with?

Well, Jane is working to get her online business up and running and she’s feeling overwhelmed. She has no idea how to choose or set up her tech or automate things within her business, she’s not sure what to prioritize or when, and she’s not attracting her ideal clients which means that she’s not making an income and her husband is really frustrated with all the time she’s spending away from him and the kids without any tangible results. Now, it’s important to say that I don’t offer marriage counseling, right? But the solutions I do offer within my business can take the pressure off in all of these areas when Jane employs my services. So, knowing all of these pain points of Jane’s allow me to really speak to HER as I’m promoting how I’ll get her the results she wants.

It’s important to remember that I could also use this information to help me if I didn’t have a solution that actually met Jane’s needs. In that case, I’d probably be rethinking my business or service approach OR I might need to re-frame who my target audience is. See how that could help save YOU time and energy going forward just by knowing this information?

Question 2: If your client wants to see a change, what is holding her back and why?

Jane wants to see a change in the entire situation, but she’s not sure where to start. That’s probably pretty common, honestly, for a lot of us, right? In Jane’s situation, she’s wasted time and money on strategies that haven’t worked and she’s not certain that she’ll succeed if she tries something new. She doesn’t have that confidence in herself and her time and financial resources are limited. So she’s holding back from the solution that she knows she needs.

Now, I know that these are Jane’s struggles because these are very consistently the things that my potential clients come to me and mention. So, a good rule of thumb is to listen when your ideal client is talking so that you also know what might be keeping them from pulling out their wallet and saying yes to the best solution.

Question 3: By not taking the steps to create change in her life or in this situation, specifically, how is your ideal client hindering her progress?

These are the consequences that she’s dealing with because she hasn’t embraced that change. Well, in Jane’s case, she’s obviously not meeting her revenue goals, she’s not attracting her ideal clients in a way that promotes long-term success of her business, and she’s wasting time and money on childcare without any return on investment. Not to mention, by not taking the steps of getting her systems up and running and using the correct tech and strategy, she’s creating a bigger divide between herself and her husband. Now, obviously these are just a couple of the many things on the list, but these are some of the ways that she’s hurting herself (and possibly others) by not jumping in and getting the result and solution that she needs.

So at this point you’re clear on who your ideal client is and what she’s struggling with. The next, and – dare I say? – most important part of this is knowing how you solve the problem. How do you make it all better?

Step #3: Know How You Solve the Problem

This is a step that so often we skip. We work through who our ideal client is and then we think about ways to get them interested in us, in our brand, in our service, but we forget that if we don’t have the true solution to their problem in place, that all of that hard work is for nothing. So, let’s take the time right now to get clear on this.

How do you solve the problem?

In my case, I could start off my saying that I can solve Jane’s problem by helping her get her website and systems up and running. That’s true, and yet it’s not the whole truth. And if I only offer that as my solution, then it’s going to be a lot harder for Jane to understand that I’m her gal. You see, a lot of people can do those things, but what sets me aside from the competition is that I don’t have a one-size-fits-all package. Instead, I work with Jane to make sure that she gets a customized marketing plan that aligns with HER specific needs and so that she can attract HER target audience. Not somebody else’s – HERS. In addition, I’m all about making it simple. So simple that Jane never has to question why she’s paying me to do what I’m doing. She’s not just shelling out money and then wondering what kind of results she’s going to get. No. She can have complete confidence because I don’t leave her guessing.

When it comes to solving your ideal client’s problem, it’s essential to be clear about your role – not only so that your ideal client knows what you ARE doing, but so that they understand what you DON’T DO. In my case, I do not do anything related to paid ads. Nothing. And I make it very clear to my clients that that’s the case. You know what? If they need someone to do paid ads for them in the future, they can certainly add that to their marketing plan and find someone who’s effective in that area. But it’s not me. And that’s okay. You, too, might not have a solution that solves every aspect of their problem or meets every single need they have, and that’s okay. As long as you are clear about your role and what you offer, you can and will attract and retain clients.

So, how do you solve your ideal client’s problem? It’s time to get clear on that.

Now, I don’t know about you, but as I think about Jane and the struggle she’s facing, it’s incredibly motivating for me. Because I have a SOLUTION that can help her. A SOLUTION that can eliminate that overwhelm, bring peace back to her family life, and help her make a little money at the same time. That reason alone is why I don’t feel salesy or sleazy offering my solution to her problem. Because I know how effective it will be and I know that she wants and needs it.

Just another bonus to doing this hard work up front. You know who you serve, you know why you serve them, and you have no doubt that you are the right fit for their need. No sleaze required.

Take Action: How to Design Your Attraction Strategy

And that brings us to the action part of this episode. And we all know that action is where the dreams turn into the reality. And today’s action step is to do the work. Take the time to truly understand who your ideal client is, what they struggle with the most, and how you solve that problem.

As I said in the beginning, these are the basics of a successful marketing strategy and yet so many business owners don’t do this work and because of that neglect, end up out of business early on. Because there’s no true knowledge of the things that actually matter. These things matter. So, take the time to prioritize them ASAP.

Now, we are going to bridge the gap. You may have noticed that I skipped right over how to actually get that ideal client to the solution you offer, but that’s what we’ll be talking about next week, so, don’t get bogged down on that.

You don’t have to convince your potential client to be attracted to you just yet. You just need to know that if she asks, you can clearly declare that you have the solution to meet her needs, to eliminate the pain, and to help her achieve success going forward. You don’t want to put all the work into a successful attraction strategy only to get someone to the sales call and not have anything to offer. So, do you have that solution?

If you aren’t sure, then let’s chat. Jump on a Mama Business Strategy Session and let’s get you some clarity. Because without the clarity here, the rest of your marketing strategy is likely going to feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping that something sticks. And it’ll be a big mess to clean up later. So, grab that strategy session by heading to sarahbrumley.com/strategy. Once again that’s sarahbrumley.com/strategy to get on my calendar.

Whatever you decide, mama, just know that I’m cheering you on. You’ve got this! Have amazing day and I’ll chat with you again next time.

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