How to choose a lucrative target market without fear of being wrong
Good morning!
There are a bunch of great reasons why every consultant needs to choose a target market, but the most important one is this:
Focusing on a single target market is step one in getting more clients.
It’s easy to find this step terrifying.
In my work with hundreds of consultants, I’ve found a handful of common fears get in the way.
Fear that if you focus on a single market, you’ll miss a bunch of other opportunities
Fear that you’ll choose the wrong market
Fear that you won’t appeal to enough potential clients
Fear that it will mean complicated, expensive changes to your existing marketing/services/etc.
Let’s put those fears to rest.
In the words of Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole at Ship 30, this is not a marriage decision. You’re not stuck with any choice you make.
These days you can test potential markets fast and cost effectively simply by having conversations with members of the market you select.
Without even redoing your website.
3-step process to pick a target market
Here’s the proven process I use to help consultants choose a target market.
Step 1: List the markets you might serve
In simplest terms, a target market is a group of potential clients with shared characteristics who are likely to buy your services.
“Shared” is a key word here.
Members of a target market share a problem, causes of the problem and the approach you’d use to help them solve it.
Let your imagination go wild if you want.
Step 2: Eliminate the ones that don’t make sense
Some target markets look cool from a distance but when you take a closer look, you see they’re not all that great.
Any good target market will have all of the following:
A serious problem you can solve
Profitability. Not only can they pay good fees, working with them will not suck extra hours out of you.
Growth potential. Either the market itself is growing or the need for your services is growing within the market.
Accessibility. You are able to find and get to the people you need to talk to in this market.
Credibility. You have experience in and knowledge of this market. Trust and credibility are key to getting clients to buy your consulting services.
Fun. What kind of people and businesses light you up? This is where you want to focus.
Step 3: Compare the remaining markets
Now you’ve got a list of markets that you could happily serve. Where should you put your focus?
Sometimes the answer to that question is obvious. Your heart will tell you.
At other times, numerical comparison helps.
Sample Market Comparison Table
Create your own or download a google sheet template here.
On the spreadsheet of your choice, list market criteria in column A.
Put your target market names in columns to the right.
Rank the markets in order against each other with 1 being the best. If two or more of the markets are the same, give them the same number (but try not to do that more than once or twice.)
Sum the columns.
Select the market with the lowest number.
Now go talk to people in that market.
If you’re a solo consultant looking for the best ways to get new clients, I have ideas.
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