Previous Chapters
- Chapter 1: The Unsteady Business
- Chapter 2: The Email That Changes Everything
- Chapter 3: A Fresh Perspective
Having bid goodbye to Robert and Sean, Sirena left the coffee shop, her mind whirling with the enormity of the tasks Sean had set for her. She had a myriad of thoughts and a burgeoning sense of anxiety about the exercises.
The idea of listing a hundred problems her ideal client seemed impossible.
But despite this overwhelming sensation, a spark of intrigue had ignited within her.
Shortly after leaving the coffee shop, Sirena received an email from Sean. The subject line read, “Resources to Aid Your Journey.”
The email was packed with helpful content: links to relevant articles and studies, a template to facilitate her ideal client profile, suggested questions for her to ponder, and a video where Sean explained the exercises in detail.
“This isn’t about just making a list,” he said in the video, “This is about genuinely empathizing with your clients, diving into their world, their concerns, and their aspirations.”
Inspired and reassured by Sean’s email, Sirena embarked on the journey of understanding her target market. She began to research not just the demographics but the psychographics of her clients – their attitudes, values, and lifestyle.
Sean’s framework helped her dive deeper into the psyche of her ideal clients. It included defining their needs and wants, understanding their fears and aspirations, identifying their lifestyle choices, and the triggers that influence their executive decisions.
Diving into this research felt like entering a new world. It was challenging, even frustrating at times. Sirena had to unlearn some of her assumptions about her clients and confront her own biases.
She realised that she had been projecting her ideas and assumptions onto her audience instead of truly listening to them.
She started conducting surveys, interviews, and discussions with her clients.
Sirena spent hours scrolling through LinkedIn groups and professional forums, trying to decode their conversations, understand their pain points, and gauge their desires.
It was confusing at first, almost like learning a new language. There were many moments when she wanted to quit, to revert to her old ways.
But every time she felt overwhelmed, she remembered Sean’s words, “Understanding your audience isn’t a destination. It’s an ongoing journey.”
Slowly, the confusion began to make way for clarity. Patterns started emerging from the noise. The comments, the feedback, the discussions – they all started forming a narrative about her clients that she had been oblivious to.
This process was a revelation for Sirena. It was like seeing her clients for the first time.
She realised how limited her previous understanding had been, and how surface-level her marketing strategies were and began to see the importance of deeply understanding her audience.
Yet, with these new insights came new doubts. Was she capable of making use of this understanding? Would it be too late to change her approach?
Her journey was becoming more complex and challenging, pushing her out of her comfort zone.