20 - Defining Your Ideal Customer and Your Value Proposition

It’s a beautiful blue bird kind of day here in Utah. I hope you’re enjoying a beautiful day wherever you are tuning in from. 

Speaking of locations…most of our listeners are from the USA , but we also have a bit of a following over in Australia and in Europe…saying hello to you all! Thank you for joining us!

No matter where you’re tuning in from, the value we provide to our listeners or readers is really what matters the most in the end. Why you want to communicate with others is always a personal choice, but when you communicate to offer value is when you will begin to find the largest audience. 

Many authors forget the idea of talking to their audience and write their book from the me, me, me perspective and forget that they aren’t really what matters here. People tune in to learn from you so it needs to be you, you, you as you speak to your audience. This should also help you form how you communicate with your audience. 

Think about some of the best writers…do they ever talk about themselves? It’s rare. Mostly a book talks to the audience. You can share your stories and personal experiences but always be sure you know what value you are providing and who you are providing it to.

Let’s talk about your value proposition. What are your goals with your book personally and how are you providing your readers (or listeners) value in the process? I am going to use myself as an example to help you understand what a value proposition is. 

There came a point in my career where I had to back up and begin thinking about how I was providing value…actually I had to back up further first by asking if I even was providing any value at all in the first place. I had an idea of what I was doing and I also had a goal to expand beyond that into new business areas that I was using my book launch to grow into. I knew what I was but I wasn’t sure yet what I was going to be. In every entrepreneurial business initiative you have to ask how you can serve. Before you can get your message out there you have to begin by asking who you are talking to…who is your ideal customer?

Lets look at Defining Your Ideal Customer:

I had an ideal customer for my existing business, but my new business would be positioning for for my ideal customer going forward. I have been using my latest book to reposition my product and service offerings…defining how I can serve my target market. If you’ve studied the Law of Attraction one would say that you are ultimately targeting yourself…you’re attracting your like person or people. It can be said that your ideal and perfect customer loves you and the content you are producing and is willing and able to pay for it. 

A little background: I have been partnered with a high-energy 50 year old man for a number of years. He attracts his clientele and then sends them over to me for book design and layout. They are really his ideal client but not always mine. These clients come for book design and some of the other services I offer but not generally coaching since he does that for these folks. I’ve been working into coaching over the last 3 years and am finding that my clients are a bit more like me. It is a pretty natural thing that we draw ourselves into what we do as entrepreneurs. 

Let me tell you who I believe is my ideal client and I want you to listen for how to define yours.

My ideal client is:

• Both male and female 
• Faith-based and spiritual with a desire to integrate both into day-to-day life
• Has attained a high-high-level of education (not particularly formal)
• Has been through something that has shifted their awareness
• Highly engaged and conscious 
• They wish to create and grow and challenge themselves on all levels
• They are aiming to fulfill their life purpose
• They are not afraid to do the work they need to do to share their god-given message
• They are divinely guided
• They have sought out and attained some level of mastery in self
• They aim to live passionately and have a purpose-driven life
• They have a very strong sense of self mentally and spiritual and excel in business and personal growth and development—they are balanced
• They are willing to put themselves out there in service of the divine message that flows through them
• They are well on their path psychically, intuitively, and consciously awakened and aware
• They have either lost their way or have re-found their way and are in the process of re-inventing themselves
• They are preparing to step into their becoming and live in their divine truth

Knowing my target audience is a bit like knowing myself. So you can start there and expand. Look at who and how you are servicing your ideal client and begin to define them.

Now we can begin to define how we provide this ideal client with value. Moving from the me, me, me approach to speaking to them as “you” means that you are talking to them now as an experienced achiever of all the things you will provide them value in and for.

My personal value proposition is far broader than I will describe here but I’m going to focus on my core services for my book publishing coaching business for the sake of this exercise. To be honest with you, I’m trying to figure out how to fully integrate all of my strengths into a fitting label to serve my clients better. Since we are talking about each other here, I think you know what I mean. You are I are board in our reach, capabilities, and experience and we could go in many directions here in how we provide value and niching into a particular subject can be challenging. I get that! But, do you best to pair things down to your core services or joys to develop your value proposition.

OK, again using myself as an example, here is my value proposition:

I help business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals to self-publish a book.

My primary focus is as a 

Publishing Coach and Interior Book Layout and Cover Designer.

I maintain high and contemporary standards in tools and approach. 

I serve as a center of expertise as an author of multiple books and many years of experience in and outside of the publishing industry.

I serve as an advocate on my client’s behalf as the book walks through the various phases of development.

I relate to my audience by having been where they are—knowing I once wanted to write a book and tried to wade through the confusion of producing one and wondering what the right approach was. I am my clients biggest fan and most honest coach.

I’ve learned that the value proposition doesn’t always have to be communicated to your audience. It can be those things you do behind the operation…the things you hold yourself to. 

TAKE ACTION:

I’ve shared a lot here, but now I want you to take what you’ve learned and begin thinking about it as it relates to your book project. Your ideal customer is also your reader and the manuscript should focus on the key value propositions or points that correspond to your overall message. Your business and your book are one in the same. 

The book tells people your business and helps them through what you’ve conquered by shifting those pains into value propositions. You conquered an obstacle and now how can you provide expert advice? Use this approach to blow out your content, write your business plan, and build your targeted messages to your ideal client, customer, and reader. They are one in the same.

As a publishing coach (…and a consciously aware and transformational self-help guide) I can help you with all phases of the project when you’re ready. My online book publishing coaching system in available for purchase in the store on the Let’s Get Your Book Published website too.

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!

Keep going and keep up! Get clear on your vision and in no time you’ll work yourself into becoming an author.

Let me know what topics you're interested in and we can add those to a show for you to keep you going. Check out and comment over on our FB page. You can also visit our sister company on the Angel Dog Productions FB page.