The questions is not, do you have enough clients, the questions is, do you have the right clients? 

Why You Should Never Underestimate the Importance of Marketing

As a business owner, I know how easy it can be to keep your head down and focus on the work in front of you.

I spent years doing that until I had a quarter when I got to the end of my to-do list.

Slightly horrified, I lifted my head and had time to reflect on the work I had done; what worked, what didn’t, and what I wanted the future of my business to look like.

That’s when the process started.

This process was initiated when I hired a creative marketing professional. Even a marketing agency needs to hire a marketing strategist for their business.

Think about it this way: it is hard to see the forest for the trees. After a 6-week process of story branding & goal-setting, I made a strategy to attract a very specific kind of clientele.

Finding The Perfect Fit

My background as a landscape architect and my talent in photography were a perfect fit for custom home & landscape professionals.

Before the economic pause, I was working as fast as I could for anyone who needed a website. The business was brisk, but it wasn’t always satisfying. I was learning new skills every time I designed a new website because every discipline requires something different.

Well, while this was great in the beginning, it didn’t exactly last long. After a while, I started to learn more about myself, my interests, and what I liked to do best. I learned about who I wanted to work with most, and who provided me the most value.

Luckily, and with the help of my strategist, I identified my best clients, which was a process of grading them from A-F.

Brilliant, right? This process made things so clear.

Instead of evaluating my clients by the money they brought to my business, I was grading them by my core ideals:

1. A joy to work with.
2. Excellent communication.
3. Pay well and on time.
4. Produce beautiful work.
5. Are passionate about their profession.

This process allowed me to identify not only a specific niche, but also a demographic and even a personality type.

I knew the specific type I was looking for.  Because of this knowledge of my target clients, I created a design and a brand just for them. Just for you.

But what did this include?

Finding My Brand

When creating a brand and design for my clients, I took a new approach. This included the following:

• Changing my business name
• Changing my business logo and website
• Redesigning a national campaign focusing on Instagram

After doing my market research I learned a lot of things.

I learned that, like so many other prolific, multi-million dollar businesses, my target demographic is largely on Instagram.

And beyond that? Only time will tell. The options are endless.

For now, I know that Instagram will put me in the best place to reach my ideal national audience.

With this knowledge, I am now attracting the clients I love working with the best.

And this isn’t an accident.

The reason it’s a good idea to make room for marketing in your budget is to keep you on track. Your zone of genius shines when you do the work you love the most, for the people who most appreciate it.

When you learn the craft of marketing to your target audience, you will retrieve the clients and projects you want most.

It’s an ever-evolving process.

Personally, if I get to a place where I don’t feel like improving my business, it tells me that it’s time to do something else.

If you’re my ideal client, then I bet you agree.

And that is marketing.

For help on content marketing, click here.

If you are interested in hiring us to manage your social media I would be delighted to hear from you, give me a call.

If you’d like help with master planning your business, we’d be glad to help. Click here to learn more about my 60-minute strategy coaching sessions and book yours today.

Enjoyed this article? Here are three more to help build your professional firm:

The demographics of social media platforms for designers
Why a community service project is the best marketing in a crisis
How to build buzz for your business

This article was originally published in 2018 but has been updated for 2020.