Get out your pen & paper, it’s time to design!  The purpose of this exercise is to give you a head start in effectively marketing to your target customer.  While we know it’s important to have a target customer, it’s sometimes hard to find them, right?  This exercise is a great tool for you to understand the habits, lifestyle, and preferences of your customers so you can use that knowledge to get customers where they’re already shopping, living, and working.

Use the following questions to create your “ideal customer.” Be as thorough as possible.

1. What does your ideal customer look like?  Describe down to the littlest detail; from clothing to expression to accessories.  Imagine his/her face.  Think of jewelry/no jewelry--is he/she married?  Is there a briefcase?  Backpack?  Baby stroller? All three?  It’s all important.

2. Now, take him/her through a typical “weekday”.  Go from the time he/she wakes up to the time he/she goes to bed.  This is a great place to find clues.  Think of work, errands, kids, appointments, gym, lunch, friends, significant others, “me time,” --let your imagination go.  There are no wrong answers here.

3. Now let’s go through a “day off”--how is the day structured differently?  Is there more relaxing time or is it more active?  What does he/she do for fun?  Who does he/she spend time with?

Now that you know where your customer shops & how he/she spends her time, you just have to do a little legwork to bring them to you.  How can you weave your products into your customer’s life?  Start with these 3 steps:

1. Find 4 stores/places/websites your ideal customer frequents (either during the week or on a day off) and say “hi”--start generating a presence and rapport with the owner and others.  (Do NOT try to hard-sell or be pushy.  Bad form.)  This can be as simple as commenting on a blog and linking to your website.

2. Think about collaborative opportunities--are there other business owners with a similar target?  How could you combine your efforts?

3. Align yourself with an organization (think charity, non-profit, professional/networking, social, etc.) that is mostly comprised of your ideal customer.  Not only are you able to market your product, but you also build a more personal (and more brand-loyal) relationship with your potential customers.

Creating a specific target allows you to streamline your marketing efforts and make them count.  Narrowing the focus allows you to be an effective seller without sacrificing the time you want to spend on the creative side of your business.

Megan Gallagher is a small-business strategist working with creative indiepreneurs at Method & Madness.  She talks business development, creative vision, and indie lifestyle through one-on-one strategy sessions, e-guides, and the Method & Madness blog.

Main image courtesy of Markus Rodder.