5 Simple Tips On Using A Pinterest Board to Uncover Your Ideal Client

Do you know who your ideal client is? Can you define him/her? 

You can? Bravo! I extend to you my heartiest of congratulations. 

What happens when you don’t have a clue in the world who your ideal client is?  There mere thought of narrowing down all the traits of my ideal client is akin to being a ghost hunter.

The ghost hunter has no earthly idea whether or not their ideal client really exists. However, from extensive eyewitness accounts, it’s been proven that this mystical creature does exist.

So how does one go about capturing the essence of this mystical creature called the ideal client?

You create a board on Pinterest.

Yes, Pinterest.

Conquering Goliath

My graphic design clients run the spectrum from pastors to restaurant owners. From corporate marketing departments to stay-at-home mommies.

Where do you find the commonalities among this diverse set of businesses?

Then it hit me. Focus on the person, not the business. My ideal client was the best parts of all my clients. My task was to hunker down and learn everything I could.

It was during my time as a contestant on a web edutainment series called Prosperity’s Kitchen that I first discovered how to harness the visual power of Pinterest. 

Our first mission was Market Research/Understanding Your Ideal Client. Our mentor? Mike Michalowicz, author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur and The Pumpkin Plan.

First, I started with research. Lots of research. 

The shear amount of Googling I embarked on would make your brain matter curl. I looked up age ranges, demographics, disposable income, income, family size, shoe size, underwear color, brand of toilet paper, etc.

I finally succumbed to a self inflicted case of analysis paralysis and threw in the towel.

It was at that moment that I thought, “There’s got to be a better way to approach this mission.” 

1. Collaborate

My fellow Prosperity’s Kitchen teammates, Tammy Vitale and Kristin Elliott were incredible role models and teachers.

Tammy mentors women who are ready to claim their Hell YES!! life and business. She’s a self described Pinterest junkie and ideal client maven.

Kristin is owner and innovator of Doodie Pack, a lightweight canine backpack “to put dignity back in your dog-walk.” She’s got a fantastic head for business and an uncanny understanding of her ideal client.

They not pinned photos and quotes to my board, they described their thought process behind their choice in the description area of the pin.

We then exchanged comments back and forth until we were all happy with the final product.

2. Get The Picture

Prosperity’s Kitchen host Tea Silvestre (aka The Word Chef) also encouraged us to reflect our ideal client’s past, present and future on our board. Where did they grow up? Did they go to college? How about fraternity’s or sorority’s? Were they into the sports scene or more of a book worm.

In thinking about my ideal client, I found a picture on BigStock.com (the sponsor of Prosperity’s Kitchen) that reflected her time in college but showed that she graduated with some of her friends from high school.

Don’t worry about going out and purchasing stock photos to put on your board. Most of the largest stock image sites allow you to use a preview of the image for your own use, as long as you leave their watermark intact.

Feel free to use your own photos too. You can make your board as personal as you want. This is your ideal client and the more specific you get, the better off you will be.

3. Quotable Quotes 

Who is that said, “A picture’s worth a thousand words?”

Sometimes, it’s easier said than done.

If you can’t find the perfect picture that’s worth a thousand words, go find the words in a quote.

When a Pinterest user creates a new board, they have to designate a Board Category.

There are categories for Animals, Cars & Motorcycles, DIY & Crafts, Film, Music & Books, Hair & Beauty, Home Decor, Kids, Photography, Products, Tattoos and Weddings just to name a few.

As luck would have it, there is also a category called Quotes.

Spend some time scrolling through the pins and you’ll have no trouble finding the perfect one to describe your ideal client.

4. Ask For A Little Help From Your Friends

I’ve overheard one of my business owner friends say they’re great about giving advice, but struggle to get a clear focus on who their own ideal is. It sounds a lot like a bad case of  “I can’t see the forest through the trees.” We’ve all been there.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, take a look at what other people are doing. It will give you a better sense of who you are targeting for your own business and spark some creative ideas at the same time.

Here’s some inspiration from some of my fellow Prosperity’s Kitchen participants:

First, the host of Prosperity’s Kitchen, Tea Silvestre of The Word Chef,

Peter Sterlacci of Believe. Become. Be Your Brand

Ang Jandak of Lowbrow Events 

Tiffany Manley of Sweet Phenomena

Linda Griego of Java Raiz

 Joseph Richards of Salary Negotiators

Tammy Vitale

Kristin Elliott of Doodie Pack

5. Refine, Repin, Repeat

The work of refining your ideal client is never done. They will morph, change and evolve as your business grows.

If you’re reading a blog post that explains your ideal client better than you can in a picture, pin that blog post. The same goes with videos and music. 

Use any and all tools at your disposal. I’m currently experimenting with Facebook’s new Graph Search feature.

 

*** 

BONUS!

If your website runs on WordPress, you can install the Pinterest RSS Widget to display your board on your website.

Here’s Digital Photo and Design’s Ideal Client – “Delilah”

• 

  Hi! I'm Colleen Conger, owner & head pixel alchemist (graphic designer) at Digital Photo and Design, LLC. My business is the focus of this week's mission of Prosperity's Kitchen (www.prosperityskitchen.com) in which we were tasked to "pin" down our ideal client. With the mentoring of Mike Michalowicz, and help from my fantastic team - Vitale of Women Weaving It All Together (www.TammyVitale.com) and Kristin Elliott of Doodie Pack (www.DoodiePack.com), I happily introduce you to Delilah 😀
• 

  Delilah became our ideal client because of a referral from one of our existing ideal clients named Gabby. They bumped into each other at a marketing seminar sponsored by the Small Business Association. During the conversation, Gabby told Delilah about us and why they were overjoyed with our work and plan on using us over and over and over again.
• 

  Delilah grew up in a small town. She graduated from the local university and landed a job as a marketing department intern with the local office of a Fortune 500 company. Years passed and as she climbed the corporate ladder, she got promoted and moved to the company's headquarters in "the big city." She eventually moved back to her hometown to run up the Fortune 500 company's local office.
• 

  Outside of work, Delilah is a super-busy, fun loving Mom who loves to photograph her kids. She's secretly harbors an obsession with "Keeping Up With The Joneses" and yearns to show off her creative side creating keepsakes from her snapshots. She has disposable income to spend on someone to create unique gifts for her and her family so she doesn't have to load the kids up in the mini-van, struggle with traffic and stress about unruly kids just to deal with the underpaid photo clerk at Wal-Mart.
• 

  Although Delilah's just husband bought her a shiny new Keurig coffeemaker for their anniversary, she wants to spend her money at her best friend's coffee shop that just opened in the historic district of the town where she lives. Think Local. Shop Local.
• 

  Delilah stayed close to home when she went off to college. She wasn't too homesick. Some of her sorority sisters were her best friends from high school.
• 

  Delilah has successful sorority sisters and she keeps in close touch with them. They are both local and scattered around the country, and most are middle managers of national corporate firms. http://www.trulysisters.com
• 

  Delilah understands technology. She updates her Facebook status from her smartphone while she's at the gym. She likes to stay connected with her friends and share what she's really on her mind.
• 

  Delilah has a big heart and finds joy in giving back to the community by helping serve others at the Food Pantry, the Alzheimer's Support Group and Junior Auxiliary.
• 

  Her motto.
• 

  Delilah's kids are avid soccer players and expect her to be rooting for them at every single game.
• 

  Who can resist the sweet face of their little dancer? Not Delilah. She's invested in seeing her daughter light up the stage as a ballerina.
• 

  Delilah worries that she's not spending enough time with her kids because she's working so much overtime at work. She wonders, "Is this all that there is?"
• 

  She longs for the peace and quiet of life before the husband and kids. When she could explore her creative side and nurture her passions. The day was hers and she could consume what fed her soul.
• 

  Delilah keeps Grey in her nightstand.
• 

  Delilah's parents are her biggest source of inspiration. She either talks, texts or drops by to see her mom every day.
• 

  Delilah's Mom belongs to the local art guild and they are always looking for someone to design postcards and flyers for their upcoming shows and co-op art space. Her mom's friends live comfortably on their nest egg. They also have a great deal of discretionary income to indulge their inner whimsy.
• 

  Delilah is grounded in her Christian faith. Her church is a second home and the people there she spends time are like extended family.
• 

  Delilah needs a one-of-a-kind birthday party invite for her kid's birthday party. Count on her to brag to her friends (co-workers and other mommies) about who designed them. Chandra Turner, executive editor of Parents Magazine, recently did an informal study of the subject, asking 2,264 readers how much they expected to spend on their children's next birthday. Twenty-six percent said less than $75, 49 percent said $75 to $200, 19 percent said $200 or more, and 6 percent said they didn't know.
• 

  At her job, Delilah sets her own budget. She's also wants to jump start some hot & fresh new marketing ideas. Delilah's looking for someone to start a brainstorming session with - like yesterday - and has the budget to pay for it.
• 

  Delilah's a smart cookie, but understands the value of talent and knowledge. She's okay with letting someone else run the show and do the heavy lifting - as long as the job gets done right and on time.
• 

  Delilah needs someone that has a "no crap" design policy. Her reputation is on the line if our design doesn't WOW the pants off her and her boss. She might want someone to fix other people's crappy work, but never, ever wants to see crappy work come across her desk. Period.
• 

  At work, Delilah knows what her marketing material should look like, but doesn't possess the skills to design it herself. She can describe the perfect layout of a direct mail piece within an inch of its life, but needs someone to add the Ooooh and Ahhhhh. When we work together, the final product is exactly what she wants and she tells me, "It feels like you just read my mind."
• 

  Delilah can layout the details of her next marketing campaign on paper in black and white. She needs inspiration and design expertise to translate diagrams into dollars and circles into customers.
• 

  Gah! The dreaded corporate headshot. Deep down Delilah knows she should love her body, but she's most bothered by what other women think of her in photos. She needs a digital nip and tuck, otherwise known as a digital facelift. http://www.slrlounge.com/infographic-survey-reveals-how-women-feel-about-being-in-photos

Colleen Conger is owner and lead pixel alchemist at Digital Photo and Design, LLC. She’s a self-confessed Starbucks addict, font freak and geeky tech girl. Connect with her personally on Facebook and Google+. You can also follow Digital Photo and Design on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Dribbble.

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