Why Your Ideal Client Avatar Isn’t Helping You Attract Clients

Ideal client avatars or personas are useless.

Ok, maybe not totally useless. But on their own? They do practically nothing for your business.

And if you’re working to find your target audience, what you really need to know is who your Right Fit client is. Yes, there’s a difference—and I’ll tell you what it is.

But first, let’s talk ideal clients.

What is an Ideal Client Avatar?

Ideal client avatars, personas, or profiles are often touted as the end-all, be-all of finding your ‘target audience’ as an online service provider, coach, practitioner, or creator. Take any course and you’re guided to list out demographics—age, location, family status, job title—and psychographics—what they care about, what motivates them, what they fear, what they dream of. Some courses and programs even guide you to figure out who your target audience is and then complete some market research calls to fill in the details. (I also don’t believe in online business owners using market research calls to determine their target audience, but more on that another moment.)

Why Ideal Client Avatars Don’t Work (Alone)

The problem, however, with ideal client avatars is that they focus on all the wrong things.

You’ve probably heard the refrain that, “If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one.” While this is, indeed, true, you want to be mindful of where you’re “getting specific.”

For example, a website designer could say that they work with people who are AFAB, in their 40’s, are married with kid/s, and who run their own business. They’d then go on to create content about being a “working mom” and try to make references in their content to TV shows that are popular with 40+ year old AFAB humans.

But what this website designer has just—unknowingly—done is started talking to a very specific group of humans…many of whom are NOT their Right Fit client.

Is every AFAB human looking for a website?

What about every 40 year old?

What about every mom?

The only thing that actually matters from this ‘persona’ is that they are a business owner. And, to be even more specific, they are a business owner who is actively looking for a website. (Because not all business owners want or need a website—at all, or right now.)

When you use an ideal client persona as your target audience, you’re “getting specific” in ways that unnecessarily limit your business—while not being specific enough about things that will actually attract Right Fit folks to you.

I once had a new client tell me about a sales call they had, expressing that they felt ‘guilty’ almost because, while they knew their work would help this person…

The prospective client wasn’t [insert specific demographics of their ideal client persona]. And while they did end up taking the client on, they felt like they were betraying their business by doing so because they had taken on a NOT “ideal client.”

My invitation to this business owner—and to you—was to expand their perspective on who their target audience is. And instead of going for—for example—40+ year old AFAB mothers who own a business, drop the unnecessary details and get specific about what will actually make your clients best-positioned to succeed in your work.

How to Use an Ideal Client Avatar in Your Online Business

Don’t fully do away with ideal client avatars, though. There is one thing that ideal client personas do well:

Humanize your audience to you.

What an ideal client persona is really good for is giving you a general concept that there is a human on the other side of the screen. A real, flesh-and-blood, living and breathing person reading your emails, watching your Reels, listening to your podcast episodes, etc.

Especially for people who are newer in business, this is important. Otherwise we can easily go into patterns like: 

• Worrying that “my audience isn’t big enough,” when, if you had 100 or 1,000 or whatever number of people in a room watching you speak, you’d be floored by the number of people who chose to listen to what you have to say.
• Creating content just to have content to publish, rather than because you know your Right Fit person wants or needs to hear this.
• Saying things off-hand without considering the actual lived impact of what you’re saying and, more importantly, how you’re saying it.
• …and more.

So yes, humanize your audience to yourself by creating a “persona” of your most aligned client. You can use literally any ideal customer avatar template to do so, by the way. It really doesn’t matter so long as it helps you see the human on the other side of the screen.

Then when you go to create social media content, or write a newsletter, or film a YouTube video, imagine you’re talking directly to a real human—because you are.

Ideal Clients vs. Right Fit Clients: There’s a MASSIVE Difference

But if you want to actually know who your target audience is—and be able to build a sustainable business serving those people—start with an ideal client persona. Don’t stop there.

What makes someone a Right Fit client for your work isn’t their age, gender identity, marriage status, or really even their hopes and dreams or fears and challenges. What makes someone a Right Fit client for your work is:

1. Are they someone you actually want to work with?
2. Are they set up for success in your specific approach to your work?
3. Are they problem-aware and actively searching for a solution? (And, as an added layer of nuance here: how problem-aware are they, and how much do they already know about the type of solution they want or need?)
4. Are they physiologically ready-to-transform? (You don’t want “looking for a savior” clients!!)

By answering these four questions, you’re able to get specific about the things that actually matter in your target audience. And you now have your four foundations of a Right Fit client:

• Ideal Client
• Best-Positioned to Succeed
• Purchase-Ready
• Physiologically Ready-to-Transform

When you know who your true target audience is—AKA who is a Right Fit client for your work—things become a heck of a lot more simple and sustainable in your business.

• Instead of having to convince people that they need your work and/or that it’s “worth it,” your clients show up to you already aware that they need not just the work that you do but, specifically, your work.
• Instead of bringing on clients who seemed super great in the sales process but end up being a nightmare to work with, you’re able to spot the red and yellow flags before you even invite them to sign on the dotted line.
• Instead of being met with objection after objection—“That’s too expensive” “I don’t have time” “How quickly will I see results?”—your messaging preemptively filters these prospects out and filters in the people who are pre-sold on working with you.

Example Ideal Client Persona (and why it doesn’t work!)

Just for funsies, let’s do a little breakdown of a traditional ideal client persona, so you can see exactly why they ultimately end up being so dang useless. (For anything other than humanizing your audience to you, that is.) Below, I made a sample buyer avatar for a fictional web design business.

(You can also make a copy of a document that contains this same information for easier reading purposes.)

Let’s start by first noticing which information flat out isn’t relevant to our example website design business:

Tony	I’m assuming the website designer doesn’t only work with the “Tony’s” of the world.
AFAB	Are they saying they won’t work with an AMAB or non-binary human?
45	Does age factor into someone needing a website created?
Married with 2 kids	Does marriage status or parent status factor into needing a website created?
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA	If this website designer works virtually, can’t they serve clients all across the globe?
Masters degree in sociology	Is education level a factor in needing a website created?
Long corporate career, now transitioning into running their own business life coaching	Yes, it’s probably important that this person is a business owner, though they certainly don’t have to be a life coach—unless this website designer is choosing to utilize a hyper-specific niche (e.g. “I design websites for life coaches.”) as their differentiator (and there are much stronger ways to differentiate)

Ok, so none of the demographics really matter. What about the psychographics? Well, these sort of matter, but only if they’ve been reworked to focus on what really matters. (And this is what most ideal client personas, including our sample one, get wrong.)

CORE VALUES

Authenticity – wants to show up as her true self in her new business Connection – values deep, meaningful relationships, both personally and professionally Empowerment – especially driven by helping others unlock their potential Lifelong learning – always exploring new ideas, tools, and personal growth methods Integrity – wants to work with people who follow through and deliver

Core values can be helpful, but mostly because they often highlight what your core values in your business are. And you get to make choices about how you operate, from there.

But also: what are you going to do with these core values for your ideal client persona? Create content about “you want a website that shows your authenticity”? Great, now you sound like every other website designer.

In order to make these core values meaningful, you’d need to rework them within the context of a Right Fit Client. Specifically, you’d ask: What do these core values tell me about who would be best-positioned to succeed in my work? What experiences, priorities, foundations, etc. would they need to really thrive in my way of doing things?

Your answers to those questions would tell you a lot more about who a true Right Fit client is for your work than a simple list of core values.

In sum: You don’t need to know their core values, you need to know what makes this person Best-Positioned to Succeed in your work.

GOALS

Launch a professional, trustworthy coaching brand that aligns with her values Attract her first wave of aligned clients through her online presence Build credibility and visibility without having to do everything herself Create a flexible, fulfilling business that supports her lifestyle as a mom Transition smoothly from corporate life to entrepreneurship

Of course, goals are important. But some of these goals aren’t actually relevant to the work that the web designer does—and therefore focusing on them could lead to accidentally over-promising—and others are relevant, but need to be evolved to speak to a true problem-aware and solution-seeking client.

For example, the goal: “Attract her first wave of aligned clients through her online presence.” Yeah, that’s probably a goal that a Right Fit client for a web designer has—but they have it independent of their search for a website designer. Meaning: a Right Fit client for a web designer is not expecting the new website to attract new clients for them.

Think about it: A website designer cannot help a business owner “attract their first clients.” They create the website, and then the business owner has to go and do the things to attract traffic to the website and then turn them into clients from there.

If the website designer in this example sees this as a central goal of their prospective client, they might be inclined to use messaging for their services such as, “I’ll build you a website that attracts your dream clients.” This is what I call a “micro-over-promise,” because the website will not—on its own—attract dream clients. SOOOOO much more goes into that than just a website.

Another “iffy” goal on this list? “Build credibility and visibility without having to do everything herself.” 

Yes, a Right Fit client for our sample web designer wants to build credibility and visibility. And yes, a website can help with both of those things. It’s the “without having to do everything herself” part I’m worried about.

Why? Because if a primary reason that someone is hiring a web design project out is “I don’t want to do everything myself,” that person very well might be looking for a savior. Meaning: they’re looking at a website designer to save them from something miserable (in this case, DIYing), rather than looking at a website designer as someone who can help them expand into something desired (e.g. “I want my website to really stand out and represent the high-caliber of work I’m doing with my clients”). I know it’s a nuanced shift, but it’s this type of stuff that makes a difference in the readiness of the clients you attract.

Additionally, I’ve found that—for service providers especially—if a prospective client comes in with a primary motivation of not wanting to DIY, that client will almost always be draining to work with. Why? Because they typically don’t actually want to do any of the work in this project—despite the fact that there are things they need to do in order to allow the service provider to complete the project.

I invite you to look at the list of goals again. 
Which are not directly relevant to the work the web designer does, and therefore could lead to micro-over-promises?
Which are indicating that the prospective client might be looking for a savior and/or not be ready to do their part of the work in seeing the project through to completion?

In sum: What really matters about their goals is that they indicate that someone is Best-Positioned to Succeed in your work, Purchase-Ready, and Physiologically Ready-to-Transform.

MOTIVATIONS FOR SEEKING A WEB DESIGNER

She wants her website to reflect her personality and professionalism—without looking DIY She’s overwhelmed by all the tech pieces and wants a partner she can trust She knows a strong website will help her be taken seriously and generate leads She values strategy and psychology and wants someone who understands both design and conversion She wants to feel proud to send people to her website

We’re getting closer with this one!!!

The primary shift I’d recommend to our example website designer here is to think about which of these motivations are required for someone to be their Right Fit client, and which are optional or “nice to haves.”

For example, let’s say this website designer really focuses on the user experience (UX) in their designs. This would mean that they aren’t just building something “pretty,” they’re building something that brings data and psychology into their decision-making. 

If that’s something this website designer specifically brings to their designs, then a client who knows they want a “workhorse” website just as much as, if not more than, a “pretty” website is going to be important. For many reasons, one of which is: this prospective client will likely be willing to pay more for this level of expertise. And if the website designer didn’t include that as a characteristic of their Right Fit client, then it’s likely they’d end up attracting people who think the UX work is a “nice to have” rather than a “need to have,” and expect to pay accordingly.

On the other hand, let’s look at this motivation: “She’s overwhelmed by all the tech pieces and wants a partner she can trust.” Does someone actually need to be overwhelmed by the tech pieces in order to succeed in our website designers work?

Absolutely not. And in fact, specifically speaking to prospects who are overwhelmed by the tech pieces could potentially make them really difficult to work with simply for the fact that they’re going to need to use various tech pieces both to complete the project and to maintain their website after the project wraps up.

In sum: While it can be helpful to know what’s motivating someone to buy, we only want to really pay attention to motivations that indicate that someone is, indeed, Best-Positioned to Succeed in your work.

PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES

Struggles with imposter syndrome in her new identity as a coach Feels pulled in a million directions between kids, clients, and building her business Doesn’t have time to learn all the tech and design platforms herself Overthinks copy and visuals—wants someone to guide and simplify Has a big vision but limited hours in the day to make it happen

So many of these ‘challenges’ are not at all directly related to the work that the website designer is going to do. Thus, they become unnecessary details for the website designer to know, and only end up confusing them or bogging them down when they go to try and create content or copy.

(Not to mention: it’s exhausting working with someone who is “pulled in a million directions.” Two people could have an equal amount of roles and responsibilities. One of them could feel “pulled in a million directions,” the other could have already figured out how to manage it. Which would be more of a Right Fit client for our web designer, whose role has absolutely nothing to do with helping their clients not be pulled in a million directions?)

WHERE THEY SPEND THEIR TIME

Social: Facebook groups for moms and coaches, LinkedIn for professional networking Other: Listens to personal development and business podcasts during school drop-off, errands, or chores Offline: Attends local networking meetups, workshops, or women-in-business events when possible

Here’s the deal with this one: your Right Fit clients are everywhere. You’ll have some people who prefer listening to podcasts, and others who prefer watching Reels. You’ll have some who prefer Facebook, and others who prefer LinkedIn. You’ll have some who attend in-person business conferences, and others who would find that an absolute nightmare to deal with.

It’s a losing game to try and be everywhere that your person could potentially be, particularly if you’re a solopreneur or even if you have a small team. But it’s also a losing game to make decisions about where you will and won’t market your business because you think that’s the “only” place your ideal client is. 

Ultimately, you need to make decisions about where you market your business based on where it is sustainable for you to continuously do so. Your Right Fit client is everywhere—you simply need to learn how to talk to them, specifically, and how to maximize whatever platform/s you’ve chosen to market on.

COMMUNICATION PREFERENCES

Prefers clear, concise voice messages (Voxer, Loom, or even short podcast-style updates) Responds best to scheduled calls over impromptu chats Appreciates visual examples (e.g., before-and-afters, mockups, moodboards) to help her make decisions Wants a process that feels supportive, not overwhelming

Similar to my notes for “motivations,” consider which of these communication preferences actually matter to whether or not someone is or isn’t a Right Fit client?

Frankly, I’d classify all of these as “nice to haves” at best, completely unnecessary at worst.

From Ideal to Right Fit: a More Useful Target Audience Strategy

Now, again, the sample ideal customer avatar I created above is just one sample of an ideal customer avatar. Search “how to create a customer avatar” or type it into your favorite generative AI model, and you’ll see a variety of demographics and psychographics listed out. 

Regardless, as we’ve seen above, a lot of the characteristics business owners tend to include in their ideal client profiles…

1. Aren’t necessary or even helpful pieces of information
2. Aren’t actually indicative of a Right Fit client
3. Are really just pointing to aspects of what makes someone Best-Positioned to Succeed in your work, which is only one of our four foundations of a Right Fit client.

Which is why, again, to really understand who your Right Fit client is, you have to go beyond a traditional “profile” of your ideal audience, and even beyond who is Best-Positioned to Succeed in your work, and also intentionally define who your Purchase-Ready Client is and who is Physiologically Ready-to-Transform.

Want to learn exactly how to create your Right Fit client? I’ve done a much deeper dive into the four questions to find your Right Fit client in this blog post.

FAQ’s About Ideal Clients for Online Business Owners

Do I need an ideal client avatar?

Yes, if you need help humanizing your audience to yourself. Other than that, an ideal client avatar is pretty useless, and what you really need is the four foundations of a Right Fit client.

What’s the difference between an ideal client and a target audience?

Your target audience is who you’re intending to attract into your services. There are four foundations of your target audience, and an ideal client—or, the person you most want to work with—is only one of them.

How do I attract aligned clients online?

It starts by knowing who your true Right Fit client is, which goes well beyond ideal clients and requires that you also know who is Best-Positioned to Succeed in your work, who is Purchase-Ready, and who is Physiologically Ready-to-Transform.

Once you know these four foundations of your Right Fit client—AKA you’ll know your target audience—now you can create the messaging and Demand Generation System to attract them.

Why aren’t people buying from me, even when I know I’m speaking to my ideal client?

As I’ve shown in the above post, an ideal client persona is often filled with a lot of unnecessary and even unhelpful information that distracts business owners from talking to their true target audience. Not only that, but the way that most ideal client avatars are designed, you’ll often end up with demographics and psychographics that are indicative of a wrong fit client—not a Right Fit one. 

If you’re finding it difficult to sell your services, packages, or offers, start by checking in one: am I talking to an ideal client, or am I talking to a Right Fit client? Oftentimes, making this shift to speak to Right Fit clients, instead, is enough on its own to help you make more sales from the audience you already have.

How do I differentiate my business if I don’t know my ideal client?

While finding your ideal client—on its own—is pretty useless for online business owners, you do still need to know who your target audience is. Your target audience includes your ideal client, but primarily focuses on the other characteristics of a Right Fit Client: being best-positioned to succeed, purchase-ready, and physiologically ready-to-transform.Once you know these aspects of your true Right Fit client, you can begin speaking directly to them. (Which is much easier to do than trying to talk to an ideal client alone!) From there, there are 5 layers of differentiation you’ll want to build into your offers. I teach those 5 layers inside our program, The Aligned Niche.