Have you been in business for a while now, but even though your books are full, you’re still mainly working with people who are just not a good fit for you?

If you answered “YES!” it may be that your website is partly to blame. 

In a perfect world your marketing and website would be attracting your ideal clients – but it’s very easy to inadvertently get that wrong – and end up with clients that aren’t a good fit instead.

So, what IS an ideal client? Well, it’s a client who ticks these three boxes. They’re:

• Someone you enjoy working with
• Highly profitable for your business
• The type of client you’d LOVE to have more of

If your client list is heavy on clients who don’t tick these boxes, you might want to read our article on creating a client persona that suits you and your business – so more of your clients can be those you love, not those you loathe.  

Your website’s role

Once you’ve worked out who you love working with, the next step is tweaking your website so it ‘speaks’ to those specific kinds of people. 

One of the important functions of your website is to answer for visitors, “Do you work with people like me?” But it should also send the message “these are the types of clients I love working with…”

In other words, your website needs to attract the right kind of clients and repel the wrong ones. Obviously, that’s a very personal definition! One trainer’s dream client is another’s nightmare but it’s just as important to ‘turn off’ unsuitable people as it is to ‘turn on’ the right ones. 

Why? Because working with clients who aren’t a good match for you makes for unhappy clients and unhappy trainers. Which is bad for business all ’round. Don’t be afraid to ‘repel’ some people. You’ll be doing them (and you) a favor by prompting them to seek help elsewhere. 

So, let’s explore the three areas where you can put your ‘ideal client’ persona to good use on your website.

Messaging: Adapting your written content to your ideal client

Your messaging – the copy (written words) on your website should strongly reflect the type of clients you prefer to work with, and the sorts of problems you love to solve for them. Your copy should talk about:

• The types of problems your ideal client is dealing with
• The types of dogs they want in their life, 
• The things that they want to be doing with their dog 

As noted above, don’t be scared to put people off. Why? Because headlines and text that strongly appeal to specific groups of people (but repel others) will be far more successful at bringing you new clients than wishy-washy words that don’t offend (or attract!) anyone.

It’s totally natural that if you have copy that strongly resonates with some groups, it’ll have the opposite effect on others. And that’s just fine.

When you’re writing copy to describe the problems you solve, keep in mind the experience your ideal client is currently living. This is their ‘before.’ Paint descriptive ‘word pictures’ so they can really see you understand them and their painful situation.

On the flip side, when talking about how your solutions will help them, be sure to paint a clear image of what it will be like to live with their dog after the problem is fixed. Describe the things they’ll be able to do – the situations they’ll be enjoying in the future – if they work with you. 

Use the information you have about your ideal clients to create these descriptions for them. You want your ideal client to feel as if you’ve either walked in their shoes or been in their heads. You need them to read your words and go “OH my! That’s me to a T! This person REALLY gets me!”

Photos: Showcase your ideal type of client

After words, the next biggest factor in making your website resonate with particular client types, is your images. Pictures send powerful messages, often without the receiver being fully aware of what those messages are, so your images are critically important.

Although you might have to make do with mainly pictures of you and your dog if you’re just starting out, if you can, try to integrate images that will attract your ideal client. 

If you love working with families, include pictures of dogs with children or in a family setting.

Prefer a more mature client? Find images that reflect that. Want to show you value diversity? Have pictures that illustrate your values. If you prefer a certain type of canine, or you specialize in breed-typical behavior issues, your pictures should reflect those preferences. 

For example, perhaps you love working with ‘herding gone wrong’ type issues? Have pictures of border collies, Australian shepherds and other herding breeds or crosses.

Prefer puppies to adults? Weight your pictures towards younger dogs. Maybe you specialize in a dog sport or two? Have pictures of dogs working in those disciplines. 

By actively displaying the types of people, dogs, and problems you prefer, you’ll send the message that these are your type of client. 

(Not sure if your current photo’s make the grade? You can find guidance on what makes a good website photo here.)

Carefully Picked Testimonials

This is an area where many trainers will just put up any testimonial they have, as long as it’s a good one. The problem is testimonials attract similar types of clients – and if you loathed working with them, the last thing you want is to attract more of the same. 

It’s fine to use whatever you have if you don’t have many to choose from. But once you have a testimonial ‘bank’ you can afford to preferentially feature those that attract your ideal clients. (If you’re not sure how to collect and use testimonials, this article will give you everything you need to know.

Ideally, your testimonials will be from ideal clients and will have their name and a picture of them and their dog included. The best testimonials will clearly describe the problem the client started with and the outcome after working with you. 

Why? Because a potential client reading your site wants to see you’ve been successful working with people like them, who had similar problems and wanted similar outcomes. A client testimonial like that will go a very long way to tipping a ‘fence-sitter’ into contacting you. 

It also pays to add a bit of context to the client details if you can. So, rather than just “Robbie Brown and Pluto,” try “Robbie Brown, father of four, and his energetic Doberman, Pluto”. This tells readers you work with families with big, over-enthusiastic dogs.

Even if the client who’s provided the testimonial doesn’t want identifying details given, you can add descriptors like this: “Young mom with nervous border collie living in NYC.”

Again, you want web visitors to read your testimonials and see themselves in the people you’ve already successfully helped.

The more ways you can have prospective ideal clients recognize themselves, and their dogs, in your website, the more successfully you’ll attract those types of clients in the future. 

So why spend your time working with clients who make you want to cry when, with a bit of tweaking, you can have clients who make your workday a pleasure? 

Once you’ve created your ideal client persona, let us know in the comments how you’ve used it to fine tune your website to be more effective!