Finding Those People You Actually Like Serving

Carla the attorney had a morning so busy, she barely remembered to eat. She bounced from a probate case consult to a restaurant’s lease negotiation, then hopped into a Zoom call with a new client wanting help on a messy business partnership dispute. By lunchtime, her brain felt scrambled. While variety can be fun, she’s starting to wonder: Is there a specific type of client that’s better for me, and them, long term?

Meanwhile, Jon, the marketing agency founder, stared gloomily at a whiteboard crammed with half a dozen niche ideas: “Coffee shops? Tech startups? Tourism?” He’s good at designing brand identities for all sorts of businesses. But that broad approach means he’s never sure where to direct his marketing. One day he’s chasing tech conference leads; the next, he’s introducing himself to local restaurants. The result? Disorganized hustle and constant second-guessing.

Terri, our accountant, is in a similar predicament. Because she can do basic bookkeeping, monthly advisory, and tax returns, she hasn’t said “no” to a client in ages. “If they need accounting help, I’ll figure it out,” she says. Which sounds welcoming in theory, but in practice, it’s leading to an endless swirl of disconnected tasks, and more stress. Her staff can’t possibly standardize processes when every client needs something drastically different.

Even if you’re not an attorney, marketer, or accountant, you might recognize that uneasy feeling. You want to serve everyone in theory, because you never know which lead might be “the one,” right? Except that approach tends to leave you exhausted and scattered, making marketing exponentially harder. If you can barely pin down who you’re best at serving, how do you expect them to realize you’re exactly who they need?

Carla’s eye-opening moment came when she realized her best, most enjoyable cases often centered around small businesses needing advisory or contract review. She loves meeting entrepreneurs, asking about their big ideas, and making sure they’re set up properly from a legal standpoint. Litigation can be lucrative, yes, but it drains her. And probate cases? She finds them emotionally demanding in a way she doesn’t thrive on. So she’s decided to reorient her marketing (and her pitch) around helping small businesses prevent legal headaches before they blow up.

For Jon, it was a matter of seeing where the profits and referrals actually came from. He sat down with his project manager and discovered that a surprising 60% of revenue last year came from brand strategy packages for local hospitality spots, boutique hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, a couple of craft breweries with tasting rooms. Not only did these clients pay promptly, they also sent him referrals. So, maybe that’s the niche he should lean into.

Terri took a different route. She polled her existing clients, asked them what they valued most about working with her, what parts of her service they’d love to see more of, and how they found her in the first place. Patterns emerged. She’s great at guiding small but ambitious e-commerce businesses with their finances, especially in properly managing monthly inventory and sales tax complexities. She never thought of “e-commerce owners” as her jam, but it sure looks like they’re a great match.

When you have clarity about which clients you serve best, everything else becomes simpler. Marketing messages feel specific. You can say, “I help small e-commerce owners get a real handle on monthly finances,” instead of “I do, uh, accounting stuff for basically everyone.” That specificity acts like a beacon. The right folks perk up. The mismatched ones drift away, which is good, because the last thing you need is another project that devours time and energy for middling results (and maybe even less pay).

Carla, for instance, is now weaving “proactive business legal support” into all her marketing. She’s positioning her firm as the friendly-yet-experienced partner you go to before problems escalate. Prospects hear that and say, “Oh, I guess I should talk to Carla about reviewing my contracts.” Win-win.

Jon’s no longer juggling five different outreach strategies. He can zero in on meeting more people in the hospitality scene, chamber of commerce events, local tourism boards, niche Facebook groups for boutique lodging, and speak their language. As he does, new leads come in that truly want what he offers. That means less time explaining the basics and more time doing the creative work he loves.

Terri leans into e-commerce. She updates her website to say, “We’ll help you track inventory, handle your monthly bookkeeping, and fix your sales tax nightmares, so you can focus on growing your online store.” Suddenly, she’s getting inquiries from exactly the kind of folks she wants to help, and (bonus!) they see her as the go-to specialist who understands their world.

If you’re a human being, you’re likely hesitant to niche very much. There’s that fear, right? You might be thinking, “If I pick a ‘type’ of client, aren’t I shutting out a bunch of people who could still pay me?” It’s normal to worry. But in practice, by focusing your message, you become far more appealing to the folks who are truly a good fit. And ironically, you often end up with more total leads, because now your marketing is clear, your name gets passed around more frequently among your ideal people, and your portfolio or case studies shine with consistent success stories.

You can still say yes to the occasional outlier client if it makes sense. But you’re no longer depending on random, scattered leads. That shift alone can lower your stress significantly.

If you’re starting from scratch, try this: open a spreadsheet (or scribble on paper) and list your clients from the past year or two. Next to each, give a quick rating on how profitable they were and how enjoyable they were to work with. Are you spotting any patterns, like a certain industry, business size, personality type, or project scope that shows up in your highest-rated pairs? That pattern is worth exploring.

As soon as Carla saw that “business advisory” cases left her feeling energized rather than drained (and those clients paid on a retainer basis), she knew that needed to be her main marketing angle. Jon discovered hospitality gave him big brand strategy opportunities and straightforward scope. Terri realized e-commerce clients matched her detail-oriented style.

Whatever your discovery, consider weaving that into your tagline, website headline, or elevator pitch. You don’t have to plaster “I only serve X type of client!” in neon letters, but do at least give a nod to the specific folks you’re aiming for. People need that little “aha!” moment to realize they belong in your orbit.

Once you do this, marketing magically feels... gentler. You don’t have to race in all directions. You can pick the channels and methods that resonate with your chosen audience, like Carla’s small-business legal Q&A, or Jon focusing on local tourism networks, or Terri speaking at e-commerce meetups. You’ll also find it easier to say “no” to folks who obviously aren’t a match, which protects your energy for your real zone of genius.

So if you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, do yourself a favor: spend a little time identifying who lights you up, pays well, and aligns with your unique strengths. You might be surprised how quickly everything else clicks into place once you focus on the right kind of people.

Next time, we’ll see how these three business owners start turning that clarity into a reliable referral pipeline, so they can keep attracting more of these dreamy, “just-right” clients without all the marketing guesswork. Here’s to choosing who you really want to serve, and letting the rest fall away, guilt-free.

P.S. If you’re doing decent revenue but still feel like things should be easier, this checklist is for you.
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