We all have them… the clients we wish we could clone and work with on repeat, forever! They’re the best, sweetest, most thoughtful, and easiest to work with. Why can’t they all be like that? By this point, I’m sure you’ve got a name that’s quickly coming to mind and that’s great. I want to teach you how you can leverage your experience with that dream client to attract more of the same this year and beyond!

Get Feedback

It all starts with their feedback. If you don’t have any, get some. Ask for reviews and testimonials and make getting feedback part of your process moving forward. Here are a couple things to ask:

• What was your favorite part of working with us?
• What could we have done better?
• Why did you choose us as opposed to other (insert your industry here)?
• How would you describe your experience to a friend?

Once you have feedback from your favorite clients (whether it’s informal like a text message or formal like a feedback questionnaire), you can apply the next few steps! Ready? Let’s GOOOOO!

DISCLAIMER: If you didn’t love last year’s clients, this will still be helpful. Just do the opposite of what I say!

Find Common Themes

Take all that feedback, pour it into one Google Doc and bold any phrases or concepts that keep popping up from client to client. Everyone talking about how adventurous and fun your shoot was? Did your clients mention how you felt like part of the family on their big day? Or maybe it was your calm energy amongst the chaos that everyone raved about… Whatever common thread you can find, MAKE NOTE!

That, my friend, is your secret sauce. The thing that makes you unique. The value that you provide better than anyone else… In the words of Billy Madison, “for the love of God, cherish it!” Now, this secret sauce may or may not be a surprise to you. It doesn’t matter. Either way, we’re going to double down on it to stand out from the crowd!

Aside from common compliments, you also want to identify descriptive words and phrases that are used a lot. Write them at the bottom of that doc and do a command > f to search for how many times they’re used. Keep a tally. Whatever phrases / words are used most, highlight so we can find them easily in the next couple of steps!

Share Your Unique Value Proposition

AKA your UVP… a fancy, business way to say “secret sauce.” Whatever common thread you found that your clients raved about… go ahead and grab that out of your biz bag! It’s time to put it to use.

On Your Website

On your site, this could look like updating your copy to reflect who you serve (or don’t serve). For example, if your photography clients said you come up with the most daring, fun shots, you might talk about how you’re not the photographer for people who want traditional, stiff portraits! If they mention how detailed your edits were and how they were more art than just photos, you’re not a good fit for people who want a 2 day turnaround because “you can’t rush art, mommmm!“

In addition to providing polarizing statements, you can also pull direct quotes from their feedback (assuming they’re cool with this) and sprinkle them throughout your pages. Instead of taking a huge chunk of text, use the most powerful 1-2 sentences from their review to pack a punch! Something like, “In the many years we’ve been wedding photographers, the very best investment we’ve ever made was hiring Cassie!” or “Business aside, Cassie took a weight off my shoulders in a way that I could have never imagined.”

On Your Instagram

On social, you can use common compliments as content ideas. Let’s use the adventurous shots strength example from above… You could share one of your favorite photos from a session along with a quote from that client’s review to open the caption and then proceed to talk about how you decided on that specific adventure for them! (Or the story of how they hesitated at first, but were so excited they jumped in the water in the end…)

You can also share testimonials on highlights, bolding the most powerful parts of their quotes to make them stand out and help others visualize themselves working with you!

Mimic Their Language

This heading is a bit more obvious, but past echoing the contents of their reviews, mimic their language. We are hardwired to trust people who sound like us, dress like us, and are from where we’re from. We’re built for community. Things like accents, word-choice, and even inflections help us decide if someone belongs with us. Seriously, even from the womb, newborns show a natural preference to their mother’s native language.

So, how do you do this? Remember those words and phrases you highlighted? Use them. If they don’t feel like you, you’re probably not marketing yourself / business authentically and that’s a whole different conversation. For example, if a lot of my clients are using words like “dope” and “banger,” there’s a disconnect because just writing those words made me cringe.

But, if your clients use words like “stunning” rather than “beautiful” or “chill” rather than “calm,” take note! Use those words on your site and social where it makes sense and feels like you. It will create a sense of belonging and subtly build trust!

Attract Dream Clients

If you’re marketing sucks or lacks strategy, this isn’t going to be the magic cure. If you don’t know your ideal client, this won’t work. You may want to consider combining these tips with my IG Caption Infusion. With over 100 content prompts designed to help you connect and convert followers to clients along with an Ideal Client workbook, you’ll be able to create a magnetizing marketing plan in just a few minutes.