Choose you audience before it chooses you.

This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.

For most small businesses, finding your audience is key. Having a vision of who you’re selling to will not only help you along your path as you communicate your value, it will also make your job of marketing yourself so much easier.

The key to remember is that while finding your audience is important, choosing your audience is even bigger. That’s right: I said choose.

When you first start out, it’s easy to think that the audience you’re speaking to is your actual audience ~ your mom, your best friend, and a few random folks you went to high school with who saw your postings on Facebook. Just because this is your current audience, you get to choose who you really want to sell to.

Focus on who makes YOU come alive:

Do you love creating artwork for children’s bedrooms that focuses on unicorns and umbrellas? Then don’t try to sell to people who want tugboats! You make things that start with U — own it!

Are you a photographer who hates crowds? Weddings probably aren’t your thing then. Even if you think you *should* be a wedding photographer, if big groups of people make you anxious, it’s never going to work. On the flip side, if you hate one-on-one interactions and love to slip into a crowd and take pictures of all the little bits that make up a party, you might want to stay away from selling yourself as a portrait photographer.

Close your eyes for a moment and picture your dream client: ask yourself these questions:

Who is it?
Where does this person live?
What does this person like to do for fun?

If you’re able to, name the person. Reese Witherspoon, George Clooney (DEFINITELY on my dream client list!), your Aunt Sara…being able to picture a real person as you work on your marketing will make a world of difference.

The key is: you get to choose your target market.

If a market has chosen you, and you feel resentful or it doesn’t resonate, that’s a really good sign that it’s time to step back and rethink things.

*image via LittleFotoFox: Easter Peeps (peeps! get it?!)

Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is a life and business coach. She helps creatives take their business (and LIVES) to the next level with her sparkly butt-kicking and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.