There’s a great quotation about goals and aspirations by the famous self-help author Napoleon HIll (author of the 1937 classic, Think and Grow Rich). It goes like this…
“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”
I love that quote because it makes two important distinctions about goals:
- A goal should aim high–It should describe the dream outcome the person wishes to achieve, and…
- The dream by itself isn’t sufficient. The person needs to set a deadline for the goal’s achievement and (it’s implied) take action to meet that deadline.
Now, in my last post, I was talking about how important it is that you understand your ICA’s problems.
I pointed out that, according to all the research I’ve ever seen on the topic, people are more motivated to eliminate pain than they are to achieve pleasure.
And I even gave you a couple of ways to do market research focused on gathering your audience’s “problem language”–the exact words they use to describe their problems.
That’s a lot of focus on one side of the coin–the pain side.
But lest we forget, there IS another side to that coin: your ICA’s wants and aspirations.
Why Goals and Aspirations are Also Important
In the final analysis, your Ideal Client Avatar doesn’t just want to escape the pain they’re in–they also want to achieve some kind of transformation. They want to become someone wiser, happier, more successful, prettier, slimmer, cooler, edgier, etc.
That’s why it’s also important to explore this side of the coin as you create your Ideal Client Avatar.
So, ask yourself…
“If I provide the solution to my Ideal Client Avatar’s problem, how will their life be better? How will they be different? How will their bosses and their peers view them differently than they do now?”
And remember, they don’t want to achieve this transformation sometime. They want to achieve it NOW!
Because they’re in pain. And pain sucks.
In other words (thanks Napoleon Hill), their dreams have deadlines.
And your goal in your educational consulting business is to…
- Understand the pain they’re in…
- And offer a solution through your workshops, keynotes, consulting, or coaching…
- So they can achieve the life of their dreams…
- As quickly as possible.
Get good at doing that, and people will beat a path to your door.
So, for today’s action step, take a few minutes to brainstorm your ICA’s dreams, wishes, wants, goals and aspirations. List as many as you can come up with and add them to the data you’ve been generating for your ICA over the past few posts.
In my next post, I’ll give you a quick template you can fill in that will help you crystalize your ICA’s current “before” state and the ideal “after” state they will be in once you’ve provided them with your solution to their problem.
Till then…
To Your Success,
Willy
P.S.–Is all this talk about Ideal Client Avatars making sense to you? Or is there something you’d like me to explain better?
If you have any questions about the topic, just reply in the Comments.
Or hit me up at willy@edconsultantmarketing.com.
