The phrase, “Everyone’s a potential client”, was quoted to me last week and I immediately replied, “To those who don’t know how to sell”. All the evidence I have at my disposal from a few years of sales is that you can’t sell successfully to everyone, even if you think it’s possible.

Write for one person

Writing to an audience of one makes your content so much clearer. Your messages don’t become a fog of phrases attempting to catch everyone’s eye. You start to write as if you’re in a conversation and the writing becomes more readable as a result.

If you get to know the person you’re writing to, you can also tailor your message to be as helpful to them as possible. If you know what they find hard and what they enjoy the most, you can serve their interests and immediately become more useful to them. 

I write my weekly emails to a person I’ll call ‘Malcolm’. He’s a small business owner and a solopreneur. He’s had a mixed background in both corporate life and the arts and the business he now runs is focussed on training people in a very particular skill. We’ve also done some work together, both as clients of the other.

When I write each email, I ask myself if this is something Malcolm would find useful. I also think back to the conversations we have had and aim to add to those conversations through each email. And when I add a sales message to the email or a call-to-action, I always consider if the offer is something Malcolm would find interesting.

Think about how this concept applies to you and the messages you send out. Who’s your Malcolm?