How to Choose Your Ideal Customer (and the ‘Anti-Avatar’ You Must Stop Trying to Please)
- andy2673
- Feb 11
- 2 min read
The quickest way to drain joy from your work is to be “available to everyone”.
It sounds generous. It sounds open-minded. It also quietly Ideal Customer and Anti-Avatar - Get Better Clients, Fasterinvites:
time-wasters
bargain hunters
boundary-pushers
people who want a rescue, not a process
I learned this the hard way. Early on, I thought being broad meant more opportunity. In reality, it meant I was constantly explaining myself, constantly convincing, constantly adapting - and rarely building momentum.
Here’s the shift: you don’t just need an ideal customer. You also need an anti-avatar.
The ideal customer is not demographics
Age, gender, job title… sometimes relevant. But not the main thing.
The main thing is:
what problem they know they have
what outcome they want
what they’ve tried already
what they believe is possible
how they make decisions
what they’re willing to invest (time, effort, money)
Your best-fit people usually share a pattern of thinking, not a postcode.
The anti-avatar: your business’s immune system
Your anti-avatar is who you politely don’t serve.
Not because they’re bad people - but because they consistently create:
low outcomes
high stress
poor profit
messy delivery
reputational risk
Anti-avatar traits might be:
refuses to engage, wants a miracle
disrespects boundaries or time
wants to argue about price before understanding value
blames everyone else for their lack of progress
expects unlimited access without agreement
If you don’t define your anti-avatar, you’ll keep “accidentally” signing them.
A simple exercise (steal this)
Write two lists.
List 1 - Ideal customer
Answer:
What are they struggling with right now? (in their words)
What do they really want, underneath the problem?
What have they tried that didn’t work?
What do they value: speed, certainty, hand-holding, challenge?
What makes them ready to act now?
List 2 - Anti-avatar
Answer:
What behaviours do they show that make delivery a nightmare?
What beliefs do they have that block progress?
What do they always complain about?
What boundaries do they push?
What are the early warning signs in the first conversation?
Now turn this into one sentence you can actually use:
“I help [ideal customer] who want [outcome] and are willing to [effort/approach]. I’m not the right fit for people who [anti-avatar trait].”
Why this improves SEO too
Clarity creates language. Language creates keywords. Keywords create search relevance.
When you know your people, you naturally write posts that match what they type into Google - rather than vague content aimed at “everyone”.
Internal links:
[Package your offer](/blog/create-a-service-offer)
FAQs
Is it rude to exclude people? It’s kinder than taking money from someone you can’t help properly.
What if my niche is wrong? You can refine. But you can’t refine from vagueness.
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