Ideal Client Profile is just a corporate buzzword for something we’ve always done: knowing who your target audience is. And just as importantly… who it isn’t.
When you try to speak to everyone—whether through your business marketing or your personal branding—you end up sounding like everyone else. Your message gets diluted. It becomes vague, safe, and forgettable. You end up attracting people who don’t fit how you work, what you value, or how you want your business to feel.
ICP isn’t about job titles or turnover. It’s about alignment.
It’s about asking:
Who do I communicate well with?
Who respects time and boundaries?
Who understands collaboration instead of control?
Who wants something real, not just something fast?
It’s about attracting clients who value you because they align with your values. Not people who shop on price and disappear at the drop of a hat, but people who stay, engage, and build with you. Founders who want their personal brand and their business brand to feel like them, not like a copy-and-paste version of everyone else online.
Think of it like a bee, not a butterfly net.
You’re not trying to catch everything that flies past. You’re building something that naturally attracts what belongs.
The right people are drawn to the right energy. The wrong ones simply aren’t.
Your past clients already show you your ICP. The ones who drained you. The ones who wanted everything cheap and yesterday. The ones who questioned everything but took no responsibility.
They’re not mistakes. They’re data.
And this is where you can start to really narrow your ICP and craft a compelling narrative to go with it. For example:
“I help businesses grow” could mean anything.
“I work with service-based founders who care about connection as much as conversion” actually says something.
Your ICP doesn’t limit you; it clarifies you. It sharpens your personal brand, cleans up your messaging, and makes your business feel lighter and more intentional.
It’s a hive built with purpose, not chaos.
When you stop chasing and start attracting, marketing stops feeling like shouting into the void. It stops being about the hunt and starts being about the colony.
Stop swinging the net. Build the hive, attract the right swarm, and let the rest grow naturally.