#1: Describe your ideal client. You can include anything such as a specific industry, age, gender, workstyle, communication style, etc.   

My ideal client is a solopreneur (or someone with a very small team). I enjoy working primarily with those who have a focus on some aspect of content creation or entrepreneurship. I’ve worked successfully with all ages and genders, so am open to a wide variety in that respect.  

#2: What type of work do you most want to do? For example, you could say that you want to ghostwriter content, or that you only want to write content that has your byline. You might want to do retainer work, or prefer one-off projects.   

Writing has always been my true love, so that is number one on my list. A byline doesn’t necessarily matter to me, but I do appreciate higher compensation when I work behind the scenes. At this point I want freedom more than steady income, so I’d prefer one-off projects that really resonate with me.  

#3: What type of clients do you want to avoid? For instance, if you want to work from home, you’d want to avoid clients that require you to work in their office. If you are an introvert you might want to avoid client that require a lot of face-to-face meetings and phone calls.   

I’d like to avoid super high-maintenance clients that tend to do things last minute. Also, due to personal preference and family situations, being able to work from home, from any location is a must. I also want to avoid those that require a LOT of phone calls or even worse, video or in person chats. These things are okay on occasion, but not on a regular basis. 

#4: What types of work do you want to avoid? Include any type of work here that may be common in your industry but that either you’re not good at, or don’t enjoy.  

The main type of work I’d want to avoid are things that have to be done at specific times. Deadlines are fine, but I don’t want to have to do something at a specific time, such as a live webinar. Time freedom and flexibility are both very important to me, so anything that ties me down to certain hours won’t work. 

#5: How can you position yourself to fire a client? Remember that the main ways to do this are to have multiple streams of income (e.g. multiple clients, or things like royalties), build up a savings account, and grow a waiting list.  

For me the key elements to position myself to fire clients are creating more passive income through book and Skillshare royalties, and building a big savings account. Ideally, I want to have a year’s worth of income set aside.