What Agents Get Wrong About Choosing an Ideal Client

You're probably getting your "ideal client" wrong

You've been told for years to pick an ideal client. Maybe you finally did. And maybe it still hasn't clicked into becoming something useful.

So let's clear it up. Having an ideal client does not mean announcing that you only work with certain people. It doesn't mean you have to name-drop a group in your content (e.x "Three tips for first-time home buyers").

An ideal client is simpler than that. It just means you know who you're talking to when you sit down to create. It's a filter you run every post through: is this going to resonate with my person, or not? And no one needs to see this filter besides you.

Content that names a demographic isn't the same as content that actually speaks to someone.

Start with where they are in their life, not what they are on paper

The thing that makes this click is to stop thinking in demographics and start thinking about where your person actually is in their life right now.

If your person is a first-time buyer, that might look like someone who's 28 to 34, for whom affordability is top of mind. They wonder if they've been priced out. They're curious which neighborhood is going to turn out to be a smart investment. On the weekends, they're active and like exploring the city. They're a dog owner, a coffee shop regular, a thrift store aficionado.

Notice how none of that is "millennial buyer." It's a human. And once you can picture the human, your content stops being a generic broadcast to no one in particular and starts becoming something your person stops scrolling for, because it was made for the exact spot they're standing in.

Why the lens works (beyond just better posts)

The obvious payoff is that your content gets sharper. But the lens does three more things that matter a lot more to your growth.

First, it stops the guessing and keeps you consistent. Deciding what to post is exhausting when every idea has no guardrails. It gets dramatically easier when each idea has a yes-or-no filter: would my person find this valuable? This will help you to post more consistently.

Second, that consistency is what earns the follow. A single strong post can get someone to your profile, but they hit follow because your whole feed feels like it's for them.

Third, Instagram rewards you for it. The algorithm shows your content to people who are similar to the ones already engaging with it. Speak to one person, and Instagram finds more of them for you.

How to find yours in 10 minutes

Grab a pen and…

Minutes 1–3. Write down your last ten clients. Star the ones you'd happily clone. The ones who trusted your advice, referred their friends, and genuinely made the work feel fun.

Minutes 4–6. Look only at the starred names and write down what they have in common. Life stage. Price point. Neighborhood. What they were worried about or keeping an eye out for. How they found you in the first place.

Minutes 7–9. Turn those patterns into one sentence describing a real human. Not "millennial buyers," but something like: "an early-30s couple renting in [neighborhood] who wanted a solid investment and room for two kids and a yard, saved for two years, and needed a short commute to downtown — $550–750K range." You'll never post this sentence anywhere. It exists only to be your lens.

Minute 10. Open your own profile and scroll it as that person. Would they resonate with your last five posts? Would they share one of them to their friend in a similar boat? Which posts miss the mark, and which are spot on?

That's it. Use this filter on every post from here on out.

(If you'd rather work through this with AI, we've got a Claude prompt that walks you through the same exercise).

Making it even easier as a C&C member

If you're a C&C member, this exercise is how you get more out of every template in your membership. Each week we build the hooks and formats that are already working on Instagram right now. Your job is to customize them to talk to your person. The clearer your person, the faster that customization goes and the better it resonates.

And if you want proof that focusing on an ideal client drives real business outcomes, read C&C member Marianne's story — or Giovanna's. Both are examples of what nailing an ideal client looks like.

Not a member yet? Try a free week here →