The Right Clients Know Your Authority When They See It

I was in the market for someone to refinish a midcentury modern desk and was cruising NextDoor and Facebook neighborhood groups to see if any threads covered this.

I was thrilled to find a few options, and while none of them were specialists—I chose three and tried to track them down.

The first two never responded (one of them received two attempts from me, including on his webpage). The third was clearly a (nice) amateur offering to talk me through how to do it myself (which ain’t gonna happen).

I asked friends for referrals and no one had anything to offer unless I wanted to schlep the piece into LA (I didn’t). I was stumped.

And then as I was taking a short cut through an industrial area, I spied a midcentury modern furniture specialty store. They had my kind of furniture outside and a big sign: Buy. Sell. Build.

Maybe they’d refinish?

Turns out they will! The owner got exactly what I was trying to do and showed me some of their work. He called their refinisher in LA (they have a truck going back and forth at least weekly) and they gave me a price. More than I’d hoped for but less than what I’d thought it might cost.

Alex knew exactly what he was talking about and he gave me confidence that I’d get my desk back looking exactly the way I envisioned—we closed the deal right then.

This journey to the right expert is not unlike what your best clients go through to find you.

They ask around, peruse the web, send a few emails, make a few calls, maybe take a wrong turn or two—and then they land on your doorstep. They recognize your authority instantly because they’ve seen its opposite.

That’s why you target your ideal clients, invest in building your authority and keep putting your wisdom in front of them.

Just remember as you’re creating content that anything—ANYTHING—you can do to shorten their journey will make both your lives better, faster.