The “Ideal Client” Myth in Service-Based Businesses
Marketing mentors, for any and every service-based industry, encourage the business owner to describe their ideal client. They are told to list the demographics, qualities, values, and economics of the exact person they want to work with. Visualize it. Feel it. Manifest it. And all the other buzz words that fall under the law of attraction.
The Functional Medicine Avatar Everyone Imagines
What’s the avatar most functional medicine providers imagine? It’s not uncommon for the provider to build a caricature of the person already into “biohacking.”
The biohacker is compliant. He/she will listen to your recommendations and execute them with enthusiasm. The biohacker understands that insurance isn’t going to pay for the things that build health. He/she is ready to pay cash for your services, no questions asked.
Excuses for time? The biohacker has none. Their lives revolve around human optimization. They will make time for the recommendations you proudly give.
The Problem With Targeting the Biohacker
So what’s wrong with having the biohacker as your ideal client avatar?
The problem for your business is that those people don’t need your expertise. And because they don’t need you, they aren’t going to sustain your practice.
Here are three reasons why targeting the biohacker isn’t in the best interest of building your clientele.
Reason #1: Perceived Value Is Already Maxed Out
It’s not that they don’t have the budget to afford you and your services. It’s that they are most likely already doing what you would recommend—and probably more—to achieve the level of health they currently experience.
You’re not providing any more value than they have created on their own. It might be a hard pill to swallow, but in this day and age of “you’re so valuable,” your expertise probably isn’t that valuable to that person.
Reason #2: The Visual Standard Isn’t Root-Cause Based
For the biohacker, they want their advisors to look elite. Many of the famous “biohackers” have had all sorts of plastic surgeries. They aren’t looking like that because they addressed the root of their issues.
At one point, they started where your clients are now—with fatigue, gut issues, sleep disruptions, and anxiety. We just see them years later in their journey.
In the present day, they may look 20–30 years younger, not because of their nutritional habits, but because they use physical and chemical cosmetic enhancements.
Biohackers don’t care about principles of root-cause healing. They care about results by any means necessary.
Do you fit their avatar of an ideal provider?
Reason #3: You Can’t Compete With Unregulated Virality
I don’t even know if that’s a word. The point is: you’re probably not controversial or viral enough to even get their attention.
You’ve tried marketing toward these types of clients on social media but get no traction other than trolls. One reason your message isn’t hitting this demographic is that you have to answer to a state board.
You hold back on saying the sensational due to legal discourse—not public shame.
The biggest biohacker leaders are typically people with no health provider credentials. They can say and do whatever they want under the First Amendment, without worrying about a non-existent license being revoked.
The Real Confusion: Ideal Client vs. Ideal Outcome
Here’s your moment of clarity.
What providers and coaches often confuse is describing their ideal client with the ideal result they want to achieve with a client.
We’re told to think with the end in mind—but when it comes to identifying your ideal client, you must think in terms of the current struggles they are experiencing and meet them where they are in their health journey.
Why Desperation Converts Better Than Aspiration
We all want our clients to achieve their human potential.
But the person who needs your help—the one who looks at you as the example, who desires connection over clicks—is often the person most turned off by the biohacking vision you have for them.
Your marketing message has to speak to the desperate, not the ideal.
Remember Who You Were Before You “Figured It Out”
I’ll be the first to say it: it sucks.
It’s fun to market to people who share your current interests and goals. You want your current self to be your ideal client.
But you probably didn’t arrive in this profession as a biohacker. You had your own struggles and health challenges.
Remember that person. That version of you.
The Problems Your Real Clients Actually Wanted Solved
What was your goal back then?
Was it to work more than three hours without being completely exhausted?
Was it to eat a meal without worrying that bloating would ruin watching your kid’s soccer game?
Was it to stop hiding skin issues while trying to enjoy a beach vacation?
Connection Wins in the Age of AI
I get it—you don’t want to keep talking about the past. You’re excited about what your current health allows you to accomplish.
You want what you’ve achieved to be enough for others to want it too and just reach out.
But in this era of artificial intelligence, your real ideal client craves experience over information and connection over content.
Entertainment and education are expensive marketing lanes you may not be able to compete in.
Connection is not.
Why Your Story Is Still Your Strongest Marketing Asset
That connection is rooted in your story.
Your story of struggle → success → becoming a provider.
Marketing is telling that same story a thousand times—not saying a thousand different things once.
A Strategic Reset for Ethical, Sustainable Growth
If your marketing has been built around who you wish your clients were—rather than who they actually are—it may be time for a strategic reset.
Functional Medicine Marketing helps clinics develop ethical, grounded visibility that attracts patients who need their expertise now, not someday. Learn how intentional messaging can support both patient outcomes and sustainable practice growth.
This article was written by Dr. Kurt Perkins from Dr. Kurt’s Place.