By guest contributor Mariah Danielsen. Photography by Elizabeth Messina.

Working with customers you love makes running a business much more fun. This is why it’s important to focus your marketing efforts on your ideal target market.

Get Inside Their Head

Envision the most ideal customer or reader in your mind. Once you know who they are, you need to get inside their head. You must know exactly who they are, what they’re thinking and feeling, and what they like/dislike. When you use the same language and tone that they use, your ideal customer will feel like you are speaking directly to them.

You’ll also want to get a clear picture of what their personal style is. Use Pinterest to create an “Ideal Customer” board, then pin images of what your perfect customer buys and wears. You’ll also want to figure out what blogs and books they read, and what conferences they attend.

Get to know this person as well as you can, and build your products and services around him or her. Not only will you have happy customers, but you will also love your work. Handpicking your customers tends to do that.

This is part 5 in our accounting for blogers series, by Alt Channel Teacher Helena Swyter. Photography by Design Inspiration.

If you maintain an office in your home, you may qualify to deduct certain expenses associated with the space, such as:

Utilities Mortgage Interest Rent Real Estate Taxes Repairs and Maintenance Depreciation Insurance

The amount of the deduction depends on the percentage of your home used as an office. For example, if you have a 200 square foot office in a 1,000 square foot apartment, your business percentage is 20%.

In order to qualify, your home office space must be used regularly and exclusively. What does that mean?