Several years ago, when I returned from a conference (shoutout to my NAMS friends, I miss you!), the husband asked, “Did you get any new clients?”
At the time, I was a virtual assistant, and this conference was the gathering place for my ideal clients: online marketers.
“No new clients,” I admitted, disappointed.
Here’s what I was too impatient to recognize: I was sowing seeds. They weren’t ready to harvest yet, but they would be soon.
Not long ago, I was talking to a coaching client about content marketing. She has risen to my challenge and is consistently publishing blog posts, a newsletter, and LinkedIn content. After a few weeks, she wasn’t getting as much engagement as she wanted and was disappointed in the results.
I asked what her specific concerns were:
- Too few likes and comments made her worry she was wasting time on LinkedIn.
- Too few newsletter signups made her think her content wasn’t appealing.
- Too few new clients made her think the entire exercise was pointless.
“Shouting into the void,” was the phrase she used on a particularly rough day.
What the numbers say
The first question to ask when things aren’t going as planned, is “What does the data say?”
I hear from clients and customers and friends all the time that their marketing isn’t working, but when I ask for the numbers, they often say, “it’s just a gut feeling.”
I’m sorry, but your gut feelings are useless here. Show me the facts, so we can make a plan to improve it.
Looking at my client’s content marketing data, we could see that her LinkedIn engagement was in line with other creators in her space. She might have felt like it should be better, but the reality is that she’s right on track.
Newsletter subscribers? While there hadn’t been a huge influx of new subscribers, her list was growing, if slower than she’d like.
(As an aside, why do we think that list-building is supposed to mean 843 new subscribers at a time? Real list-building looks more like a quiet summer drizzle than a raging monsoon.)
Finally, I asked her about her newest client. Where did they come from?
LinkedIn.
Uh, huh.
How to know what’s working
All the heart-centered, creative entrepreneurs might not like what I’m about to say, but fire up those spreadsheets my friend, and start tracking what matters:
- Opt-in page conversion rates and email list growth
- Sales page conversion rates
- Churn rate (if you have a membership or recurring coaching program)
- Revenue (how much do you earn every month?)
- Cost per lead (if you use paid ads)
- Lead source (is Instagram really working for you?)
- Content reach (how many people see your blog or listen to your podcast every week?)
You absolutely cannot make good business decisions without knowing these key performance indicators (KPIs). They’ll tell you if you’re on track and exactly which areas of your business need attention if you’re not.
Don’t overcomplicate it. You don’t need a fully automated Notion dashboard to know where your clients are coming from. A Google sheet will do. Choose a few meaningful stats to start with, and be consistent with tracking them.
If you’re not sure what you should be tracking, here’s a useful guide I created to help you decide. Or, if you’re a nerd like me and you just love data, here are 28 things you might want to track.
Knowing your numbers will help you make strategic, data-focused decisions that don’t depend on gut feelings.
And remember…
Sow seeds now, harvest later
I did not come home from that long-ago conference with a new client. I also didn’t come home from the next one with a new client. But the third one?
That’s the year I came home and quit my day job—something that never would have happened if I didn’t show up and sow the seeds first.
If you’re showing up and it feels like no one is listening, keep going. Track your stats. Look for trends. Adjust as needed.
P.S. If you could use some support, here are a few ways I can help:
- Join my Six-Figure Systems community and get instant access to an entire library of system-focused resources to help build, grow, and scale your business. You’ll also get live Q & A calls, mindset coaching calls, and monthly Action Labs to build momentum.
- Work with me 1:1. If you’re ready to nail down the systems that support your business growth, let’s talk about how I can help you avoid the overwhelm and frustration so you can spend more time doing what matters: teaching and coaching.
- Schedule a one-time, “Get Unstuck” call. Bring me your biggest frustration about your existing business systems, and we’ll solve it together. You’ll walk away with an action plan to get you to the next step.
- Need something else? Email me at cindy@cindybidar.com. I read and respond to every one of your emails, and I genuinely would love to hear from you.
