Thursday, November 05, 2026

Before you chase new customers, count how often the ones you have buy. Three numbers, one worked example from Kevin's Know Your Numbers training, and a 30-day test.

You missed dinner again. Not because the business needed you to — because you were replying to a lukewarm enquiry from the one Facebook group you haven't given up on yet, on top of the ad you boosted, the cold emails you sent, and the networking breakfast you can't skip in case it's the one that pays off.

If you want to know why chasing leads is eating your evenings, here's the honest answer: you're working every channel a little instead of one channel properly, and "a little everywhere" is the most expensive way to sell anything.

I used to say yes to every opportunity that landed in front of me. It took me years to learn that saying yes to everyone else's request is how you guarantee you never get to your own.

"Spray And Pray" Isn't A Strategy. It's A Habit Dressed Up As Effort.

The villain here is the belief that more channels equals more sales. It feels productive — you're doing something on five fronts — but five half-tested channels usually convert worse than one properly tested one, because none of them gets the repetition, the budget or the attention it needs to actually work.

Leave it unfixed and the cost isn't just a thin pipeline. It's every evening and weekend you've handed over to "just checking" a channel that was never going to be the one, while the people who matter most to you get whatever energy is left over.

The Bullseye Channel Framework: Test Wide, Then Go All-In On One

Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares built the Bullseye Channel Framework to answer one question for founders drowning in options: of every possible way to find customers, which one is actually worth your full attention? Here's the SME version:

  • Brainstorm every channel that could plausibly reach your customer — referral, content, ads, partnerships, events, cold outreach. Write down all of them, even the unlikely ones.
  • Rank each one honestly on cost, reach and how fast you'd see a result — not on which one you enjoy most.
  • Run a cheap, two-week test on your top three only. Not five. Three.
  • Go all-in on whichever one actually produced a real conversation, and quietly drop the rest.

I block my own diary until midday Monday and mid-morning Tuesday every week, no exceptions, because the channel work and the thinking work only happen if they're protected before the week fills up with everyone else's urgent requests.

"Kevin is an absolute powerhouse! He doubled our business's profits in the first month alone with lots more of his recommendations still to be rolled out."

— Curtis Hacon, Give A Sh!t

Why "Just In Case" Beats "On Purpose" Every Single Time

The real obstacle isn't knowing which channel to test. It's that staying active on five channels feels safer than committing to one, even when the data says one is clearly working better. Fear of missing out quietly overrides the evidence sitting right in front of you.

A second pair of eyes — someone who isn't emotionally attached to the networking breakfast you've been attending for three years — is usually what it takes to make the call and hold you to it. This isn't for you if you want to keep every option open forever. It's for owners ready to pick one channel on purpose and protect the hours that come back.

You don't need to work harder at lead generation. You need to work one channel properly instead of five channels badly — and get your Tuesday nights back in the process.

Key Takeaways

  • List every possible lead channel before judging any of them.
  • Test only your top three, cheaply, for two weeks — not all of them, not forever.
  • Commit fully to the one channel the test actually proves, and drop the rest.
  • Protect fixed hours in your week for this work, before the urgent fires take them.

If your evenings disappear chasing leads on five channels at once, that's the first thing we fix.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

Most SME strategies are really just revenue wishlists with no diagnosis behind them. Here is the three-part test that separates a real strategy from a wish, and what to fix first if yours fails it.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

94% of small businesses using AI across multiple functions have cut spending on marketing, data and bookkeeping, and they are more confident than ever. Here is the three-question audit to run before you cut judgment along with the invoice.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Chasing a poor-fit customer to hit a year-end number rarely pays off. Here is the Right-Fit Growth Filter SME owners use before saying yes.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

High satisfaction with your business coach does not guarantee progress. Here is the yearly Re-Contracting Conversation that keeps coaching sharp.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

We'll sort it in the new year is quietly stalling more small businesses than any competitor. Here is the Now-or-January Test that fixes it.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

A 10 percent discount can need 46 percent more sales volume just to break even. Here is the Quota-Protection Plan for small business sales teams.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Referred customers buy four times more often, yet most happy customers are never asked. Here is the Post-Purchase Sequence that fixes it.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Your best quarter can hide the same problems as your worst one. Here is the five-step Success Audit SME owners use to pressure-test growth before it plateaus.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

You just gave someone a raise to keep them, and they left anyway. A new US survey shows a 21-point gap between what owners think keeps their team and what actually does.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Small Business Saturday falls just 27 days before Christmas this year, one of the shortest holiday windows in years. Here's the three-step margin check to run before Q4 locks in your pricing mistakes.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Acquiring a new customer costs five to seven times more than growing revenue from an existing one. Here is the share-of-wallet audit that finds it.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Most coaches say yes to everyone who can pay them. Here is the real test for whether a business coach is actually right for your business.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

The average knowledge worker gets barely an hour of uninterrupted time a day. Here is the meeting-free day protocol that gives your team room to think.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

A verbal yes is not a closed deal, and more than 40 percent of B2B deals stall in the gap between agreement and signature. Here is how to close it.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Ninety percent of blog content gets zero traffic from Google, and most SME blogs are no exception. Here is the content-market fit audit that fixes it.